Earth to Humans

Hannah’s ancestry traces back to Ireland, and learning about the folklore that would have shaped the way that her great grandparents, great great grand parents and all the Mulvanys before them would have related to nature and the places around them has been a main feature of her past month in the country. She wanted to delve deeper into the folklore that the country is famous for, so spoke to Bairbre Ní Fhloinn, professor of folklore at Dublin University, about how it has framed humankind and our relationship to nature, and how it links together all humanity.

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I came across today’s topic in kind of a roundabout way. Recently I was rewatching the James Cameron film, Titanic, and as I was watching Rose freeze on her floating piece of wood and pry Jack’s cold dead hands from hers as she whispers "I’ll never let go," it got me wondering just how cold the water actually was when the titanic actually sank. A quick google search told me it was about -2.2 degrees Celsius (or 27 degrees Fahrenheit). And if you’re me and were taught that water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit, you may have been stumped by the water’s ability to be colder than “freezing.”

So you do another few google searches and come to find that water doesn’t actually HAVE to freeze at 0 celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and continuing the Titanic example, saltwater, ambient air temperature and the sheer size of the body of water all affect the water’s temperature and ability to freeze. Still with me? Okay but then I started wondering just how cold liquid water can still exist before it HAS to freeze (the answer is -55 degrees Fahrenheit by the way) and then I came across a bit of research about a group of scientists who accidentally created the coldest place in the universe.

This is where today’s episode picks up. I wanted to understand a bit more about this experiment, how it happened, and what its implications are for real world and important applications. Christian Deppner is my guest today who was a member of the team that created this ultra cold capsule of atoms while researching what’s called internal wave interferometry. By using a tall drop tower that simulates anti-gravity conditions, Christian and his team at the Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen in Germany, tried to see how slow they could get a contained cloud of atoms to move and how accurately they could measure this movement, all the while creating atomic movement so slow, it became the coldest place in the universe.

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Ocean Mercier teaches Te Pūtaiao Māori/Māori Science which is a course on mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge and science) in both traditional and contemporary contexts, at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. Her research and that of her peers and students recognizes the values and merit of both indigenous and western techniques, using both to produce some amazing research that could hold the key to saving species, ecosystems and even improving human resilience against the negative impacts of climate change. In this episode, we also discuss the Polynesian and European settlement of New Zealand, Maori culture and beliefs, and round off the episode on the ancient creation story of 'Aotearoa' - the land of the long white cloud.

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While Sarinah and Hannah are on vacation, we decided to rebroadcast one of our "best of" episodes with Dr. Sylvia Earle, you'll understand why in a minute...

Close your eyes, and picture yourself underwater. See the light sway above you, as it gets darker and darker the further down you go. Welcome to the deep waters of the ocean, a place where today’s guest has spent a considerable part of her life, swimming alongside the ocean’s many flora and fauna. Dr Sylvia Earle is an icon in marine biology and ocean conservation and has been featured in popular documentaries like Seaspiracy, Mission Blue and Chasing Ice. She has won many awards and accolades including the Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science, the National Audubon Society’s Rachel Carson Award, and has authored more than 150 publications including a new book alongside National Geographic called Ocean: A Global Odyssey.

She’s also the first woman to walk on the ocean floor.

The team here at Earth to Humans is a HUGE fan of Dr. Earle and her work and we’ve had a hard time containing our excitement in anticipation of this episode’s release. We talk octopus intelligence, empathy in science and reasons why there is still so much reason to hope (even though everything seems really f@$%ed). She thinks we humans can overcome the mountain of our environmental negligence, and after this interview, we might be inclined to believe her.

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Let’s go back in time about a few hundred million years. You’re a plant. And you’re a plant that’s been evolving alongside microorganisms, fungi and animals. Come to find out, everyone finds you particularly tasty. You naturally don’t like being eaten, but you’re a plant and you can’t just walk away. So what can you do against all these predators? You could modify your leaves into thorns or equip them with tiny, irritating hairs, but maybe you decide to go a different route and develop chemical toxins to deter your opponent. Perhaps upon ingesting this toxin, insects find you instantly deadly, perhaps small mammals find themselves immobilized and disoriented by your effects and learn to leave you alone, but perhaps early hominids find a way to carefully dose your toxins and use them for medicine or even recreation.

That’s the topic of my conversation today with Dr. Oné R. Pagán and his latest book, Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins: A Trip Through the World of Animal Intoxication. We’ll discuss how naturally occurring compounds in our environment been used and abused (both intentionally and unintentionally) by members of the animal kingdom. We’ll learn about cigarette wielding birds, LSD induced elephants and big cats crazy for catnip. As always, we’d love to hear from you about this episode, so leave us a review and follow us on social media @earthtohumanspod.

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The modern dating world is a tricky thing to navigate. We all have expectations and desires - but what happens when you add environmentalism into the mix? For today's episode, we join together 4 singles who are environmentalists by trade or by passion, to discuss how their belief systems affect their romantic lives.

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An in-depth look at the illegal cheetah trade with the founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF), Dr. Laurie Marker, and the CCF illegal wildlife trade lead Dr. Shira Yashphe.

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The very first book I read by today’s guest haunted me for weeks after finishing it. I couldn’t shake the reality of the near-future world that she creates, which feels as terrifying as it is tangible and close. The reality of a world without animals. I knew I had to bring her on the show somehow, and I’m so glad we were able to have today’s conversation. Charlotte McConaghy is an Australian author living in Sydney and the mind behind two international bestselling novels, Migrations and Once There Were Wolves. Charlotte’s books are sweeping, beautiful and haunting as they tackle issues related to the frayed and fragile relationship that we humans have to the natural world. Today we’ll discuss both of her latest novels, the necessity of empathy and preserving hope in the face of devastating ecological and interpersonal loss. Charlotte will be joining us for our next Earth to Humans Book Club, which you can find more information about at patreon.com/earthtohumans. As always, let us know what you thought about this episode by leaving us a review on your favorite podcast app.

https://www.patreon.com/EarthToHumans

https://wildlensinc.org/

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On today’s episode, producer Hannah Mulvaney takes over the earth to humans podcast with an amazing interview with two folks leading the charge to create sustainable, environmentally friendly ways for women in developing countries to gain and build financial independence. They work to address gender oppression by focusing on rural, women-led work that remedies issues of poverty and resource disparities. Their community based projects aim to empower women with financial stability and drive communities away from environmentally harmful practices. So often, environmental organizations are not sustainable because they are not wholistic approaches but self-congratulatory band aid solutions that are not led by the communities they are inserting themselves into but The Think Her Project is. This conversation features founder and executive director Daphne De Celles and Godfrey Oyema as they discuss some of the important work they are doing in Tanzania and Kenya. Financial independence can mean the difference between life and death for some of these women as well as an escape from sexual violence all while sustaining their communities and their environments. It’s an important conversation, that we hope you enjoy.

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The ETH crew is happy to invite you to our very first book club meeting which will be Sunday, March 6th at 11am PST via Zoom featuring Author Mark Dowie, author of The Haida Gwaii Lesson. To sign up for this free event, you must be an ETH Patreon subscriber at the $1/month tier, which will also get you access to a free digital download of Mark's book. So sign-up, get reading and we can't wait to see you at our very first bookclub meetup March 6th at 11am PST via Zoom. Zoom details will be sent out to Patreon subscribers ahead of the event. Email [email protected] if you have any questions.

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