Rabbit Hole of Research: The Show Notes: Episode 7: Lighthouses

Joe, Nick, and Georgia talk about the science of Lighthouses, Statue of Liberty, Day of the Triffids, Annihilation, Shutter Island, Fresnel, and other facts that will make you an expert pharologist.

This has no particular format; it’s just correcting or updating anything in the show we didn’t get a chance to fully talk about or things we had on the tips of our tongues and couldn’t get out as we recorded. As always, feel free to comment, and we will address stuff in future shows! Enjoy. 

Don’t forget to Rate the show!

artwork by 

Georgia Geis@atomicnumber14 https://www.instagram.com/atomic_number14/


Say hello and let us know:

Favorite movie that features a Lighthouse?

Did you know what a Pharologist was before listening to the episode?


What we drinking?

Joe: Spiritless Old Fashioned

Nick: Full Pocket Pilsner: Goose Island

Georgia: Water

**Spoiler alert: I talk about The Day of the Triffids (1963) in this episode. 

Lighthouse fun facts

1. 800 still exist in US even though modern technologies exist to fulfill their purpose of guiding ships. 

2. Michigan has over 100 lighthouses, more than any state in US

3. [Boston Light]— 1716 US first official lighthouse built on little Brewster island, Boston harbor. Original destroyed during Revolutionary War—rebuilt in 1783–raises to current height in 1859 adding a Fresnel Lens. 

4. I love you lighthouse: [Minot’s Ledge Light], southeast of Boston Harbor has the “I Love You” light characteristic (1,4,3 light pattern). The current lighthouse is the second on the site, the first having been washed away in a storm after only a few months of use.

5. First lighthouse in America to use electricity was a metal tower in the shape of a woman in New York Harbor. It’s called the [Statue of Liberty]. 

6. Lighthouses also had to use sound to guide ships through fog—foghorns, bells, cannons, etc. 

7. Boston Light only lighthouse still staffed in America. 


Lighthouse keepers that disappeared


Pharology : Study of lighthouses


Lighthouse science:

First lighthouse


Famous lighthouses


Famous lighthouse operators and innovators

Movies that feature a lighthouse

  1. “Annihilation” (2018) – Directed by Alex Garland, this film features a mysterious lighthouse at the center of an otherworldly phenomenon.
  2. The Lighthouse” (2019) – Although more of a psychological horror film, “The Lighthouse,” directed by Robert Eggers, incorporates elements of fantasy and surrealism.
  3. Shutter Island” (2010) – Directed by Martin Scorsese, this psychological thriller has elements of science fiction and features a lighthouse prominently in its storyline.
  4. “The Fog” (1980) – Directed by John Carpenter, this horror film revolves around a mysterious fog that rolls into a coastal town, and the town’s lighthouse plays a significant role.
  5. The Day of the Triffids (1963) —a British science fiction horror film directed by Steve Sekely and Freddie Francis, very loosely based on the 1951 novel of the same name by John Wyndham. 
Print by Georgia Geis @atomic_number14

Okay, that’s it for this episode. How’d we do?


You can always email (I do answer back), click the comment link below, or follow me online for real time tracking.