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Why are we turning? To build your bot, you’ll need some bits. Today we talk about wheels pulleys and gears—where and when they happen, and how and why to use them.

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That’s not a machine! We finish up “building brain bits for bots based on big beasties,” and move on to some things that have to do with actual robots. Searching for the beginnings of the technology, we do make a short visit to the stone age.

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Building brain bits for bots based on big beasties We begin a series on robotics and automation with a look at your host’s on going project on how to build a brain for a bot. After years of research, it turns out that bigger is better. special thanks to @EliaMagrinelli and @mattparlmer.

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Dreams and schemes in space For our last episode on space and space travel, we take a look at the private business based space programs.

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The Columbia’s last flight 17 years after the space shuttle Challenger broke up during launch, the space shuttle Columbia broke up during reentry. We take a look at what happened and why.

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The Challenger’s last flight In January of 1986, the space shuttle Challenger came apart 73 seconds after launch. We take a look at what happened and why.

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The space shuttle With 135 missions over a 30 year period, the STS was enormously successful. It will take another episode or two to cover, but we start with an overview of NASA’s space shuttle program.

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Skylab has fallen We spend time talking about America’s first space station, a strike in space that didn’t happen, the first joint US USSR mission, and how and why Skylab fell.

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Our four year anniversary! After four years of doing the show, we’re still doing the show! In celebration we talk about the show, how it started, how Phil joined as cohost, nuclear fusion, quantum tunneling, planetary probes, and a lightspeed camera.

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A space station in Parel, and cannons in orbit America’s Skylab space station was badly damaged during its launch. Meanwhile the USSR launch several space stations, some of which worked better than others.