crisscrossing Science

Chad and Mike discuss the ancestral plight of turtles and how strange a journey it was for sea creatures to come onto land, then return to the water, and (in the case of the tortoise) return back to land.To join us on other learning journeys, subscribe to the podcast. That way, you'll download the latest episodes automatically.

Mike and Chad discuss angular momentum and some of the seemingly counterintuitive predictions that come from it. Yet so many things in our daily lives rely on this concept.

Chad and Mike invite Nobel Laureate Dr. Randy Schekman to discuss his research into yeast cells and the mechanisms that yeast (and human) cells use to direct traffic. Proteins that are created within the cell need to be pushed into the appropriate places and Schekman is one of the discoverers of those mechanisms.Enjoy these episodes ad free!

Chad and Mike are preparing for our next episode in which we talk to Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman. He won the award for learning the mechanisms for how proteins within the cells are moved to where they need to go. The process can be very complicated, so we are doing a pre-episode to help us understand more. So be sure to listen to both this episode and the next one with our special guest.

Mike and Chad celebrate Einstein's 146th birthday by discussing his Greatest Blunder. Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube Shorts.

Chad tells Mike all about moss, and the entire ecosystem that lives in that tiny, fluffy, world.Look for crisscrossing Science on Social media!

Mike and Chad discuss milk. Why do mammals drink it? How do mammals produce it? What is pasteurization? Answers to these questions, and more, when you listen to crisscrossing Science!

Mike and Chad invite astronomer Dr. Kathryn Devine to discuss the process of astronomy and how we can determine how stars form. Subscribe to the podcast to download the latest episode as soon as it is available.

Chad and Mike invite Dr. Jay Mellies to talk about his research into bacteria that are able to break down plastics into their constituent pieces. To learn about plastics and more, subscribe to the podcast, wherever you listen to them.

Mike and Chad discuss the bright events called supernova and the chain of events that makes them happen.For this and other episodes, subscribe to the podcast.

Mike and Chad discuss how plastic is created and why it is so ubiquitous in our modern world. We also consider why plastics are often not recycled and why it will be hard to stop making more.To get more uplifting stories like this, be sure to subscribe to the podcast.

Chad tells Mike about the co-discoverers of the mechanism of evolution by natural selection: Wallace and Darwin. What? You've only ever heard of Darwin? Listen and learn...Subscribe to download the latest episodes as soon as they are available.

Chad and Mike welcome Stephen Frost onto the podcast to discuss the evolutionary history of primates.Subscribe to the podcast to download the latest episodes.

Imagine studying one problem for forty years until finally the scientific community accepts your research. Mike and Chad discuss the work of Raymond Davis, Jr. who measured the number of neutrinos emitted by the sun. His numbers did not agree with theory and it took decades to prove that new physics was involved.

Chad and Mike delve into disease and vaccinations and consider the role of B cells. When are new B cells produced and when do older ones ramp up production of antibodies?Follow us on social media to see short reels of interesting science!

Mike and Chad talk about the differences between AC and DC power. We then delve into the history of electrifying the world, when advocates for AC (Tesla, Westinghouse) beat out arguments for DC (Edison). It is a crazy story.Find us on social media for new content updated regularly.

How do Homing Pigeons find their way? It turns out researchers have done many experiments to confuse them! We also have a tie in to Game of Thrones, so be sure to tune in.Find us on social media! Search for crisscrossing Science on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

We've been busy watching the Olympics, which got us thinking about GOLD!! So while we finish our efforts for Season 8, we are replaying this episode about where gold comes from.

Mike and Chad are gearing up for Season 8 and have a lot of ideas for upcoming episodes. In the meantime, we were enjoying hummingbirds flying around and thought it would be fun to revisit an episode from 2021 about these little guys that migrate surprisingly far distances. Enjoy.

Enjoy this encore episode in which our guest Janet Peterson discusses how much water we should be drinking.

This is our second annual Crisspies award show, celebrating the Best Science in Science Fiction.The awards this year go to the best depiction of the Science behind pandemics (too soon?). Which movie will win this year?

Chad and Mike invite Adam Dolezal to discuss the plight of bees and how they are facing new struggles with parasites, pathogens, pesticides, and poor nutrition. To learn more about all insects, subscribe to our podcast!

You may have been wondering about the aurora that have been visible in the last few weeks. Mike tells Chad about sunspots and how these lead to the cool events in our atmosphere.Follow us on social media. Search for crisscrossing Science.

Mike and Chad take a tour through magnetism and explain how magnets are used in everyday life.Follow our feeds on social media for short video content! Look for crisscrossing Science on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts.

Chad and Mike talk about plant formations called Galls in which an external object (insect, bacteria, etc) cause the plant to make small circular scars on its leaves. You can follow us now on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts. Check us out!

Chad and Mike are celebrating 200 episodes of crisscrossing Science! Join us as we look back on the past and remember our favorite episodes.

Mike and Chad answer a listener's question about why spin affects the flight of baseballs. Now follow us on TikTok. Search for crisscrossing Science.

Chad tells Mike all about termites, the Russian nesting dolls of the insect world. Termites can't actually digest wood all by themselves and so utilize trichonympha to help them digest. Meanwhile, trichonympha themselves utilize smaller bacteria to help them digest wood. Follow us on any good social media platform.

Mike and Chad answer all your questions about the total solar eclipse happening on April 8, 2024. Check out our accounts on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Shorts. We are putting new content about three times per week.

Chad tells Mike about the new vaccine to prevent malaria. This has been decades in the making and Chad explains why this was such a difficult vaccine to create.Find us on social media!

We often think of astronomical events as ephemeral; however, today we are talking about three evanescent events that are making astronomers very excited. Pulsars, gamma ray bursts, and fast radio bursts are all at the forefront of science. So listen and learn more.

This summer, two different broods of cicadas will be coming of the ground to breed. One brood only mates every 13 years, the other every 17 years. And both cycles happen to match in 2024. So, we are replaying an episode from the last time a large brood of cicadas came up.

Chad tells Mike about how viruses were first discovered, explaining why, once and for all, tobacco is good for mankind.Subscribe to this podcast, wherever the finest podcasts are found.

Chad tells Mike about Keystone Species, the idea that a single creature can have an outsized effect on an area's ecosystem.

Happy New Year! Since 2024 will involve contentious elections in the United States, the mathematics of voting seems like a perfect topic to consider. Professor of Mathematics Chuck Lundon joined us in the studio to discuss this important topic.

As we recharge from a hectic semester, here is an encore presentation of our episode from last year about electric vehicles.

Mike and Chad dig deeper into a heavy topic: Gravity. We have touched on gravity in a few recent episodes and listeners have been falling for more information.

The weather is getting frightful, so it is a perfect time to discuss the tires on our cars. Mike and Chad discuss why we have to re-inflate them in cold weather and why it is safer to drive on properly inflated tires. If you have topics that you would like us to consider, email us at crisscrossingsci@gmail.com

With Thanksgiving almost upon us, Mike and Chad are replaying a favorite episode about food. It is time to be thankful for new and interesting dishes.Subscribe to the podcast to get new episodes as soon as they become available.

Mike and Chad talk about black holes and how they seem to be necessary for the development of galaxies. Subscribe to the podcast today for more great topics.

Why does foliage change color in the Fall? Chad answers this question from many different angles, and LEAVES no stone unturned. Subscribe to this podcast to download the latest episode as soon as it is available.

Mike and Chad discuss the historical evidence behind the heliocentric model, that the Earth (and all of the solar system) orbit around the Sun. It's a fun ride.If there are other science topics that you think you know but realize that you don't know all of the story, email us at crisscrossingsci@gmail.com

Chad and Mike talk about mechanisms of how pockets of the human population could be especially susceptible or resistant to different diseases. Follow us on Facebook.

Mike and Chad discuss the phenomena of hurricanes and why it was strange for a hurricane to recently land in California. If you have questions for why things happen, contact us at crisscrossingsci@gmail.com

Mike and Chad are off this week, so are replaying a favorite episode about how musical instruments create sound and briefly why musical scales exist the way that they do.Follow us on Facebook for more interactions.

Chad and Mike discuss ways that different animals parent their young, and how sometimes these behaviors can lead to kidnapping and worse. To listen to all of our content, subscribe to the podcast!

Mike and Chad talk about how the Earth's Moon came to be. Was it captured by the Earth? Flung out from the Earth itself? Or created some other way? Listen to find out.If you have questions, email us at crisscrossingsci@gmail.com

Mike, Chad, and guest Kevin award the first Crisspies - "The Best Depiction of Science in Science Fiction" for Space Travel. Join us as we debate the pros/cons for Apollo 13, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Gravity, Interstellar, and The Martian.

Chad and Mike discuss the ways in which culture and language can transfer and evolve similarly to genetic information. Our next episode will involve discussions of science in science fiction. We will discuss the movies 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Martian, Apollo 13, Gravity, and Interstellar. Rewatch these movies and enjoy our next episode with us.

Chad and Mike invite Bruce Carlson to discuss how electric fish produce voltages and can use them to detect their environments. If you know of shocking science, email us at crisscrossingsci@gmail.com

Two years ago, Giant Asian Hornets were a new, invasive species to the United States. Dubbed Murder Hornets by the media, for how quickly they could kill honeybees, scientists were quick to implement eradication efforts. It has recently been reported that there were no sightings of murder hornets in all of last year. To celebrate, we are replaying an episode about them from 2020.