Learn about the difference between weather and climate; how astronomers actually use parsecs to measure distances; and some Scandinavian life philosophies that could make you happier. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes: What's the Difference Between Weather and Climate? — https://curiosity.im/2MQFjV6 A Parsec Is a Real Astronomical Unit of Measurement — https://curiosity.im/2DOVcsj 5 Scandinavian Life Philosophies That Can Make You Happier — https://curiosity.im/2MOxmQy If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Learn about the difference between weather and climate; how astronomers actually use parsecs to measure distances; and some Scandinavian life philosophies that could make you happier.
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:
If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom
Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/parsecs-the-difference-between-weather-and-climate-and-scandinavian-life-philosophies
CODY: Hi! We’re here from curiosity-dot-com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about the difference between weather and climate; how astronomers actually use parsecs to measure distances; and some Scandinavian life philosophies that could make you happier.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
What's the Difference Between Weather and Climate? — https://curiosity.im/2MQFjV6 [Republished] (Ashley)
Do you know the difference between the terms “weather” and “climate”? It’s an important distinction if you follow science news, and we’ve gotten a lot of questions about it lately. So today, I’ve got you covered. As reported by The Conversation, “weather” basically refers to stuff happening right this second, like cloud cover and temperature. You know: the day-to-day conditions of the atmosphere. “Climate” is a more macro view. It describes the average atmospheric conditions over many years. In fact, the World Meteorological Organization says that figuring out a “climate” record takes a minimum of 30 years of data. This includes things like average annual rainfall, overall direction of the wind, or what time of year you’re most likely to see snow. Here’s an analogy that might help. It comes from Jennifer Fitchett, who’s a Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography at the University of the Witwatersrand. The climate is like your wardrobe. You’ve got a winter coat and scarf for when it’s cold, flip flops and shorts for when it’s warm, and everything in-between. Weather is the individual item of clothing you choose to wear. You change what you wear from day to day. If it’s snowing, you put on boots, and if it’s really hot, you might wear sandals. The thing is, everyone in the world doesn’t have the same wardrobe. If you live right on the equator, then you probably don’t have a winter coat. And that brings us back to weather and climate. The conditions in one place are different from the conditions far away from wherever you are. Here’s what that means for how we can understand climate projections and climate forecasts. The weather forecast you see on TV or on your phone’s weather app is there to help you figure out what to wear. On the other hand, climate projections tell you what scientists think the climate will be like in 40, 50, maybe a hundred years. Climate projections are a warning that we might want to change up our wardrobe. Maybe we won’t need such heavy coats, and maybe it’s a good time to pick up some shorts or umbrellas or raincoats. There’s no need to switch up your whole wardrobe overnight; just take your time, look ahead, and plan and adapt. And, hopefully, stay dry.
A Parsec Is a Real Astronomical Unit of Measurement — https://curiosity.im/2DOVcsj (Cody)
A parsec is a real astronomical unit of measurement with cool origins. Yes, it measures distance, not time. Yes, the term was used improperly in the original Star Wars. Yes, I will absolutely get to that in a few minutes. No, Ashley, you’re not getting out of this one. [ad lib]
CODY: Here’s the deal: one parsec is equivalent to 3.26 light years. That’s 19 trillion miles, or 31 trillion kilometers. If that seems excessive, that's because it absolutely is. But when it comes to measuring astronomically large distances between objects beyond our solar system, excessively large is just right. I said “BEYOND” our solar system, by the way. For you to travel one parsec from Earth, you’d have to go from here to the sun and back 206,265 times. I told you it was big. The word parsec comes from two words: parallax and arcsecond. Parallax describes when an object's location seems to have changed because your location changed. Astronomers use parallax to judge the distance of objects in the sky; if you know how far the Earth has moved and you can measure how far the object moved across its starry backdrop, you can judge its distance. You actually use parallax to judge the distance of things all the time. Your two eyes see the world from slightly different angles, and your brain crunches the numbers to tell you how far away everything is from you. The second half of parsec refers to an arcsecond. An arcsecond is a part of a measurement of an angle. You know how a circle is 360 degrees? Imagine you're standing with a full view of the horizon around you. If you sliced the horizon into 360 degrees, each degree would be about twice the width of the full moon. Divide one of those degrees into 60 pieces, and you get the width of an arcminute. Divide one of those up by 60 again, and you get an arcsecond. Putting it all together, a parsec is the parallax of one arcsecond. In other words, if an object in the sky moves by 1 arcsecond when the Earth moves by 1 Astronomical Unit, the object is 1 parsec away. To put that in perspective, Proxima Centauri is the star that's our closest neighbor, and it’s 1.3 parsecs away. For more perspective, the Millennium Falcon made the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs. And I’m sorry, pedants, but before you go criticizing Star Wars for this quote-unquote “mistake,” first you need to understand what the Kessel Run actually is. Feel free to skip forward 30 seconds or so if you can’t handle my nerdiness. In Star Wars canon, the Kessel Run is a route used by smugglers to transport an illegal substance from mines on the planet Kessel through a region of space belonging to the Galactic Empire. And this route includes a cluster of black holes. As you know, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, so when Han Solo said he made the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, he was referring to his daringness and piloting skills and the sophisticated computer on the Millennium Falcon that he used to navigate CLOSE to those black holes while not getting sucked in. I was aware of this from reading books from the Star Wars Expanded Universe when I was a kid, but thanks to Disney, they are no longer canon. BUT, they ALSO addressed this in the 2018 film Solo: A Star Wars Story, which I have not seen.
5 Scandinavian Life Philosophies That Can Make You Happier — https://curiosity.im/2MOxmQy (Ashley)
The Kessel Run obviously makes Cody happy. You know who else is happy, by most metrics? Scandanavians. The annual World Happiness Report consistently rates the Nordic countries of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland among the top 10 happiest nations. So today we’ll wrap up with some life philosophies from Nordic countries that might make you a little happier in your own life.
ASHLEY: First is Hygge. The Danish concept of hygge translates to something like "coziness of the soul." It's the feeling you get when you're snuggled up under a blanket with a loved one drinking cocoa by the fire. As a life philosophy, it's all about allowing yourself guilt-free indulgences, especially when the world is dark and dreary. Anything from getting together with family and friends for a meal to spending time on your own reading a good book. The next philosophy is Lagom. Lagom is a Swedish word that roughly translates to "just right," or "optimal." You've probably heard the saying "everything in moderation, including moderation"? That's what lagom is all about. Whether that's how much sugar to add to a batch of cookies or how much of your life you devote to your work, this philosophy urges a healthy balance that doesn't swing too far in any direction. And one other philosophy is Sisu [See-sooh]. It’s a unique Finnish concept that’s about persisting through challenges until you reach the end. The term roughly translates into English as a strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the fact of adversity. It's not about courage in the moment, but the kind of courage that has to last over time — after inspiration has sputtered out and the real challenge has shown itself. You can read more about these and other philosophies in our full write-up on curiosity-dot-com and on our free Curiosity app for Android and iOS, but if none of these pique your interest, then you can always turn to Fika. That’s just another word for coffee break. And who doesn’t like coffee?
CODY: Today’s ad-free episode was brought to you by our Patrons. Special thanks to Kari Greenwalt, Anthony Highland, Maksmillian Dee-ka-rev, Braeden Johnson, and Julian Gomez for your support on Patreon. We really appreciate it!
ASHLEY: To learn more about how you can support Curiosity Daily, please visit patreon-dot-com-slash-curiosity-dot-com, all spelled out.
CODY: Join us again tomorrow for the award-winning Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few parsecs. I’m [NAME] and I’m [NAME]. Stay curious!