Podcasts about molluscs

Hello Interactors,My daughter has developed a keen interest in synthesizers. She has even created illustrated characters named Morg and Snorf, inspired by keyboard brands like Korg and Nord. Recently, she borrowed an old Korg synthesizer and has begun composing her own music during what she calls, “Korg time”. The evolution of electronic music has been remarkable since its inception, with even classical composers now embracing technology in their work. Notably, Ada Lovelace, one of the earliest computer programmers, foresaw in 1842 that computers would eventually be used for music composition — a prediction that has come to fruition.The blending of acoustic music and computer-generated sounds prompts me to reflect on how we shape our environment, which in turn shapes us. This interplay mirrors the story of evolution: nature nurturing nature ad infinitum. However, I wonder if technology as we know it today will ever truly integrate into the fabric of nature. Will we see human-like robots or robot-like humans? What if technology is already embedded within nature, and we are on the brink of learning to program it just as we would a computer?Let's find out…MAN OR MACHINE?“Are we not men?” This was a question presumably posed to and by members of the band DEVO who masquerade as part human and part machine. The answer by the humorous humanoids was “We are Devo!”. This question and answer became the title of their first album in August of 1978. It served as both a declaration of their band name, DEVO, but also as a rhetorical question that questioned humanity during the early rise of digital technology and its perceived, and actualized, dehumanization.DEVO is an abbreviation of the term de-evolution. The band's founding member, lead singer, and keyboardist, Mark Mothersbaugh had come across a 1924 pamphlet produced by Rev. B.H. Shadduck titled “Jocko-Homo Heavenbound” which critiqued, often humorously, Darwinian evolutionary theory.“Jocko-Homo” translates to Ape-Man which refers to human's evolution from apes. The critique is born out of teleology — the belief organisms are the design of a Christian god…and may be subject to evolutionary decay. Some claimed that by not adhering to the moral precepts of strict forms of Christianity, like dancing or drinking alcohol, that you could pass along devolving genes to your children. As a society, it could lead to a backwards slide of humanity, a devolution.As art students at Kent State, Mothersbaugh and co-founding member and friend Gerry Casale were mostly drawn to the satire and comedic illustrations in ‘Jocko-Homo'. But the book's premise came to the fore when they witnessed the killing of student war protesters in 1973. It made them wonder if perhaps humans really were devolving. After all, the Ohio National Guard had acted more like killing machines, not thinking or feeling humans. They seemingly failed to ask themselves, “Are we not men?”Mothersbaugh and Casale had already begun experimenting with guitar laden punk rock when Mothersbaugh saw Brian Eno perform a synthesizer solo with the band Roxy Music. He'd heard plenty of synth solos from other bands of the 1960s and 70s, but no one played it like Eno — bending and twisting electronic knobs and dials like guitarists and singers bend strings and larynx muscles. Eno sounded and dressed like he'd been transported from the future or another planet.Just a few years later, Brian Eno became the producer for DEVO's first album, “Q: Are we not men? A: We are Devo!”. The album included the song “Jock-Homo” which featured short bursts of monkey sounds Eno synchronized with the machine-like beat of the song. Much like acts of the time, like Roxy Music and David Bowie, DEVO leveraged stage theatrics to convey their message. Their performances featured matching futuristic outfits, often with their red signature energy dome hats. Their choreographed robotic movements reinforced a cyborg-like identity serving as a visual critique of modern society's mechanization.As AI and robots of today have captured the attention of a global society seemingly in decay, it may sound cliché to say, but they, and their contemporaries, were ahead of their time. While I don't believe we are devolving, I do think DEVO accurately portrays, both theoretically and practically, a blending of man and machine that may just be part of developmental evolution — though perhaps not exactly as Darwin had envisioned. Interestingly, DEVO could not have known their band name would become part of a branch of evolutionary biology, called Evo-Devo, or evolutionary developmental biology. That abbreviated term emerged in the early 1980s, perhaps inspired by DEVO.GEOGRAPHY GUIDES GROWTHEvo-Devo, which evolved from 19th-century embryology, explores how the development of an organism grows and matures from a single cell into a fully formed adult. It considers how cell division, their differentiated specialization for specific functions, the development of the resultant organism's shape, and body structures and organs shape evolution.Early thinkers like Karl Ernst von Baer and Ernst Haeckel recognized how species shared similar early developmental stages but then differentiated at later stages. The genetic underpinnings of this wouldn't be fully understood until much later. Darwin recognized these genetic developments as potential drivers of evolutionary change, but it took the Modern Synthesis of the 1930s — which focused on genetics and natural selection — to realize these ideas.By the 1970s, the discovery of mutation genes like Hox genes (which control the body plan of animals) reignited interest in the connection between development and evolution. This research demonstrated how small tweaks in developmental processes could lead to dramatic changes in form. In the 1990s, Evo-Devo solidified as a field, with researchers like Sean B. Carroll emphasizing gene regulation's critical role in shaping life's diversity.Today, Evo-Devo has expanded, embracing genomics and epigenetics to explain how organisms evolve through the complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors, reflecting a broader and more dynamic vision of evolution. In a sense, DEVO's fusion of human and machine echoes these evolutionary dynamics, where both biological and technological systems evolve through reconfiguration and integration, creating emergent complexity that Darwin could not have imagined.While Darwin spent years observing the interplay between biology and the physical environments of the Galápagos and beyond, he also could not have fully anticipated the extent to which physical forces directly influence biological development and shape natural selection.Physical forces play a crucial role in shaping the development of complex biological structures. Mechanical stress, for instance, influences how cells behave during growth and regeneration. Cells respond to tension and pressure in their environment through mechanotransduction — where physical signals are converted into biochemical ones — allowing tissues to adapt to their surroundings.This process is essential, for example, for the simple healing of a small cut to the complex formation of organs where precise force patterns ensure proper development. Similarly, physical stressors like fluid dynamics and gravity are critical in determining the structural features of organisms. In mollusks, for example, the formation of their shells is heavily influenced by the mechanical forces exerted by water currents and the mollusk's own movements. These physical inputs guide how calcium carbonate is deposited, shaping the unique curvature and strength of their shells. These examples highlight how environmental forces and biological development are deeply intertwined, driving evolutionary change through the interaction of physical and genetic processes.This view aligns with the work of researchers like Michael Levin, who propose that environmental cues, including bioelectric and biochemical signals, play a crucial role in guiding the development and behavior of organisms. Michael Levin is a pioneering figure in the field of developmental biology and regenerative medicine, where his groundbreaking work explores how organisms use bioelectric signals to guide growth, regeneration, and even behavior.His research has expanded our understanding of how cells communicate beyond traditional biochemical and genetic pathways, showing that electrical signals between cells play a critical role in shaping an organism's development. Levin, and his collaborators, has demonstrated how manipulating these bioelectric signals with computer programs, they can reprogram biological processes — enabling, for example, the regeneration of complex structures like limbs in animals.This represents a major shift in biology, as it challenges the conventional view that genetic blueprints alone dictate development, highlighting instead the role of bioelectricity as an under appreciated but vital component of life's regulatory networks. In other words, genes can be thought of as hardware and they communicate, collaborate, and compete through bioelectronic circuitry, or software.BLURRING BOUNDARIES, REDEFINING LIFEMichael Levin's research, and others, emphasize that biological systems — whether single cells or complex organisms — operate through networks of bioelectrical, biochemical, and biomechanical signals, processing information much like computers. Cells communicate and make decisions through these signals, allowing them to respond to their environments. In this way, living organisms already function as computational entities, capable of performing sophisticated tasks typically associated with artificial systems.Levin's vision extends into synthetic biology, where organisms might be engineered to function like programmable devices. By manipulating bioelectric and cellular signals, scientists could design organisms capable of performing specific tasks, responding to commands, or adapting their behavior, effectively merging biology with computation. This concept could, for example, blur the distinction between biological pets and programmable machines, imagining a future where living systems are fully customizable.This integration of biology and technology is further reflected in the development of soft robotics and biohybrid systems, where machines incorporate biological tissues for enhanced sensory and adaptive functions. Levin's work on bioelectricity supports the idea that these biological machines could operate through naturally occurring computational processes, challenging traditional distinctions between organic life and artificial intelligence.Clearly these developments raise profound ethical questions, and Levin is the first to say it. It poses many questions about the nature of intelligence, the potential for sentient machines, and the rights of biologically-based computing systems. But these developments could also help advance some of our most pressing health problems.Including in the brain. There's already a brain grown in a petri dish that can learn to play Pong. Called organoids, these are lab-grown, miniature models of human organs, developed from stem cells, can replicate structural and functional characteristics of actual organs.Brain organoids, in particular, mimic basic aspects of brain architecture and neural activity, allowing researchers to study development, disease, and neurological functions in controlled environments. These "brains in a dish" have advanced to the point where they can exhibit learning behaviors, like playing Pong.In this experiment, a brain organoid was connected to electrodes, which allowed it to interact with a simplified version of game. Over time, the organoid learned to play the game by modulating its neural activity in response to feedback from the game environment. This groundbreaking demonstration revealed the potential of organoids not only for studying brain function but also for creating neural systems capable of learning and adapting, pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence and bioengineering.Such advancements highlight the possibilities of merging biological neural systems with computational tasks, a direction that may influence both neuroscience research and the future of AI. I wonder if DEVO ever imagined their man-machine themes and robotic humanoid movements would have emerged, in experimental form, in their lifetime.DEVO and their contemporaries didn't just create music; they engineered an evolutionary shift in sound that mirrored both cultural and biological processes. By blending analog instruments with emerging technologies like synthesizers and drum machines, their work reflected the modularity featured in Evo-Devo, where biological traits evolve through the recombination of existing genetic modules. Just as Evo-Devo shows how small adjustments in developmental pathways lead to novel evolutionary outcomes, DEVO's music was a synthesis of tradition and innovation, where new soundscapes emerged from reconfiguring the familiar all influenced by the culture and environment in which they exist. This creative evolution parallels biological processes, where complexity arises not linearly but through recursive adaptation and innovation often resulting in sudden unexpected leaps.Much like geography's dynamic role in shaping biological evolution, DEVO's sound was also shaped by external forces — cultural, technological, and industrial. In biology, physical environments like mountains, rivers, and urban landscapes impose selective pressures that drive adaptation, and similarly, DEVO's music arose at the intersection of human creativity and technological advancement. These external forces didn't serve merely as a backdrop but as active, reshaping elements, much like how geographic isolation on islands drives rapid speciation. The adaptability of organisms to urban environments mirrors how DEVO adapted the rigid precision of machines into organic, expressive art, blending the mechanical with the human, much like how species blend with their changing habitats.This fusion of man and machine is now emerging in the cutting-edge field of synthetic biology, where organisms are engineered to function like programmable devices. In the same way that DEVO's music blurred the lines between human creativity and machine precision, synthetic biology allows for living systems to be designed with programmable traits, merging the biological with the technological. Maybe Morg and Snorf will not just be 3D models on a 2D screen, but real bio-sythentic musical pets that invent and collaborate on music together — and with us.These biohybrid systems, where living organisms can perform tasks traditionally associated with machines, further illustrate the evolution of complexity through reconfiguration. Whether in music or existence, the distinctions between what is natural and what is artificial are growing more ambiguous, illustrating the continuous evolution driven by adaptation, creativity, and the interaction with outside forces. References: Fortner, Stephen. "Devo: The Masters of Subversive Synth Rock Return." Keyboard, 1 Sept. 2010, https://www.moredarkthanshark.org/eno_int_keyboard-sep10.html.Wanninger, Andreas, and Tim Wollesen. "The Evolution of Molluscs." Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 6 (2018): 1-22. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6378612/.Conversation with ChatGPT on intersections between Evolution, Geography, and Biological Computing. September, 2024. https://chatgpt.com/. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit interplace.io

I've always thought about creating the Greatest Hits (or Greatest Myths) for gardeners. There are so many things you should and shouldn't do when gardening and creating compost.  Starting a compost system: Do we really need a “Compost Starter” to kick it off?  The easiest way to make compost is by sticking (roughly) to a ratio of Carbon to Nitrogen of something like 30:1. If you chuck a big heap of chipped wood (C) in the bin, you will need some grass clippings (N) to fire it all off. Even a simple pee on the heap will do the trick, or some Urea fertiliser, or even some old soggy lettuce.  Crushed egg shells around your vegetables are said to stop the slugs and snails as they won't be able to cross the sharp egg-edges with their soft and tender “foot”. Molluscs do not actually come in contact with the sharp substrate as they glide over the slime they produce themselves!  And if you put the crushed shells into the compost bin, the calcium will eventually turn into useful calcium – eventually means “a few years later at least”, so don't bank on a quick-release fertiliser!  Besides: they don't really add a lot of value to your compost.  Ah! To speed up composting waste material, do we need to turn the heap every now and then?  Good question! Aeration will indeed help the process a bit… but so do mice and rats digging tunnels for their nests. Perhaps the question should be: how much time do you, personally, have to “turn” the compost? Every 3 or 4 weeks.  Cooked food in the compost bin?   Why not? It's basically the same as un-cooked food, so why chuck it in the rubbish bin?  Dead Animals or left-over meat in the compost bin?  Everything that once lived is compostable – simple as that. Animals and old meat will take longer and it might start to smell somewhat, but it certainly will compost.  Can weeds be composted?  Of course! Weeds are simply plants too and when you pull them out, they will decay and form compost, just like any other organism, but should you?  That depends on the kind of weed it is and if it has set seeds or survives on a vigorous root-system.  How fast can you make compost?  Depends on what you make it from; You'll need C and N plus support from fungal organisms and microbial life-forms. In general, it'll go quicker when you are in a warm part of the world and slower in a cool area.  Here's another bit of science: a compost tumbler is usually quite a bit smaller than a wooden compost bin, sitting on the soil. That means the tumbler won't heat up as much (or at all!) as the larger bin and that may slow the process down – but it certainly will work albeit not so fast.  What can we Learn FROM Nature making its own compost?  Leaves fall down; twigs and sticks break off and join the leaves. Fruit and seeds join the party and every now and then a big branch with deliver a lot of Carbon.  “Recycling insects” and Microbes help the compost process out; worms transport the end-product to deeper layers in the soil where it's needed by the roots… and it just carries on in its own tempo…  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Episode 108! Today we'll be exploring the unique and diverse relationships that humans have with the many types of molluscs that share this world with us. They are part of our myths and legends, they are sources of food and medicines, and they've inspired countless technologies. We have a surprisingly close relationship with these most alien-like of Earthly creatures. 

The world's oldest fossilised forest was uncovered in Somerset last week. We head to palaeobotanist, Dr Christopher Berry's, lab at Cardiff University to learn about these cladoxylopsids. They lived 390 million years ago and although they are not the ancestors of today's trees, they reveal some extraordinary evolutionary secrets. Also, Marnie speaks to Dr Chris Thorogood of the University of Oxford Botanic Gardens about his new book Pathless Forest: The Quest to Save the World's Largest Flowers. Called “Rafflesia” plants and found in the remotest parts of South East Asia, their flowers burst from the rain forest floor the size of pumpkins and are critically endangered. Chris talks of his world of extreme fieldwork and hair-raising expeditions, braving leeches, lizards and lethal forest swamps, to discover the rarest of rare blooms. Plus, the Wildlife Trust's Making Friends with Molluscs campaign starts today, and I'm sure many gardeners will declare this an impossible task! We visit some allotments in Bristol to find out how people are managing slug and snail populations. And chat to Brian Eversham from the Trust of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, who explains why these garden creatures should be considered our friends, not foes. And finally, Dr Stewart Husband from last week's programme returns to answer more of your burning questions about your tap water.

Molluscs don't just make good appetisers – they have been found to contain many nutritional benefits including anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. In this episode, researcher at the National Marine Science Centre, Professor Kirsten Benkendorff, speaks about the health benefits of the seafood we consume and how environmental contaminants in our waterways affect this. The musical introduction to this podcast was written and performed by Alako Myles.

In this episode, David Karsten is joined by Professor Fred Wells and Professor Monique Gagnon to discuss the impact of rising sea temperatures and oil spills on aquatic life. Significant changes in marine fauna along Perth's coastline (00:01:02:03)Impact of 2011 heatwave on the west end of Rottnest (00:04:12:12)How fish fingerprints are helping identify oil pollutants (00:09:23:04)Recovery of marine populations after the Montara oil spill in the Timor Sea (00:19:54:22)Positive trends in pollution reduction (00:21:26:23)Learn moreMarine heatwaves decimate sea urchins, molluscs and more at RottnestFish Fingerprinting: Identifying Crude Oil Pollutants using Bicyclic Sesquiterpanes (Bicyclanes) in the Tissues of Exposed FishConnect with our guestsProfessor Fred Wells, Adjunct Professor, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin UniversityAs senior curator of aquatic zoology at the Western Australian Museum for many years, Professor Wells developed a keen interest in tropical marine ecosystems and Western Australian marine habitats. He later moved to the WA Department of Fisheries where he led a research project on introduced marine pests. His research has included all major habitat types in the Western Pacific, with a particular focus on coral reefs and mangroves, and documenting molluscan assemblages in marine areas not previously investigated by scientists. He is the former President and a Lifetime Member of the Australian Marine Sciences Association, The World Scientific Society for Molluscs, and the Australasian Mollusc Society.  Staff ProfileLinkedInProfessor Monique Gagnon, Discipline lead, Ecology, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin UniversityA prominent researcher in ecotoxicology, Professor Gagnon has led major research projects for industry, government and the Australian Research Council.  Her research focuses on the impact of accidental oil spills, petroleum exploration and production on fish health, endocrine disruptors, sewage treatment plants and urban runoffs, and the toxicity of drilling muds used in the petroleum exploration industry. She provides advice on drilling programs in sensitive marine areas like Botany Bay and Barrow Island. She also monitors the effects of anti-fouling chemicals on vertebrates and invertebrate populations. Professor Gagnon is an associate editor for the international peer-reviewed journal, Environmental Toxicology.Staff profileLinkedInGoogle ScholarJoin Curtin UniversityThis podcast is brought to you by Curtin University. Curtin is a global university known for its commitment to making positive change happen through high-impact research, strong industry partnerships and practical teaching.Work with usStudy a research degreeStart postgraduate educationGot any questions, or suggestions for future topics?Email thefutureof@curtin.edu.auSocial mediaTwitterFacebookInstagramYouTubeLinkedInTranscriptRead the transcriptBehind the scenesHost: David KarstenContent creator: Anne Griffin-AppadooProducer: Emilia JolakoskaSocial Media: Amy HoskingExecutive Producers: Anita Shore and Matthew SykesFirst Nations AcknowledgementCurtin University acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which Curtin Perth is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation, and on Curtin Kalgoorlie, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields; and the First Nations peoples on all Curtin locations.MusicOKAY by 13ounce Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Music promoted by Audio Library.Curtin University supports academic freedom of speech. The views expressed in The Future Of podcast may not reflect those of Curtin University.

If the clams could speak, what would they say? Surely we all ask ourselves this question every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Highlights from the darkness news world are: - Night Shift Work is Bad for Your Memory - Giving Insomnia to Molluscs and Rodents - Circadian Lamps Go to Space - Progress on a Petition to Change LED Headlights 

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode describes the ‘ciliary mucus particle transport’ mechanism that many animals use for feeding. Reef building corals are the primary example featured in this show. Suspension feeding Molluscs are also included as an example of independent evolution of this trait (two or more lineages landing on the same trait independently). About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine. The post The Essential Rhythm 2/26/23: Other uses for mucus first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

What can shells tells us about marine paleoclimate? Shells and molluscs store a wealth of paleoclimate information. Molluscs build their shells with calcium carbonate from the sea water. Their shells record the sea water chemistry, which lets us decipher the changes that occurred in their environment. Paleoclimate scientist Devapriya Chattopadhyay studies mollusc fossils which help reconstruct the marine paleoenvironment. Her findings revealed that even periods of slight warming affected mollusc diversity in an area considered to be less affected by changes in the climate. In the context of present-day climate change, this paleoclimate research is considered to be very useful in bridging some knowledge gaps. In this episode of Imprints, Chattopadhyay talks about her fossil-hunting adventures, interesting discoveries and the people she encounters on the field. She also speaks about how infrastructure development could erase records of natural history and the challenge that India faces in setting up a museum for natural history. Guest: Devapriya Chattopadhyay, Associate Professor, Earth and Climate Science, Paleobiology and Marine Ecology, Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) Host and producer: Sahana Ghosh, Contributing Editor, Mongabay-India Co-producer and cover designer: Kartik Chandramouli Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand Sagar Copy editors: Sapna Verma and Priyanka Shankar Subscribe to Everything Environment by Mongabay India on your podcast platform. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram  Subscribe to our newsletter Links: Colonial history and global economics distort our understanding of deep-time biodiversity Predation to climate change: what does a fossil shell tell us? Response of the Oligo-Miocene Bivalve Fauna of the Kutch Basin (Western India) to Regional Tectonic Events The Distribution Pattern of Marine Bivalve Death Assemblage From the Western Margin of Bay of Bengal and Its Oceanographic Determinants

Support Topic Lords on Patreon and get episodes a week early! (https://www.patreon.com/topiclords) Lords: * Nathan * MommysBestGames on Twitter. * Tyriq * FourBitFriday everywhere. Topics: * Octopodes, continued * My wife and I are both teaching our son to drive, with separate lessons. It's going OK but with bumps. * The most widely-used crack for The Colonel's Bequest works by breaking the random number generator. This has wide-ranging effects on the gameplay. * https://www.benshoof.org/blog/case-cracked * How are we going to fix the camera in Mario Odyssey? Microtopics: * Game Type DX. * Implementing the Xbox dashboard and trying to get it approved by Sony. * The most serious episode of Topic Lords. * Bringing up Octopuses every three years. * Giving yourself an electric shock because you're so bored. * Sea pork. * Eating the animals that are extremely convenient to farm. * Aoes sitting around waiting for something interesting to happen. * Chimpanzee pranks. * Making art because that's what people do. * Trying to disentangle making art from making a living. * Whether zoo animals would prefer their natural habitat or whether they just enjoy a chill cool time. * Inventing an octopus psychologist to figure out what parts of their lives they like and what parts could be improved. * Children of Time and Children of Ruin. * Molluscs having a good time. * Terraforming gone awry. * The impossibility of talking smart people out of bad ideas. * Why a teenager might or might not want to learn to drive. * How hard to push the brakes and how hard to push the gas. * Pushing the gas too hard and the car is like no, take a deep breath and try again. * Terrifying two lane roads. * Whether to start turning before you reach the stop sign. * Driving in Atlanta. * Learning to drive because you have to get to college somehow. * The responsibility of being in charge of heavy machinery. * Driving and suddenly realizing you need to be paying way more attention right now. * Saying the worst possible thing to someone who is already anxious. * Detective adventure game structure. * The botched Red Baron Easter egg. * Walking by windows whenever possible. * Blinking, fidgeting and moving with lifeless constancy. * Serious Sam 3's copy protection scorpion. * Finding the thing you're not expecting in the first place you look. * Whether the Law and Order video games implement both Law and Order. * A detective game where you spend most of your energy preventing the detective from having a nervous breakdown or hurting somebody. * Game design that is driven by fun tech. * Getting a fancy new drill press and for a while all the furniture you make has a bunch of extra holes for no apparent reason. * An RPG character with the ability to manipulate the RNG. * A game design critique of darts. * Fingers in the brain, squishing. * Why Game Genie codes are encrypted. * The Sonic the Hedgehog 2 level editor. * BASIC Programming and Computer Intro. * The guy who wrote half of the Odyssey 2's game catalog. * Whether console exclusives, or indeed video game systems at all, should exist. * Why they set Mario Galaxy on planetoids. * Looking into a shoebox of fun. * Mario's fluctuating weight throughout the series. * A classic 3D platformer problem. * Manipulating the camera while you touch all kinds of other buttons. * The kind of Mario game that your dad can play. * Been solved. Not fun. * Trying to show Portal to people who have never played first-person shooters.

What do you reckon…Entomophagy?? When I was born, there were 2.5 billion people on the planet and now we're pushing eight billion. (No wonder it's getting more difficult for Kevin Milne and myself to get a decent car park in the city).Seriously, our economic “growth at all cost” really has had its day. We're using resources in an obscene tempo, creating a carbon bubble in the place we don't need carbon (the air!) and pollute water, rivers, lakes and oceans. On top of that we are changing the earth's Natural resources and life-forms go extinct at the estimated rate of 150 species per day. In one sentence: we are crossing our Planetary Boundaries and seem to have dumped the term and concept of “limits”. Converting good horticulture and agriculture land to more and more dwellings is part of the growth gig too and that has repercussions for the way we “produce” protein. On my travels through New Zealand Schools (Teacher PLD via FieldBased STEM, Treemendous Education Programme and Blake Inspire), I have started chatting with students and educators about entomophagy and in particular our humble garden snail, Cornu aspersum. This species was imported by the French from North Africa for their famous culinary product called escargot. It's one of their preferred species! This very same species was accidentally introduced into Aotearoa and is considered a pest in the garden, requiring slug bait, snail bait, metaldehyde and other toxins to “control” them. How easy is it to cultivate these snails in captivity? How do you “feed” them and in what kind of conditions. How do you clear their gut-contents before cooking and frying in garlic butter and what are the benefits of eating molluscs? (human health, conversion of green material into protein, compared to the efforts of a cow, sheep or pig) What about breeding locusts, crickets, chrysalises of silk worms, etc etc. Why stop at Molluscs? Imagine the emotional roller-coast ride the kids wen trough when I talked about the brilliant taste of Tarantula cephalothoracic muscles! A few weeks after visiting Riverdale school in Palmerston North (a Treemendous event), I received a booklet with the most delightful prose around the issue of entomophagy. They had obviously organised a serious debate on this topic, requiring a heap of scientific research and literature investigation. Luckily, my alma mater (Wageningen University) have always been strong in that topic of eating bugs (publishing bug cooking books and having a yearly festival on useful bugs and edible critters), so there's a growing interest in that stuff. Here are some cool comments: Growing forests through pollination: ”if we ate bugs than they wouldn't be able to do their very important jobs” “DEATH!! Something no one likes; this might happen if we start eating bugs, because some of them have a thing called venom…” “Did you know that for one pound of beef you need 22,000 L. of water, but you only need 1 L. for a pound of crickets…” “Think about the landscape: Farms take up a lot of space: one pound of meat takes 200 sq meters of land to grow; to raise a pound of crickets it only takes 15 sq meters” “if you're a mum you do lots of jobs and once you're finished you will get very tired; but if you eat bugs it will give you the energy, so you will only get tired at the end of the day” “Humans shouldn't eat yucky bugs because some bugs can actually make you sick. Did you know that?” “if you want to eat crickets you have to eat 75 of them in a meal. And it will take a really long time to find that many, so why bother” “Bugs make up 80% of all known kinds of animals on earth; by eating bugs we help the crops grow (because they eat our plants” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of From the Woods Today, we are joined by Dr. Wendell Haag to talk about mussels. We also have a popular returning guest, Dr. Jonathan Larson, with us to talk about tick prevention and safe removal. 5.4.22 Watch Video From the Woods Today

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode details how members of the phylum Mollusca utilize ventilation of their gill tissue for dual purposes. Bivalves suspension feed, pulling food out of the water they “inhale” and Cephalopods use the water for jet propulsion. This adaptive efficiency has lead to broad biodiversity in this phylum. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine. The post The Essential Rhythm 3/20/22: How molluscs breathe first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley This episode details how members of the phylum Mollusca utilize ventilation of their gill tissue for dual purposes. Bivalves suspension feed, pulling food out of the water they “inhale” and Cephalopods use the water for jet propulsion. This adaptive efficiency has lead to broad biodiversity in this phylum. About the host: Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine. The post The Essential Rhythm 3/20/22: How molluscs breathe first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Making super materials by learning the secrets of molluscs and scallops. How are scallops are able to survive the super-cool water in Antarctica. What makes Antarctic scallop shells able to simply brush aside ice? How do you shed a skin of ice from a scallop? What connects scallops with making airplanes more efficient? How do mussels manage to stick so well to things? Is it possible to replicate the stickiness of a mussel? Mussels make themselves near impossible to remove, so can you make them even stickier? William S. Y. Wong, Lukas Hauer, Paul A. Cziko, Konrad Meister. Cryofouling avoidance in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki. Communications Biology, 2022; 5 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03023-6 Or Berger, Claudia Battistella, Yusu Chen, Julia Oktawiec, Zofia E. Siwicka, Danielle Tullman-Ercek, Muzhou Wang, Nathan C. Gianneschi. Mussel Adhesive-Inspired Proteomimetic Polymer. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2022; DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c10936

Comedian Ben Ellwood sits down with Dr Mandy Reid, the Australian Museum's mollusc collection manager to talk about octopus and squid while they watch episode 2 of David Attenborough's Life on Earth.Ben Ellwood: @BenEllwood11Shaun Allen: @Shaun_AllenAustralian Museum: @AustMusResearch & @austmusPresented by Ben EllwoodProduced by Ben Ellwood and Shaun AllenEdited by Ben Ellwood and Shaun AllenAll music used under license, Creative Commons or composed by Shaun Allen.Audio featured fromLife On Earth (1979)British Broadcasting CorporationFirst Person (2000) Eyeball to EyeballErrol Morrisunder fair use. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Oysters, mussels, scallops and more. When we pick up shells on the beach, how often do we consider that they represent a life lived, out in the ocean? The dynamic lives of these creatures are easily forgotten, obfuscated by the shell as a decorative object and the shellfish as a commodity. In this episode, we learn how these animals live, what they are, and what challenges they face. Tom speaks with ocean and climate scientist Priya Shukla, to discover the fascinating lives that hide behind that general label: ´shellfish´. 

What are the biggest karaoke songs?... how to be popular in school... Jay-Z is selling his streaming platform... the guy's check-in with the Mars Perseverance Rover... if your life depended on it, which of these 3 games would you play??... Calm Larry has big shoes to fill... a load of mollusks!!!... engagement rings for men?... Robin nearly didn't make the 7pm curfew... could you consume more calories than Mark Wahlberg?... the guys chat about how getting up early affects them... how well do you know these celebrity names?... suspected rhino poacher has been killed... it's Ellie's birthday... the guy's pre-show ritual isn't what you think... Calm Larry had a tough childhood... the farmer who has invaded France... Bill and Melinda Gates are divorcing... would you let your partner give your child a terrible name?... Meghan Markle has written a children's book... what shape do you think of when you hear a name?... there could be a Covid pill by the end of the year... why did Jonny go home early?... Calm Larry pays by card... the guys have a go pronouncing the station name differently... what plastic surgery has seen massive growth during Covid?... the sales pitch a group of elderly people REALLY didn't want... how much is this London parking spot???!!!!... the guys talk about getting old... the most annoying thing about going back to the office... AND TONNES MORE SHENANIGANS!!

If it lacks a backbone, we're interested. In this podcast, we are exploring the world of invertebrates, discovering the amazing lives they lead, and thinking carefully about our relationhips with these much-maligned creatures. With the help of experts, we are lifting stones, peering into the water and grubbing in the filth. Written and produced by Tom SharpeMusic by Will HattonArtwork by Will Tapply

by May Sarton

Introducing allergens in the top 8, mind shifts that it is also safety and we have the top 14 in the industry.  Top 8 listed -milkeggs fishshellfishtree nutspeanutswheat and soybean. The Food Industry Safety top 15 (+1 to come)CerealsCrustaceans (shrimp, lobster, crab)Molluscs (oysters, clams, mussels)Fish (with scales)Lupin legume EggsDairy MustardPeanutsSesameSoyCelery Sulfites Sulphur dioxides???? We want to hear from you! Join our Social Learning Facebook Group The Food Sensitives Community

Fi and Jane welcome the novelist Marian Keyes around the Fortunately table to share a bag of chocolates. The bestselling author has some confessions about her bowling prowess (or lack of it). Marian also talks to Fi and Jane about appreciating the small things, generational change in Ireland and why a bad waxwork is better than a good one. In addition, the ladies have some consumer confessions, there's a bad smell in Jane's Kitchen and Fi gets dumped.

Fi and Jane welcome the novelist Marian Keyes around the Fortunately table to share a bag of chocolates. The bestselling author has some confessions about her bowling prowess (or lack of it). Marian also talks to Fi and Jane about appreciating the small things, generational change in Ireland and why a bad waxwork is better than a good one. In addition, the ladies have some consumer confessions, there's a bad smell in Jane's Kitchen and Fi gets dumped.

As sure as eggsIn the Gardening world there are a lot of mysteries and good tips, best practices and “proven techniques” that are the biggest urban myths on the planet. Using egg shells is one of the top contenders for the mis-use of science prizeRobert Pavlis (Blogger from North America) nicely summed up the various hopeful claims around this calcium/sulphur/magnesium/potash/sodium/organic matter – containing material.Of course, all these minerals and nutrients are very useful for plants, when they break down. Problem is: it takes a long, long time to break down an egg shell!! People that throw egg shells into compost heaps know that. The only way they work is by grinding them into a fine powder. How about using it as a mulch (looks nice – light, reflective colour), to suppress weeds and keep moisture in the soil?  Yep – no doubt would work well, but just calculate a layer of mulch, say 2 to 3 inches thick: how many tons of egg shells will you need? And… do you live near an egg-processing plant?Egg shells as as organic pest prevention/control? Crushed egg shells become an almost white powder that may look like diatomaceous earth (But isn’t)Some folk believe it has the same properties as diatomaceous earth and would assist in killing beetles, caterpillars, larvae etc. The crushed egg shells are totally harmless to these creatures.Here’s a trial I did with a snail crossing a new Stanley blade.Blossom End Rot? Just add egg shells under the tomato plant to prevent it?Blossom End Rot in tomatoes is said to be caused by calcium deficiency – yes and no: more precisely it’s a problem of the plant not moving the calcium to the developing tomato fruit; often caused by irregular watering. Adding egg shells is not going to remedy that!Best thing to do with egg shells? Crush them and feed them to the birds: they can use the calcium to create their own egg when they are ready to reproduceSome gardeners still believe that crushed eggshells are too sharp and hard for the soft feet of slugs and snails, thus providing an effective barrier for these molluscs around your lettuces etc.Molluscs never have direct contact with the substrate they glide on: they glide on their slime!

Your hosts for this episode are Rob and Brad! This week, the boys go over the Resistance Season 2 Trailer briefly, talk about some Episode IX fan theories, what could tie The Mandalorian to Episode IX (if anything) and make some new movies from old words! Plus – What fate awaits Kylo in Episode IX?All that and much more on this week’s Talk Star Wars!

“…and today were are talking about a little pair of wax lips that scoots around the ocean smooching submerged surfaces.” Molluscs come in all shapes and sizes, but this little dumpling is an armored tank. With eight shell segments and a tongue covered in sharp teeth, the Chiton has a magnetic attraction to certain places … Continue reading Episode 57 – Chiton: The Neato Magneto

A new year is upon us, and we celebrate by reviewing the year 2006: the year of Cascada and Shakira, interplanetary struggle, bucket lists and woodpecker headaches. And yeah, we have renamed the pod, so you should now all refer to it as "Verily Podcast". If you have a good mnemonic for remembering the 115 spherical bodies in our solar system, let us know at our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/VerilyPodcast/ or at Twitter: https://twitter.com/VerilyPodcast or simply send a mail to verilypodcast@gmail.com

In this episode we review some gardening mistakes I made in the first half of 2018.    

The octopus, the squid, the nautilus and the cuttlefish are some of the most extraordinary creatures on this planet, intelligent and yet apparently unlike other life forms. They are cephalopods and are part of the mollusc family like snails and clams, and they have some characteristics in common with those. What sets them apart is the way members of their group can change colour, camouflage themselves, recognise people, solve problems, squirt ink, power themselves with jet propulsion and survive both on land, briefly, and in the deepest, coldest oceans. And, without bones or shells, they grow so rapidly they can outstrip their rivals when habitats change, making them the great survivors and adaptors of the animal world. With Louise Allcock Lecturer in Zoology at the National University of Ireland, Galway Paul Rodhouse Emeritus Fellow of the British Antarctic Survey and Jonathan Ablett Senior Curator of Molluscs at the Natural History Museum Producer: Simon Tillotson.

The octopus, the squid, the nautilus and the cuttlefish are some of the most extraordinary creatures on this planet, intelligent and yet apparently unlike other life forms. They are cephalopods and are part of the mollusc family like snails and clams, and they have some characteristics in common with those. What sets them apart is the way members of their group can change colour, camouflage themselves, recognise people, solve problems, squirt ink, power themselves with jet propulsion and survive both on land, briefly, and in the deepest, coldest oceans. And, without bones or shells, they grow so rapidly they can outstrip their rivals when habitats change, making them the great survivors and adaptors of the animal world. With Louise Allcock Lecturer in Zoology at the National University of Ireland, Galway Paul Rodhouse Emeritus Fellow of the British Antarctic Survey and Jonathan Ablett Senior Curator of Molluscs at the Natural History Museum Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Marine biologist, diver and author Dr Helen Scales takes Dr Karl deep beneath the waves to share her passion for the ocean. Helen talks about the secret life of molluscs (shellfish). Hear about ‘clacking’ oysters, the legend of the Golden Fleece (sea silk) and a creature resembling a pinecone crossbred with a slug. There’s maths in the spirals, slave trading in the cowrie and just imagine a Harry Potter golden snitch of the sea… it’s real and plays an incredibly important role.

Hosts: Nels Elde and Vincent Racaniello Guest: Stephen Goff Nels joins Vincent in New York City to speak with Stephen Goff about transmissible clam cancers and the silencing of integrated retroviral genomes. Become a patron of TWiEVO A sixth modality of infectious disease (PLoS Path) Horizontal transmission of clam cancer (Cell) Transmissible bivalve cancers (Nature) Retrovirus transcriptional silencing (J Virol) Histones on retroviral DNA (Cell Host Micr) Image credit This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron. Blue Apron is the #1 fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the country. See what’s on the menu this week and get your first 3 meals free with your first purchase – WITH FREE SHIPPING – by going to blueapron.com/twie. Science Picks Nels - Mindsuckers Vincent - What is a species? Music on TWiEVO is performed by Trampled by Turtles Send your evolution questions and comments to twievo@microbe.tv

Marine biologist, diver and author Dr Helen Scales takes Dr Karl deep beneath the waves to share her passion for life in the ocean. Helen talks about her new book ‘Spirals in Time’ on the secret life of shells. Hear about ‘clacking’ oysters, the legend of the Golden Fleece (sea silk) and a creature resembling a pinecone crossbred with a slug. There’s mathematics in the spirals of shells, slave trading in the history of the cowrie shell and just imagine a Harry Potter golden snitch of the sea… it’s real and has an incredibly important role to play in ocean life.

  They're pretty much all guts, foot, teeth and maybe a bit of shell. Snails, limpets, octopuses or giant squid: they're all a kind of mollusc. You'll find one in almost every ecosystem in the world.  Sydney University's Professor Ross Coleman specialises in limpets and knows all his molluscs pretty well. He takes us from the Liverpool docks, to Blackwattle Bay, to the weirdest of mollusc sex. Links from this episode: The lowdown on molluscs of all kinds. Ross has written all sorts of papers, and most of them can be found here on Academia.edu. Read about cleaning up the Albert Dock in Liverpool, using mussels. (PDF) Music in this episode: River — Ibeyi Freedom Come — Gabriel le Mar Confessions of a Pig — Damon Albarn & Jamie Hewlett Back n Forth — Nimble Animal Sea of Love — Cat Power Space Monkeys — Dust Brothers

The cuttlefish has the largest brain-to-body ratio of all invertebrates, which explains why its camouflage is so intricate and masterful. The latest in science, culture, and history from Smithsonian Channel.

One of New Zealand's little known claims to natural history fame is that for its area it has more species of land snails than any other temperate country

One of New Zealand's little known claims to natural history fame is that for its area it has more species of land snails than any other temperate country

Integrated anatomical characters are parts of an organism’s body that evolve together, such as fingers. Peter Wagner, in the Department of Paleobiology, discusses integrated versus independent evolution of characters and talks about how trilobites from the Cambrian show less integration than animals from after the time period He concludes that we need studies of other Cambrian animals such as molluscs to learn how general this pattern is.

Detection and Differentiation of Vibrio sp. in Crustaceans, Molluscs, and Products thereof with Regard to Routine Diagnostic The purpose of this study was to reveal the contamination rate by vibrios of commercially available crustaceaens, and molluscs, and products thereof. Beside this, a simple quick routine method for the detection should be established. Between January 2001 and May 2002 the administrative „Wirtschaftskontrolldienst“ sampled in the district of Karlsruhe 100 samples of shrimps and shells either raw or heat treated, but not ready to eat, besides this heated and ready to eat food samples. These samples were tested by means of one enrichment system and two bacterial counting methods for Vibrio sp. The enrichment system was modified from the enrichment system described by ICMSF in „Microorganisms in foods – microbiological specifications of food pathogens". The modification is explained thoroughly. Strains of V. parahaemolyticus and V. cholerae were tested afterwards at the “Nationales Referenzzentrum für Enteritiserreger” in Hamburg for the existence of pathogenic potential. A total of 22 percent of the samples were positive for Vibrio; raw shells have the highest contamination rate with 50 percent, raw shrimps (35 % positive) distinctly higher than boiled shrimps (6,8 % positive). Most of the positive results succeeded using the enrichment system. The advantages of the different investigation systems are explained in detail. A potential health risk exist preferably, if improper handling of these seafood leads to an increase of the microbiological load and no or insufficient decontamination prior to eating was performed. Regarding new habits of consumption (raw sea products) and the increase of so called „other forms“ of infectious enteritis more attention should be paid to the sporadic occurrence of this microorganisms.