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Seriously...what IS life?
Episode 854
In this Back To School episode we consider the "List of Life": the criteria that define what it is to be a living thing. Some are easy calls: A kitten is alive. A grain of salt is not. But what about…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
Understanding Earthquake Aftershocks
Episode 853
Monday another earthquake struck southeastern Turkey, near the Syrian border. This time, the quake registered as a magnitude 6.3 — an order lower than the initial, devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquak…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
The Fungal Science Behind HBO's 'The Last of Us'
Episode 852
The video game series that spawned the new hit HBO drama, The Last of Us, is the zombie genre with a twist. Instead of the standard viral pandemic or bacterial disease that's pushed humanity to the b…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
Life Kit: Help Save The North American Bird Population
Episode 851
Many of us are off today for President's Day. In the meantime, we want to share this episode from our friends at NPR's Life Kit podcast. In it, they discuss the importance of birds as an "indicator s…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
News Round Up: Chocolate, A Solar Valentine And Fly Pheromones
Episode 850
After reading the science headlines this week, we have A LOT of questions. Is chocolate really that good for your health? How do solar flares affect life on earth? And what's the big deal about scien…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
The Science Fueling Disney's 'Strange World'
Episode 849
In Disney's new animated feature 'Strange World,' a band of multigenerational explorers journeys to the center of their fantastical homeland. Along the way, they fend off, make friends with, and unea…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
Congrats! It's A Tomato
Episode 848
A few years ago, a team of scientists set out on a field expedition in the rugged, dry Northern Territory of Australia. There, they found a plant that was both strange and familiar hiding in plain si…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
Mix Up LOVE, And You Get V-O-L-E
Episode 847
You may have heard of the "love hormone," or oxytocin. But you may not know that scientists have relied on cuddly rodents like the prairie vole to help us understand how this protein works in our bra…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
Meet One Engineer Fixing A Racially Biased Medical Device
Episode 846
During the COVID-19 pandemic, one measurement became more important than almost any other: blood oxygen saturation. It was the one concrete number that doctors could use to judge how severe a case of…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago
Lightning Protection: Lasers, Rockets or Rods?
Episode 845
Every year, lightning is estimated to cause up to 24,000 deaths globally. It starts forest fires, burns buildings and crops, and causes disruptive power outages. The best, most practical technology a…
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago