Podcasts about Current Biology

If you enjoy this episode, we're sure you will enjoy more content like this on The Occult Rejects.  In fact, we have curated playlists on occult topics like grimoires, esoteric concepts and phenomena, occult history, analyzing true crime and cults with an occult lens, Para politics, and occultism in music. Whether you enjoy consuming your content visually or via audio, we've got you covered - and it will always be provided free of charge.  So, if you enjoy what we do and want to support our work of providing accessible, free content on various platforms, please consider making a donation to the links provided below.  Thank you and enjoy the episode!Links For The Occult Rejectshttps://linktr.ee/theoccultrejectsOccult Research Institutehttps://www.occultresearchinstitute.org/Substackhttps://substack.com/@theoccultrejects?r=7auau0&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-pageCash Apphttps://cash.app/$theoccultrejectsVenmo@TheOccultRejectsBuy Me A Coffeebuymeacoffee.com/TheOccultRejectsPatreonhttps://www.patreon.com/TheOccultRejectsWORKS CITEDArnold van Gennep. The Rites of Passage. 1909; English translation, University of Chicago Press, 1960. Use for: separation, transition, incorporation, initiatory structure, and the candidate's movement through old identity, liminal state, and return.Victor Turner. “Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites of Passage.” In The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual. Cornell University Press, 1967. Use for: liminality, threshold identity, the candidate as “betwixt and between,” and darkness as embodied transition.Victor Turner. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Aldine Publishing, 1969. Use for: liminality, communitas, anti-structure, social transformation, and the ritual pressure placed on ordinary identity.Catherine Bell. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. Oxford University Press, 1992. Use for: ritualization, ritual power, the ritualized body, and the temple as a structured environment that trains perception and action.Catherine Bell. “The Ritual Body and the Dynamics of Ritual Power.” Journal of Ritual Studies 4, no. 2 (1990): 299–313. Use for: ritualized bodies, spatial discipline, gesture, power, and the way ritual arrangements shape action.John C. Lilly. The Deep Self: Profound Relaxation and the Tank Isolation Technique. Simon & Schuster, 1977. Use for: the isolation tank, reduced stimulation, altered consciousness, and the modern technological black room.John C. Lilly. The Center of the Cyclone: Looking into Inner Space. Julian Press, 1972. Use carefully for: Lilly's altered-state/counterculture context, isolation tank work, consciousness exploration, and the bridge between research and psychedelic-era experimentation.Justin S. Feinstein et al. “Examining the Short-Term Anxiolytic and Antidepressant Effect of Floatation-REST.” PLOS ONE 13, no. 2 (2018): e0190292. Use for: Floatation-REST, reduced environmental stimulation, anxiety reduction, mood change, and the clinical side of float tanks.Hannah Hruby et al. “Induction of Altered States of Consciousness During Floatation-REST Is Associated With the Dissolution of Body Boundaries and the Distortion of Subjective Time.” Scientific Reports 14 (2024). Use for: float tanks, altered states, body-boundary dissolution, and subjective time distortion.Madison K. M. Garland et al. “A Randomized Controlled Safety and Feasibility Trial of Floatation-REST in Anxious and Depressed Individuals.” PLOS ONE 18, no. 6 (2023): e0286899. Use for: safety, tolerability, repeated Floatation-REST, and caution against overclaiming.Lashgari et al. “Floatation-REST Systematic Review.” 2025. Use for: the broad current state of Floatation-REST research, including anxiety, pain, stress, sleep, well-being, and the need for stronger standardization and larger studies.Michael T. H. Do. “Melanopsin and the Intrinsically Photosensitive Retinal Ganglion Cells.” Neuron 104, no. 2 (2019): 205–226. Use for: ipRGCs, melanopsin, non-image-forming vision, circadian entrainment, pupil response, sleep, and light as biological timing information.Lorenzo Lazzerini Ospri, Glen Prusky, and Samer Hattar. “Mood, the Circadian System, and Melanopsin Retinal Ganglion Cells.” Annual Review of Neuroscience 40 (2017): 539–556. Use for: light, mood, circadian rhythm, melanopsin, and the biological consequences of light exposure.Charles A. Czeisler and related circadian medicine research. Use for: artificial light, circadian disruption, melatonin suppression, shift work, and modern light exposure as a biological intervention.Anne-Marie Chang, Daniel Aeschbach, Jeanne F. Duffy, and Charles A. Czeisler. “Evening Use of Light-Emitting eReaders Negatively Affects Sleep, Circadian Timing, and Next-Morning Alertness.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, no. 4 (2015): 1232–1237. Use for: screens, evening light, melatonin suppression, delayed circadian timing, altered sleep, and modern light's effect on the body.A. Roger Ekirch. At Day's Close: Night in Times Past. W. W. Norton, 2005. Use for: premodern night, darkness before electric light, nocturnal fear, dreams, prayer, crime, labor, and the cultural history of darkness.A. Roger Ekirch. “Sleep We Have Lost: Pre-Industrial Slumber in the British Isles.” The American Historical Review 106, no. 2 (2001): 343–386. Use for: segmented sleep, first sleep and second sleep, night waking, dreams, prayer, and premodern sleep culture.Craig Koslofsky. Evening's Empire: A History of the Night in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge University Press, 2011. Use for: early modern night culture, artificial lighting, urban night, public space, and the transformation of darkness.Elisabeth Bronfen. Night Passages: Philosophy, Literature, and Film. Columbia University Press, 2013. Use for: symbolic and cultural readings of night, dream, fear, darkness, passage, and the imagination.Robert F. Taft. The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West: The Origins of the Divine Office and Its Meaning for Today. Liturgical Press, 1993. Use for: night offices, vigils, prayer through darkness, sacred time, and Christian ritual use of night.Bernard McGinn. The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Century. Crossroad, 1991. Use for: Christian mystical traditions, contemplative darkness, early mystical theology, and the development of mystical language.Pseudo-Dionysius. The Complete Works. Translated by Colm Luibheid. Paulist Press, 1987. Use for: divine darkness, apophatic theology, mystical unknowing, and darkness as a theological category.John of the Cross. Dark Night of the Soul. Various editions. Use carefully for: spiritual darkness, purification, absence, mystical trial, and transformation.“The Neophyte Initiation Ritual.” Public Golden Dawn ritual material. Use carefully for: hoodwink, darkness, “Light dawning in darkness,” staged revelation, and the candidate being brought from night into day.Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen. Routledge, 1986. Use for: Dzogchen context, light, vision, and the broader framework around contemplative perception.Christopher Hatchell. Naked Seeing: The Great Perfection, the Wheel of Time, and Visionary Buddhism in Renaissance Tibet. Oxford University Press, 2014. Use for: visionary practice, Great Perfection, Tibetan contemplative contexts, and careful treatment of luminosity and appearance.R. Shane Burns. “Dark Retreat in Tibetan Buddhist Practice.” Use for: dark retreat, preparation, disciplined context, and the difference between contemplative practice and casual sensory deprivation.Raymond Moody. Reunions: Visionary Encounters with Departed Loved Ones. Villard, 1993. Use for: modern psychomanteum practice, grief, mirror-gazing, and encounters with the dead.Arthur Hastings. “The Psychomanteum: A Modern Oracle of the Dead.” Use for: psychomanteum procedure, grief, memory, mirror-gazing, and structured encounter.Marcia K. Johnson, Shahin Hashtroudi, and D. Stephen Lindsay. “Source Monitoring.” Psychological Bulletin 114, no. 1 (1993): 3–28. Use for: inside/outside ambiguity, origin judgments, memory, imagination, and how dark or altered environments complicate interpretation.Shahar Arzy et al. “Induction of an Illusory Shadow Person.” Nature 443 (2006): 287. Use for: sensed presence, body-self disruption, temporoparietal junction, and the feeling of another being nearby.Olaf Blanke et al. “Neurological and Robot-Controlled Induction of an Apparition.” Current Biology 24, no. 22 (2014): 2681–2686. Use for: sensorimotor conflict, apparition-like presence, body-boundary disturbance, and the embodied basis of sensed presence.Also want to remind people about the website, if you're into reading we have tons of information by multiple contributors, and we got t-shirts up on the site if you're interested. Fun fact, the art is all based on the eyeball. A

Forget muscle repair. The reason sleep actually transforms your health is happening inside your skull every night — and it's not what Matthew Walker's TED Talk made famous. In this episode of Health Longevity Secrets, Robert Lufkin MD breaks down the real science of sleep: the glymphatic system that flushes beta-amyloid from your brain, the hippocampal "sharp wave ripples" that lock in memories, the slow-wave growth hormone pulse you can't make up, and the testosterone and insulin damage that happens in a single week of short sleep. He closes with the single most evidence-based intervention you can do tonight — and it's not melatonin. CHAPTERS: 00:00 — Why The "Sleep For Muscle Repair" Story Is Wrong 01:00 — Part 1: The Muscle Repair Myth (mTOR, Protein Synthesis, 24–48hr Window) 02:00 — Part 2: The Molecular Truth — The Glymphatic System 02:35 — The 60% Brain Cleaning Cycle (Xie 2013, Beta-Amyloid Clearance) 03:30 — Sharp Wave Ripples and Memory Consolidation in Deep Sleep 03:55 — How Sleep Onset Drives 70% of Your Nightly Growth Hormone 04:30 — Sleep Restriction Drops Testosterone 10–15% in One Week 05:00 — Part 3: The Hormonal Layer — Insulin, Cortisol, Ghrelin 05:15 — 4 Nights, 4 Hours: Prediabetes In Healthy Young Men (Spiegel 1999) 06:30 — Ghrelin, Leptin, and Why You Wake Up Hungrier 07:00 — Part 4: The Practical Tactic — Thermal Regulation 07:30 — The 2–3°F Core Temperature Drop That Triggers Sleep 08:00 — Why a Hot Shower 90 Minutes Before Bed Beats Melatonin 08:45 — The 65–68°F Bedroom Rule 09:15 — Part 5: The Reframe — Sleep Is Neurological, Not Muscular KEY TAKEAWAYS: • Muscle protein synthesis runs 24–48 hours post-workout and does not require sleep architecture — it requires amino acids, energy, and time. • During sleep, your brain's interstitial space expands ~60% to flush metabolic waste, including the beta-amyloid and tau proteins implicated in Alzheimer's. • ~70% of your daily growth hormone is released in the first slow-wave cycle — disrupt the first 90 minutes and you blunt the whole night. • Four nights of 4-hour sleep produced prediabetes-level insulin resistance in healthy young men (Spiegel et al., Lancet 1999). • A hot bath or shower 60–90 minutes before bed shortens sleep latency more reliably than melatonin (Haghayegh et al., Sleep Medicine Reviews 2019). Pair with a 65–68°F bedroom. STUDIES & SOURCES MENTIONED: • Xie L, et al., Science 2013 — Sleep drives beta-amyloid clearance via the glymphatic system — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24136970/ • Spiegel K, Leproult R, Van Cauter E, Lancet 1999 — Sleep debt and metabolic/endocrine function (4-night 4-hour sleep restriction trial) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10543671/ • Leproult R, Van Cauter E, JAMA 2011 — 1 week of sleep restriction drops testosterone 10–15% in healthy young men — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21632481/ • Haghayegh S, et al., Sleep Medicine Reviews 2019 — Warm shower/bath 1–2h before bed shortens sleep onset latency (meta-analysis of 13 trials) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31102877/ • Pontzer H, et al., Current Biology 2016 — Constrained total energy expenditure model — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26832439/ • Walker M, "Why We Sleep" (book) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_We_Sleep ─────────────────────────────────

Elephants call each other by name. They grieve. They remember. They communicate across distances in frequencies we are only beginning to hear. What does it mean to truly listen to another species — one with memory, language, and a social world as intricate as our own?In this Listening Field conversation, we enter the world of elephant communication with two of its most devoted witnesses.  Dr. Mickey Pardo led the landmark discovery that elephants address one another with name-like calls — a finding that traveled around the world and cracked open new questions about animal cognition and communication. Moderated by Katie Surma of Inside Climate News, whose reporting sits at the intersection of science, rights of Nature, and environmental justice, this conversation asks not only what elephants are saying, but what it means for us to finally listen.Dr. Mickey Pardo is a behavioral ecologist and bioacoustician interested in the intersection of animal communication, cognition, conservation, and welfare. He earned his PhD in behavioral ecology from Cornell University, where he studied vocal communication and social cognition in both Asian elephants and Acorn Woodpeckers. He completed a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship at Colorado State University on vocal communication in African elephants, working in collaboration with Save The Elephants in Kenya, where he led the discovery that elephants address each other with name-like calls. This work was featured by over 3,000 media outlets in more than 90 countries, including the New York Times, NPR: Morning Edition, and BBC World, and helped contribute to the recent surge of interest in using machine learning to understand animal communication. During a second postdoc in the Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Dr. Pardo expanded his skillset into applied wildlife conservation, using passive acoustic monitoring, AI, and computer simulations to assess the status of bird populations. He is currently a Senior Scientist at the non-profit research organization ElephantVoices, where he is once again studying vocal communication in African elephants. Dr. Pardo has authored over a dozen scholarly publications, including in top scientific journals such as Nature Ecology and Evolution and Current Biology. In addition to his scientific work, he is an outspoken advocate for the rights of nonhuman animals and for food system reform to end our reliance on animal agriculture and commercial fishing.To learn more about Mickey's work, visit ElephantVoices' website here:  https://elephantvoices.org/Katie Surma is a reporter at Inside Climate News covering the rights of nature movement and international environmental justice. Her work has a strong focus on the intersection of human rights and the environment. Before joining ICN, she practiced law, specializing in commercial litigation. Her journalism work has been recognized by the Overseas Press Club, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and others. Katie has a master's degree in investigative journalism from Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, an LLM in international rule of law and security from ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, a J.D. from Duquesne University, and was a History of Art and Architecture major at the University of Pittsburgh. Learn more about Katie's work at https://insideclimatenews.org/Support the show

durée : 00:05:34 - Les Matins de France Culture - par : Alexandra Delbot - Très sensible aux vagues de chaleur, Acropora spathulata reste pourtant abondante dans l'Indo-Pacifique. Une nouvelle étude parue dans Current Biology explique ce paradoxe : ses larves voyagent à plus de 100 km, assurant un interconnectivité entre les récifs et un grand brassage génétique. - invités : Hugo Denis Biologiste marin, docteur en sciences de la mer d'une thèse obtenue entre Sorbonne Université en France et l'Université de Southern Cross en Australie Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France

En este episodio exploramos la biodiversidad detrás de la película Río. Analizamos a las especies y ecosistemas de Brasil que inspiraron la historia, los peligros del tráfico de fauna y los enormes retos de conservar especies amenazadas como es el caso de las guacamayas azules. Cine y ciencia, dos cosas que nos encantan.REFRENCIASCharpentreau, C. (2025, octubre). Virus outbreak deepens rift over return of Spix's macaw to Brazil. Mongabay. https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/virus-outbreak-deepens-rift-over-return-of-spixs-macaw-to-brazil/del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D. A., & de Juana, E. (eds.). (2024). Spix's Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii). Birds of the World. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/spimac1/cur/introduction?lang=esGomides, S. C., Machado, T. M., Evangelista‐Vale, J. C., Martins‐Oliveira, A. T., Pires‐Oliveira, J. C., Muller, A., Barros da Rosa, L., Santos‐Silva, D. L., & Eisenlohr, P. V. (2021). Assessing species reintroduction sites based on future climate suitability for food resources. Conservation Biology, 35(6), 1821–1830. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13796International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). (2020). Cyanopsitta spixii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22685533/153022606Klump, B. C., Major, R. E., Farine, D. R., Martin, J. M., & Aplin, L. M. (2022). Is bin-opening in cockatoos leading to an innovation arms race with humans? Current Biology, 32(17), R910–R911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.074 (pure.au.dk)Pacheco, F., Vital, O., Carvalho, R., & de Melo, F. (2024). Callithrix jacchus [PDF]. CABI Compendium. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389741491_Callithrix_jacchusPurchase, C., Lugarini, C., Purchase, C., Ferreira, A., Eichler Vercillo, U., Stafford, M. L., & White, T. H., Jr. (2024). Reintroduction of the extinct-in-the-wild Spix's macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) in the Caatinga forest domain of Brazil. Diversity 16(80), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/d16020080Rezende, C. L., Scarano, F. R., Assad, E. D., Joly, C. A., Metzger, J. P., Strassburg, B. B. N., Tabarelli, M., Fonseca, G. A., & Mittermeier, R. A. (2018). From hotspot to hopespot: An opportunity for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation, 16(4), 208–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecon.2018.10.002Smith, D., Abeli, T., Beckman Bruns, E., Dalrymple, S. E., Foster, J., Gilbert, T. C., Hogg, C. J., Lloyd, N. A., Meyer, A., Moehrenschlager, A., Murrell, O., Rodriguez, J. P., Smith, P. P., Terry, A. & Ewen, J. G. (2023). Extinct in the wild: The precarious state of Earth's most threatened group of species. Conservation biology 379, 6634. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.add2889

Proverbios 29:20“Fíjate en la gente que habla a la ligera: ¡más se espera del necio que de esa gente!"Aunque tienen un tamaño menor a media pulgada de longitud (1.27 cm), estudios recientes han demostrado que las arañas saltarinas Habronattus tienen una vista que, de alguna manera, rivaliza con la nuestra. De hecho, pueden hacer algo que ni su mascota puede hacer - ver los colores.Según Nathan Morehouse de la Universidad de Pittsburg, "Los ojos de las arañas saltarinas no podrían ser más diferentes a los de las mariposas y las aves, y sin embargo las tres ajustan las sensibilidades del color con pigmentos que filtran la luz." Los científicos llaman a esto "filtrado espectral", y hasta ahora, nadie sospechaba que una araña sería capaz de aquello.Por supuesto, la revista ScienceDaily, salta a la conclusión de que la capacidad de ver colores de la araña saltarina "es un ejemplo notable de convergencia evolutiva." Según los evolucionistas, la evolución convergente es la evolución independiente de características similares en las especies que no están estrechamente relacionados. Por ejemplo, los evolucionistas nos dicen que insectos que vuelan, las aves y los murciélagos evolucionaron la capacidad de volar independientemente el uno del otro. Se dice que tuvieron que "convergir" en esta útil característica.No obstante, este término no explica nada en absoluto. Los evolucionistas no pueden demostrar, ni siquiera cómo un tipo de criatura evolucionó la capacidad de volar. El problema se complica aún más cuando tienen que explicar cómo evolucionó el vuelo tres veces en criaturas no relacionadas.La verdadera razón por la cual estas arañas saltarinas pueden ver el color es la misma razón que los murciélagos, mariposas y aves son capaces de volar. Porque su diseñador las hizo de este modo. Esto no es llegar a conclusiones precipitadas. Es simplemente creer la Palabra de Dios.Oración: Padre Celestial, gracias por dar a cada criatura lo que necesitan para sobrevivir, y gracias, sobre todo, por lo que me has dado a mí - la salvación a través de la sangre derramada de mi Salvador. En el nombre de Jesús, Amén.”Ref: "Las arañas saltarinas son las maestras de la visión a color en miniatura," ScienceDaily. Daniel B. Zurek, Thomas W. Cronin, Lisa A. Taylor, Kevin Byrne, Mara L. G. Sullivan, Nathan I. Morehouse. "El filtrado espectral permite la visión tricromática en las arañas saltarinas coloridas", Current Biology. Imagen: 284-6 Male Habronattus tranquillus, Marshal Hedin, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1235/29?v=20251111

La pleine Lune fascine… et inquiète depuis des siècles. Troubles du sommeil, accouchements, crises psychiatriques : on lui prête beaucoup d'effets. Mais que dit réellement la science ?Commençons par le sommeil, c'est là que les données sont les plus intéressantes. Une étude souvent citée, publiée en 2013 dans la revue Current Biology par Christian Cajochen, a montré qu'autour de la pleine Lune, les participants mettaient en moyenne plus de temps à s'endormir, dormaient environ 20 minutes de moins et présentaient une diminution du sommeil profond. Les chercheurs ont également observé une baisse de la mélatonine, l'hormone qui régule le sommeil.Mais ces résultats ont été largement débattus. Des études plus récentes, portant sur des échantillons beaucoup plus larges — parfois des dizaines de milliers de nuits analysées — n'ont trouvé aucun effet significatif ou seulement des variations très faibles. Aujourd'hui, le consensus est nuancé : un effet léger sur le sommeil est possible, mais il reste modeste et inconstant.Qu'en est-il des comportements humains ? Pendant longtemps, on a cru que la pleine Lune augmentait les crimes, les accidents ou les hospitalisations psychiatriques. Pourtant, les grandes méta-analyses sont claires : il n'existe pas de corrélation solide. Les variations observées relèvent le plus souvent du hasard ou de biais cognitifs. On retient les nuits agitées de pleine Lune… et on oublie toutes les autres.Même constat du côté des naissances. De nombreuses études hospitalières ont examiné des centaines de milliers d'accouchements : aucune augmentation significative n'est observée lors des pleines lunes. Le mythe persiste, mais les données ne le confirment pas.Alors pourquoi cette croyance est-elle si répandue ? D'abord pour des raisons culturelles. Le mot « lunatique » vient directement de la Lune. Ensuite, parce que la pleine Lune est visible, spectaculaire, et donc facile à associer à un événement inhabituel. Enfin, parce que notre cerveau adore créer des liens, même quand ils n'existent pas.Il reste une question intéressante : les effets pourraient-ils exister dans des conditions naturelles, sans éclairage artificiel ? Certaines études menées dans des populations sans électricité suggèrent un léger décalage du sommeil lié à la luminosité lunaire. Mais dans nos environnements modernes, cet effet est probablement largement masqué.En résumé, les effets de la pleine Lune sur le corps humain sont très limités. Le seul domaine où un impact reste discuté est le sommeil, et encore, de manière faible. Pour le reste — comportement, santé mentale, accouchements — la science est claire : la pleine Lune influence surtout… notre imagination. Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

Ellen & special guests, Ella Hubber and Tom Lum of Let's Learn Everything, turn our gazes to the skies and talk animals in space. We discuss the fruit fly fan club, the great big farm on the moon, which earthlings were ACTUALLY the first to make the trip around the moon and back, a spider escape where you least want it, why dentistry researchers had a snake room, shooting tardigrades out of a gun, and so much more. This one is truly out of this world. Works Cited & Further Reading: "Bioastronautics Research" video "This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury" - Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., James M. Grimwood, Charles C. Alexander, NASA SP-4201 "Judith's Web - Student Experiment Aboard Skylab 3" - NASA.gov “URODELEAN AMPHIBIANS IN STUDIES ON MICROGRAVITY: EFFECTS UPON ORGAN AND TISSUE REGENERATION” - E.N. Grigoryan et al., Adv. Space Res, 2002 "From Undersea to Outer Space: The STS-40 Jellyfish Experiment" - NASA STI Program "For water bears, the glass is all full" - Tina Hesman Saey, Science News, December 2015 "Tardigrades survive exposure to space in low Earth orbit" - K. Ingemar Jonsson et al., Current Biology, September 2008 "What happened to those tardigrades sent to the Moon?" - Laurent Palka, The Conversation, February 2024 "Tardigrade Survival Limits in High-Speed Impacts—Implications for Panspermia and Collection of Samples from Plumes Emitted by Ice Worlds" - Alejandra Traspas & Mark J. Burchell, Astrobiology, July 2021 Links: Support our shows with your membership during the MaxFunDrive! Check out Let's Learn Everything! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky! Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Ellen & special guests, Ella Hubber and Tom Lum of Let's Learn Everything, turn our gazes to the skies and talk animals in space. We discuss the fruit fly fan club, the great big farm on the moon, which earthlings were ACTUALLY the first to make the trip around the moon and back, a spider escape where you least want it, why dentistry researchers had a snake room, shooting tardigrades out of a gun, and so much more. This one is truly out of this world. Works Cited & Further Reading: "Bioastronautics Research" video "This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury" - Loyd S. Swenson, Jr., James M. Grimwood, Charles C. Alexander, NASA SP-4201 "Judith's Web - Student Experiment Aboard Skylab 3" - NASA.gov “URODELEAN AMPHIBIANS IN STUDIES ON MICROGRAVITY: EFFECTS UPON ORGAN AND TISSUE REGENERATION” - E.N. Grigoryan et al., Adv. Space Res, 2002 "From Undersea to Outer Space: The STS-40 Jellyfish Experiment" - NASA STI Program "For water bears, the glass is all full" - Tina Hesman Saey, Science News, December 2015 "Tardigrades survive exposure to space in low Earth orbit" - K. Ingemar Jonsson et al., Current Biology, September 2008 "What happened to those tardigrades sent to the Moon?" - Laurent Palka, The Conversation, February 2024 "Tardigrade Survival Limits in High-Speed Impacts—Implications for Panspermia and Collection of Samples from Plumes Emitted by Ice Worlds" - Alejandra Traspas & Mark J. Burchell, Astrobiology, July 2021 Links: Support our shows with your membership during the MaxFunDrive! Check out Let's Learn Everything! For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky! Thanks to everyone who participated in this year's MaxFunDrive! Still want to get in on the action? Follow this link to support this show (and get in on our limited-time keychain sale to benefit the Center for Constitutional Rights): https://maximumfun.org/joinjustthezoo

Getting babies to sleep is big business, and a major source of stress for parents. There are many theories and methods: rock them, sing, let them cry it out. But now science has come to the rescue and we can finally put this question to bed. Hopefully.  According to a study published in September 2022 in Current Biology, “approximately 20%–30% of infants cry excessively and exhibit sleep difficulties for no apparent reason” which of course can be exhausting for most people but can become more serious in some cases. As the study points out, it causes “parental stress and even triggering impulsive child maltreatment in a small number of cases.” So finding a way to sooth babies is important. What did the scientists discover? How did they come to these conclusions? So how do you get the baby to sleep? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the latest episodes, click here: ⁠⁠Can you train your brain like a muscle?⁠⁠ ⁠⁠How often should you wash your jeans?⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Should I walk 10000 steps a day?⁠⁠ A Bababam Originals podcast, written and produced by Amber Minogue. First broadcast : 10/11/2022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Craving junk food when you're stressed isn't a lack of discipline — it's biology. In this episode, Dr. Brendan McCarthy breaks down what ultra-processed and hyper-palatable foods actually do inside your body — from your metabolism to your hormones, your brain, and your stress response. But this isn't about guilt or shame. It's about understanding what you're up against — especially as a parent trying to make better choices in a world designed to make that difficult. You'll learn: What ultra-processed foods really are How they impact your endocrine system and metabolism Why stress makes you crave sugar and processed foods Why shame around food doesn't work (and never will) Simple, realistic ways to improve your family's eating habits This episode is about taking back control — without perfection, and without guilt.   Mechanism-Anchored References Monteiro, Carlos A., et al. “Ultra-Processed Foods: What They Are and How to Identify Them.” Public Health Nutrition, vol. 22, no. 5, 2019, pp. 936–941. Hall, Kevin D., et al. “Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake.” Cell Metabolism, vol. 30, no. 1, 2019, pp. 67–77.e3. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2019.05.008. Rush, E. Catherine, et al. “The Impact of Ultra-Processed Foods on Pediatric Health.” Nutrition Reviews, 2024. doi:10.1093/nutrit/nuae051. Ventura, Alison K., and John Worobey. “Early Influences on the Development of Food Preferences.” Current Biology, vol. 23, no. 9, 2013, pp. R401–R408. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.037. Mennella, Julie A., et al. “Preferences for Salty and Sweet Tastes Are Elevated and Related to Each Other during Childhood.” PLOS ONE, vol. 9, no. 3, 2014, e92201. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092201. Roberto, Christina A., et al. “Influence of Licensed Characters on Children's Taste and Snack Preferences.” Pediatrics, vol. 126, no. 1, 2010, pp. 88–93. doi:10.1542/peds.2009-3433. Swindle, Taren, et al. “Pester Power: Examining Children's Influence as an Active Component of the Family Food Environment.” Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, vol. 52, no. 8, 2020, pp. 801–807. doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2020.06.002. Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael, et al. “Responsive Feeding Recommendations: Harmonizing Integration into Dietary Guidelines for Infants and Young Children.” Current Developments in Nutrition, vol. 5, no. 6, 2021, nzab076. doi:10.1093/cdn/nzab076. Puhl, Rebecca M., and Chelsea A. Heuer. “Obesity Stigma: Important Considerations for Public Health.” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 100, no. 6, 2010, pp. 1019–1028. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2009.159491. World Health Organization. Set of Recommendations on the Marketing of Foods and Non-Alcoholic Beverages to Children. World Health Organization, 2010.   Dr. Brendan McCarthy is the founder and Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center in Arizona. With over two decades of experience, he's helped thousands of patients navigate hormonal imbalances using bioidentical HRT, nutrition, and root-cause medicine. He's also taught and mentored other physicians on integrative approaches to hormone therapy, weight loss, fertility, and more. If you're ready to take your health seriously, this podcast is a great place to start.  

Walking videos are everywhere — "walk 10,000 steps and melt belly fat." The conclusion is right: walking does reduce body fat. But the explanation is completely wrong. Your body compensates for ~80% of exercise calories. The real reason walking transforms metabolic health has almost nothing to do with calories burned. Here's the actual science. CHAPTERS: 0:00 - The walking myth: why calorie counting is wrong 0:52 - I'm Dr. Robert Lufkin — the actual mechanism 1:09 - Part 1: The calorie burn myth 1:24 - Pontzer's constrained energy model (Current Biology, 2016) 2:12 - Your body claws back 80% of exercise calories 2:51 - Constrained energy expenditure confirmed (2021 review) 3:36 - The body's compensation is actually the feature 3:42 - Part 2: The hormonal truth — insulin and GLUT4 4:05 - GLUT4: 100-fold glucose uptake without insulin 4:49 - AMPK: the molecular switch for fat oxidation 5:31 - AMPK activates autophagy via sestrins 6:05 - Part 3: Cortisol and visceral fat 6:18 - Visceral fat: the fat that kills 7:07 - Walking lowers cortisol (systematic review) 7:37 - Outdoor walking: 20–30 min for biggest cortisol drop 7:45 - Japanese walking study: visceral fat down, independent of calories 8:18 - Part 4: The post-meal walk 8:52 - 10-minute walk right after eating beats 30 minutes later 9:44 - Why the body's calorie compensation is a metabolic gift 10:36 - Part 5: The metabolic framework 11:04 - Walking is a hormonal intervention, not a calorie one 12:01 - Walking: 2 million years of metabolic medicine REFERENCES: Constrained Total Energy Expenditure (Pontzer et al., Current Biology, 2016): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26832439/ 10-Min Walk Immediately After Meals Suppresses Glucose (Hashimoto et al., Scientific Reports, 2025): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40594496/ Exercise, GLUT4, and Skeletal Muscle Glucose Uptake (Physiol Rev, 2013): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23899560/ GLUT4 Translocation — 100-Fold Glucose Uptake (Am J Physiol, 2020): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8260367/ AMPK and Adaptation to Exercise (Annual Review of Physiology, 2022): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8919726/ Physical Activity Lowers Cortisol (Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2022): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35777076/ Walking + Forest Environment Reduces Cortisol (Frontiers in Public Health, 2019): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6920124/ Daily WalkiNew episodes every Tuesday & Thursday. Subscribe so you don't miss one.Continue this conversation on Substack: https://robertlufkinmd.substack.comLies I Taught In Medical School — Free sample chapter: https://www.robertlufkinmd.com/lies/Web: https://www.robertlufkinmd.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/robertlufkinmdX: https://x.com/robertlufkinmdInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/robertlufkinmd/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@robertlufkinLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertlufkinmd/

Don't call it a comeback, coelacanth's been here for years. We discuss life on Earth 400 million years ago, a military escort mission, our own fish ancestors, five year pregnancies, underwater handstands, an unnecessarily complicated puzzle in the third generation Pokémon games, and so much more. Works Cited: “The Coelacanth” - Knysna Museum “The Discovery” - UC Museum of Paleontology's website “Earliest known coelacanth skull extends the range of anatomically modern coelacanths to the Early Devonian” - Min Zhu et al., Nature Communications, April 2012 “Animated Life: The Living Fossil Fish | HHMI BioInteractive Video”  “The coelacanth rostral organ is a unique low-resolution electro-detector that facilitates the feeding strike” - Rachel M. Berquist et al., Scientific Reports, March 2015 “New scale analyses reveal centenarian African coelacanths” - Kélig Mahé et al., Current Biology, August 2021 “Neurocranial development of the coelacanth and the evolution of the sarcopterygian head” - Hugo Dutel et al., Nature, May 2019 “Buoyancy and hydrostatic balance in a West Indian Ocean coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae” - Henrik Lauridsen et al., BMC Biology, August 2022 Links: Come hear Ellen talk about dragons LIVE at Nerd Nite Seattle! https://seattle.nerdnite.com/ For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!

Don't call it a comeback, coelacanth's been here for years. We discuss life on Earth 400 million years ago, a military escort mission, our own fish ancestors, five year pregnancies, underwater handstands, an unnecessarily complicated puzzle in the third generation Pokémon games, and so much more. Works Cited: “The Coelacanth” - Knysna Museum “The Discovery” - UC Museum of Paleontology's website “Earliest known coelacanth skull extends the range of anatomically modern coelacanths to the Early Devonian” - Min Zhu et al., Nature Communications, April 2012 “Animated Life: The Living Fossil Fish | HHMI BioInteractive Video”  “The coelacanth rostral organ is a unique low-resolution electro-detector that facilitates the feeding strike” - Rachel M. Berquist et al., Scientific Reports, March 2015 “New scale analyses reveal centenarian African coelacanths” - Kélig Mahé et al., Current Biology, August 2021 “Neurocranial development of the coelacanth and the evolution of the sarcopterygian head” - Hugo Dutel et al., Nature, May 2019 “Buoyancy and hydrostatic balance in a West Indian Ocean coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae” - Henrik Lauridsen et al., BMC Biology, August 2022 Links: Come hear Ellen talk about dragons LIVE at Nerd Nite Seattle! https://seattle.nerdnite.com/ For more information about us & our podcast, head over to our website! Follow Just the Zoo of Us on BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram & Discord! Follow Ellen on Instagram or BlueSky!

Hoy hablamos de La Celda (Tarsem Singh) un thriller del año 2000 que plantea la posibilidad de adentrarse mediante el uso de la tecnología en la mente de un asesino en coma para recuperar la ubicación de su última víctima, una joven que que podría seguir con vida. La película conecta muchos de los temas recurrentes de la ciencia ficción basada en la exploración de la mente y el inconsciente humano con una línea de exploración visual del imaginario interior muy cercano al onirismo.La película nos servirá de vehículo para hablar de muchas de las investigaciones recientes al respecto del mundo de los sueños, particularmente las terapias de sueño para lidiar con el trauma, las pesadillas recurrentes y el método de "reimaginar los sueños". FUENTES: La investigación clínica sobre pesadillas traumáticas y la Terapia de Reensayo de Imágenes añade una dimensión inquietante a todo esto: resulta que reescribir el inconsciente desde fuera es posible, funciona.Os dejamos algunos de los estudios mencionados: IRT. Terapia de reensayo de imágenes-Krakow, B., Hollifield, M., Johnston, L., Koss, M., Schrader, R., Warner, T. D., … Prince, H. (2001). Imagery rehearsal therapy for chronic nightmares in sexual assault survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 286(5), 537–545. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.286.5.537-Krakow, B. (2006). Clinical management of chronic nightmares: imagery rehearsal therapy. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 4(1), 45–70.https://doi.org/10.1207/s15402010bsm0401_4Revisión sistemática con metaanálisis:-Casement, M. D., & Swanson, L. M. (2012). A meta-analysis of imagery rehearsal for post-trauma nightmares: Effects on nightmare frequency, sleep quality, and posttraumatic stress. ClinicalPsychology Review, 32(6), 566–574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.06.002Sueño traumático y TEPT-Ross, R. J., Ball, W. A., Sullivan, K. A., & Caroff, S. N. (1989). Sleep disturbance as the hallmark of posttraumatic stress disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146(6), 697–707.https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.146.6.697Sueño lúcido: verificación científica-LaBerge, S. P., Nagel, L. E., Dement, W. C., & Zarcone, V. P. (1981). Lucid dreaming verified by volitional communication during REM sleep. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 52(3), 727–732.https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1981.52.3.727-Konkoly, K. R., Appel, K., Chabani, E., Mangiaruga, A., Gott, J., Mallett, R., … Paller, K. A. (2021). Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. Current Biology, 31(7), 1417–1427.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.026Esperamos que disfruteis del programa tanto como nosotros, buenas noches Navegantes...

Il y a environ 5000 ans, des populations venues des grandes steppes d'Eurasie arrivent en Europe. On les appelle aujourd'hui les Indo-Européens. Mais cette migration a-t-elle été un simple déplacement de population… ou une invasion violente qui aurait bouleversé le continent ?Grâce aux découvertes récentes de la génétique et de l'archéologie, les chercheurs réévaluent aujourd'hui l'un des grands mystères de la préhistoire européenne.Dans cet épisode de La Dent Bleue, embarquez pour une enquête historique entre cavaliers des steppes, migrations massives et transformations culturelles.Dernier épisode avant le retour en Scandinavie !Retrouvez le script, la bibliographie complète et les crédits sonores et graphiques sur : https://ladentbleue.fr/invasion-indo-europenne-violenceSuivez La Dent Bleue sur :

Come facciamo a continuare a percepire un oggetto anche quando scompare per un attimo dalla nostra vista, per esempio quando passa dietro un ostacolo? Una nuova ricerca condotta dall'Istituto di neuroscienze del Cnr e dall'Università di Firenze, pubblicata sulla rivista Current Biology, ha individuato un meccanismo chiave del cervello umano: una particolare forma di memoria visiva che mantiene attiva la rappresentazione degli oggetti anche quando non sono più visibili. A Obiettivo Salute il commento del prof. Guido Marco Cicchini, ricercatore del Cnr-In che ha partecipato alo studio.

Ever feel like staying healthy today requires constant effort, planning, and discipline?You're not imagining it. Modern life is designed in ways that make health harder than it used to be. From ultra-processed foods and sedentary jobs to a culture built around convenience and constant access to calories, our environment often works against our biology.In this episode, we break down why maintaining your health today can feel like an uphill battle—and why that doesn't mean you're failing. It means you're navigating what public health researchers call an “obesogenic environment”: surroundings that make overconsumption easy and physical activity harder.You'll learn how changes in our food system, movement patterns, and daily routines have reshaped the health landscape—and most importantly, what you can do about it.In this episode:Why modern environments promote overeatingHow ultra-processed foods increase calorie intakeWhy sedentary lifestyles changed daily energy expenditureThe hidden role of convenience and “friction” in eating behaviorWhy health requires more intention todayFive practical strategies to make healthy choices easierThe goal isn't perfection—it's awareness and creating an environment that supports your health instead of working against it.You're not failing. You're navigating a system that wasn't built for human health. ReferencesBaumeister, R. F., et al. (1998). Ego depletion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Ducrot, P., et al. (2017). Meal planning, diet quality and body weight. Int. Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Hall, K. D., et al. (2019). Ultra-processed diets increase calorie intake and weight gain. Cell Metabolism. Juul, F., et al. (2022). Ultra-processed food consumption and obesity in the U.S. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Levine, J. A. (2002). Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. Martínez Steele, E., et al. (2016). Ultra-processed foods and added sugars in the U.S. diet. BMJ Open. Matthews, C. E., et al. (2008). Sedentary behavior and health outcomes. American Journal of Epidemiology. Pontzer, H. (2015). Constrained energy expenditure model. Current Biology. Pontzer, H. (2021). Burn: New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories. Swinburn, B., et al. (1999). Obesogenic environments. Preventive Medicine. Young, L. R., & Nestle, M. (2002). Expanding portion sizes. American Journal of Public Health.Support the showGet Weekly Health Tips: thrivehealthcoachllc.com Join the Thrive Collective Facebook group Let's Connect:@‌ashleythrivehealthcoach or via email: ashley@thrivehealthcoachingllc.com Podcast Produced by Virtually You!

Die Themen in den Wissensnachrichten: +++ Hunde sind offenbar musikalisch auch ohne Sprache +++ Material Lonsdaleit wohl definitiv härter als Diamanten +++ Unser Gehirn kann doch Stimm-Deepfakes erkennen +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:Studie über "singende" Hunde im Fachmagazin "Current Biology", 23.02.2026Studie über Lonsdaleit, das Material härter als Diamant im Fachmagazin "Nature", 04.03.2026Artikel über Lonsdaleit ebenfalls im Fachmagazin "Nature", 04.03.2026Studie über Stimm-Deepfakes in "eNeuro", 09.03.2026Studie über Fitness-Musik im Fachmagazin "JAMA Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery", 05.03.2026Alle Quellen findet ihr hier.**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: TikTok und Instagram .

A groundbreaking study's revealed that even 50 years after the end of commercial whaling, its devastating impacts continue to shape humpback whale behaviour. Historical records show that in the waters of Oceania, which span from New Caledonia to French Polynesia, there were once more than 14,000 humpback whales. By the mid 1970s that number had plummeted to fewer than 200, bringing the species to the brink of extinction Now it's been revealed that as the population recovers, how whales' mate has been changed dynamically. Dr Emma Carroll is a molecular ecologist at the University of Auckland, she is the co-author of the research in the scientific journal Current Biology.

Investigadores alemães identificam uma espécie de formiga parasítica no Japão que só tem rainhas. Estudo publicado no Current Biology

Die Themen in den Wissensnachrichten +++ Warum Pferde-Wiehern akustisch ungewöhnlich ist +++ Muster auf Figuren aus der Altsteinzeit waren nicht nur Deko, sondern Zeichen +++ Wie viel Geld Frauen die Mutterschaft kostet +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:The high fundamental frequency in horse whinnies is generated by an aerodynamic whistle. Current Biology, 23.02.2026Humans 40,000 y ago developed a system of conventional signs. PNAS, 23.02.2026Can a motherhood premium in public transfer income offset the Danish motherhood earnings penalty? European Sociological Review, 18.11.2025The future of European outdoor summer sports through the lens of 50 years of the tour de France. Scientific Reports, 24.02.2026The power of victim narrative: Eponymous legislation increases voter sympathy and support. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, advance online publicationAlle Quellen findet ihr hier.**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: TikTok und Instagram .

Die Themen in den Wissensnachrichten: +++ Was uns online besonders stresst +++ Warum gibt es gleichgeschlechtlichen Sex +++ Badewasser in Pompeji ganz schön schmutzig +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:Examining the Association Between Internet Use and Perceived Stress, JMIR, 9.1.2026Ecological and social pressures drive same-sex sexual behaviour in non-human primates, Nature Ecology & Evolution, 12.01.2026Seeing Roman life through water: Exploring Pompeii's public baths via carbonate deposits, PNAS, 12.01.2026Motivation under aversive conditions is regulated by a striatopallidal pathway in primates, Current Biology, 9.1.2026Invasion of bacteria swimming upstream into microstructured devices, Newton, 5.01.2026Alle Quellen findet ihr hier.**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: TikTok und Instagram .

Nel secondo episodio di questa serie di speciali intitolata: "Il lato nascosto delle sostanze psicoattive", Francesca e Luca raccontano la storia affascinante e ambigua della caffeina: una minuscola molecola vegetale nata come veleno e diventata una delle sostanze psicoattive più diffuse e socialmente accettate al mondo. Dalle sue origini evolutive come difesa chimica delle piante, passando per gli studi sugli insetti impollinatori e il ruolo della dipendenza, ripercorriamo il cammino che ha portato il caffè dalle alture dell'Etiopia alle caffetterie del mondo arabo e dell'Europa moderna.Tra storia, chimica e neuroscienze, l'episodio esplora come la caffeina abbia contribuito a plasmare la società occidentale, favorendo la nascita di spazi di confronto intellettuale, il pensiero illuminista e nuovi ritmi di lavoro indipendenti dal ciclo naturale del sole. Ma dietro l'illusione di un'energia “a costo zero” si nasconde un prezzo biologico tutt'altro che trascurabile.Scopriamo come la caffeina interferisca con l'adenosina, alteri profondamente la qualità del sonno — in particolare il sonno profondo — e contribuisca a un debito cronico di riposo, con potenziali conseguenze su salute mentale e fisica. Un episodio che invita a guardare con occhi nuovi una delle abitudini più quotidiane e a chiederci se l'energia che prendiamo in prestito oggi non sia, in realtà, un conto da pagare domani.Fonti:   ·      Wright, G. A., et al. (2013). Caffeine in floral nectar enhances a pollinator's memory of reward. Science, 339(6124), 1202-1204.·      Couvillon, M. J., et al. (2015). Caffeinated forage tricks honeybees into increasing foraging and recruitment behaviors. Current Biology, 25(21), 2815-2818. ·      Fredholm, B.B. (2011). Notes on the History of Caffeine Use. In: Methylxanthines. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 200. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13443-2_1·      Matthew Walker (2018). Why we sleep. The new science of sleep and dreams. Penguin Books. ·      Michael Pollan (2022). Piante che cambiano la mente. Milano: Adelphi. pp. 111-152Diventa un supporter di questo podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/scientificast-la-scienza-come-non-l-hai-mai-sentita--1762253/support.

Summary: Where do tuatara live? Can I see one in MY backyard? Join Kiersten to find out if you can see a tuatara in your own backyard.   For my hearing impaired followers, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean   Show Notes: “Distribution of tuatara”, Te Ara: https://teara.govt.nz/en/map “Tuatara” by Marc E. H. Jones and Allison Cree. Current Biology, Vol 22, Issue 23, PR986-R987, Dec 4, 2012. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.10.049, https://www.cell.com/current-biology “Sphenodon punctatus (Tuatara)” Animal Diversity Web: https://www.animaldiversity.org Music written and performed by Katherine Camp   Transcript (Piano music plays) Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife. (Piano music stops)   Kiersten - Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I'm Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we'll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating.  This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won't regret it. Last week's overview of the tuatara probably made you want them in YOUR backyard, but they are only found in a small section of the world. This week we are going to find out where the tuatara live. The second thing I like about the tuatara is where they are found.  To see a tuatara in the wild you will have to visit New Zealand. They are found on different islands surrounding the main island of New Zealand as well as on the mainland. Those found on the mainland are there due to a reintroduction program begun in 2005.  The islands where you can find tuatara are fairly inaccessible which probably helped save them from extinction. The ones on the mainland were extinct before Europeans ever came to the island.  There are about thirty islands surrounding New Zealand where you can find tuatara today. Those island include Poor Knights Island, Hen and Chickens Island, Little Barrier Island, Cuveir Island, Mercury Island, The Alderman Island, Karewa Island, Plate Island, Moutoki Island, Moutohora Island, and Tiritiri Matangi Island. These are all off the northern coast. Sphenodon punctatus occurs naturally on all of these islands except Moutohora and Tiritiri Matangi Islands where the Northern Tuatara were introduced to help increase their population. Tuatara can also be found on Stephens or Takapourewa Island, Trio Island, Titi Island, The Brothers Island, and Matiu or Somes Island. Sphenodon guntheri occurs naturally on The Brothers Island and was introduced to Titi and Matiu Islands to boost their population. Please excuse any mispronunciations.  A scientific paper published in December of 2012 states that “there are about 32 natural populations of tuatara living on small offshore islands, a few island reintroductions, and at least one reintroduced mainland colony on the North Island [of New Zealand]. Most of the populations include just tens or hundreds of animals, but there are estimated to be at least 30,000 on Takapourewa Island.” End quote. The habitat that tuatara live in is an odd choice for a reptile as the islands are riddled with cliffs and exposed to strong winds. The vegetation is salt and wind tolerant; therefore, are pretty tough plants. The average temperature is below what the typical reptile can tolerate but tuatara are adapted to survive temperatures as low as 45 degrees Fahrenheit.  They spend their days in burrows that are dug by seabirds such as petrels, prions, and shearwaters when they are available or they will dig their own burrows. They also spend time soaking up the sun on the cliffs. Tuatara are more active at night leaving their burrows or basking spots to hunt for food. This episode is a bit shorter than my usual episodes and I do apologize. I will make it up to you in future episodes of the tuatara. Thank you for visiting with me to find out where the tuatara lives. It is my second favorite about this seriously cool animal. As the holiday season is upon us, I will be taking a break until the new year. We will pick up where we left off with the tuatara in January 2026. If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change.  Join me in January 2026 for another exciting episode about the tuatara.        (Piano Music plays)  This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, my very own piano playing hero.

Die Themen in den Wissensnachrichten: +++ In der Periode sind Verletzungen stärker +++ Emissionen durch trockengelegte Moore wohl deutlich unterschätzt +++ Wer traurig ist, achtet auf mehr Details +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:Menstruation and injury occurrence; a four season observational study in elite female football players; Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 16.12.2025Identifying hotspots of greenhouse gas emissions from drained peatlands in the European Union, Nature Communications, 02.12.2025Unpleasant mood is linked to local processing in haptics, i-Perception, 11.12.2025Rank and social context influence sleep in wild chimpanzees, Current Biology, 12.12.2025What About Love? A Review of Interventions for Patients With Heart Disease and Their Intimate Partners: Recommendations for Cardiac Rehabilitation, Canadian Journal of Cardiology, 15.12.2025Alle Quellen findet ihr hier.**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: TikTok und Instagram .

Next stop - the moon! Jeremy Hansen stops by our studio to chat about how he's prepping to be the first Canadian to go to the moon.Plus:Santa's reindeer may be losing their antlers –– and climate change could be the culpritReindeer are the only animal in the deer family where the females also grow antlers, and they typically have a full rack over the wintertime and drop them in June when they give birth. University of Guelph PhD student Allegra Love was monitoring reindeer on Fogo Island in Newfoundland, when she made a surprising discovery that female reindeer are losing and growing their antlers much earlier than usual. This can put more stress on the animal during a crucial part of their pregnancy, and the researchers think this could eventually lead to the reindeer losing their antlers altogether. The work was published in the journal Ecosphere.Pterosaur brains reveal clues about why these mighty fliers took to the skiesFlight has only evolved among vertebrates three times — in bats, birds, and first in pterosaurs. How pterosaurs first took to the skies was always a mystery to scientists, until the discovery of a fossilized 230-million year old pterosaur relative in Brazil. An international team, including Ohio University professor Lawrence Witmer, used an MRI for detailed analysis of the fossilized skull, to pinpoint the miniscule brain changes that happened as the animal developed the capacity to fly. The research was published in the journal Current Biology.Scientists are using AI to find life in 3 billion year old rocksEarth's earliest signs of life are often incredibly difficult to detect. An international team of researchers have developed a new tool that uses AI to find “whispers” of life locked inside ancient rocks. Using this tool, the researchers, including astrobiologist Michael Wong from Carnegie Science, were able to detect fresh chemical evidence of life in rocks that are 3.3 billion years old. This tool can not only be used to explore the origins of life here on Earth, but also on Mars and other planetary bodies. The work was published in the journal PNAS.

When the air is thick with wildfire smoke, people are advised to stay home. At Hastings Natural History Preserve in California, Acorn Woodpeckers do the same. These gregarious birds live in family groups and frequently visit their neighbors while foraging. Using tiny radio transmitters, scientists tracked the movements of Acorn Woodpeckers during the summer of 2020 when wildfire smoke blanketed the preserve. On smoky days, woodpeckers spent more of their time at home. And when they did leave their territories, they didn't venture far and visited fewer neighbors than usual. Published in Current Biology in 2023, the findings suggest that harm caused by wildfires go far beyond the blaze itself. As megafires become more common in our changing climate, even more birds could be affected by wildfire smoke in the future.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An episode devoted to the color yellow.Resources:The St. Olaf ChoirLooney Tunes: Elmer Fudd - Kill the WabbitDay Glo CompanyDavid Briggs. Beyond Colour Theory: Understanding and Applying Colour, National Art School, Sydney, Australia, Online course Lauren Welbourne. Why we see things differently in winter compared with summer, Phys Org, Aug. 5, 2015Lauren Welbourne, et al. Human colour perception changes between seasons, Current Biology, Aug. 3, 2015Mike Webster. Environmental Influences on Color Vision, July 3, 2020Carl Orff: Carmina BuranaCold Play: YellowSend us a textSupport the show

C dans l'air l'invité du 25 octobre 2025 avec François Houdecek, historien à la Fondation Napoléon, spécialiste de la Grande armée et de ses soldatsDans une étude publiée dans la revue Current Biology le 24 octobre 2025, des scientifiques de l'Institut Pasteur font part de leurs résultats d'analyses génétiques sur des dents d'anciens soldats de la Grande guerre lors de la retraite de Russie en 1812. Ils ont mis au jour l'existence de deux nouvelles maladies présente à cette période : la fièvre paratyphoïde et la fièvre récurrente. Une "découverte majeure", d'autant que les méthodes employées sont "très novatrices", comme le précise Rémi Barbieri, post-doctorant dans l'Unité de Paléogénomique Microbienne de l'Institut Pasteur pendant l'étude, et premier auteur de celle-ci. En 2006, le typhus et la fièvre des tranchées avaient été identifiées via des tests PCR effectués sur des restes de 40 soldats du charnier de Vilius, ne permettant de trouver que les maladies recherchées. Mais cette fois-ci, de l'ADN a été extrait des dents de 13 soldats napoléoniens."On pense que 500 000 à 600 000 soldats étaient partis et que la moitié sont morts de maladies, de faim, de froid ou de fatigue et que la majorité des morts le seraient à cause de maladies infectieuses", précise Rémi Barbieri. Le chercheur ajoute : "Pour l'instant on en a identifié quatre, mais on pense qu'on pourrait en trouver beaucoup plus." Le manque d'hygiène a été particulièrement propice à la prolifération de poux, puces et autres insectes, générateurs de maladies.François Houdecek est historien à la Fondation Napoléon, spécialiste de la Grande armée et de ses soldats. Il reviendra sur la découverte par des chercheurs de l'Institut Pasteur de deux nouvelles maladies présentes lors de la retraite de Russie en 1812. Il est l'auteur de "Vivre la Grande Armée. Être soldat au temps de Napoléon" aux CNRS Editions et il vient de publier avec le Service Historique de la Défense « Les guerres Napoléoniennes dans l'Histoire » aux éditions Pierre de Taillac.

C dans l'air l'invité du 25 octobre 2025 avec François Houdecek, historien à la Fondation Napoléon, spécialiste de la Grande armée et de ses soldatsDans une étude publiée dans la revue Current Biology le 24 octobre 2025, des scientifiques de l'Institut Pasteur font part de leurs résultats d'analyses génétiques sur des dents d'anciens soldats de la Grande guerre lors de la retraite de Russie en 1812. Ils ont mis au jour l'existence de deux nouvelles maladies présente à cette période : la fièvre paratyphoïde et la fièvre récurrente. Une "découverte majeure", d'autant que les méthodes employées sont "très novatrices", comme le précise Rémi Barbieri, post-doctorant dans l'Unité de Paléogénomique Microbienne de l'Institut Pasteur pendant l'étude, et premier auteur de celle-ci. En 2006, le typhus et la fièvre des tranchées avaient été identifiées via des tests PCR effectués sur des restes de 40 soldats du charnier de Vilius, ne permettant de trouver que les maladies recherchées. Mais cette fois-ci, de l'ADN a été extrait des dents de 13 soldats napoléoniens."On pense que 500 000 à 600 000 soldats étaient partis et que la moitié sont morts de maladies, de faim, de froid ou de fatigue et que la majorité des morts le seraient à cause de maladies infectieuses", précise Rémi Barbieri. Le chercheur ajoute : "Pour l'instant on en a identifié quatre, mais on pense qu'on pourrait en trouver beaucoup plus." Le manque d'hygiène a été particulièrement propice à la prolifération de poux, puces et autres insectes, générateurs de maladies.François Houdecek est historien à la Fondation Napoléon, spécialiste de la Grande armée et de ses soldats. Il reviendra sur la découverte par des chercheurs de l'Institut Pasteur de deux nouvelles maladies présentes lors de la retraite de Russie en 1812. Il est l'auteur de "Vivre la Grande Armée. Être soldat au temps de Napoléon" aux CNRS Editions et il vient de publier avec le Service Historique de la Défense « Les guerres Napoléoniennes dans l'Histoire » aux éditions Pierre de Taillac.

Warum rast unser Herz, bevor wir Angst haben? Warum spüren manche Menschen ihren Körper so genau – und andere fast gar nicht? In dieser Folge tauchen Leon und Atze in die Welt der Interozeption ein – dem verborgenen Sinn, mit dem wir unser Inneres wahrnehmen. Fühlt euch gut betreut Leon & Atze Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leonwindscheid/ https://www.instagram.com/atzeschroeder_offiziell/ Mehr zu unseren Werbepartnern findet ihr hier: https://linktr.ee/betreutesfuehlen Tickets: Atze: https://www.atzeschroeder.de/#termine Leon: https://leonwindscheid.de/tour/ Empfehlungen Betreutes Fühlen – Folge zu Alexithymie (vom 12.03.2024) „Warum fühle ich nichts?“ In dieser Folge sprechen Leon und Atze darüber, warum manche Menschen Schwierigkeiten haben, ihre eigenen Gefühle wahrzunehmen und auszudrücken. Lisa Feldman Barrett – Wie Gefühle entstehen Ein faszinierendes Buch einer der bekanntesten Emotionsforscherinnen unserer Zeit. Barrett zeigt darin, dass Gefühle keine festen Programme sind, sondern vom Gehirn konstruiert werden. Quellen Desmedt, O., Luminet, O., Walentynowicz, M., & Corneille, O. (2023). The new measures of interoceptive accuracy: A systematic review and assessment. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 153, 105388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105388 Ditzer, J., Woll, C. F. J., Burger, C., Ernst, A., Böhm, I., Garthus-Niegel, S., & Zietlow, A. L. (2025). A meta-analytic review of child maltreatment and interoception. Nature Mental Health, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00456-w Ekman, P. (1992). An argument for basic emotions. Cognition & Emotion, 6(3–4), 169–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699939208411068 Garfinkel, S. N., Gould van Praag, C. D., Engels, M., Watson, D., Silva, M., Evans, S. L., ... & Critchley, H. D. (2021). Interoceptive cardiac signals selectively enhance fear memories. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 150(6), 1165–1178. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000967 Garfinkel, S. N., Manassei, M. F., Hamilton-Fletcher, G., In den Bosch, Y., Critchley, H. D., & Engels, M. (2016). Interoceptive dimensions across cardiac and respiratory axes. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371(1708), 20160014. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0014 Garfinkel, S. N., Minati, L., Gray, M. A., Seth, A. K., Dolan, R. J., & Critchley, H. D. (2014). Fear from the heart: Sensitivity to fear stimuli depends on individual heartbeats. Journal of Neuroscience, 34(19), 6573–6582. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3507-13.2014 Gross, J. J. (2013). Emotion regulation: Taking stock and moving forward. Emotion, 13(3), 359–365. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032135 Interoception: The mysterious inner sense driving your emotions. (2024, March 22). BBC Future. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240322-interoception-the-mysterious-inner-sense-driving-your-emotions Khalsa, S. S., Adolphs, R., Cameron, O. G., Critchley, H. D., Davenport, P. W., Feinstein, J. S., ... & Zucker, N. (2018). Interoception and mental health: A roadmap. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 3(6), 501–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.12.004 Murphy, J., Brewer, R., Plans, D., Khalsa, S. S., Catmur, C., & Bird, G. (2020). Testing the independence of self-reported interoceptive accuracy and attention. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(1), 115–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021819879826 Nord, C. L., Dalmaijer, E. S., Armstrong, T., Baker, K., & Dalgleish, T. (2021). A causal role for gastric rhythm in human disgust avoidance. Current Biology, 31(3), 629–634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.10.087 Open Science Collaboration. (2015). Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. Science, 349(6251), aac4716. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4716 Redaktion: Julia Ditzer Produktion: Murmel Productions

The guys are back in the field with our good friend Dr. Jason Dombroskie from the Cornell University Insect Collection!Listen in as Jason leads us through fields and forests, trusty butterfly net in hand, filling us in on the so-called “Insect Apocalypse.” Are insect populations really collapsing worldwide? What do the numbers say? How bad is it, and — most importantly — what can we do about it?In this part, we head out on the trail with Jason. He introduces us to some insects we find along the way and schools us on why insects are so important, and in part two – he delves into the details of the insect apocalypse – what we know and what we don't know. And since we feel bad that you can't see what we got to see – we bring back a little trick we had in our last episodes with Jason – each time we find a critter listen for the sound of a camera shutter. That's the signal to visit this episode's page on our website – thefieldguidespodcast.com - we'll have photos there timestamped so you can see what we're looking at, along with some extra info. Enjoy…This episode was recorded on August 21, 2025 at Rattlesnake Hill Wildlife Management Area in Dalton, NY.. Episode NotesSteve said he heard that there are more species of just weevils than there are of fish. Is that true? At one point in the episode Steve mentioned he'd heard there are more species of weevils than there are of fish. I looked it up, and he's right! Scientists have described around 60–70,000 weevil species, with the real total likely over 100,000, while all the fish in the world come in at about 35,000 species. So as surprising as it sounds, Steve's claim checks out—the humble weevil family really does outnumber all the fish.It was also mentioned that some insects are only known from a single specimen in a collection and have never been seen again in the wild. We looked for a study and found a large one from 2018 that looked at more than 800,000 insect species – it found that about one in five—around 19%—are described from a single specimen and never collected again (Lim et al., Current Biology, 2018). It really shows how much of insect diversity is still barely known.Pollard Walk - During the episode Bill asked about something called a Pollard Walk. That's actually a standard insect survey method. The idea is simple: you walk a fixed route—usually the same path each time—at a steady pace and record every insect you see within a certain distance, often about 2.5 meters on each side. It's kind of like a birding “point count,” but moving. The method, named after Eric Pollard who developed it in the 1970s for butterfly monitoring, is still one of the most widely used ways scientists track insect populations over time.Visit thefieldguidespodcast.com for full episode notes, links, and works cited.

The gang discusses two papers that deal with fossil brains. The first paper looks at a fossil arthropod from the Cambrian and uses neurological characters to determine its phylogenetic placement. The second paper looks at a synapsid braincase and tries to infer why this one species has lost its parietal eye when other members of the species have he eye. Meanwhile, Curt invents some new sponsors, Amanda has plans for James, and James discusses some personal growth.   Up-Goer Five (Curt Edition) The friends talk about two papers that look at very old brains in animals that are long gone. The first paper is the brain of animal from a very long time ago that would grow by taking off its skin when it needs to get bigger and is made of many small bits stuck together. This animal was really weird for a long time, but the people who wrote this paper found one of them that had its brains still in it. They looked at the brains and they looked at the brains of other animals from the past and animals around today and they saw that this brain looked a lot like the brains of a group around today that some of the animals make things to catch food and live in out of their bottom. So the people who wrote the paper say this could mean that is maybe a very very very old animal from that group or close to it. The second paper looks at the hard bits that hold the brain in for an animal that is close to the animals today that have hair and are warm. This animal may not have had hair and may not have been warm, but what the people who wrote the paper are looking at is the spaces in the hard bits that hold the brain. In animals that do not have hair and are cold, there is a space at the top of the head for an eye that can see light and dark. In animals that are warm, they lose this eye. The old animal they are looking at has some animals in the group that have that eye who live in cold places. The animal they are looking at does not have this eye, and so the question is why? They look at everything and they think that it is because the animal without the eye lives in places that are always warm and where day and night don't change that much. This would mean they would not need this light dark eye as much.   References: Strausfeld, Nicholas J., David R. Andrew, and Frank Hirth. "Cambrian origin of the arachnid brain." Current Biology 35.15 (2025): 3777-3785. Benoit, Julien, and Jaganmoy Jodder. "The palaeoneurology of a new specimen of the Middle Triassic dicynodont synapsid Kombuisia frerensis." Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 70.2 (2025): 369-374.

The gang discusses two papers about skin preservation in fossil tetrapods. The first paper describes skin impressions from a Permian synapsid, and the second paper identifies feather-like structures in an early Triassic diapsid. Meanwhile, James considers the horse, Amanda shames extinct animals, and Curt quotes “philosophy”.   Up-Goer Five (Amanda Edition): Today our friends talk about things that are sort of close to things with hair but not that close to things with hair. They are closer to things with hair than to things with dry skin with no hair or long many-part skin things. Anyway for a long time we did not know what the skin of the animals that are sort of close to things with hair looked like. Did they have dry skin with no hair like the things today? Or did they maybe have hair? We didn't know, but now we have found marks in the ground that show that they had dry skin with no hair, but it looks different than the animals with dry skin and no hair today. So hair comes around after the dry skin with no hair does. Then our friends talk about a very weird little animal that is sort of somewhere close to animals with dry skin and no hair, but it has these really weird things that come off of its back that look kind of like the many-part skin things on the most flying animals that are around today. But it's really not the same many-part skin things, because all the parts are not really same. And also there is only one of them and not one on each side. So it might be that many-part skin things come earlier than people thought they might have.   References: Marchetti, Lorenzo, et al. "Early Permian synapsid impressions illuminate the origin of epidermal scales and aggregation behavior." Current Biology 35.11 (2025): 2752-2759. Spiekman, Stephan NF, et al. "Triassic diapsid shows early diversification of skin appendages in reptiles." Nature (2025): 1-7.

Un estudio liderado por Nicholas Strausfeld, de la Universidad de Arizona, y publicado en la prestigiosa revista Current Biology, ha revolucionado por completo esta visión. Strausfeld, en efecto, junto a un equipo de investigadores de Estados Unidos y Reino Unido, ha llevado a cabo un análisis exhaustivo de las características fosilizadas del cerebro y el sistema nervioso central de Mollisonia Symmetrica. Y lo que ha encontrado es sencillamente asombroso.

Whether you love spiders or can't be within 10 feet of them, you probably think of them crawling around on land. Historically, most researchers would probably say the same thing: Based on the fossil record, they've thought the earliest arachnid ancestors existed around 450 million years ago, living and diversifying exclusively on land. But a new study out this week in the journal Current Biology suggests arachnid brains may have originated much earlier in the ocean. Want to hear more stories about the history of animals on Earth? Email us and let us know at shortwave@npr.org.Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The gang discusses two papers about the ecology of sauropods. The first paper investigates the biomechanics of the Plateosaurus tail, and the second paper looks at direct evidence of sauropod diet from gut contents. Meanwhile, James “makes it interesting”, Amanda may have recorded on the wrong microphone, Curt makes a bold rebrand, and everyone vaguely remembers “Denver: The Last Dinosaur”.   Up-Goer Five (Curt Edition): The friends talk about two papers that look at animals with along necks from a long time ago that kids love and were in a movie where one of them called Little Foot went to a great low place between big places. The first paper looks at one of the oldest groups of animals with long necks that had really long things coming out of their bottoms. Some animals use these long things to match how heavy and long their necks are, but some use these long things to hit other animals. Since this group did not have a lot of things to hit other animals that may try to eat them, it would make sense that maybe they used their long things off their bottom to do it. They look at other animals from today and the past to see if this animal could use its long thing from its bottom to hit other animals. And they find that it could. The second paper looks at what one of these long neck animals would eat. They find some parts of one of these animals that died when it was eating, and the bits that it ate were still in its body when it died. They find bits and pieces of things that can make their own food, and they also find that the animal was not very good at breaking up its food in its mouth.   References: Poropat, Stephen F., et al. "Fossilized gut contents elucidate the feeding habits of sauropod dinosaurs." Current Biology 35.11 (2025): 2597-2613. Filek, Thomas, et al. "Tail of defence: an almost complete tail skeleton of Plateosaurus (Sauropodomorpha, Late Triassic) reveals possible defence strategies." Royal Society Open Science 12.5 (2025): 250325.

The gang continues “Wet Hot Archosaur Summer” with a discussion about pterosaur trace fossils. The first paper tests a method for assigning pterosaur traces to potential trace makers, and the second paper is a case study of actually assigning traces to a species. Meanwhile, Amanda herds cats (figuratively and literally), James can only accomplish three things, Curt keeps it light, and everyone upholds their “journalistic integrity”.   Up-Goer Five (Curt Edition): The friends talk about two papers that look at the marks that animals leave on the ground. These marks are made by animals that fly from a long time ago and are no longer around today. The first paper is asking if we can look at these marks and try to better figure out what kinds of these animals could have made those marks. They do a lot of work to look at the marks and some parts of these animals that we have that are really good in order to see if there are parts of the animal that would also be the same as these marks, and then they use numbers like how long these parts are on the marks and the animal parts are to try and see if we can put the marks into groups of animals. They find that maybe we can, and that there are some places where it might be best to see how well this works. The second paper is one of those places where we can go see if this thing the first paper did works. They have these marks and there are two different types of marks. This place also has parts from two different groups of these animals, and those animals are in the same beds so they can be pretty sure that the animals were in the same spot as the marks at around the same time. They look at the numbers and how these marks look and they are able to point to each of these marks and say which of the two animals they have would have made those marks.   References: Smyth, Robert SH, et al. "Identifying pterosaur trackmakers provides critical insights into mid-Mesozoic ground invasion." Current Biology 35.10 (2025): 2337-2353. Li, Yang, et al. "First deciphering of large pterosaur footprints and their trackmaker in the Junggar Basin, China." Cretaceous Research 167 (2025): 106036.

Nous commencerons par une conversation sur quelques sujets d'actualité. Tout d'abord, nous commenterons les évènements qui se sont déroulés aux États-Unis samedi dernier. La parade militaire à Washington et les manifestations « No Kings » qui ont eu lieu dans tout le pays ont fait débat. Nous poursuivrons en parlant de la mise en garde de l'Institut international de recherche sur la paix de Stockholm (SIPRI) : il a averti que l'ère du désarmement nucléaire pourrait être remplacée par une course aux armements. Dans notre section scientifique, nous nous intéresserons ensuite à une étude publiée dans la revue Current Biology. Elle a découvert que les schémas d'inspirations et d'expirations étaient propres à chaque individu et pourraient être utilisés pour les identifier. Et pour conclure la première partie de l'émission, nous évoquerons une nouvelle tendance : le temps de travail hebdomadaire diminue en Europe.   Le reste de l'émission d'aujourd'hui sera consacré à la langue française et à la culture françaises. Le premier dialogue contiendra des exemples illustrant la leçon de la semaine : The Possessive Adjectives. Et dans notre dernière discussion, nos auditeurs verront comment utiliser l'expression française « prendre le taureau par les cornes ». - Malgré les manifestations, le président Trump organise le défilé militaire dont il rêvait - L'ère du désarmement nucléaire pourrait être remplacée par une course aux armements - Des scientifiques découvrent que l'homme a « une empreinte respiratoire » - Le temps de travail hebdomadaire a diminué en Europe - Les jeunes Français passent le bac - Vers l'interdiction des réseaux sociaux aux moins de 15 ans?

Inizieremo la puntata di oggi con una conversazione su alcuni degli argomenti più importanti di attualità. Parleremo, innanzitutto, di ciò che è accaduto sabato scorso negli Stati Uniti. Si discute molto della parata militare a Washington e delle proteste “No Kings” che si sono svolte in tutto il Paese. Continueremo con un avvertimento lanciato dall'Istituto Internazionale di Ricerca sulla Pace di Stoccolma (SIPRI), secondo cui l'era del disarmo nucleare potrebbe lasciare il posto a una nuova corsa agli armamenti. Nella sezione scientifica parleremo di uno studio pubblicato sulla rivista Current Biology. Secondo questa ricerca, i modelli di respirazione nasale possono essere utilizzati per identificare in modo univoco ogni individuo. E per concludere la prima parte del programma, discuteremo di una nuova tendenza che vede la settimana lavorativa media in calo in tutta Europa.    Il resto dell'episodio di oggi sarà dedicato alla lingua e alla cultura italiana. La prima conversazione conterrà diversi esempi legati all'argomento grammaticale della settimana: The Trapassato Remoto and Conjunctions of Time. E nell'ultimo dialogo i nostri ascoltatori impareranno a conoscere il significato di un'altra espressione italiana molto usata: Prendere qualcosa o qualcuno sul serio. - Tra le proteste, il Presidente Trump realizza il suo desiderio di una parata militare - L'era del disarmo nucleare potrebbe lasciare il posto a una nuova corsa agli armamenti - Gli scienziati scoprono le impronte digitali respiratorie nasali negli esseri umani - La settimana lavorativa media è in calo in tutta Europa - Il voto che cambiò l'Italia - Cartelli a Roma: quando l'ospitalità stona con il paesaggio

Comenzaremos el programa de hoy discutiendo parte de la actualidad. Primero hablaremos de los acontecimientos que ocurrieron el pasado sábado en EE. UU. Se está hablando mucho del desfile militar en Washington, y de las protestas que, bajo el lema “Reyes no”, tuvieron lugar en todo el país. Continuaremos con la advertencia del Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) de que la era del desarme nuclear podría verse reemplazada por una carrera armamentística. En la sección de ciencia, hablaremos de un estudio publicado en la revista Current Biology. Según el estudio, los patrones respiratorios a través de la nariz pueden servir como identificadores únicos para las personas. Y, para acabar la primera parte del programa, hablaremos de una nueva tendencia, según la cual la semana laboral promedio se está reduciendo en toda Europa. El resto del episodio de hoy lo dedicaremos a la lengua y la cultura españolas. La primera conversación incluirá ejemplos del tema de gramática de la semana, Relative pronouns - Donde, Cuanto, and Cuantos. Y, en nuestra última conversación, los oyentes encontrarán buenos ejemplos del uso de una nueva expresión española, Vísteme despacio que tengo prisa. Entre las protestas, el presidente Trump cumple su deseo de celebrar un desfile militar La era del desarme nuclear podría ser reemplazada por una carrera armamentística Los científicos descubren huellas dactilares respiratorias en los seres humanos La semana promedio de trabajo se ha estado reduciendo en toda Europa Los diez lugares de España donde mejor se come, según ChatGPT Iniciativas slow en España

Take a big inhale through your nose. Now, exhale. Breathing may seem simple, but it's controlled by a complex brain network. Each inhale gives the human brain information about the external world. And now, a new research paper in the journal Current Biology suggests that humans have unique breathing patterns, almost like nasal "fingerprints." Not only that: These unique breathing patterns seem to say a lot about people's physical and mental health.Questions about the science behind your brain and body? Email us at shortwave@npr.org – we'd love to hear your ideas!Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We begin with the HHS announcement that Covid shots will no longer be recommended to healthy children and pregnant women. What does healthy mean? And what are the conditions that provide release from liability for vaccine makers? Then, a discussion of kinds of immunity, and how vaccines are best delivered depending on how disease is transmitted. We compare what was claimed about the shots (they stop transmission!), and what Pfizer later admitted (that they did not know if the shots stopped transmission—but they had to move at the “speed of science”!). Also, a discussion of how to kill your pathogens by crossing ecological borders…and how to get rid of a botfly with a steak, or with ivermectin. Then: why are young male capuchin monkeys abducting baby howler monkeys on an island off the coast of Panama? Finally: a discussion of transhumanism, our future, our embodied selves, how we live on, what we owe our children, what our beloved dead would make of now, and how we, and the LLMs, could know.*****Our sponsors:Brain.fm: intense music that boosts productivity. Unlock your brain's full potential free for 30 days by going to http://brain.fm/DARKHORSEPique's Nandaka: delicious mushroom, tea, and chocolate drink that provides all day energy. Get 20% off plus free frother+beaker at http://www.Piquelife.com/DARKHORSEJolie: Beautiful showerheads that filter out the garbage without reducing water pressure. Go to http://jolieskinco.com/DarkHorse to get free shipping; free returns within 60 days.*****Join us on Locals! Get access to our Discord server, exclusive live streams, live chats for all streams, and early access to many podcasts: https://darkhorse.locals.comHeather's newsletter, Natural Selections (subscribe to get free weekly essays in your inbox): https://naturalselections.substack.comOur book, A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century, is available everywhere books are sold, including from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AGANGg (commission earned)Check out our store! Epic tabby, digital book burning, saddle up the dire wolves, and more: https://darkhorsestore.org*****Mentioned in this episode:Kennedy, Bhattacharya and Makary on changing vax recommendations: https://x.com/SecKennedy/status/1927368440811008138Dr. Lon Jones on mucosal immunity (on DHP): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w99CQVaOK0ERob Roos forcing truth from Pfizer: https://x.com/Rob_Roos/status/1579759795225198593Heather on killing your pathogens: https://open.substack.com/pub/naturalselections/p/kill-your-pathogensForrest Maready on polio (on DHP): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7wYUnQUESUGoldsborough et al 2025. Rise and spread of a social tradition of interspecies abduction. Current Biology 35(10): R375-R376: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)00372-0Bret on transhumanism: https://x.com/BretWeinstein/status/1927043640813138102Support the show

Chimpanzees lay down mad beats to communicateApart from their rich vocal palette, chimpanzees drum on trees to communicate over long distances. A new interdisciplinary study, led in part by PhD student Vesta Eleuteri and primatologist Cat Hobaiter from the University of St. Andrews, has explored the details of the rhythms they used, and found that different populations drum with rhythms which are similar to the beats in human music. The research was published in the journal Current Biology.An exciting new fossil of an early ancestor of modern birds gives insight into evolutionArchaeopteryx, a 150 million year-old bird-like dinosaur, is known from about a dozen fossils found in Germany. A new one that has been studied at Chicago's Field Museum may be the best preserved yet, and is giving researchers like paleontologist Jingmai O'Connor new insights into how the ancient animal moved around the Jurassic landscape. The research was published in the journal Nature.A house with good bones — in more ways than oneInspired by the structure of bone, researchers have created limestone-like biomineralized construction materials using a fungal-scaffold that they seeded with bacteria. Montana State University's Chelsea Heveran said they demonstrated they could mold it into specific shapes that had internal properties similar to bone, and that it remained alive for a month. It's early days yet, but she envisions a day when they can grow living structural material on site that may even be able heal themselves. The study is in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science. A different kind of emotional band-aidScientists have created a clever combination of physical sensors and computer technology to produce a flexible band-aid like device that can accurately read emotions when it is stuck to the face. It's not quite mind reading, but could give physicians better insight into the emotional state of their patients. Huanyu Cheng of Penn State led the work, which was published in the journal Nano Letters.A scientist explores what it takes to live a longer, better lifeDo you want to live forever? As he noticed himself showing signs of age, immunologist John Tregoning decided to find out what he could do to make that possible. So he explored the investigations that scientists are doing into why we age and die — and tried a few experiments on himself. Bob speaks with him about his new book Live Forever? A Curious Scientists' Guide to Wellness, Ageing and Death. Tregoning dutifully documents everything he discovers as he undergoes testing for his heart, gets his genes sequenced, has a bronchoscopy, and follows an extreme diet, among other experiments. But he comes to the conclusion that “when it comes to improving life outcomes, exercise considerably trumps nearly everything I am planning to do whilst writing this book.”

How a helpless baby bird protects itself from hungry huntersThere's not a more vulnerable creature in nature than a baby bird. Tiny and immobile, they're easy pickings for predators. But the chicks of the white-necked jacobin hummingbird have evolved a unique defence. They disguise themselves as poisonous caterpillars to discourage those that might eat them. Jay Falk, an NSF postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado and Scott Taylor, director of the Mountain Research Station and associate professor at the University of Colorado, studied these birds in Panama. Their research was published in the journal Ecology.Seals have a sense of their oxygen levels, which makes them better diversSeals can dive at length to tremendous depth thanks to some remarkable adaptations, like the ability to collapse their lungs, and radically lower their heart rate. Chris McKnight, a senior research fellow at the University of St Andrews Sea Mammal Research Unit in Scotland, led a study looking to see if tweaking oxygen and C02 levels changed the seals' dive times. The researchers discovered that the seals have the unique ability to measure the oxygen levels in their tissues, so they can anticipate when they need to return to the surface before they get into trouble. The research was published in the journal Science.Fruit flies can show a playful sideAs the joke goes, time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana. Researchers recently demonstrated that fruit flies enjoy more than just aged produce. Using a custom carousel built to fly scale, scientists found that some, but not all, of their fruit flies would play on it, enjoying an activity that had nothing to do with the necessities of life. This brings up the possibility  of variability in personality for fruit flies. Wolf Hütteroth is an associate professor at Northumbria  University, Newcastle and was part of the team, whose research was published in the journal Current Biology.Scaring krill with a dose of penguin pooKrill, the small, shrimp-like creatures that swarm the world's oceans and are particularly abundant in southern oceans, play a big role in marine food webs, connecting microscopic organisms with many of the oceans' larger animal species. Researchers in Australia investigated how krill respond to predator cues, like the smell of their feces. Nicole Hellessey, from the University of Tasmania, said the mere whiff of penguin feces affects the Antarctic krills' feeding behaviour and causes them to take frantic evasive action. The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. Fossils tell us what dinosaurs were. How do we know what they did? Dinosaur bones can tell amazing stories about these prehistoric beasts, but how do we piece together how they behaved? A new book dives into the many lines of evidence that can shed light on the behaviour of these extinct creatures. From fossils, to tracks they left behind, to their modern day descendents, paleontologist David Hone from Queen Mary University of London explores how scientists develop robust theories about how dinosaurs lived in his new book, Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior: What They Did and How We Know.

A tree has evolved to attract lightning strikes — to eliminate the competitionScientists working in Panama noticed that a particular tropical tree species was frequently struck by lightning, but was infrequently killed by the strikes. Forest ecologist Evan Gora found that Dipteryx oleifera trees were often the last ones standing after a lightning strike, which can kill over 100 trees with a single bolt. His team discovered the giant trees were more electrically conductive than other species, which allows them to not only survive strikes, but also channel lightning into parasitic vines and competing trees around them. The research was published in the journal New Phytologist.Anti-anxiety drugs we pee out could be affecting wild salmonOur bodies only process some of the pharmaceuticals we take, which means when we pee, we're releasing traces of drugs into the ecosystem. A study of the impact of trace amounts of anti-anxiety drugs on juvenile salmon suggests they might become too brave for their own survival.  Jack Brand is a researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and led the research published in the journal Science.Fossil discovery gives new insight into the mysterious DenisovansA jawbone pulled up by fishers off the coast of Taiwan in 2008 has proven to be a unique discovery. Analysis of preserved protein in the fossil has proved it is from a male Denisovan — a mysterious species of ancient human known from only fragmentary bones and ancient DNA. This gives new insight into how widespread this mysterious branch of humanity was. The research was led by a team including Takumi Tsutaya and Enrico Cappellini at the University of Copenhagen, and published in the journal Science.Earth's inner core is a lot more dynamic and smushy than we previously thoughtScientists used to think the inner core of our planet was a solid sphere of metal, but a new study in Nature Geoscience suggests its softer outer layers shift and deform over time. The researchers used pairs of earthquakes from the same location as X-rays to peer inside Earth to gauge what the inner core is doing; much like a stop-motion film. John Vidale, from the University of Southern California, said this insight can shed light on how a planet like ours evolves. Human noise has an impact on wildlife — here are two unique examplesTraffic, aircraft, industry, construction. Our world is saturated with artificial noise. We know noise impacts us and other animals, but new research is shedding light on how past experiences factor into the ways wildlife adapt to our noise pollution. Researchers in one study in Animal Behaviour found that yellow warblers in the Galapagos Islands that live closer to traffic become aggressive when defending their territory in noisy conditions compared to birds in quieter areas. Çağlar Akçay, from Anglia Ruskin University, said the birds exposed to more traffic have learned their warning calls aren't as effective when things get too noisy; and they resort to physical violence. Another study in Current Biology shows how spiders that are exposed to loud noises construct their webs differently in ways that could affect their ability to sense vibrations from prey or a potential mate. Brandi Pessman, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, found that spiders tune their webs in noisy environments like a volume dial: city spiders turn their web volume down whereas country spiders turn it up.

Since plants have to mate and produce offspring while rooted to the spot, they have to be pollinated – by wind, water, or animals – most commonly insects. They use a surprising array of tricks to attract pollinators: striking colours, iridescent light effects, and enticing scents, to name but a few. Insects, on the other hand, do not seek to pollinate plants – they are looking for food; so plants make sure it's worth their while. Insects are also remarkably sophisticated in their ability to find, recognise and find their way inside flowers. So pollination has evolved as a complex dance between plants and pollinators that is essential for life on earth to continue. With Beverley Glover, Director of the Cambridge University Botanic GardenJane Memmott, Professor of Ecology at the University of BristolAndLars Chittka, Professor of Sensory and Behavioural Ecology at Queen Mary, University of London.Producer: Eliane GlaserReading list:Stephen L Buchmann and Gary Paul Nabhan, The Forgotten Pollinators (Island Press, 1997)Lars Chittka, The Mind of a Bee (Princeton University Press, 2023)Steven Falk, Field Guide to the Bees of Britain and Ireland (British Wildlife Publishing, 2015)Francis S. Gilbert (illustrated by Steven J. Falk), Hoverflies: Naturalists' Handbooks vol. 5 (Pelagic Publishing, 2015)Dave Goulson, A Sting in the Tale: My Adventures with Bumblebees (Vintage, 2014)Edwige Moyroud and Beverley J. Glover, ‘The evolution of diverse floral morphologies' (Current Biology vol 11, 2017)Jeff Ollerton, Birds and Flowers: An Intimate 50 Million Year Relationship (Pelagic Publishing, 2024) Alan E. Stubbs and Steven J. Falk, British Hoverflies (‎British Entomological & Natural History Society, 2002)Timothy Walker, Pollination: The Enduring Relationship Between Plant and Pollinator (Princeton University Press, 2020)In Our Time is a BBC Studios Audio Production

In this week's episode, we discuss wheat and gluten; MAGA, Trump, Elon, and Massie; and elephants. First: the end to the first round of Bret's European wheat experiment: what does it mean that he can eat European wheat, but not American wheat? Then: does Trump misunderstand the coalition that brought him to the presidency a second time? Will going after Thomas Massie be a strong move, or a bad move? Does Elon have too much power, and is he misusing it? How does masculinity manifest in this administration? Finally: elephants and their love of showers.*****Our sponsors:CrowdHealth: Pay for healthcare with crowdfunding instead of insurance. It's way better. Use code DarkHorse at http://JoinCrowdHealth.com to get 1st 3 months for $99/month.Pique's Nandaka: delicious mushroom, tea, and chocolate drink that provides all day energy. Get 20% off plus free frother+beaker at http://www.Piquelife.com/DARKHORSESundays: Dog food so tasty and healthy, even husbands swear by it. Go to http://www.sundaysfordogs.com/DARKHORSE to receive 35% off your first order.*****Join us on Locals! Get access to our Discord server, exclusive live streams, live chats for all streams, and early access to many podcasts: https://darkhorse.locals.comHeather's newsletter, Natural Selections (subscribe to get free weekly essays in your inbox): https://naturalselections.substack.comOur book, A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century, is available everywhere books are sold, including from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AGANGg (commission earned)Check out our store! Epic tabby, digital book burning, saddle up the dire wolves, and more: https://darkhorsestore.org*****Mentioned in this episode:Bret stands with Thomas Massie: https://x.com/BretWeinstein/status/1899320001955541268County Highway on this moment in time: https://countyhighway.com/archive/volume-2/issue-5/the-front-porchThe three tribes of MAGA men: https://unherd.com/2025/03/the-three-tribes-of-maga-men/Urban et al 2025. Water-hose tool use and showering behavior by Asian elephants. Current Biology 34(23): 5602 - 5606.e1: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(24)01371-XTurtle pronouns from a mental health advisor in Oregon: https://x.com/DaniFlyingFree/status/1899464252764610889Support the show

Is your windshield accumulating less bug splatter? Insects, the most numerous animals on Earth, are becoming scarcer, and that's not good news. They're essential, and not just for their service as pollinators. We ask what's causing the decrease in insect populations, and how can it be reversed .  Also, the story of how California's early citrus crops came under attack – a problem that was solved by turning Nature on itself. And how chimpanzee “doctors” use insects to treat wounds. We investigate the small and the many on “The Latest Buzz.” Guests: Martin Kernan – Historian and journalist. His article, “The Bug That Saved California,” appeared in the January-February 2022 issue of the Smithsonian Alessandra Mascaro – Evolutionary  Biologist, currently working at the Ozouga Chimpanzee Project, co-author of the Current Biology paper, “Application of insects to wounds of self and others by chimpanzees in the wild” Lara Southern – Doctoral student at the University of Osnabruck, co-author of the Current Biology paper, “Application of insects to wounds of self and others by chimpanzees in the wild” Oliver Milman – Environment correspondent for The Guardian in the U.S. and author of “The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires that Run the World” Featuring music by Dewey Dellay and Jun Miyake Originally aired March 28, 2022 Big Picture Science is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Please contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to inquire about advertising on Big Picture Science. You can get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices