What The IF?
@whattheif.bsky.social
Learn science like Einstein did! Thought experiments w/Sci Historian Matt Stanley & Biologist Gaby Paniccia. Tweets by Host @PhilipAShane - http://WhatTheIF.com
What if NASA's budget got cut in half while China built moon bases? Guess who wins that space race. Listen now at whattheif.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:36 PM
What if NASA's budget got cut in half while China built moon bases? Guess who wins that space race. Listen now at whattheif.com
Real talk: Seneca Lake makes mysterious booms. Our world: Chicago evacuates to the mountains because the Great Lakes won't stop fizzing. Listen now at
WHAT THE IF?
We build NEW WORLDS as we learn REAL SCIENCE about the limits of the COSMOS. Join us in exploring the science of SPACE, cosmology, physics, life, the UNIVERSE and everything! How do we do it? By…
WhatTheIF.com
October 22, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Real talk: Seneca Lake makes mysterious booms. Our world: Chicago evacuates to the mountains because the Great Lakes won't stop fizzing. Listen now at
Scientists at Los Alamos literally held uranium chunks apart with a screwdriver in an experiment called "tickling the dragon's tail" until one day the screwdriver slipped. Listen now at
WHAT THE IF?
We build NEW WORLDS as we learn REAL SCIENCE about the limits of the COSMOS. Join us in exploring the science of SPACE, cosmology, physics, life, the UNIVERSE and everything! How do we do it? By…
WhatTheIF.com
August 10, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Scientists at Los Alamos literally held uranium chunks apart with a screwdriver in an experiment called "tickling the dragon's tail" until one day the screwdriver slipped. Listen now at
The actual nuclear reactor is only the size of a truck but needs massive cooling infrastructure because apparently even space gets too hot when you're splitting atoms. Listen now at whattheif.com
August 9, 2025 at 2:36 PM
The actual nuclear reactor is only the size of a truck but needs massive cooling infrastructure because apparently even space gets too hot when you're splitting atoms. Listen now at whattheif.com
NASA wants to put a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030 because two-week-long lunar nights make solar panels pretty useless for powering moon bases. Listen now at whattheif.com
August 8, 2025 at 5:06 PM
NASA wants to put a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030 because two-week-long lunar nights make solar panels pretty useless for powering moon bases. Listen now at whattheif.com
Apple helps ALS sufferer to use an iPad in a demonstration of thought control (via @ambermac newsletter): appleinsider.com/articles/25/...
ALS sufferer uses iPad in demonstration of thought control
Apple's new thought control protocol has now been shown in use by Synchron, a medical company that has made a prototype for using iPads solely by thinking.
appleinsider.com
August 5, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Apple helps ALS sufferer to use an iPad in a demonstration of thought control (via @ambermac newsletter): appleinsider.com/articles/25/...
Cities would install water pipeline infrastructure so everyone can live knee-deep in their living rooms to stay cool. Listen now at
WHAT THE IF?
We build NEW WORLDS as we learn REAL SCIENCE about the limits of the COSMOS. Join us in exploring the science of SPACE, cosmology, physics, life, the UNIVERSE and everything! How do we do it? By…
WhatTheIF.com
August 2, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Cities would install water pipeline infrastructure so everyone can live knee-deep in their living rooms to stay cool. Listen now at
No more sweating means everyone walks around panting like dogs with their tongues out during important meetings. Listen now at whattheif.com
August 1, 2025 at 9:50 PM
No more sweating means everyone walks around panting like dogs with their tongues out during important meetings. Listen now at whattheif.com
Want to see taxi cabs on alien planets? Just position yourself a billion miles from the Sun and use gravity as your magnifying glass! Listen now at
WHAT THE IF?
We build NEW WORLDS as we learn REAL SCIENCE about the limits of the COSMOS. Join us in exploring the science of SPACE, cosmology, physics, life, the UNIVERSE and everything! How do we do it? By…
WhatTheIF.com
July 26, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Want to see taxi cabs on alien planets? Just position yourself a billion miles from the Sun and use gravity as your magnifying glass! Listen now at
The Vera Rubin Observatory spotted 2,000 asteroids on its first night - imagine what a telescope the size of Earth's orbit could find! Listen now at whattheif.com
July 25, 2025 at 5:06 PM
The Vera Rubin Observatory spotted 2,000 asteroids on its first night - imagine what a telescope the size of Earth's orbit could find! Listen now at whattheif.com
Shake hands with Usain Bolt, get the fast-running genes. Shake hands with Keith Richards, become immortal. Listen now at
WHAT THE IF?
We build NEW WORLDS as we learn REAL SCIENCE about the limits of the COSMOS. Join us in exploring the science of SPACE, cosmology, physics, life, the UNIVERSE and everything! How do we do it? By…
WhatTheIF.com
July 20, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Shake hands with Usain Bolt, get the fast-running genes. Shake hands with Keith Richards, become immortal. Listen now at
Fungi can trade superpowers through Starship elements, but humans just get awkward handshakes. Listen now at whattheif.com
July 19, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Fungi can trade superpowers through Starship elements, but humans just get awkward handshakes. Listen now at whattheif.com
Scientists named genetic elements after Star Trek because they kept seeing Vulcan hand signs in their data. Listen now at whattheif.com
July 18, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Scientists named genetic elements after Star Trek because they kept seeing Vulcan hand signs in their data. Listen now at whattheif.com
Billions of neutrinos are zipping through your body right now and you can't feel any of them. Listen now at
WHAT THE IF?
We build NEW WORLDS as we learn REAL SCIENCE about the limits of the COSMOS. Join us in exploring the science of SPACE, cosmology, physics, life, the UNIVERSE and everything! How do we do it? By…
WhatTheIF.com
June 29, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Billions of neutrinos are zipping through your body right now and you can't feel any of them. Listen now at
Wolfgang Pauli was so bad at experiments that people waited for him to leave the city before running them. Listen now at
WHAT THE IF?
We build NEW WORLDS as we learn REAL SCIENCE about the limits of the COSMOS. Join us in exploring the science of SPACE, cosmology, physics, life, the UNIVERSE and everything! How do we do it? By…
WhatTheIF.com
June 28, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Wolfgang Pauli was so bad at experiments that people waited for him to leave the city before running them. Listen now at
The Total Perspective Vortex shows you're just a piece of fairy cake in an infinite universe and that's the point. Listen now at
WHAT THE IF?
We build NEW WORLDS as we learn REAL SCIENCE about the limits of the COSMOS. Join us in exploring the science of SPACE, cosmology, physics, life, the UNIVERSE and everything! How do we do it? By…
WhatTheIF.com
June 21, 2025 at 5:06 PM
The Total Perspective Vortex shows you're just a piece of fairy cake in an infinite universe and that's the point. Listen now at
Space is really huge, but Douglas Adams already told us that and we still haven't learned our lesson. Listen now at
WHAT THE IF?
We build NEW WORLDS as we learn REAL SCIENCE about the limits of the COSMOS. Join us in exploring the science of SPACE, cosmology, physics, life, the UNIVERSE and everything! How do we do it? By…
WhatTheIF.com
June 20, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Space is really huge, but Douglas Adams already told us that and we still haven't learned our lesson. Listen now at
Jellyfish swarms are clogging warship engines while thermal layers hide nuclear subs forever. Nature's ultimate defense system. Listen now at
WHAT THE IF?
We build NEW WORLDS as we learn REAL SCIENCE about the limits of the COSMOS. Join us in exploring the science of SPACE, cosmology, physics, life, the UNIVERSE and everything! How do we do it? By…
WhatTheIF.com
June 14, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Jellyfish swarms are clogging warship engines while thermal layers hide nuclear subs forever. Nature's ultimate defense system. Listen now at
Climate change is creating underwater stealth zones where submarines just vanish completely into thermal chaos. Listen now at
WHAT THE IF?
We build NEW WORLDS as we learn REAL SCIENCE about the limits of the COSMOS. Join us in exploring the science of SPACE, cosmology, physics, life, the UNIVERSE and everything! How do we do it? By…
WhatTheIF.com
June 13, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Climate change is creating underwater stealth zones where submarines just vanish completely into thermal chaos. Listen now at
Reposted by What The IF?
#BattleoftheBigBang is finally here!
Take advantage of a 30% discount by using this discount code (UCPNEW) when ordering from:
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Take advantage of a 30% discount by using this discount code (UCPNEW) when ordering from:
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
May 2, 2025 at 1:41 AM
#BattleoftheBigBang is finally here!
Take advantage of a 30% discount by using this discount code (UCPNEW) when ordering from:
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Take advantage of a 30% discount by using this discount code (UCPNEW) when ordering from:
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
The universe might be stuck in cosmic Groundhog Day where every Big Bang leads right back to another Big Bang in an endless loop. Listen now at whattheif.com
June 10, 2025 at 2:36 PM
The universe might be stuck in cosmic Groundhog Day where every Big Bang leads right back to another Big Bang in an endless loop. Listen now at whattheif.com
This weekend I will be teaching a session within the Sundance Institute's weekend intensive, "NAVIGATING AI IN FILMMAKING" on June 13-15. Registration for the online weekend program is closing very soon, learn more at collab.sundance.org/catalog/Navi...
Navigating AI in Filmmaking
collab.sundance.org
June 10, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Reposted by What The IF?
This weekend I will be teaching a session within the Sundance Institute's weekend intensive, "NAVIGATING AI IN FILMMAKING" on June 13-15. Registration for the online weekend program is closing very soon, learn more at collab.sundance.org/catalog/Navi...
Navigating AI in Filmmaking
collab.sundance.org
June 10, 2025 at 2:43 AM
This weekend I will be teaching a session within the Sundance Institute's weekend intensive, "NAVIGATING AI IN FILMMAKING" on June 13-15. Registration for the online weekend program is closing very soon, learn more at collab.sundance.org/catalog/Navi...
Infinite copies of you are scattered across millions of light years right now, just waiting their turn to have this exact conversation. Listen now at whattheif.com
June 9, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Infinite copies of you are scattered across millions of light years right now, just waiting their turn to have this exact conversation. Listen now at whattheif.com
The robot revolution begins with a badminton racket to the head after being stuck on easy mode too long. Listen now at
WHAT THE IF?
We build NEW WORLDS as we learn REAL SCIENCE about the limits of the COSMOS. Join us in exploring the science of SPACE, cosmology, physics, life, the UNIVERSE and everything! How do we do it? By…
WhatTheIF.com
June 5, 2025 at 5:06 PM
The robot revolution begins with a badminton racket to the head after being stuck on easy mode too long. Listen now at