3 minute lesson

Episode 242. Topic: Mitochondrial and Y ancestry. Theme: Ancestry. How is the DNA from the Y chromosome and within the mitochondria used to determine ancestry going back tens or hundreds of thousands of years?

Episode 241. Topic: How ancestry tests work. Theme: Ancestry.  How can spit-in-a-tube genetics test tell you where you recent ancestors lived? How accurate are these tests and why do results sometimes change?

Episode 240. Topic: Bush v. Gore. Theme: US Supreme Court cases. How did George W. Bush win the presidential election in the year 2000? And why is this case still so controversial? 

Episode 239. Topic: Roe v. Wade. Theme: US Supreme Court cases. What is the background and legal case that make abortion legal in the United States? 

Episode 238. Topic: Miranda v. Arizona. Theme: US Supreme Court cases. Why is it that when you are arrested in America, you hear the common script that begins, "You have the right to remain silent..."? 

Episode 237. Topic: Gibbons v. Ogden. Theme: US Supreme Court cases. How do two steamboats decide that Congress has the power to regulate interstate commerce? And how does interstate commerce help Congress intervene with seemingly unrelated concepts? 

Episode 236. Topic: Marbury v Madison. Theme: US Supreme Court cases. Why is the US supreme court allowed to interpret the constitution and declare laws unconstitutional? How can a decision that states the supreme court does not have a certain power actually make it more powerful? 

Episode 235. Topic: Life from space hypothesis. Theme: Impact events. Could life have arisen elsewhere in the universe and arrived on earth via an asteroid or meteorite? What is the evidence for this theory? 

Episode 234. Topic: Deflecting incoming asteroids. Theme: Impact events. In a hypothetical situation where a massive extinction-level asteroid is approaching Earth, how might it be stopped? What are the practical methods and what are some interesting alternatives? 

Episode 233. Topic: Searching for incoming asteroids. Theme: Impact events. Asteroids hit earth frequently but are we prepared to spot and stop those large enough to cause mass devastation or extinction? The answer might... upset you.