Selects: How Fireplaces Work | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Have you ever wondered how we calculate happiness levels among different countries or the amount of fossil fuels it would take to switch to renewable energy? Have you considered what unemployment numbers and infant mortality rates say about a population? In Numbers Don’t Lie, scientist and economist Vaclav Smil wants to help you understand the world by understanding numbers and statistics. Numbers can help you see the world more clearly, but only if you know what they’re actually saying.

Smil examines commonly used metrics like GDP, vaccination rates, and fertility rates and asks what they say about countries like the US, China, and Japan. He also reviews humanity’s impact on the planet through the energy, transportation, and food sectors. In our guide, we’ll go over these numbers, metrics, and statistics and provide additional scientific and historical context to help you understand the world around you even better.

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster is a New York Times best-selling, no-nonsense, apolitical discussion of climate change. Bill Gates's decades of philanthropy inform his writing on the urgent need to curb emissions while still encouraging development. Complementing his empathetic approach to reducing carbon emissions, he uses his experience in the technology industry to highlight the most practical technology-based strategies for reducing global carbon emissions with a straightforward assessment of their challenges and limitations.

While Gates discusses several promising emergent sources of green energy throughout the book, he also stresses the need to reduce emissions quickly. Therefore, this guide focuses on the technologies and strategies he discusses that are most feasible today. For clarity, we’ve broken Gates’s ideas into three categories: the climate problem, its causes, and Gates’s proposed strategies for curbing emissions. This guide supplements Gates’s discussion with commentary on scientific principles, timely examples of the impacts of climate change, and additional data and statistics.

Join Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant in an enlightening episode of "Stuff You Should Know" as they delve into the stone-cold facts of petrified wood. Kicking off with a rock-and-roll vibe, Chuck shares a clever anecdote from a Mudhoney concert that not only sets the tone but also smoothly segues into unraveling the mysteries of petrified timber. The speakers shatter common misconceptions and redefine petrified wood as the extraordinary fossilized relics of ancient trees, guiding listeners through a transformation much more rapid and remarkable than one might expect.

Discover the intricate process of permineralization and the essential conditions that lead to the stunning preservation of trees in stony silence. Marvel at the extraordinary way petrified wood captures the fine details of the original tree anatomy, from microscopic pores to vessel lines, and the diversity of colors imparted by different minerals. As the episode traverses the celebrated sites like Yellowstone's Petrified Forest and concludes with a nod to iHeartRadio's plethora of engaging content, "Stuff You Should Know" leaves you with a profound appreciation for nature's ability to blend the ancient past with the beauty of the present.

Successful victory during conflict requires more than just cunning and brawn. Whether you are involved in an individual conflict or are leading a group of people through a competition, the strategies required to prepare for and engage in battle are the same.

The Art of War by ancient Chinese warrior and philosopher Sun Tzu provides the essential elements that must be considered to develop strategic conflict resolution tactics. Sun Tzu’s principles guide you through the steps required to become a competent leader and fighter. They teach you how to determine victory, when to engage in combat, and when to use intelligence and intimidation to dissolve conflict without confrontation. With these teachings, you'll understand how to read conflict and opponents to determine the best course of action.

If you’ve ever pushed a “pull” door or accidentally flipped the wrong light switch, you’ve experienced the impact of bad design. You may have blamed these mistakes on yourself, but in reality, the way we interact with the physical world is often driven by design. From smartphones to stovetops, faucets to fighter jets: Every object we encounter on a daily basis is designed. Good design streamlines our lives and makes everyday tasks easier. Bad design, on the other hand, causes frustration, errors, and even dangerous accidents.

In order to tell the difference, we need to understand how we perceive the objects all around us, and how our brains make sense of that information. Combining the principles of cognitive psychology and engineering makes all of us smarter consumers and helps designers create products that work with users, rather than against them.

Thinking is the key to improvement in all areas of your life—but what if it’s your thinking that needs to be improved? In The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, award-winning educators Edward B. Burger and Michael Starbird provide a guide for maximizing your thought process to achieve the greatest success possible in the classroom, the workplace, and your personal life.

In our guide, we’ll explore the five principles Burger and Starbird recommend for learning to think effectively, which they structure around five elements: earth, fire, air, water, and change. We’ll also examine how these principles relate to established theories of learning and educational psychology, and we’ll compare them to works from other authors on how to change your thinking and mindset to improve your life and achieve your goals.

What do the food on your plate, the electricity that powers your home, and the plastic in everything from your clothes to your car have in common? They all require large amounts of fossil fuel.

In How the World Really Works, scientist Vaclav Smil argues that our current way of life relies so heavily on fossil fuels that the only way to reduce our dependence on them and slow down climate change is to do so gradually and at great expense. But we can’t engage in any intelligent discussion about how to solve the problem of climate change unless everyone has a shared understanding of how the world works.

In this guide, we’ll explore Smil’s ideas about the functioning of four critical aspects of our world: energy, food production, manufacturing, and the environment. Throughout the guide, we’ll compare Smil’s analyses to those of other experts and examine current research and potential solutions to the issue of climate change.

How much do you know about the universe you live in? Thanks to scientific discoveries of the twentieth century, scientists have gained insight into many of nature’s secrets, from the origin of the universe to the nature of space and time. In A Brief History of Time, physicist Stephen Hawking explains these insights for a general audience.

In this guide, we’ll present Hawking’s exposition of modern physics through the lens of five big questions that the book answers: Is reality relative or absolute? Is the future predetermined? How did the universe begin? What is the nature of a black hole? And can you build a time machine? Where applicable, we’ll also examine how Hawking’s assertions and predictions stack up to new data that scientists have collected since the book was published.

Dive into "This Past Weekend" with host Theo Von as he invites Wayne Owen, a seasoned New York City sanitation engineer, to pull back the curtain on the unsung profession that keeps the city streets clean. Listeners get a rare glimpse into the tough world of trash collection, beginning with the competition that rivals a lottery for a coveted position on the waste management team. From the rigorous physical demands to the risks and bizarre finds on the job, Theo and Wayne paint a vivid picture of the daily grind faced by these essential workers.

As the conversation unfolds, Theo Von and his guest shine a light on the societal misconceptions about sanitation services, discussing the dynamic culture among workers, the environmental impacts of waste management, and the positive outcomes of innovative practices. Beyond the job's economic benefits and potential, Theo gives a nod to sanitation workers' community contributions and personal endeavors. The episode leaves us reflecting on the importance of respecting and acknowledging these unseen heroes who, as Wayne poignantly shares, dedicate their lives to ensuring the city's health and sustainability.

Brandon Turner’s The Book on Rental Property Investing is an educational guide to effectively locating, buying, and managing real estate properties. Turner identifies the major pitfalls new investors encounter, and he suggests how to profitably overcome these challenges by working smarter, not harder.

Turner is a real estate investor with hundreds of income-earning properties. He’s also a bestselling author and a former host of Bigger Pockets, a real estate investment podcast. In this guide, we’ll cover Turner’s detailed approach to each stage of the rental property investment process, as well as explore overarching strategies to help new investors think professionally about their portfolios. In our commentary, we’ll provide further advice on various elements of the rental property investment process, such as handling paperwork and securing a good agent.

Nobody wants to use moisturizer or shampoo that will compromise their health. But many personal care products on your local drugstore’s shelves contain ingredients that experts say are unsafe—including some labeled “clean” and “non-toxic.”

Immerse yourself in the murky depths of "Murder, Mystery & Makeup," where Bailey Sarian uncovers the mystery of the infamous Jack the Ripper. Sarian paints a vivid picture of a world in turmoil, where societal chaos, strained ethnic associations, poverty, and widespread prostitution rule the streets of Whitechapel, East London. As she narrates the gruesome killings that plagued the area, Sarian explores the chilling account of Mary Ann Nichols and the shockingly precise murder of Annie Chapman, stimulating speculations of an accomplice's involvement.

This gripping podcast by Bailey Sarian doesn't stop at the surface, delving deeper into the struggles of nineteenth-century criminal investigations. Sarian promises to unpack theories, mysterious letters, and potential suspects in future episodes, actively engaging listeners for input. Amid the thrilling narratives, Sarian intermingles reminders of her collaboration with Casetify and intriguing glimpses into her personal interests such as makeup experiments, creating a unique blend of mystery, history, and personal insights.

Between 2015 and 2022, the number of children employed in violation of US child labor laws tripled from 1,012 to 3,876—and the number working in hazardous occupations like meatpacking and construction rose by 93%. Most minors in these exploitative work situations are migrant children who have fled violence and poverty in their home countries to pursue better circumstances—and the vast majority don’t have a parent here.

In an episode that seeps into the darkest corners of the human psyche, "Rotten Mango" hosted by Stephanie Soo along with her co-host, dives deep into a narrative that shocked South Korea. An unimaginable scheme carried out by eight middle-school children culminated in the fatal strike of Econ, an innocent delivery man — revealing a side of youth delinquency that crosses into cold-blooded crime. Throughout this episode, Stephanie stitches together the harrowing reality behind the tragic loss and the shockwaves it sent through the community, inciting debates on juvenile justice and societal norms that many have taken for granted.

The case unraveled by "Rotten Mango" shines an unforgiving light on the shortcomings of South Korea's juvenile justice system. Stephanie Soo's gripping storytelling not only portrays the brazen attitudes of the young perpetrators and their chilling displays of indifference but also underscores the emotional toll on the victim's family. Amid the societal uproar and demand for reform, Soo compels listeners to confront the grim implications of a legal loophole that has left the country's youth seemingly above the law, and questions the responsibility of a society that too often looks the other way. With calls for legal reform growing louder, this episode is a poignant reminder of the importance of vigilance and the collective push for change.