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The Canadian electrical engineer Louis Michaud believes he has a world-changing, and potentially world-saving, idea: clean energy through tornado power. His singular pursuit is generally met with immediate skepticism, but Michaud understands that there will be naysayers until there are results. After decades of toiling with the idea of a ‘vortex producer’, those results have recently started coming in: in 2012, the US tech entrepreneur and billionaire Peter Thiel awarded Michaud’s project $300,000 via his Breakout Labs, and in 2014, Michaud’s Atmospheric Vortex Engine was able to produce its first large, contained vortex. Produced by the US filmmakers and podcasters Flora Lichtman and Katherine Wells as part of their podcast series The Adaptors, Tornado Man is both a glimpse into scientific obsession and an argument for the role of radical thinking in addressing humanity’s most pressing problems.
Producer: Flora Lichtman, Katherine Wells
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Engineering
A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations
9 minutes
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Architecture
West Africa was once an architectural laboratory. Is it time for a revival?
12 minutes
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Work
A Swedish expat in the Philippines wonders: what’s up with people sleeping at work?
14 minutes
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Cognition and intelligence
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Earth science and climate
The only man permitted in Bhutan’s sacred mountains chronicles humanity’s impact
22 minutes
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Cosmology
The Indian astronomer whose innovative work on black holes was mocked at Cambridge
13 minutes
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Art
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The ancient world
An ancient Roman’s hilarious (and perhaps relatable) response to a social snub
2 minutes
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Death
A hunter’s lyrical reflection on the humbling business of being mortal
6 minutes