The Disappearing Spoon: a science history podcast with Sam Kean
The Canaries in the Submarine
April 14, 202617 min · 3,490 words
Show notes
There’s only one thing Dr. John Haldane loved more than running dangerous experiments on himself—running them on his son Jack. But the duo would revolutionize our understanding of the human body. Advertising Inquiries: Privacy & Opt-Out:
Highlighted moments
Yep, he's the source of the cliché about the canary in the coal mine.
“But in the fetus, the switches were numbered 2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5. No one knows why.”
“On numbers 2, 4, and 6, when the switch was flipped to the right, that meant the outer hatch was open. But on 1, 3, and 5, left meant open.”
“To help the torpedoes glide out smoothly, some clever engineers had coated the tube's inner surface with slick enamel paint. Unfortunately, the enamel clogged the stopcock.”
Transcript
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