Today I’m writing about something that isn’t very new. But podcasts have become a quite impressive medium by now and I’ll dedicate my weekly blog post to this new information source.
“A podcast is a series of digital-media files, which are distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and computers.”, is how the Wikipedia puts it.
Basically, it’s the same as a radio show. Just that every new episode is downloaded automatically to your computer and/or portable music player and you can listen to it whenever and wherever you like.
There are already millions of people out there producing their own podcast and together cover almost any imaginable topic. It’s easy to find a podcast but not so easy finding the good ones. Most of them are really impossible to listen to because of bad quality or due to bad show hosts and boring content.

And now I would like to present to you a few of my favorite podcasts:

This week in Tech
or, casually referred to as TWiT is an award winning, weekly podcast hosted by Leo Laporte and many other very notable people worikng high up in the technology and internet sector. The show features round table discussions and debates surrounding current technology news and reviews, with a particular focus on consumer electronics.
It gets you all the newest information about newest developments in the tech sector. Sometimes the show consists of lots of rambling around about some topic but usually that’s quite entertaining.

This week in Science
This Week in Science (TWIS) is a weekly science radio talk show broadcasting from the University of Davis campus. Two quite entertaining Hosts deliver a lively and informative review of current research in technology and science. There are often interviews top scientists, technologists, and luminaries. The Brian Greene who wrote “The Elegant Universe”, NASA astrobiologist Jack Farmer, Harvard theoretical physicist Lisa Randall, popular science fiction author and futurist William Gibson, and author of the Mars Trilogy Kim Stanley Robinson. And, my favorite: an Interview with Dr. Leonard Susskind one of the greatest minds of our time!

fm4 Reality Check
Reality Check is Radio FM4s news programme with interviews and analysis of stories from around the world with in-depth coverage examining how stories develop and why they are relevant. Issues such as human-rights, new discoveries, orange-revolutions, every imaginable topic making the news today can appear on Reality Check.
It’s great because they give a very comprehensive picture about certain, mostly current events and crises.

IQ Wissenschaft und Forschung
Only available in german language, this one is also a very informative science and technology podcast!
This is how the contents of the show are described on Bayern 3’s website:
“Jeden Tag entdecken Forscher etwas Neues - irgendwo auf der Welt. Behalten Sie mit uns den Überblick: Wir erklären Ihnen, was davon wirklich wichtig ist und was dahinter steckt. In den Naturwissenschaften und der Medizin, in den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften.”

Sternstunde Philosophie
My definitive favorite is also available only in german. This one is a weekly podcast consisting of a 60-minute dialogue between the moderator and a guest. And the guest list is quite impressive with many Nobel laureates, bestselling authors, philosophers and very high government officials and diplomats.

And if you don’t know how to subscribe and listen to podcasts (it’s very, very easy if you have iTunes and an iPod!) click here

Nicolas Büchi, a student from Swizzerland (University of Art and Design in Zurich) used a tank of water to create a kind of display. There are 16 user-controlled SMB valves that release air into the tank to create bubbles. These valves are controlled with sensors build into smaller water-tanks. The idea is not new but I like the realisation. Have a look at http://theliquiddisplay.com/ for a few more pictures.

the liquid display - a physical interactive installation from nicolas büchi on Vimeo.

Great showreel by Andreas Gysin e Sidi Vanetti showing mostly artsy installations. Everything is very reduced and minimal but with a strong impact on the visual nerves. But what I like best is their interpretation of a “Swatch” watch.

Link to www.gysin-vanetti.com

Missile Command on a Multi-touch videowall

An installation comprising 714 metallic balls suspended in air and moving up and down. Sounds simple enough but after watching the video (do yourself a favor and turn down the music! Don’t say, I didn’t warn you!) I was really impressed. The patterns created and the smoothness of the motion are really impressive!

On a separate note to all guitar heroes fans who own a Commodore 64. Watch this: Shredz64. Forget rock tracks, playing the Zelda theme song is much cooler!

Powers of 10 interactive. At least somehow, because this approach is much more graphical. Found on the page of camera-manufacturer Nikon, this site shows you scales of things in relation to each other - from the smallest speck of matter (atoms and smaller) to the largest planets and far beyond. Explanatory graphics will give you a real idea of your place on the planet - or indeed the universe.
Goto Universcale

And if you have never seen “Powers of Ten” by Ray and Charles Eames, please watch it now!