Mark and Toddcast

Many of us know about the Mars Opportunity rover currently on Mars, but some may not know about a self-piloting helicopter called Ingenuity that traveled with Opportunity. Designed for 5 flights, it ended up making over 70, collecting all sort of data as well as a proof of concept that a drone helicopter can fly in Mars's atmosphere. Hear Ingenuity's story this week! In our news segment: Wienerschnitzel eyeing Portland, YouTube is ...

Most of us know his theorum: a2 + b2 = c2. But few of us knew Pythagoras was the leader of his own cult/religion that lasted centuries -- and BOY did they hate fava beans. Find out more on this week's show. In our news segment: Oregon Children's Theater fails, the measles thrive, the Smithsonian's "Improper Ideology," the founder of Pirate's Booty attempt a coup of his city, sonic weapons, "spare" human bodies, and you'll never gue...

As tech companies keep convincing us A.I. is the way of the future, we stop to take a look at what that means for the power consumption necessary to produce results nobody really cares about and wants to avoid anyway. Dust off those nuclear power plants, because A.I. is here to stay regardless of whether we want it. In the news, we discuss federal cuts to protecting our dams, Amazon Echo won't let you record locally, scientists tur...

We all know prepared foods and snacks are highly researched and studied to give us exactly what we want, but how do they do that? Are there measurements? When did it all start? Is that why we're all fat now? We'll answer those questions and so much more about the process of "Sensory-Consumer Science." In our news segment, we chat about Space X, Portland losing the "World's Smallest Park" crown, Gen Z is more pro-marriage than Mille...

One of the push-backs we often hear from critics of evolution is how unreliable the method of Carbon-14 Dating is. Which is correct. Sort of. But Carbon-14 Dating is far from the only method we use to figure out how old the earth and galaxy around us is, and this week we explore the many different ways we can understand, test, and know the relative age of what's around us. Plus, the most decorated military dog in history, you may d...

Many of us remember the late 90s ska-fueled song "Zoot Suit Riots," but many may not know the song is based on a real event, in which racial tensions in 1940s Los Angeles exploded into a series of attacks on Mexican-Americans by Navy servicemen, culminating in a 5-day riot. This week we dive into that story, as well as talk current news stories like what on earth is happening with DOGE and "The Gulf of America," Portland's shortest...

As we close out one year and face down another one, we clear out the news and go for a wild ride involving crystals, "brainspotting," "Severence," Todd's favorite documentary, Clackamas Town Center and Washington Square malls, Dr. Pamplin steals from his employees, the Belmont Goats, "brain rot," the speed of human thought, RFK Jr. and chemtrails, the DOJ recognizes the Tulsa Massacre, our slow brains, and a cow swims the Columbia ...

Dave Baehler of the NotNerd Podcast joins Todd this week to plow through the news pile, which includes the Willamette Valley Ornament Hunt, freezing your corpse for a monthly fee, life in the most inhospitable place on Earth, Mattel's "Wicked" mistake, Portland's Yelling Choir, the dangers of standing desks, Harriet Tubman awarded rank of general, and the Onion buys InfoWars. Then we pivot to talk about the science of corruption, a...

This week we look at something called "Game Theory," which is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions, and has applications in many fields of social science, economics, logic, systems science, computer science, and more. We've also got an action-packed news segment, including Warhol- and cheese-related thefts, a new "Oregon Trail" movie, the new January 6 monument, vibrating spiders, and the clowns who built the ...

The $64,000 Question" was one of many 1950s game shows that was caught up in cheating scandals. We tell the story of the show, the senate hearings, and a woman named Joyce who defied everyone.In our news segment, we chat about a neo-Nazi falling to his death on Hitler's favorite mountain, Mt. Adams is rumbling, Mt. Rainier is shrinking, NASA heads to Jupiter, New York hates Salt & Straw, everyone lives in a haunted house, and m...

Along with the grand volcanic dames of Mt. Hood, Rainier, St. Helens, and Adams, there are many extinct volcanoes and lava fields dotting the entire Portland area. This week we take a look at Mt. Tabor in specific, and the Boring Lava Field in general. In our news segment, we cover the end of tedious passwords, Earth's new second moon, which companies are undermining democracy, a second asteroid hits the dinosaurs, the cost of the ...

This week we recap Todd's trip to Yellowstone, and focus on one of the earliest businessmen to set up shop in the new National Park: Steamboat owner/operator E.C. Waters, who was such a legendary a-hole that he was eventually completely banned from even entering the park. And in our news segment - school cellphone bans, LiveNation's Portland venue proposal, Boeing's ongoing astronaut disaster, Americans die younger, a next-gen batt...

"How dare one interfere with the mighty judgement of God and His wrath?!" Who knew the lightning rod was such a, well, lightning rod of controversy? Benjamin Franklin gave a gift to the world, and much like the still relevant battles pitting science against (a person's own definition of) God, not everyone wanted that gift. Burn the witches, we've got some history to learn. In the news segment: Oregon gets a C-, a person's morality ...