There is a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel in the U.S. The FDA is starting to grant emergency use authorization to COVID-19 vaccines! Kristen talks about how the current vaccines were developed so quickly without compromising safety.

Abbreviated Reference List*

• COVID-19 Vaccines, FDA, Accessed December 16, 2020
• Ensuring the Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines in the United States, CDC, Accessed December 16, 2020
• Graphic: Operation Warp Speed Accelerated Vaccine Process, DOD, Accessed December 16, 2020
• Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker: Latest Updates, NYT, Updated December 17, 2020

*To view a full list, please visit https://www.earlybirdscience.com/episodes/24.

Correction

This episode states that Operation Warp Speed is overseen by the US Department of Defense. This statement is true but incomplete. Operation Warp Speed is also overseen in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, and other federal agencies and private firms.

Connect - Leave comments, suggest topics, and ask science questions!

Website: earlybirdscience.com

Twitter: @EarlyBirdSci

Instagram: @EarlyBirdScience

Facebook: @EarlyBirdScience

Check out Kristen’s other show, Headshake, a stream-of-consciousness science podcast (EXPLICIT CONTENT):

headshake.show

Disclaimer

Early Bird Science is a podcast meant for entertainment and education only. While Kristen has a doctorate (Ph.D.), she is not a medical doctor. Please consult with your physician before making decisions about your health.

Where do the data stand on mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic? Kristen tackles six myths (start times):

1. Masks don’t work (00:12:41)
2. Masks are unsafe (00:40:48)
3. Masks solve everything (00:52:34)
4. My mask protects only me (00:58:10)
5. Wear a mask only if you’re sick (01:03:35)
6. Mask-wearers are afraid or virtue signaling (01:06:00)

Guidelines on how to properly wear cloth masks begin at 01:09:06.

Abbreviated Reference List*

• How to Protect Yourself & Others, CDC, Updated Oct 28, 2020
• How to Select Masks, CDC, Updated Oct 29, 2020
• Masks overview, WHO, Updated October 20, 2020
• COVID-19: How much protection do face masks offer?, Mayo Clinic, Published Aug 20, 2020
• 5 Questions: Stanford scientists on COVID-19 mask guidelines, Stanford Medicine, Published June 19, 2020

*This is the most thoroughly-researched episode of EBS yet. Please visit earlybirdscience.com/episodes/23 for a full list of references.

Connect - Leave comments, suggest topics, and ask science questions!

Website: earlybirdscience.com

Twitter: @EarlyBirdSci

Instagram: @EarlyBirdScience

Facebook: @EarlyBirdScience

Check out Kristen’s other show, Headshake, a stream-of-consciousness science podcast (EXPLICIT CONTENT):

headshake.show

Disclaimer

Early Bird Science is a podcast meant for entertainment and education only. While Kristen has a doctorate (Ph.D.), she is not a medical doctor. Please consult with your physician before making decisions about your health.

Welcome to Season 2! Kristen gets real about why a summer break was necessary, and also talks about what to expect this season. This extra-long episode provides a framework to empower you to minimize consumption and spread of misinformation.

References and Resources

• Science audiences, misinformation, and fake news, PNAS
• Eight Ps: Fake news. It's complicated., Medium blog from First Draft contributor
• Information from researcher Kate Starbird
• • How a Crisis Researcher Makes Sense of Covid-19 Misinformation, Medium
  • Researchers are tracking another pandemic, too—of coronavirus misinformation, Science Magazine
• Spectrum of harm from 7 types of mis- and dis-information from First Draft: Understanding Misinformation Disorder
• 6 tips to steer clear of misinformation online, Data Detox Kit
• SIFT, Mike Caulfield
• Media Bias Chart, Interactive version, Ad Fontes Media
• Qualities of most reliable sources of health advice: Health vs. hoax, Data Detox Kit
• Additional resources
• • How Do We Handle Misinformation - A Chat with Bill Gates, hankschannel, YouTube
  • Why pass on viral messages? Because they connect emotionally, Business Horizons
  • What Makes Online Content Viral?, Journal of Marketing Research

Connect - Leave comments, suggest topics, and ask science questions!

Website: earlybirdscience.com

Twitter: @EarlyBirdSci

Instagram: @EarlyBirdScience

Facebook: @EarlyBirdScience

Check out Kristen’s other show, Headshake, a stream-of-consciousness science podcast (EXPLICIT CONTENT): headshake.show

Disclaimer

Early Bird Science is a podcast meant for entertainment and education only. While Kristen has a doctorate (Ph.D.), she is not a medical doctor. Please consult with your physician before making decisions about your health.

Early Bird Science is taking a break for the rest of the summer. Thank you for listening!

The creation of tiny, bio-based robots called xenobots could spark a future of biodegradable, self-replicating, self-repairing ‘bots. Stick around to the end of the episode for a sneak peak of the next Headshake episode with a very special guest!

References and Resources

• Primary Paper: A scalable pipeline for designing reconfigurable organisms
• A Video of the Xenobots: UVM and Tufts Team Builds First Living Robots
• Article: Living robots built using frog cells

Check out Kristen’s other show, Headshake, a stream-of-consciousness science podcast (EXPLICIT CONTENT):

headshake.show

You will be able to listen to the episode with special guest host Dr. Theanne Griffith on June 29, 2020! https://headshake.show/episodes/12 (link will work beginning 6/29)

Connect - Leave comments, suggest topics, and ask science questions!

Website: earlybirdscience.com

Twitter: @EarlyBirdSci

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Glacier mice are rare fuzzy little green balls that mysteriously move in herds atop some of the world’s glaciers. They are not mammals, but they are kind of cute and may be important parts of glacial ecosystems. Researchers are learning more about them.

References and Resources

• Primary literature: Rolling stones gather moss: movement and longevity of moss balls on an Alaskan glacier
• • If this link does not work for you use the link in the NPR article below
• Article: Herd Of Fuzzy Green 'Glacier Mice' Baffles Scientists (NPR)
• Cute Aggression: Why We Want to Squeeze Cute, Little Things

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Website: earlybirdscience.com

Twitter: @EarlyBirdSci

Instagram: @EarlyBirdScience

Facebook: @EarlyBirdScience

Check out Kristen’s other show, Headshake, a stream-of-consciousness science podcast (EXPLICIT CONTENT):

headshake.show

Most of us have experienced nature’s call shortly after having a cup of coffee. Why does that happen? Kristen talks about the kidneys and how water and caffeine affect them.

References and Resources

• Mechanisms of Caffeine-Induced Diuresis
• Caffeine Ingestion and Fluid Balance: A Review
• Requirement of Intact Adenosine A1 Receptors for the Diuretic and Natriuretic Action of the Methylxanthines Theophylline and Caffeine
• Decreases in Portal Flow Trigger a Hepatorenal Reflex to Inhibit Renal Sodium and Water Excretion in Rats: Role of Adenosine
• Caffeine and diuresis during rest and exercise: A meta-analysis
• Caffeine: Is it dehydrating or not? - Mayo Clinic

Connect - Leave comments, suggest topics, and ask science questions!

Website: earlybirdscience.com

Twitter: @EarlyBirdSci

Instagram: @EarlyBirdScience

Facebook: @EarlyBirdScience

Check out Kristen’s other show, Headshake, a stream-of-consciousness science podcast (EXPLICIT CONTENT):

headshake.show

Disclaimer

Early Bird Science is a podcast meant for entertainment and education only. While Kristen has a doctorate (Ph.D.), she is not a medical doctor. Please consult with your physician before making decisions about your health.

Kristen and her software engineer spouse Steve Gago have been “safer at home” for weeks, so they decided to record an episode together while trying to stay sane. Steve is back on the show to talk about how the Internet works!

Internet Concepts

1. History
2. 1. Who made the Internet? - NOT Al Gore
      1. ARPANET
   2. (D)ARPA
   3. Circuit switching vs. packet switching
      1. World Wide Web, WWW
      2. Hypertext protocol
   4. Tim Berners-Lee, CERN
   5. Related technologies
   6. Browsers
   1. Client
   2. Server
   3. Packet
   4. Internet protocol (IP) address
   5. Media access control (MAC) address
   6. Router, switch
   7. Internet backbone
   8. Internet service provider (ISP)
   9. Fiber optics
      1. Hypertext transfer protocol (http), ...secure (https)
         1. e.g. .com, .show, .ninja
      2. Top level domain
      3. Path
   10. Universal resource locator (URL), domain name
   11. Host
   12. Why your Internet is slow!
       1. ICANN
   13. Why the “I” in “Internet” is capitalized
3. How it works

Resource

Textbook: Computer Networks and Internets, Douglas Comer, 6th Edition

https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Networks-Internets-Douglas-Comer/dp/0133587932

Related Episodes

How Do Computers Work? With Steven Gago

https://www.earlybirdscience.com/episodes/9

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Website: earlybirdscience.com

Twitter: @EarlyBirdSci

Instagram: @EarlyBirdScience

Facebook: @EarlyBirdScience

Check out Kristen’s other show, Headshake, a stream-of-consciousness science podcast (EXPLICIT CONTENT):

headshake.show

PTEROSAURS! Commonly known as pterodactyls, the most massive flyers in the fossil record could inform modern biomimetic aerospace engineering.

Reference

Volant Fossil Vertebrates: Potential for Bioinspired Flight Technology: https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(20)30080-X

4/30/20 CORRECTION: Pterosaurs were not dinosaurs. We therefore changed the episode title, which was originally “Dinosaur Flight.”

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-a-pterosaur-is-not-a-dinosaur-87082921/

Connect - Leave comments, suggest topics, and ask science questions!

Website: earlybirdscience.com

Twitter: @EarlyBirdSci

Instagram: @EarlyBirdScience

Facebook: @EarlyBirdScience

Check out Kristen’s other show, Headshake, a stream-of-consciousness science podcast (EXPLICIT CONTENT):

headshake.show

Surprisingly, Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, which can reach daytime temperatures of 430 degrees C (about 800 degrees F), has ice! Kristen discusses research describing a newly-discovered mechanism for water formation and freezing on Mercury.

References and Resources

• Primary Literature: A New In Situ Quasi-continuous Solar-wind Source of Molecular Water on Mercury
• • https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ab6bda
• Articles
• • Science Daily: Mercury's scorching daytime heat may help it make its own ice at caps
  • • https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200313155329.htm
  • The Daily Galaxy: “Vulcan Heat” –Mercury’s Gigantic Ice-Making Paradox
  • • https://dailygalaxy.com/2020/03/vulcan-heat-mercurys-gigantic-ice-making-paradox/
  • NASA Science: Mercury
  • • https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mercury/in-depth/
  • Nova: The Ninth Planet That Wasn't
  • • https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/hunt-for-vulcan/

Connect - Leave comments, suggest topics, and ask science questions!

Website: earlybirdscience.com

Twitter: @EarlyBirdSci

Instagram: @EarlyBirdScience

Facebook: @EarlyBirdScience

Check out Kristen’s other show, Headshake, a stream-of-consciousness science podcast (EXPLICIT CONTENT):

headshake.show