Author Topic: PseudoPod 690: The Aetherised Chamber  (Read 1657 times)

Bdoomed

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on: February 23, 2020, 04:57:15 AM
PseudoPod 690: The Aetherised Chamber

Author: Stewart Moore
Narrator: Alasdair Stuart
Host: Graeme Dunlop
Audio Producer: Marty Perrett

PseudoPod 690: The Aetherised Chamber is a PseudoPod original.



Show Notes
In its inspiration this is sort of a science fiction story: I was reading about 17th century scientists and wondered, “What if they were right?”



17 October 1687:

 The God-machine failed, and I destroyed it.  With the wood-axe I smashed the glass vacuum pump, the encircling copper spring, the clockwork armature, and even the desk on which it stood.  With a hammer I crushed the crystal at its heart as I would pith a frog’s skull.  No one must know the extent of my humiliation.

Yet it was a worthy idea.  The new science has shown that the universe is like an immense clock.  By detecting its subtlest vibrations, may we not know the mind of its Creator?  My method too was sound:  I rarefied a jar of air to create a vacuum.  Since of course a true vacuum is impossible, the pump can only have drawn in that finer substance, dissolved throughout the cosmos, supporting the planets in their courses:  the aether.  And what is the aether but the very essence of God?




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Scuba Man

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Reply #1 on: February 23, 2020, 05:04:48 PM
Holy hell! That was a dandy, dandy episode.
Last summer, my spouse and I visited the UK and I was able to (a) discover niiiiiiice Scotch whiskey (I'm looking at you, Tammavullin) and (b) visit the Science Museum at Cambridge University. All that electrostatics gear! Wow. And the intricate astrolabes. And copper-microscopes. Ooof. I was also jazzed to stand in the spot where THE lab was that had Boyles Law discovered by... well... Boyle!

Initial musings...
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

All hail engineers!

Oh, and ...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My final verdict (from the peanut gallery) = Level 4 success. Grade A.  8) 8) 8) 8)

I'm a stand-up philosopher until 2024. Then, I move onto my next gig. I'm a gentleman forester and farmer. I also enjoy jumping into Lake Huron and panicking the fish.