The Goeppert Mayer Gauge - Episode 16: Thermal Radiation

Episode 16: Thermal Radiation

12/01/22 • 71 min

We're finally back, and this time we're talking everything thermal! After some brief updates, we dive into blackbody radiation, Planck's law, and selective emitters. Then Jay explains how to use these concepts to design incandescent lightbulbs that are actually twice as efficient as LED bulbs. Then we move on to one of Jay's all-time favorite ideas: passive daytime radiative cooling. And things get even crazier when Jay explains how to use the universe as a really great cold reservoir in a heat engine to get harness solar energy without any photovoltaics.

Previous Episode

Episode 15: Photocycloaddition

We're celebrating Dugan's recent JACS paper on copper-catalyzed photocycloaddition reactions by doing a Back 2 Basics episode on photocycloadditons that is really just an episode on that paper with a little bit of Woodward Hoffmann rules thrown in for good measure. But what is a podcast for besides self-promotion anyway? We return to some of our favorite topics, including X-ray spectroscopy and transient absorption, and discuss how a combination of spectroscopic techniques can be used to deduce photochemical reaction mechanisms involving transition metals. We also ask ourselves how a single methylene group can drastically change the fate of a molecule and how a single pandemic can drastically change the fate of a research project.

Next Episode

Episode 17: Astrochemistry with Prof. Nate DeYonker

Prof. Nate DeYonker from the University of Memphis takes us out of this world and into the vast expanse of space as we talk all things astrochemistry. Get ready to hear about molecules that seem like they shouldn't exist, spectra from extraterrestrial telescopes with almost frighteningly good resolution, and the challenges of quantum chemistry using quartic (!!!) force fields. Nate also gives us a primer on "Pauling points" before closing the show out with an incredibly moving tribute to the late Mimi Parker from the band Low.