Emilia Vieni, W14: Topic Selection

       Despite what I wrote in my last blog post, I will be researching a topic related to Everyday Einstein instead of Freakonomics or Under the Influence, which I had at first planned. I ended up thoroughly going through every set of podcasts, and realized I actually find Everyday Einstein to be very interesting! I enjoy the range of topics, from the Space Time Continuum to something more simple, like Why the Sky is Blue, and I realized that in my free time (especially when I am at work) I research out of interest many topics similar to what you would find on Everyday Einstein, as they spark my interest quite a bit. I think I would really enjoy my research experience a lot more if I could report on a mysterious, scientific topic.
        Like I said, I enjoy Everyday Einstein's range of topics, but I also found the way they are explained quite effective. Lee Falin keeps a good pace throughout his podcasts, which allows for a better understanding of what he is talking about, even when he reports on the mathematics of space time continuum. He also uses a vocabulary that isn't too saturated, which is good for keeping a level understanding with the audience members.
        After getting a better understanding of the kinds of podcasts created for Everyday Einstein, I then had to think of something that I would enjoy explaining. After reaching topics related to space and earth (which I find the most fascinating), I ended up going with "The Colonization of Mars". This topic explains how and why humans might seriously one day, permanently move to Mars. There is a lot of information on the topic, so a challenge for me in my podcast will be breaking down all my information into a 15 minute segment, and keeping it simple as well as accurate.
      I took a look at Spark while I was trying to find a topic. It seemed fine, but I suppose it did not help me as much as it could since I already knew the direction I was going with my topic (so I had already taken the steps it outlined subconsciously). If you are having trouble with your topic selection, Spark does help a little when it comes to breaking the search steps down, but I think it is more for people who are new to the task of finding a research topic, since the steps are very simple and if you are already used to research, then you will already be doing what they state. I would not add to their advice, as I think it is fine as is. Anything more complicated or detailed would take away from the simplicity it is trying to convey to students in order to help them not feel so overwhelmed with the task of finding a topic.