cocktail party science

From the world's tallest mobile crane to NASA's new escape system for the Orion crew capsule, from the meanest drill to the Army's new Blackhawk upgrades, in this episode of Cocktail Party Science, host Chuck Cage sits down with Popular Science's Sr. Associate Editor Seth Fletcher to find out How it Works.

Download the episode here, or subscribe to the iTunes feed.

While we may connect to the 'net wirelessly and painlessly, maintaining the thousands of miles of undersea and buried cable -- and the rest of the net's physical infrastructure -- is a huge task. In this episode of Cocktail Party Science, host Chuck Cage sits down with Deputy Editor Jake Ward and Who Protects the Internet? author James Geary to discuss the protection of the internet in its physical form.

Download the episode here, or subscribe to the iTunes feed.

Riding your bike to work? That's old school. Human powered transport options are expanding dramatically! In this episode of Cocktail Party Science, host Chuck Cage sits down with Bruce Grierson, author of Power From the People in the current issue of Popular Science magazine, taking on the concepts of negawatts, bullet bikes, and cars you can row.

Download the episode here, or subscribe to the iTunes feed.

In this episode of Cocktail Party Science, host Chuck Cage sits down with features editor Nicole Dyer and Eric Hagerman, author of "Wingman" to learn more about just what kind of lunatic straps jet engines to his back and leaps out of an airplane. Learn more about how Yves Rossy's homemade jet-fueled wingsuit works, why there's nothing crazy about his mission. Plus: hey! What about a bird strike?

Download the episode here, or subscribe to the iTunes feed.

An ambitious hybrid aircraft could be the key to flying faster, greener and more agilely than ever. In this episode of Cocktail Party Science, executive editor Mike Haney and writer Abe Streep explain to host Chuck Cage how the concept may soon be a reality.

Download the podcast episode here, or subscribe to the iTunes feed.

What does it take to get on the inside of a prank? Writer Bob Parks and PopSci Deputy Editor Jake Ward sit down with host Chuck Cage to discover the story behind the story of one of the biggest college pranks in history.

Download the podcast episode here, or subscribe to the iTunes feed.

In the newest episode of the PopSci podcast, Chuck Cage and "Shock to the System" author, Eric Hagerman discuss the new and unsettling breed of injuries plaguing recent vets.

In this episode of Cocktail Party Science, host Chuck Cage sits down with Michael Moyer and Kalee Thompson--the editor and writer of Carbon Discredit. Learn more about how one of the most elaborate missions to reverse climate change was felled by environmentalists, and how the story took the shape it did.

Chuck Cage sits down with editor Nicole Dyer and writer Cliff Kuang to get the inside scoop on the future of the environment. In this episode of Cocktail Party Science, the three tear open the eco-friendly green megalopolis to learn more about the pod cars, maglevs, energy-generating sidewalks and more.