Consilience #57: Me, a trilogy in five episodes

Call that a mohawk? I had one easily 30cm high,
without needing performance-enhancing gel!

I'm audible for the fifth time. I've heard several sources recommending that the way to make a good podcast is to record five full episodes and then throw them all out, before starting to record any intended for public consumption. So I guess I'm now officially qualified to cast pod in a reasonably un-shit way. Disregard anything I say in this Consilience and all the ones I was in before it, and I'll be super awesomely good in the next one (presumably #63ish, judging by emerging patterns).

As always, Owen and the Meadons were good fun, and I got to meet young Carl too, who seems to be smaller than the average human. I may have to consider getting him stilts for his birthday, in about 10 months' time. It was a little odd not being the one to bring the astronomy/astronautics stories for a change, with the landing of Curiosity being an obvious headliner and the Brahe history segment also out of my hands. I intentionally avoided space stuff to compensate.

Also, travel anecdote: On the way home, I ended up parallel to a high-speed police chase, with a cop car (peculiarly without lights or sirens going) chasing a small, white car, which had reversed out at speed onto the main road in front of me, kicking up dirt from the pavement as it launched off it, then swinging 90 degrees and zooming off, with the cops on its tail. Oddly, a block later I passed a second cop driving serenely in the opposite direction, clearly not interested in participating in any chases, perhaps not even aware of it.

You can find the file and the show notes for #57 here:
 http://consiliencecast.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/episode-57-martian-robots-cellphone-idiots-and-dinosaur-double-whammy/