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Conversations about the natural world with Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley, from member-supported North Country Public Radio.... more
FAQs about Natural Selections:How many episodes does Natural Selections have?The podcast currently has 299 episodes available.
September 01, 2016Ginkgo trees, one species from the age of dinosaursMartha Foley and Dr Curt Stager talk about the ginkgo tree, an ancient species native to China. They do not spread naturally anymore, but during the time of the dinosaurs there were many types of ginkgo tree all over the world....more5minPlay
August 25, 2016Helpful fungi lurk inside some plantsMartha Foley and Dr Curt Stager discuss fungal lurkers - fungi that live inside plants. Fungal lurkers are a new discovery and scientists believe that this type of fungus helps the plant it lives on but may harm animals and people....more6minPlay
August 18, 2016What is a flame?What is a flame? Why is it shaped like that? How does it keep going? Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager answer some burning questions about rapid oxidation....more6minPlay
August 11, 2016Glitches? Could be gremlins, could be cosmic raysMartha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager discuss cosmic rays. While many people may think cosmic rays only affect astronauts or satellites - objects in space - computers and other electronic equipment on Earth can be affected, too....more5minPlay
August 04, 2016Camels: the whole body is the canteen, the hump is trail mixDo camels really store water in their humps? Well, not really. And they aren't native to the deserts of the Middle East and Asia, either. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager discuss the different ways camel physiology adapts them to survive in desert conditions, and where this family of mammals originated....more7minPlay
June 30, 2016When evolution goes wrongNot all evolutionary change is good. Genetic changes can be neutral or harmful, as well as beneficial. And some change can be both, conferring benefit when a single copy of a gene is present, and causing a life-threatening disease when copies are inherited from both parents. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager roll the dice on evolution....more6minPlay
June 23, 2016Alternation of generations makes for strange botanyWhat if dogs gave birth to kittens, and those kittens grew up to have puppies? That's similar to what some species, such as haircap moss, do. Each alternate generation has a different form and function. Dr Curt Stager and Martha Foley explore the biological oddity "alternation of generations."...more6minPlay
June 16, 2016Long necks, dark water: lake monstersDr. Curt Stager is back from a conference in Scotland where one of the topics was the possibility of lake monsters such as the famous denizen of Loch Ness, or Lake Champlain's Champy. Could the commonly reportedly long-necked monsters be plesiosaurs, left over from the Jurassic era? Probably not....more6minPlay
June 09, 2016Why did whales return to the sea? To make a livingWhales are relatively new to the ocean. Fossil evidence allows evolutionary biologists to trace the whale's transformation from land mammal into air-breathing ocean dweller. Today's whales still carry a legacy of their landed past in a vestigial pelvis, femur, and other typical anatomical traits. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager dig into a big topic....more5minPlay
June 02, 2016Burl: when wood strays from the straight and narrowBurl wood, the knobs of complex grain that some trees form, is prized by woodworkers for its beauty and utility. What causes wood grain to deviate from the straight and narrow in this way is something of a mystery. Martha Foley and Curt Stager try to untangle the knot....more5minPlay
FAQs about Natural Selections:How many episodes does Natural Selections have?The podcast currently has 299 episodes available.