Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
These interesting podcasts come from the University of Utah Department of Physics and Astronomy and describe how physics is utilized by the human body for every day activities like blood pressure, running vision, breathing, and hearing. They talk about how strokes are caused, blisters are formed ,how sun screens work and how diseases are caused. Listen as Richard ingebretsen MD, PhD helps us understand how physics helps to operate our bodies.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ biomechanics of walking and running • forces, pressure, friction and trauma causing pain and blisters • energy, metabolism, heat and work • balance/vertigo and nervous system timing • imaging physics (MRI, X‑rays) • sensory physics (eye, ear) • heart and blood flow • sunscreen physicsThis podcast explains everyday human function through the lens of physics, drawing on ideas from biomechanics, fluids, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, and sensory physics. Across the episodes, the body is treated as an energy system that converts chemical energy into heat and mechanical work, with metabolism framed in terms of electron transfer and energy extraction from food. Movement is a central theme, including how walking and running are enabled by anatomy and physics, how speed and efficiency are constrained, and how forces are distributed through the feet, knees, back, and other joints.
A recurring focus is how physical stresses and material interactions can contribute to pain or injury. Topics include the role of impact and deceleration in trauma, how friction affects tendons, muscles, and joints, and how shear forces and repeated rubbing can create blisters. The show also explores how internal pressures influence health, describing how pressure imbalances can affect different parts of the body and contribute to medical problems.
Several episodes connect physics to clinical tools and common health contexts. Listeners are introduced to the underlying principles of medical imaging technologies such as MRI and X-rays, including magnets, resonance, and how radiation interacts with tissue for diagnosis and treatment. The podcast also discusses how the body senses the world—covering the physics of the eye and vision, the ear’s role in hearing and balance, and how the nervous system transmits signals with measurable delays. Everyday exposure topics like sunlight are addressed through the physics behind sunscreens and how they protect the body.
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Heat, Work and the Human Body 2026-Feb-18 4 minutes |
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Under Pressure 2024-Aug-20 12 minutes |
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Those Electrons We Eat 2024-Aug-20 22 minutes |
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Born to Run 2024-Aug-20 18 minutes |
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Walking - The Physics of Moving Our Legs 2024-Aug-20 9 minutes |
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Physics, Bones and Trauma 2024-Aug-20 13 minutes |
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Arches and the Physics of Foot Pain 2024-Aug-15 14 minutes |
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Knee Pain - The Physics That Causes Our Knees to Hurt. 2024-Aug-15 17 minutes |
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The Physics Behind Back Pain 2024-Aug-15 18 minutes |
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Friction and the Cause of Joint,Tendon and Muscle Pain 2024-Aug-15 18 minutes |
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The Physics of Blisters 2024-Aug-15 20 minutes |
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How the Body Detects Acceleration: Vertigo and Newton's Laws 2024-Aug-15 13 minutes |
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MRI - The Magnetic Resonance In Our Bodies 2023-Jul-24 14 minutes |
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X-rays in Medicine 2023-Jul-23 18 minutes |
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The Physics of Sunscreens 2023-Jul-20 18 minutes |
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The Human Nervous System 2023-Jul-09 20 minutes |
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The Human Ear 2023-Jun-27 12 minutes |
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The Human Eye 2023-Jun-27 14 minutes |
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The Human Heart 2023-Jun-26 25 minutes |