Rice University mechanical engineers are showing how to repurpose deceased spiders as mechanical grippers that can blend into natural environments while picking up objects, like other insects, that outweigh them. Anthony and Jeff discuss the merits of using spider corpses as engineering materials.

In the Grip of Necrobotic Spiders

Jeff Cannata and Anthony Carboni talk about the personal philosophical concerns they find lurking inside everyday things. It's fun?

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At the 1815 Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte’s final battle, more than 10,000 men and as many horses were killed in a single day. Yet, archaeologists have found the physical remains of only 2 soldiers. How did so many bones up and vanish? In a new book, an international team of historians and archaeologists argues the bones were depleted by industrial-scale grave robbing. Why? Well, for sugar, of course. Jeff and Anthony dig into this mystery and learn a lot about how sugar get from farm to table, by way of bone char.

Sugar Bones

Consumer Reports released a new report on Lunchables in which it found lead and cadmium, and also observed the presence of phthalates, which can impact reproductive health and the human hormonal system. Anthony and Jeff discuss the findings, and how to face the challenge of eating food that isn't actively trying to kill you.

Lead for Lunch

If humanity is to successfully colonize the lunar surface, we will have to bring other animals with us. Which species are essential to create a thriving ecosystem? Which should arrive first? Anthony and Jeff discuss the factors involved in deciding which kinds of creatures will join us on the moon.

Animals on the Moon

It is the 200th anniversary of the first dinosaur discovery, so Jeff and Anthony dig into the story of finding fossils and naming them. It leads them to the wild story of William Buckland, the man who coined the term Megalosaurus, in 1824. If you think you know dinosaurs, you may be shocked by how they entered popular culture.

Dinosaur Anniversary

A pair of recent studies suggest that the act of putting pen or pencil to paper increases brain activity and retention when compared to typing words into a computer. Anthony and Jeff discuss living a papered life, and whether taking physical notes is worth the increase in learning.

In the Grip of Necrobotic Spiders

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