{"podcast":{"title":"EarthDate","slug":"earthdate-7713094","podcast_index_feed_id":7713094,"rss_url":"https://feeds.blubrry.com/feeds/3957418.xml","website_url":"http://blubrry.com/3957418/","image_url":"https://assets.blubrry.com/coverart/1400/3957418-201603.jpg","author":"Switch Energy Alliance","episode_count":300,"summary":"EarthDate is a short-format weekly audio program delivering concise, science-based stories about the Earth: its geology, environments, and the processes that shape our planet over deep time and today. Beginning in 2026, EarthDate is managed by Switch Energy Alliance and hosted by SEA's founder Dr. Scott W. Tinker. Together, we explore earth systems, natural resources, and their relevance to everyday life, with a focus on clear, accessible science education for broad audiences. EarthDate is written and directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Harry Lynch, and researched by Lynn Kistler. We search for captivating stories to remind listeners that science can enlighten, educate and entertain.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/earthdate-7713094"},"episode":{"title":"Puffy Clouds Weigh In","slug":"puffy-clouds-weigh-in","published_at":"2026-05-14T14:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/earthdate-7713094/puffy-clouds-weigh-in","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/earthdate-7713094","url":"https://blubrry.com/3957418/153852834/puffy-clouds-weigh-in/","audio_url":"https://media.blubrry.com/3957418/content.blubrry.com/3957418/EarthDate_S14_E10.mp3","summary":"We’ve all seen puffy cumulus clouds marching across the sky like a herd of elephants, perhaps changing shape into mythical creatures. But did you ever stop to wonder—how much do those clouds weigh? I’ll give you a hint: it has to do with the elephants. Cumulus clouds form when warm updrafts carry water vapor into the sky, until it begins to condense into water droplets. These are so small that the updraft can overcome their gravity and keep them aloft. The process of condensation produces more heat, which perpetuates the updraft and keeps the water vapor rising and condensing, to eventually become the white clouds we see from Earth. These typically form thousands of meters up. Since they’re so far away, they may not look huge to us. But they can often be over a cubic kilometer in size. Scientists multiplied that size by the average density of a cumulus cloud—about 5 grams per cubic centimeter—to calculate that a typical cloud weighs 500 million grams...or 1.1 million pounds! That’s equivalent to 100 average-sized elephants, and more than our largest airplanes. Why, then, does a cloud not fall from the sky? Unlike elephants and airplanes, clouds are very low density because water molecules weigh less than the oxygen and nitrogen making up the dry air surrounding them—which means the cloud can stay aloft until the water vapor dissipates and the cloud fades away.","meta_description":"We’ve all seen puffy cumulus clouds marching across the sky like a herd of elephants, perhaps changing shape into mythical creatures. But did you ever sto…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":120,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/earthdate-7713094/episodes/puffy-clouds-weigh-in/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/earthdate-7713094/puffy-clouds-weigh-in.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}