[Eternal Student (OP)]

Hi.

  Sometimes I wonder if something strange is happening.
There's a short gap (maybe 10 minutes?) between releasing a podcast with the answer and asking the question on the forum.     Sometimes the question precedes the answer but not always.   It's a bit random.

   What seems less random is that putting the question in the forum is almost a  complete waste of everyones time.   @chiralSPO has just spent time creating a well formatted and detailed reply.   The radioshow / podcast people paid it no attention and ultimately it has done nothing more than repeat the podcast.   Even if the person who asked the question does join the forum - which only happens about 1 time in 20 - that reply has wasted their time in addition to Chiral's time.

    I've asked what the point of running these "Questions of the Week" is before,  so I'm not even going to bother asking it again.   All I might do is offer some advice and sympathy to @chiralSPO  -  always look for the podcast first before you spend your own time.   If the podcast isn't there yet, wait 10 minutes.    It was a good answer @chiralSPO  but all you're likely to get is a "thanks" icon at the end of your post from people like me.

Reference:
https://www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/question-week/can-acid-remove-springs-potential-energy
   Officially released  23 May 2022.

Best Wishes.

[evan_au]

It would be good if the podcast team could remember to put an entry in the "QOTW" forum around the time the question is asked on the podcast.
- Then we could pontificate until the nominated expert provides the "official" answer.
- At one time, the podcast team sometimes mentioned some of the ideas on the forum, as well as playing the response from the expert...

[Eternal Student (OP)]

(A minor complaint was removed).

  Note that it wasn't completely ignored,   the originator (me) received a reply by email from Chris of the NakedScientists.

[Colin2B]

Hi.

  Sometimes I wonder if something strange is happening……….

Hi folks
Just wondering if this part of the discussion should be in the feedback section as it isn’t directly answering the question?

[Eternal Student (OP)]

Hi.

Just wondering if this part of the discussion should be in the feedback section as it isn’t directly answering the question?

    I'll just remove it.

Best Wishes.   

[Colin2B]

Hi.

Just wondering if this part of the discussion should be in the feedback section as it isn’t directly answering the question?

    I'll just remove it.

Best Wishes.

No need, it’s valid discussion, but I van move it to feedback

[evan_au]

QOTW is a question, and the Forum is about answering questions, so it's still worthwhile posting QOTW on the forum.

Often the discussion on the forum will take a different approach than the expert (or multiple different approaches).

[Eternal Student (OP)]

Hi.   Perfectly good points you've raised @evan_au .

QOTW is a question, and the Forum is about answering questions, so it's still worthwhile posting QOTW on the forum.

    Is it about just finding something to do, evan_au?   Maybe it is and that's fine. 
    The QOTW can stay, just make it a bit clearer that no-one was actually seeking an answer and is likely to be interested in the replies there.   It's just something you can do for fun and to pass the time - which is fine.    Other forums have something like a "puzzle of the week" so this one might just as well have a QOTW.
 
    If it seems interesting to you (@evan_au) then, of course, you can and should spend your time on it.   There's never been any reason why you couldn't comment on a podcast and start a new post at any time, of course you should.

     I may be wrong, it's just that you (possibly "we") seem to be under the impression that it matters to the original person who asked the question.  It doesn't most of the time, they aren't going to read the forum and the podcast has already been made that answered that question.    If you were giving up your time under that assumption, then don't.    Your expertise would have been better spent working with a different thread on the forum.   Helping just one real person is important and something which this forum does well.

Best Wishes.