WEBVTT

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[dramatic percussion music]

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- HEY, THERE,
WELCOME TO "NASA LAUNCHPAD."

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I'M YOUR HOST, JUSTIN TULLY.

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LET'S TALK RESEARCH.

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PROBABLY NOT A TOPIC
YOU'RE FOND OF, RIGHT?

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I MEAN, ALL THAT DIGGING
THROUGH INFORMATION,

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TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF IT ALL--
IT'S A LOT OF WORK.

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NOW THINK ABOUT SOME SCIENTIFIC
RESEARCH, LIKE NASA DOES.

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FOR SOME STUDIES,
WE'RE TALKING

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MILLIONS AND MILLIONS
OF PIECES OF DATA.

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CAN YOU IMAGINE TAKING
A MILLION MEASUREMENTS?

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FORTUNATELY, THOUGH, IT DOESN'T
HAVE TO WORK LIKE THAT.

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THERE ARE THESE WONDERFUL
INVENTIONS CALLED DATA LOGGERS

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THAT DO THE REPETITIVE,
MONOTONOUS WORK

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OF RECORDING DATA
SO THAT RESEARCHERS

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CAN FOCUS THEIR TIME AND ENERGY
ON INTERPRETING THAT DATA.

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AND THERE ARE A BUNCH

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OF DIFFERENT KINDS
OF DATA LOGGERS

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THAT MEASURE
A VARIETY OF VARIABLES,

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INCLUDING WIND SPEED
AND DIRECTION,

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HUMIDITY, RADIATION,
MOISTURE, AND TEMPERATURE.

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TEMPERATURE,
THAT'S SOMETHING YOU CAN GET

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A PRETTY GOOD FEEL FOR
BY YOURSELF, RIGHT?

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I MEAN, YOU CAN TELL
PRETTY INSTANTLY

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WHETHER IT'S COLD
OR HOT OUTSIDE.

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BUT IN A LOT OF CASES,
IT'S IMPORTANT

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TO GET MORE ACCURATE INFORMATION
ABOUT TEMPERATURE,

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AND THAT'S WHERE
THE DATA LOGGERS COME INTO PLAY.

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FOR A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE
OF A TEMPERATURE DATA LOGGER,

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LET'S LOOK AT NASA'S
HISTORY OF WINTER CONFERENCE

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IN LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK.

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IT'S A WEEKLONG PROGRAM
THAT HELPS TRAIN EDUCATORS,

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LIKE YOUR TEACHERS,

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TO THINK AND WORK
LIKE SCIENTISTS.

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THEY USE A DATA LOGGER
CALLED A THERMOCHRON.

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AND FOR MORE INFORMATION
ON THERMOCHRONS,

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LET'S HEAR FROM ALLEN LUNSFORD,
NASA TECHNOLOGIST

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FROM NASA GODDARD
SPACE FLIGHT CENTER.

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- A THERMOCHRON
IS A LITTLE DATA LOGGER.

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IT'S ABOUT THE SIZE
OF A STACK OF DIMES.

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IT'S REALLY KIND OF SMALL,
COMPACT, AND RUGGED.

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SO YOU CAN CONNECT IT
TO A COMPUTER

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AND PROGRAM IT
TO RECORD THE TEMPERATURE

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EVERY MINUTE,
EVERY TWO MINUTES,

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WHATEVER YOU LIKE,

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AND PUT IT, THEN,
IN THE FIELD,

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AND IT'S RUGGED ENOUGH
THAT YOU CAN BURY IT IN THE SAND

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OR PUT IT UNDERWATER
OR PUT IT IN A SNOWPACK

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AND LATER RETRIEVE IT,

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CONNECT IT
TO THE COMPUTER AGAIN,

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DOWNLOAD THE DATA,

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AND ANALYZE
THE TEMPERATURE HISTORY

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THAT THE THERMOCHRON
EXPERIENCED.

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- AT THE HISTORY
OF WINTER CONFERENCE,

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THE TEACHER-SCIENTISTS
USE THERMOCHRONS

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TO GATHER TEMPERATURE READINGS
IN SNOW.

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BUT THAT'S NOT
THEIR ONLY USE.

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- HOW I FIRST STARTED USING THEM
WAS FOR MY HOUSE,

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TO LOOK AT HOW OFTEN MY FURNACE
WAS RUNNING WHILE I WAS AT WORK,

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BECAUSE IT REALLY CONCERNED ME

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THAT MY GAS BILL
WAS $400 A MONTH.

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SO YOU PUT IT IN A VENT,
AND YOU GO TO WORK,

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COME BACK
AND LOOK AT THE DATA,

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AND YOU SEE HOW OFTEN
THE FURNACE COMES ON

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BY THE TEMPERATURE RISING.

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OR YOU CAN PUT IT
IN A REFRIGERATOR

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AND DO A SIMILAR THING.

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BUT THE THERMOCHRON
IS RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE

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AND SIMPLE TO USE
AND VERY, VERY VERSATILE.

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- THAT VERSATILITY
IS IMPORTANT,

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BECAUSE IT MEANS
THAT THE THERMOCHRON

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CAN BE USED FOR A VARIETY
OF APPLICATIONS.

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WHAT KINDS OF EXPERIMENTS USING
THERMOCHRONS CAN YOU THINK OF?

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BUT, AGAIN, THE THERMOCHRON

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ISN'T THE ONLY KIND
OF DATA LOGGER.

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AND SOME OTHERS HAVE

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SOME SLIGHTLY MORE SPECIFIC
APPLICATIONS.

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WHAT DO YOU THINK NASA
MIGHT USE THEM FOR?

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WELL, YOU KNOW THAT AN IMPORTANT
PART OF NASA'S RESEARCH

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IS ON HOW THE BODY REACTS
TO BEING IN SPACE.

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AND A GOOD INDICATOR OF A BODY'S
WELL-BEING IS ITS TEMPERATURE.

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BUT HAVING AN ASTRONAUT
STOPPING THEIR WORK

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TO HOLD A THERMOMETER
UNDER THEIR TONGUE

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EVERY FIVE MINUTES
WOULD BE A REAL HASSLE.

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WELL, THE SOLUTION
COMES FROM NASA'S WORK

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WITH JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
IN THE LATE 1980s

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TO PRODUCE THE INGESTIBLE
THERMAL MONITORING SYSTEM.

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YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT:
INGESTIBLE.

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BASICALLY, IT'S A THERMOMETER
IN A PILL THAT YOU SWALLOW.

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ONCE IT'S INSIDE YOU,
ITS QUARTZ SENSOR VIBRATES

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AT A FREQUENCY RELATIVE
TO THE BODY'S TEMPERATURE,

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AND THAT TRANSMITS
A HARMLESS

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LOW-FREQUENCY SIGNAL
THROUGH THE BODY.

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THAT SIGNAL CAN BE READ OUTSIDE
OF THE BODY BY A RECORDER,

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WHICH DISPLAYS
CORE BODY TEMPERATURE

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AND OTHER VITAL STATISTICS.

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AND AFTER 18 TO 30 HOURS,
THE PILL IS PASSED SAFELY

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FROM THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.

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WE DON'T HAVE FOOTAGE OF THAT,
FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.

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BUT SPACE
ISN'T THE ONLY PLACE

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WHERE IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW
YOUR BODY TEMPERATURE.

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A SPIN-OFF FROM THE NASA
THERMOMETER PILL

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IS NOW USED BY ATHLETES
IN A VARIETY OF SPORTS

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TO HELP PREVENT
HEAT-RELATED ILLNESSES.

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THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT
IN A SPORT LIKE FOOTBALL,

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WHERE ATHLETES MAY TRAIN

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WHEN THE HEAT INDEX
IS ABOVE 100 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT,

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ALL WHILE WEARING HEAVY PADS
THAT NOT ONLY RETAIN HEAT

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BUT ALSO INCREASE
THEIR BODY WEIGHT.

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BEYOND THE SPORTING WORLD,
THE INGESTIBLE CAPSULES

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HAVE ALSO BEEN USED TO MONITOR
THE CORE BODY TEMPERATURES

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OF FIREFIGHTERS AND DIVERS,

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TWO GROUPS WORKING IN OPPOSITE
TEMPERATURE EXTREMES.

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DOCTORS HAVE UTILIZED
THE TECHNOLOGY

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TO STUDY SLEEP DISORDERS

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AND IMPROVE
HEART SURGERY TECHNIQUES.

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NOW, REMEMBER,
WE'RE TALKING

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ABOUT THE INGESTIBLE
THERMOMETER PILLS.

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I WONDER IF A THERMOCHRON
WOULD WORK

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IF YOU TRIED TO INGEST IT.

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- I ALWAYS CAUTION PEOPLE:

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PLEASE DON'T SWALLOW
YOUR THERMOCHRON.

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JUST BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T
DESIGNED FOR THAT,

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AND THEY'RE A LITTLE BIGGER
THAN THOSE.

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I HAVEN'T HEARD ANYONE DO IT.
I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND IT.

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- THE TECHNOLOGY
HAS ALSO BEEN USED

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TO MONITOR
CRITICAL TEMPERATURES

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IN PAPER MANUFACTURING,
FOOD PROCESSING,

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AND JUMBO TELEVISION SETS
FOUND AT SPORT STADIUMS.

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SO TO RECAP,
WHETHER YOU'RE TALKING

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ABOUT THE INGESTIBLE
THERMOMETER PILL

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OR THE NOT-INGESTIBLE
THERMOCHRON,

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IT'S IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE
YOU'RE USING THE PROPER TOOLS

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FOR WHATEVER JOB
YOU'RE WORKING ON.

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THAT'S NASA FOR YOU:

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FROM HIGH ABOVE THE EARTH
TO DOWN HERE ON THE TURF,

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DEVELOPING TECHNOLOGIES
AND APPLYING THEM

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FOR MAINSTREAM USE,
POTENTIALLY SAVING LIVES,

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ALL IN A DAY'S WORK.

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THAT'S ALL WE'VE GOT
THIS EPISODE.

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THANKS FOR WATCHING.
I'M JUSTIN TULLY.

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AND WE'LL CATCH YOU NEXT TIME
ON "NASA LAUNCHPAD."