We're Going Science Supersonic

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (0:00)
This is Twist, This Week in Science Episode Number 1062, recorded on Wednesday, June 10th, 2026 We're going science supersonic today. I'm Dr. Kiki, and tonight we will fill your head with galactic winds, electric squirts, and a spider cam. But first, thanks to our amazing Patreon sponsors for their generous support of Twist. You can become a part of the Patreon community at patreon.com/thisweek in Science. Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer. This program does not eject those who belong, not even for singing a song that isn't to our liking. If one's behavior is consistent with the rules of the community, the ideas should be given time and consideration. Science doesn't kick ideas out, evidence does that, or biased individuals threatened by contradiction. Stay for all the ideas here on This Week in Science, coming up next.
Good science to you, everyone who is here, welcome. If you're here watching right now, you will see that I don't have any co-hosts today. This is This Week in Science, and it is a solo Kiki show tonight. Dr. Kiki is on her own, yes, I am, to talk all about science this evening. But that doesn't mean I'm alone. It really just means that you and I get private time. That's right. We get to have a conversation about some really cool science stories. I do like these solo shows because I get a chance to really look at your comments much more than I do on a regular basis and dive into the conversations to be had here within our community. So I hope that you are all ready to enjoy these stories I have ahead. This week is yet another bountiful week, a booming week. I don't know. It's been a great week of science. I have stories this week about a supersonic plane, some galactic winds, spider cam, spider cam, spider cam, spider cam, electric squirts, owl brilliance. Let's see, what else do we have? Brain stuff. I've got some neural disappointment, bructose failing, and turning left. You all want to know about the turning left. Remember, Zoolander? There is actually some interesting science to be had there.
Yes. Oh, yes, Paul. Now, I will read your puns. We will maximize our fun with puns tonight. I think it happens more often when I have solo shows anyway.
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Okay, so I'm off to the races tonight with a supersonic plane. Okay, this week, last week, Friday, June 5th, NASA's experimental X-59 aircraft flew faster than the speed of sound. It's test pilot and I love his name Jim Less, but his nickname is Clue, so it's Jim Clueless. Pilots are amazing. I love them. And they have a great sense of humor. Anyway, they've been testing the X-59 down out of Edwards Air Force Base for quite some time. And there have been these reports of strange booms, sounds and the things that seem to be shaking the earth and the sky. And nobody's really, it's like, oh, what are you talking about? What's going on out there? Oh, Edwards Air Force Base, it is there. And they have been working on the X-59. It's been a super secret, but not that super secret plane that is, they're trying to create quiet supersonic flight. And so they finally got up to 713 miles per hour, Mach 1.1 at 1108 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time this last Friday. Their flight lasted almost an hour and a half. And this plane is being followed by an X-15. So there's an X-15 chase plane that is doing Mach 1.1 as well in order to be able to take pictures and video of this plane as it is flying in this new exciting way. If you think of supersonic flight, there are lots of things that fly supersonically. But do they do it quietly is the question. If you think about the Concorde, right? The wonderful, fast, supersonic plane that kind of went out of business because people didn't like how loud it was as it cracked the sound barrier. And so this plane, this X-59, is, as they say, an experimental test bed for commercial supersonic flight so that people can get and jet around our planet much more quickly. You know, because who likes to waste time on airplanes? Because that they're so slow as they are. Ah, yeah, anyway, our modern life, we have, you know, modern first-world problems. Anyhow, it's a very exciting development. They are going to continue testing this X-59. The organization and the mission that is demonstrating this supersonic flight is NASA's Quest QESST mission. And this group is responsible for demonstrating the technology, developing it, and basically showing that this airplane can have, instead of sonic booms, quiet thumps. I don't know if this is going to go over really well in the marketing speak, talking about the quiet thumps of the X-59, or whatever the future supersonic commercial flights are. Did you hear the thump? Oh yeah, it didn't really bother me. It wasn't like a sonic boom. It was just a thump. But was it a thump or was it a thud? I don't know. Yeah. Words are very important. And in this case, the words that have been chosen, I think it's an interesting choice. The sonic thump. I don't know. Who wants to make a band? The sonic thumps might be a, I don't know, big bass kind of, or maybe it's a big bass DJ, a producer. Sonic thump.