1 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: Hey, Daniel, have you ever broken a bone? I have, 2 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: but it's kind of embarrassing. What happened? Well, the first 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: and last time I ever went snowboarding, the first time 4 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,959 Speaker 1: down the mountain broke my wrist. Really the first time? 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: What happened? You didn't see that tree coming? No, honestly, 6 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: I was trying to avoid snowboarding over my girlfriend at 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: the time, so it was a bit chivalrous. You took 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: a hit for the for the team. That's exactly right. 9 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,319 Speaker 1: And then what happened? Did they take an X ray 10 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: of you? Or how did they? How did they know 11 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: it is broken? Yeah, well it hurt a lot, and 12 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: then it took an X ray and you can actually 13 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: see inside right, You could see that little bone was 14 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: snapped off and in the wrong spot. Isn't that amazing? 15 00:00:43,600 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: How signs can see inside of you? Hi am RhE. 16 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,479 Speaker 1: I'm a cartoonist and the creator of PhD comments. Hi, 17 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,479 Speaker 1: I'm Daniel. I'm a particle physicist by day and a 18 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: sleeper by night. How did it where you just close 19 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,760 Speaker 1: your eyes and it happens. You should try it sometime. 20 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,840 Speaker 1: It really does help because you never remember the moment 21 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: you fell asleep, right it's sort of mysterious. Yeah. I 22 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: remember actually trying to teach my kids how to fall asleep, 23 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: and then I realized I don't really know how, you 24 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: just sort of do it. To teach in to a 25 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: podcast where we sleep, I know we should do a 26 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: whole podcast episode about that, like why do we sleep? 27 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: What happens do we when we sleep? Why do we 28 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: need to sleep? What would happen if you didn't sleep? 29 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: So Welcome to our podcast, Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, 30 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio in which we try 31 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: to take your sleeping mind and wake it up to 32 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: the amazing mysteries of the universe. We zoom all around 33 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: and find interesting stuff and explain it to you. Yeah, 34 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: we try to permeate your dreams with thoughts of the 35 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: universe and the amazing, incredible things that are happening all 36 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: around you. That's right. We are spurring the great awakening 37 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: in physics by making sure everybody out there who listens 38 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: to this podcast really knows what's going on. Because the 39 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 1: universe is a crazy, amazing place and we want to 40 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: share it with you. Part of what we like to 41 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: do is to explain how even everyday things around you 42 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: that you made use on a regular basis work. That's right, 43 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: because there's incredible physics and the heart of the star 44 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,959 Speaker 1: and in the birth of the universe and in particle collisions. 45 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: But there's also really amazing physics happening all around us 46 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: in technology that we take for grant and technology that 47 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: we use that our lives sometimes depend on but we 48 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,519 Speaker 1: don't really understand. Yeah, it's technology that saves lives and 49 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: can sort of tell you and help people. Right, that's right. 50 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: And it seems sort of like futuristic and awesome. You know, 51 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: it's incredible that you can see inside somebody without cutting 52 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: them open. So today on the podcast, we'll be talking 53 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: about m r ees. How do they work, Why do 54 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: they work? Do they work? Why do physicists want to 55 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: see inside you? Anyway? Who gave in permission to look 56 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: inside of you? I think it's a real question. What 57 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: are you hiding that you don't want physicists to look 58 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:10,959 Speaker 1: inside you? I mean, if you're innocent, you have nothing 59 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 1: to hide, right, Yeah, m RIS these are its tands 60 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: for magnetic resonance imaging, right, that's right. And if you've 61 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: ever been to the doctor and you have an injury 62 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,080 Speaker 1: or a broken bone or something funny going on inside you, 63 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: or you just curious, like what's going on inside of me? 64 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,080 Speaker 1: Let's get myself checked out. Then you know you have 65 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: several options for looking inside you. You You can do an 66 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: X ray, you can do a cat scan, or you 67 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: can do an m r I. You can do the lobotomy, 68 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: you can they can just slice you like a Deli 69 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: ham and check you out. But the nice thing about 70 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: some of these is that they don't need to open 71 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: you up. Right, it's non invasive, and you know that 72 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: there are risks every time you do surgery, and so 73 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: it's a great advantage to get to figure out what's 74 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: going on before they go in and cut anything. So 75 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: m r s are These are the kind that you 76 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: sort of go, you lie down in a little platform 77 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: and then they roll you into this kind of giant 78 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: donut looking thing. Right. Yeah, it's like a big physics machine. Right. 79 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 1: It's big, it's round, it glows, it makes really loud 80 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: clunking noises. It takes a while, and uh, I've bet 81 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: everybody who lies in an mri I is wondering like, 82 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: what is this thing doing? Like is it zapping my brain? 83 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: How does this thing actually work? Yeah, and it's because 84 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: it doesn't really touch you, right, You just lie on 85 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: this little platform and somehow it takes pictures inside of 86 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: your body. Yeah, exactly. It can show you what's going on, 87 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: and that's pretty powerful. If you're wondering if you have cancer, 88 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: or if you have a tumor, or if there's you know, 89 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:38,720 Speaker 1: if your body is filled with bananas or something, m 90 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: rs can answer that question, right. And what's amazing about 91 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,480 Speaker 1: m R I s I think is that they don't 92 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: just take sort of like a picture, you know, like 93 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 1: a like an impression, like a like a whole body picture. 94 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:53,840 Speaker 1: They really just kind of capture a slice of your body, 95 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: and so you can get a really detailed model or 96 00:04:57,279 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: reconstruction of your your entire all your all the tissues 97 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: and a body. Right. Yeah, it's really pretty incredible. We 98 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:03,799 Speaker 1: had an m R I done of our daughter once 99 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 1: and you can sort of turn the knob and see 100 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 1: how like all the bits of the brain and the 101 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 1: ear and stuff are all connected. It's it's amazing. It's 102 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: like taking somebody and slicing them like a Deli hym 103 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: without actually slicing them. Thank goodness for physics. Have you 104 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: ever seen that Body Works exhibit where they actually take 105 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:24,159 Speaker 1: corpses and slice them super thin. I have, yeah, a 106 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: few times. It's pretty shocking. It's pretty shocking, but that's 107 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:29,280 Speaker 1: basically what an m r I does. Also, right, gives 108 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: you all these little slices that lets you look back 109 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: and forth and see how things are connected and what's 110 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,479 Speaker 1: going on inside you. It's an incredible machine the body. Yeah, 111 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: I guess what I mean is, you know, like when 112 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: you I think a lot of people are familiar with 113 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 1: X rays, you know, like if you go to the 114 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: dentist or you broke a bone, will take an X 115 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 1: ray of you. But an X rays is really just 116 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,840 Speaker 1: like they shoot you with rays, they go through your 117 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: body and then they capture them on the other side, right, 118 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: and so you're you're getting everything. You're getting like everything 119 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,159 Speaker 1: inside of your body's mushed into one image. That's right. Yeah, 120 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: it's like integrated along the line of the X ray. Yeah, 121 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: you're learning about the whole body that way. X rays 122 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: can't do slices, yeah, and so the image is very 123 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: like fuzzy, and it's hard to tell what's bone and 124 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: what's an organ. But with an m r I you 125 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: really get like a detailed, step by step slice of 126 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: the entire the volume of your body. Yeah, and the 127 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 1: benefit is you don't get cancer causing radiation. You get 128 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: other kinds of cancer possibly, So I mean, you do 129 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: get other kinds of radiation. But you know X rays 130 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:32,239 Speaker 1: are dangerous. They are ionizing radiation, and they deposit energy, 131 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: and they can break up your DNA, And there's reasons 132 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: why you should be careful when you make the decisions 133 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: about having an X ray. You know X rays are great, 134 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:41,720 Speaker 1: but you know you wouldn't want an X ray every 135 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:44,039 Speaker 1: five minutes, um, you wouldn't want an X rays on 136 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,360 Speaker 1: tiny babies. An anti X rayer, I'm a judicious X 137 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:53,719 Speaker 1: rayer that you should start any movement there with MC 138 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: say no to X rays every other time. No X 139 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: rays or are wonderful, but you shouldn't just do them 140 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: without thinking about it, because there really is the health cost. 141 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: But with m R S it's different. You don't have 142 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: that ionizing radiation and so you're not increasing your cancer risk. 143 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: Even though it does sound crazy and feel weird to 144 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: lie inside this two for an hour, have you ever 145 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: taken an m R I of yourself like I've had 146 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: my m R I taken. Have you ever done it 147 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: and done it on yourself? I have had an m 148 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: R I done once of my leg because I tore 149 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: a muscle. I had the m R of my brain 150 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: and my head done and they gave me the data. 151 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: Whoa and what question were they looking to answer? There? 152 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 1: How does this guy survive with no sleep? It's just 153 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:31,880 Speaker 1: a bunch of monkeys and bananis inside there? Where did 154 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: all those amazing funny ideas and creative genius come from? 155 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 1: That's what they wanted to know, surely for posterity, But no, 156 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: it's weird. It's weird first of all because you you 157 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: kind of get you get a sense of what your 158 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: head looks like without hair. I mean no offense to 159 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: bald people out there, but it's kind of shocking if 160 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: you've always had hair to suddenly see kind of like 161 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: the outline of what your head looks like. It's kind 162 00:07:55,960 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: of that's bizarre, think number one. But then it's really 163 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: weird to see all the you know, your eyeballs and 164 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: the passages of your nose and and your tongue, and 165 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: to think that like that's also you see all the 166 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: fillings in your teeth, which is you know, a little embarrassing. Yeah. 167 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: For me, it really highlights how much our bodies really 168 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: are a machine. You know. I like to think of 169 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,239 Speaker 1: myself as a person and the mechanics of what supports 170 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: that are, like to sort of abstract that away and 171 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: think of myself with my identity, my personality, my thoughts. 172 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 1: But when you look inside yourself, you see your this 173 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: basically this meat machine, right, and this this organic robot, 174 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: and it all has to work and pump and move 175 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: and squish all the time, and it's incredible that it 176 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: actually works. Ever, not to mention like mostly working for 177 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: like seventy years at a time. No, I think that's 178 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: the name of a heavy metal band meat machine machine. 179 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:48,320 Speaker 1: But anyway, so we were wondering how many people out 180 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: there know how m R machine works. You know, a 181 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: lot of people get them for various reasons and they 182 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: can help save lives. But we were wondering if people 183 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: out there new how this is amazing to achnology works. Yeah, 184 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: So I walked around campus does I usually do, and 185 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:05,439 Speaker 1: I ask people if they knew what is an m 186 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 1: R I and how does it work? Would you know 187 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 1: how to respond if somebody asked you how an m 188 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: R I works. Here's what people had to say. I 189 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: have to do with strong magnetic fields. Okay, so how 190 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: does that let you take a picture of the inside 191 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: of your body? I'm not really sure. I'm probably there. 192 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: The magnetic field will go through a certain part of 193 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: your body, and depending on I guess how dense or 194 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: how that the properties of the body part, it shows 195 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:36,439 Speaker 1: up differently with an image. It's a machine which scans 196 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: you for abnormalities within the body. Do you know how 197 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: it works? How does it see inside you? My guess 198 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: would be radiation of some sort and punny, I think 199 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: you drink something and they're able to see it. Um, 200 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 1: I guess something's wrong with you. You know, you would 201 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: get an MRI to pretty much figure out. It's more 202 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:55,679 Speaker 1: kind of like an extra scan. I think it's extra 203 00:09:55,880 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: or something an MRI is or yeah, it's scan your 204 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: your brain? Right. How does it work? How does it 205 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: scan the brain? I would assume like similar to what 206 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: they used like for X rays. So like maybe like 207 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: some sort of laser. I don't know, laser. I don't know, 208 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,080 Speaker 1: no m R I actually I think it it's scans 209 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,720 Speaker 1: your brain or your organs and like it gives your 210 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:26,559 Speaker 1: the estimation of where is the tomorrow whatever it is. 211 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: I m hmm, I don't know. I have no idea. 212 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:36,719 Speaker 1: So what do you think of those answers? Impressed or not? Well, 213 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,560 Speaker 1: it's interesting. Most people, um sort of knew what it was, 214 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:41,679 Speaker 1: so they know that it's kind of a scan of 215 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 1: your body for medical reasons, and they kind of related 216 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:48,839 Speaker 1: it to X rays. Yeah, that's right. Everybody seemed to 217 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: have an understanding of what it's for why you might 218 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,000 Speaker 1: do it, but almost nobody actually knew how it worked. 219 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: And you're right, people thought about the same way they 220 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: sort of think about like X rays or lasers or something. 221 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 1: Everybody thought it was shooting something into you. Yeah, but 222 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:04,199 Speaker 1: and they're not too far off, right, Like, it does 223 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 1: involve electromagnetic radiation, right, and pulses and things that go 224 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:13,320 Speaker 1: through you. Yeah, And of course it has to. If 225 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:16,200 Speaker 1: you want to see inside something, then you have to 226 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: probe it somehow, right, You have to somehow gather information 227 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:22,439 Speaker 1: about what's beyond the skin or through the wall or 228 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 1: whatever it is you're trying to look past. And the 229 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 1: only way we really to do that is to send 230 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 1: some kind of radiation in. But remember radiation is a 231 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: broad term. We had a whole episode about that. Radiation 232 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: can just mean sound, you know, like when you get 233 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: an ultrasound done, you're sending sonic radiation into your body 234 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:39,760 Speaker 1: and you're seeing how it bounces around and comes back. 235 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: And that's basically the the idea behind all medical imaging 236 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: is shoot some radiation in there, see how it bounces around, 237 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 1: because you know, if it's this kind of goop, it's 238 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:50,959 Speaker 1: going to bounce around differently than if it's that kind 239 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: of group, you know, fat versus bone versus brain, and 240 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: then you can reconstruct the picture. Yeah, so it's very 241 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: different than X rays. But let's maybe for those of 242 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: us who aren't not at all i'm there with medical imaging, 243 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:04,360 Speaker 1: maybe it steps us through. First of all, it's started 244 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 1: with X rays. How do how do X rays work? Right? 245 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:10,560 Speaker 1: So X rays are also electromagnetic radiation. Remember X rays 246 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: are just light, right, a very very high frequency, and 247 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:17,080 Speaker 1: so they shoot them into your body and X rays 248 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: are very powerful. They can penetrate like most light, like 249 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: photons that come from the sun that you can see, 250 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:24,199 Speaker 1: don't go through your body. That's why your body is 251 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: not transparent. Right, your opaque, but X rays are much 252 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:30,040 Speaker 1: more powerful. They can go all the way through your body. Um. 253 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 1: But it turns out that X rays are absorbed differently 254 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:34,720 Speaker 1: by different kinds of stuff in your body. So, for example, 255 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:38,200 Speaker 1: bone is really good at absorbing X rays. So shoot 256 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: a bunch of X rays through somebody and then try 257 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 1: to capture them those X rays on the other side. 258 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:45,720 Speaker 1: What you'll see is that where there was bone, for example, 259 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: very few of the X rays passed through, whereas whereas 260 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: mostly like gas from your lungs, then a lot of 261 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 1: the X rays do pass through. So what you'll see 262 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: is like the shadow of the bones. It's like doing 263 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: shadow puppets. Right. You hold up a light bulb and 264 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,240 Speaker 1: your hand and you can make a shadow on the wall, 265 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:04,439 Speaker 1: so you can see where your hand was, right X 266 00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:07,719 Speaker 1: raysor like that, except that your body is mostly transparent 267 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: to X rays except for some of the stuff inside, 268 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:12,959 Speaker 1: like bones. So you're really sort of getting the difference 269 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 1: in transparency between the different kinds of things inside of you. 270 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:20,440 Speaker 1: That's right, and different kinds of light. UM, find different 271 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: things transparent like visible light can pass through air, no problem, right, 272 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: But it can't pass through a rock or your hand. 273 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:28,200 Speaker 1: X rays are a different kind of light, so they 274 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:29,920 Speaker 1: have a different set of stuff that they can go 275 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,560 Speaker 1: through or not. So, yeah, you're right, you're seeing the 276 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: difference in transparency between bone and fat or tumors and 277 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: gas and all the kind of stuff that makes up 278 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:41,680 Speaker 1: your body. Yeah, and you sort of get the shadow 279 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 1: of them, the impression of them on the other side 280 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,679 Speaker 1: on the on like a sensor or a film. Yeah, exactly. 281 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:49,559 Speaker 1: And you know it used to be filmed. They used 282 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 1: to like take a picture and have to develop it. 283 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:53,719 Speaker 1: These days they use a digital camera, which is why 284 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:56,439 Speaker 1: it's so fast. And the thing X rays are good 285 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 1: at is telling like bone from other tissue. X ray 286 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 1: is not that good telling the difference between like water 287 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:04,760 Speaker 1: or fat or that kind of stuff. It all comed 288 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: out about the same and X rays. And the other 289 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: thing is you mentioned is that the X rays passed 290 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:10,880 Speaker 1: all the way through you, so you're just seeing sort 291 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: of like the overall shadow. You can't see slices. And 292 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 1: that's why when you take an X ray sometimes ask 293 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:17,839 Speaker 1: you to turn so they can take it from the 294 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:19,440 Speaker 1: front and they can take it from the side or 295 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: from a different angle so they can get a sense 296 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: for what's going on inside from shooting X rays through 297 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:27,200 Speaker 1: you at different at different angles. With that, let's take 298 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: a break. We'll be back in just a short minute. 299 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 1: So that's one way to look inside of you. But 300 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: m r I is sort of smarter, right, Like, it 301 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: doesn't shoot radiation through you. It it just sort of 302 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: like kind of it does something a lot cleverer. Right, Well, 303 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: it actually does shoot radiation through you, right, I mean, 304 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: it does send electromagnetic pulses, but they're safer, right, It's 305 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 1: not really high energy. In fact, they're very very low energy. 306 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: They're radio waves, which means a very long frequencies, So 307 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: they're not the kind of radiation that cannet deposit energy 308 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: and break up your DNA and cause cancer. And that's 309 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: the problem with X rays. And that's why when you 310 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 1: take an X ray sometimes they give me like a 311 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,440 Speaker 1: lead skirt or a lead helmet or something, you know, 312 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 1: or a lead jock strap or whatever to protect your 313 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 1: all of your important bits that you don't want to 314 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: send radiation into. But an m r I you can 315 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 1: use much lower energy radiation uses the same radiation as 316 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 1: like what you listen on the radio that's pumped out 317 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: by radio antennants exactly the same kind of radiation. You 318 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: don't usually think of that as light because you can't 319 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: see it, but it's all part of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum. 320 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 1: You know. It starts out really low frequency with radio waves, 321 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: comes up to visible light, and then you can UV 322 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: lighted higher frequencies, and then gamm or X rays and 323 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: gamma rays at very high frequencies. It's also part of 324 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:57,400 Speaker 1: the same family, but you know, just like in families 325 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:00,240 Speaker 1: were all different, and so radio waves feel very front 326 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: of the body than X rays because they don't deposit 327 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: very much energy, so they can't really do much damage. 328 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: All right, So step us through Daniel. How does an 329 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: m r I work? So, and let's start maybe with 330 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: the ideita is that in an m r I you 331 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: are sending radiation into your body, but you're sort of 332 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: doing it proton by proton, right like yours. You're trying 333 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: to poke one proton inside of your body. And so 334 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: how does that work? Like if you if there's a 335 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: proton inside of your body, how do you get it 336 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: to light up or to see it? Yeah? Exactly, Well, 337 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: remember the protons can absorb energy sometimes, so you're sending 338 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 1: these radio waves in, and the radio waves have energy, 339 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: and the idea is that you want to poke those 340 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 1: protons and give them that energy, so they get like excited, 341 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: and then they relax and they send the energy back. 342 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: And the interesting thing, the reason that you can see 343 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 1: inside the body with an m R I you can 344 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,280 Speaker 1: see the different kinds of tissue, is that different kinds 345 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: of tissue take different amounts of time to absorb that 346 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,920 Speaker 1: energy and then send it back. So like fat or 347 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: bone or water or whatever, you poke the proton in 348 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: those different kinds of tissue, some of them will hold 349 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: that energy for a while and then send it back, 350 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:06,919 Speaker 1: and some of them will send it right away. So 351 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: you can tell what different kind of tissues there are 352 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:12,159 Speaker 1: by telling by seeing how long it takes for that 353 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:14,919 Speaker 1: energy that you're deposited to to get sent back to you. 354 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,439 Speaker 1: So it's not like you're sending X rays through and 355 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:20,159 Speaker 1: then whatever makes it out to the other end you 356 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:24,200 Speaker 1: see it. This is more like you're you're sending rata 357 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:28,920 Speaker 1: waves in and then that lights up the protons inside 358 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: of you in different ways, And depending on how they 359 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: light up and how long they take to stop lighting up, 360 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:36,720 Speaker 1: then you can tell what kind of tissue it is, 361 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,159 Speaker 1: or what kind of whether it's bone or fat or 362 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:42,120 Speaker 1: bananas exactly. And it's it's just like you know when 363 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: you walk along a wall and you're looking for a stud, right, 364 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:46,159 Speaker 1: what do you do? You knock on the wall, and 365 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,359 Speaker 1: you're sending a wave in and you're waiting for that 366 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 1: wave to come back, right, And if the wave sounds 367 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:53,200 Speaker 1: this way or sounds that way, it takes a long 368 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:55,440 Speaker 1: time or a short time to come back. That tells 369 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 1: you about what's behind the wall. It's the same basic idea. 370 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 1: It's also the way we kind of like an echo, 371 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: more like an echo, but with electromagnetic radiation and pantum mechanics. Yes, exactly, 372 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:10,160 Speaker 1: it's like an echo and the radio wave goes in 373 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:12,920 Speaker 1: and gets and tickles those protons and makes them excited, 374 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 1: and then it sends a radio wave back. So you 375 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,919 Speaker 1: have to have a radio emitter and a receiver, so 376 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:20,040 Speaker 1: it like it talks to the protons and then it 377 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:22,960 Speaker 1: waits for the protons to talk back, and based on 378 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: how long it took for them to talk back, it says, Oh, 379 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: this one's probably fat, this one's probably bone, this one's 380 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: probably brained, this one's probably water. This is probably brilliant 381 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 1: in the brain exactly. Okay, cool, all right, So it's 382 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:42,120 Speaker 1: it's kind of like you're sending a signal in your 383 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:45,679 Speaker 1: how it gets reflected back. Then you you recorded how 384 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 1: when it bounces back, and then that tells you that 385 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:50,240 Speaker 1: sort of gives you the image of what's inside of 386 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 1: your body exactly. And then there's some really cool quantum 387 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:55,879 Speaker 1: mechanics about how you get those protons to absorb that 388 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:59,320 Speaker 1: radio information and why they send it back, and that's 389 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,359 Speaker 1: where the magnets come in. And the way understand it, 390 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:03,439 Speaker 1: it's sort of like a spinning top, right, Like you 391 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 1: need to think of a proton as a spinning top, 392 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:09,159 Speaker 1: and so you when you put it inside of this 393 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: giant magnet, it makes all the tops sort of a 394 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: ligne in a particular way or in one direction. Right, 395 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,640 Speaker 1: that's right, because remember we talked on our quantum Spin 396 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 1: episode about how all these little particles they're not really spinning, 397 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: but they have this thing about them called spin, which 398 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 1: gives them a little magnetic field. To think of, every 399 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:28,720 Speaker 1: little particle is having a little magnet in it, and 400 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: so if you put a really big magnet on the 401 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:33,439 Speaker 1: outside of the body, then all the protons in your 402 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:35,960 Speaker 1: body are going to line up with that magnet. But 403 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: some of them line up with the magnet and some 404 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: of them line up against the magnet, but you know, 405 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: they all go along that line, and then that primes 406 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 1: them for you to poke them right, for you to 407 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,120 Speaker 1: send in the radio wave, and then depending on how 408 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 1: they react to that, that's the signal you get back exactly. 409 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:52,399 Speaker 1: And that's the that's the magnetic part. And so you 410 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: send in the radio wave and then some of the 411 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:57,440 Speaker 1: ones that were not aligned flip and become aligned because 412 00:19:57,440 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 1: that takes more energy, and so that's how they absorb 413 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,200 Speaker 1: the energy of the radio waves. Some of the ones 414 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:04,600 Speaker 1: that were unaligned to become aligned with the magnet. So 415 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 1: it's just like switching directions, right. They absorb that energy, 416 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:10,120 Speaker 1: but they don't they don't hold onto it for very long, 417 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:12,359 Speaker 1: and then eventually they flip back and they send the 418 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: radio wave back. So that's the magnetic part. That's how 419 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,200 Speaker 1: you get the protons to absorb this energy. That you 420 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: put them in this magnetic field that allows them to 421 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:22,359 Speaker 1: align or unaligned, and that gives them an opportunity to 422 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:24,199 Speaker 1: absorb this kind of energy. It's kind of like the 423 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: spinning top. You flip it and then but then it 424 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: wants to flip back, and when it's flipping back, it 425 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,919 Speaker 1: releases some energy back. Right, that's right, and that's the 426 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,400 Speaker 1: resonance part. Remember um m RI is magnetic resonance imaging, 427 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:38,919 Speaker 1: and the magnet comes from putting things people in a 428 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 1: big magnet. And the resonance part is the part about 429 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: absorbing the radio frequency. Right, normally you send radio wave 430 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:47,480 Speaker 1: through your body, they won't get absorbed, rather just pass 431 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 1: right through because they're not at the right energy to 432 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 1: be absorbed. Remember we talked about in quantum mechanics, how 433 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:55,919 Speaker 1: like atoms have different energy levels. Right, they can't just 434 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 1: absorb a photon of a random energy. The energy that 435 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,480 Speaker 1: comes in us to be the right size because for example, 436 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,000 Speaker 1: electrons have levels and they want to go up one 437 00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,399 Speaker 1: level or up two levels the right they're like along 438 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: this ladder. So you can't just absorb any random amount 439 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,639 Speaker 1: of energy. You have to absorb the right size of energy. Now, 440 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: normally radio waves are not the right sized energy for 441 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 1: your body to absorb. They pass right through you. But 442 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 1: when you put these protons in the magnetic field, then 443 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 1: they have this new way to absorb energy. And that's 444 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,920 Speaker 1: this resonance part. The energy is the resonant energy is 445 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:30,439 Speaker 1: the right energy to push these things to make them 446 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:32,640 Speaker 1: spin one way instead of the other way. And now 447 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: is it all all the protons in your body or 448 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,160 Speaker 1: only certain protons? It's all the protons that I want, man, 449 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: I have total control over it, like in all all 450 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: the atoms in your body react to this signal or 451 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:47,880 Speaker 1: only like water? Or how does that work? Now? All 452 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:50,199 Speaker 1: the protons in your body can react to this, right 453 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: because your body is made of protons, rights, protons and 454 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: neutrons and electrons, but mostly it's water, right, Like most 455 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:58,879 Speaker 1: of your body is water. But all the protons and 456 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,080 Speaker 1: the nuclei can respond onto this kind of thing. Um. 457 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: And there's also a really cool trick they do to 458 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:08,159 Speaker 1: allow themselves to see slices. You're talking earlier about how 459 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 1: you could see like you know, just to slice through 460 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:12,600 Speaker 1: your body your shoulders, or slice through your body at 461 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,280 Speaker 1: your stomach or your feet or whatever. They do a 462 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:18,280 Speaker 1: really cool trick by tuning the magnet strength to make 463 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,200 Speaker 1: sure that only protons and one slice are able to 464 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: absorb that energy at a time. That's where the giant 465 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: magnet comes in, right, yeah, exactly. You know, like when 466 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: you're in that platform and you roll in, you go 467 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: into the giant donut. That donut is basically like a 468 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: giant it's really just a magnet, right, like like like 469 00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:39,879 Speaker 1: a it's just a giant coil of wire that creates 470 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 1: a magnet. That's right. It creates a magnet. And the 471 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,720 Speaker 1: magnet is stronger on one side than on the other, 472 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 1: Like it's really stronger your head and it's a little 473 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:49,720 Speaker 1: weaker at your feet. And what that means is that 474 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,160 Speaker 1: the radio waves that they send in are better absorbed 475 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,280 Speaker 1: by just one slice of your body. The slice of 476 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:58,920 Speaker 1: your body has just the right magnetic strength to absorb 477 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,639 Speaker 1: those radio waves. That's the resonance part. That's how they 478 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: can take a slice of you, right, because it the 479 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 1: magnetic field changes along your body and so and and 480 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:13,399 Speaker 1: those protons react differently depending on the slice. That's right. 481 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:16,200 Speaker 1: Only the protons that are in the magnetic field that's 482 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,720 Speaker 1: the right strength are primed to absorb that radio wave 483 00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:22,720 Speaker 1: and then you know, send it back. And so basically 484 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: your whole body is just totally transparent to the radio 485 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 1: waves except for this one slice where the protons will 486 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,360 Speaker 1: grab the radio energy and then send it back, and 487 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,520 Speaker 1: so it's like, yeah, it's like you can only see 488 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:36,880 Speaker 1: one slice at a time. And then you're lying there 489 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 1: and you're hearing like clank, boom, bang booming. It's like 490 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 1: sort of disconcerting all the weird noises that happened. Yeah, 491 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: what is that noise? Anyways? When you you know, when 492 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 1: you're in there, you just hear like a chunk, chunk, chunk. 493 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:50,160 Speaker 1: What is And you see it on TV two when 494 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,399 Speaker 1: people are getting their MR ees you hear them, you 495 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:54,280 Speaker 1: just hear this noise going good, chunk chunk. What is 496 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:57,400 Speaker 1: that noise? That's just a physically sounding noise they added 497 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,120 Speaker 1: to make people feel like it's worth all the money. 498 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 1: Did some sound editor putting in the special effects later? 499 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 1: Are people going to pay more if it sounds? If 500 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: it sounds, you know, like some physics is happening. Now, 501 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 1: there really is something happening there. That's them adjusting the 502 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,200 Speaker 1: magnetic field so they can see different slices of your body. Remember, 503 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,239 Speaker 1: those radio waves only can talk to protons that are 504 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: in a magnetic field that has the right strength. So 505 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:21,959 Speaker 1: what they're doing is they're adjusting the magnetic field. They 506 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:24,159 Speaker 1: can either slide you back and forth, but that's a 507 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,920 Speaker 1: little more uncomfortable, or they can leave you sitting there 508 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: and they can adjust the magnetic field, and so you're 509 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,640 Speaker 1: hearing all the coils move and whatever. So the magnetic 510 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,240 Speaker 1: field is now good for protons at your feet, or 511 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,359 Speaker 1: good for protons at your head or whatever. They're moving 512 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:40,720 Speaker 1: which slice of your body they can talk to by 513 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:43,600 Speaker 1: changing where the magnetic field has just the right strength. 514 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,840 Speaker 1: All right. So it's sort of like, can I call 515 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 1: it quantum echo, like a quantum echo effect, Oh, that 516 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:53,639 Speaker 1: would be awesome, Yeah, quantum echo imaging. We should have 517 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: name to that. That's a new product name, all right. 518 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: So then that gives you an image of your body. 519 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,399 Speaker 1: Because each proton, depends on what kind of stuff it 520 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,399 Speaker 1: is in your body, will kind of reflect that energy 521 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,280 Speaker 1: back differently, and so you can sort of tell what's fat, 522 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:10,159 Speaker 1: what's bone, what's water. Yeah, exactly. They all reflect the 523 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: energy back, but they take different amounts of time. So 524 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:14,920 Speaker 1: like fat takes a different amount of time to send 525 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:17,639 Speaker 1: the energy back than water does or bone does, and 526 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:19,159 Speaker 1: that's how they can tell the difference. And that's a 527 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:21,720 Speaker 1: really cool thing about m r I. Unlike X ray, 528 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,439 Speaker 1: they can tell the difference between these different kinds of tissue, 529 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:26,560 Speaker 1: so it's so valuable. But you can see like, oh, 530 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: there's a tumor there next to this other organ or 531 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:31,720 Speaker 1: you know, you can see the differences there, which which 532 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:33,640 Speaker 1: makes it really valuable from a medical point of view. 533 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: And now a quick word from our sponsor. I think 534 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:50,800 Speaker 1: my question is how did they figure this out? How 535 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,560 Speaker 1: did they ever think to use this? How did they 536 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:55,439 Speaker 1: how did they come up with the idea to use 537 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 1: it to look inside your body? Yeah, well, it came 538 00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:59,879 Speaker 1: out of people doing basic research with atoms. You know. 539 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:01,919 Speaker 1: They were, you know, like, let's take a bunch of 540 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,160 Speaker 1: atoms and put in a magnetic field and poke them, 541 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,639 Speaker 1: and you know, let's see if quantum mechanics works, and 542 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,679 Speaker 1: can we understand why they absorb frequencies that you know 543 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 1: here and there. And then they discovered, I think quite accidentally, 544 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 1: that the relaxation time, this time it takes the energy 545 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:18,719 Speaker 1: to come back is different for different kinds of materials. 546 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:21,960 Speaker 1: And then you know, somebody had this bright idea. They're like, oh, wait, 547 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:24,880 Speaker 1: maybe we can use this for imaging. And I think 548 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,359 Speaker 1: there's a huge field of people working on imaging and 549 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: imaging techniques and new ways to see inside the body 550 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:32,960 Speaker 1: because you know, m RIS they work pretty well, but 551 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 1: they're also they take a long time, and they're really expensive, right, 552 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:38,720 Speaker 1: so there are cons to an m r I. So 553 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:42,920 Speaker 1: there's a huge field of researchers working to develop better, faster, 554 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 1: cheaper scanning technology. My guess is that it was some 555 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 1: physicists in a lab, you know, poking doing quantum physics, 556 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: and somebody left their sandwich in the middle, and then 557 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: they got this image of the inside of the sandwich. 558 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:57,159 Speaker 1: They're like, oh my god, I think of what we 559 00:26:57,200 --> 00:26:59,440 Speaker 1: can do. You know, there are easier ways to tell 560 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 1: what's in your image then accidentally inventing an MRI machine. 561 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: You could just open it up. But if it's a burrito, 562 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,200 Speaker 1: let's go with burrito, that's a little harder with this inside. 563 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:11,320 Speaker 1: That's true, there's no noninvasive way to see what's inside 564 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:15,639 Speaker 1: of burrito. Yeah, I guess you can eat it, yeah exactly. Um, 565 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:18,199 Speaker 1: that's that's definitely a destructive way of seeing it, all right. 566 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,080 Speaker 1: So that's kind of the general picture of out m 567 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: RIS work. That's pretty cool. Yeah, And you know, every 568 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: time you're getting an m R I. It means that 569 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 1: they're sending these these pulses into you, and there's a 570 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,159 Speaker 1: very strong magnetic field that's applied to your body, and 571 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:32,640 Speaker 1: as far as we know, there's no adverse health effects 572 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:35,159 Speaker 1: to having a strong magnetic field. You might be thinking, 573 00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:38,040 Speaker 1: oh my gosh, they're sending this magnetic field in me 574 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,520 Speaker 1: and all my protons are getting pointed in one direction, 575 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: and that sounds really destructive, but as far as we know, 576 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:45,680 Speaker 1: you know, getting your protons to align with the magnetic 577 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,679 Speaker 1: field doesn't hurt you. Unless you're a robot, then that 578 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:51,479 Speaker 1: might be bro or actually, this is serious, unless you're 579 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:55,080 Speaker 1: partially a robot, Like if you have metal screws or 580 00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:57,919 Speaker 1: something inside of you, then m RIS could be dangerous 581 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,320 Speaker 1: because magnetic fields could like pull them out out or 582 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:02,080 Speaker 1: you know, rip out parts of you. That would be 583 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,800 Speaker 1: pretty bad. Yeah. Yeah, I've heard of stories in MRI 584 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,920 Speaker 1: labs where people accidentally bring their keys in and then 585 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,119 Speaker 1: they get you know, they fly through the room, across 586 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:14,360 Speaker 1: the room and get stuck on the magnet and they 587 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:16,920 Speaker 1: really have to like they can't pull them out because 588 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,359 Speaker 1: there's it's so strong. You can't just pull the keys away. 589 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:21,960 Speaker 1: And so they have to shut down the whole thing 590 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: just to get that person's keys. That's right, I gotta 591 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: go home. My keys are stuck to the m R 592 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:29,640 Speaker 1: look good with this that aspect, but also while it's 593 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 1: flying through the air, the thing is like a bullet, 594 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: you know, that could really hurt somebody. We have the 595 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:36,920 Speaker 1: same problem in particle physics because we have really really 596 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,120 Speaker 1: strong magnets around the collision point and we use that 597 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,240 Speaker 1: because we want to bend the particles. We see how 598 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 1: fast they were going. And anytime you turn on the 599 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: magnet there's like a loose screw driver. That's a bullet 600 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:52,560 Speaker 1: that could kill somebody. So so it's pretty cool technology, 601 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:54,240 Speaker 1: and so there are some pros and cons. So the 602 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: pro is that there's no radiation that can kill you 603 00:28:57,160 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: like X rays, right, yeah, X rays and cat scans 604 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: all those come with significant doses of radiation and mean 605 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:04,520 Speaker 1: more cat scans and X rays X rays. These days, 606 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:06,920 Speaker 1: they've they figured out how to do it with a 607 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: sort of minimum amount of radiation. So you know, I 608 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 1: don't want to scare anybody. You should get X rays 609 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,400 Speaker 1: that your dentists because they're the benefits of seeing inside 610 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 1: your body. Outweigh the radiation, but shouldn't just look at 611 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:18,960 Speaker 1: like an X ray camera at home and happily take 612 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: pictures of your body just for fun. And actually, you know, 613 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 1: they used to have really really high intensity on X rays, 614 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:30,640 Speaker 1: dental X rays and medical X rays. They used to 615 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:32,960 Speaker 1: really crank it up because they didn't understand the dangers 616 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:36,239 Speaker 1: um And then recently, more recently, they realize they can 617 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,280 Speaker 1: get the same images with much less radiation UM and 618 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:41,080 Speaker 1: so they've been tuning them down for a long time. 619 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:44,840 Speaker 1: But yeah, X rays have ionizing radiation, which is dangerous, 620 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 1: but mrs don't. And so that's a big advantage, especially 621 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: if you're dealing with like an infant or something. Right, 622 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:51,720 Speaker 1: you don't want to you don't want to pile a 623 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: huge amount of radiation into the brain of an infant, 624 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,200 Speaker 1: let to give them superpowers. Then that maybe that is 625 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:00,360 Speaker 1: a tough parenting choice, right, Do I give my kid 626 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 1: cancer or maybe superpowers? Yeah, I don't know, think about that. 627 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:06,560 Speaker 1: But then the problem is that it kind of takes 628 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:09,000 Speaker 1: a long time, it's loud, and you have to sit 629 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 1: in a tube for a long time. Yeah, exactly, And 630 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:13,320 Speaker 1: so there are some downsides and it costs lots. You 631 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 1: need your insurance whatever to approve it, but you know 632 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 1: it's irreplaceable. There's kinds of pictures that m RI I 633 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:21,120 Speaker 1: s can take that nothing else can do. Right, there's 634 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:24,040 Speaker 1: no better technology for doing that, right, That's right, exactly, 635 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,680 Speaker 1: all right. Well, it's uh, that explains it. So if 636 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:28,479 Speaker 1: you need an m r I and you want to 637 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:30,160 Speaker 1: take a picture of your body, you should be thinking 638 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 1: quantum physicists for developing this technology to tickle your protons 639 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:37,080 Speaker 1: and and have them talk back. I'm a little piece 640 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:39,280 Speaker 1: of fat, I'm a little piece of bone. Hey over here, 641 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:41,920 Speaker 1: I'm a cancer or I'm a cancer tumor. That's right. 642 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:45,400 Speaker 1: And m RI is just a giant tickling machine quantum tickling. 643 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 1: There you go. Yeah, But it's just amazing that technology 644 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 1: and science have work together to create these incredible machines 645 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:56,440 Speaker 1: that can literally see inside your body. That's right, all right. 646 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 1: We hope you enjoyed that and found that useful. Thank 647 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:00,800 Speaker 1: you for listening. And next time you get an m 648 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 1: r I they will see inside your brain. An understanding 649 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 1: of the m R I that you got from this podcast. 650 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 1: Oh my god, that's right. Our voices are leaving an 651 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:12,920 Speaker 1: imprint in all those people's neurons. And that's that might 652 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 1: show up on the m R I And that's right. Yeah, 653 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:16,200 Speaker 1: and the mr I you see a little picture of 654 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: jorhand Daniel going and thumbs up. What And that's when 655 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:25,760 Speaker 1: the doctor goes, this is interesting. Yeah, we coded into 656 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 1: this podcast. Is really a specific frequency that will leave 657 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: an image in your brain of us. This sounds like 658 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,880 Speaker 1: an awesome sci fi episode. I love this idea. Viruses 659 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:40,640 Speaker 1: embedded in podcasts that right themselves into people's brains. Right, 660 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: we are tickling your protons people, the quantum tickling virus. 661 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:47,880 Speaker 1: That sounds like a Michael Bay movie. Yeah, sign up 662 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 1: canaries for that movie. Everything he does turns to gold. 663 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 1: All right, see you next time. Thanks for tuning in, 664 00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:58,400 Speaker 1: and thanks for asking questions. If you'd like something in 665 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 1: your world explained, to send it to us at Questions 666 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: at Daniel and Jorge dot com. If you still have 667 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,880 Speaker 1: a question after listening to all these explanations, please drop 668 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:17,000 Speaker 1: us a line. We'd love to hear from you. You 669 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,480 Speaker 1: can find us at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Daniel 670 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: and Jorge that's one word, or email us at Feedback 671 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,320 Speaker 1: at Daniel and Jorge dot com. Thanks for listening, and 672 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:30,040 Speaker 1: remember that Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe is a 673 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,560 Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcast from my 674 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:37,240 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 675 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:39,719 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.