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Black Hole Movies, Digital Heart Twins, and World Cup Tech (EP 48)

Black Hole Movies, Digital Heart Twins, and World Cup Tech (EP 48)

From First Principles vor 3 Monaten

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1:48:25

Hosted by Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary, this episode returns
to the FFP science rundown with stories spanning astrophysics,
precision medicine, medical imaging, artificial intelligence, and
World Cup technology. We begin with the Event Horizon Telescope and
its evolving view of M87*, the supermassive black hole 55 million
light-years away. How do you image something that appears about as
small as a donut on the Moon? Krishna explains angular resolution,
the Rayleigh limit, radio interferometry, and how telescopes across
Earth can function like one planet-sized instrument. We then look
at new observations showing the magnetic field around M87* changing
over time—and why that may help explain black-hole jets and the
mysterious shutdown of star formation in giant elliptical galaxies.
Next, we turn to medicine. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have built
personalized digital twins of patients’ hearts, allowing doctors to
simulate ventricular-tachycardia treatments before entering the
operating room. We break down how MRI data, electrical modeling,
and virtual ablation could reduce procedures from hours to roughly
30 minutes. We also examine Midjourney Medical’s proposed
whole-body ultrasound scanner: what the prototype appears to do,
what its creators are claiming, and why it should be viewed as a
potential addition to the medical-imaging toolbox rather than a
replacement for MRI. Finally, we return to the World Cup. Krishna
takes on “Are You Smarter Than a Scientist?” by guessing the most
common injuries in professional football. Then we investigate the
Norway–England Skycam controversy: did the ball strike a cable, and
why did its internal sensor appear not to detect it? We close with
the data behind home-field advantage, referee bias, and the natural
experiment created by crowdless matches during the COVID-19
pandemic. Support the show Donate: FFPod.com/donate Follow: @FFPod
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