Petri Dish

Last episode we discussed the basics of plasma, fusion power, and a design called the tokamak. This week we dive into some of the dark horse fusion power plant designs that are hoping to reach the power in -- power out breakeven point faster than ITER and the other tokamaks, designs like the stellarator, z-pinch, and more!

Featuring a promo for Play Comics Podcast, a pod about comic book universes and games based off them!

Email us at petridishpod -at- gmail.com. On twitter @dishpodcast and instagram @petridishpodcast.

References:

Fusion power has been just beyond the horizon for 60 years -- when are we going to get there?! Join us as we learn the fundamentals of how fusion power works! In this part 1, we also discuss a specific fusion plant design, the tokamak! Next time we'll discuss some other designs.

Featuring a promo for The Jury Room Podcast!

Coincidentally, March is Endometriosis Awareness Month! Maybe up to 10% of women ages 15-50 have endometriosis (over 170 million people worldwide), with a staggering array of potential symptoms (and a variety of severities). Due to its complexity and our long history of sexism in science and medicine, endometriosis is something we still have a lot to learn about, but we cover a lot of what we do know in this week's episode, so that you can know it too!

This episode features a promo for Everything I Learned From Movies, a movie discussion podcast (with beer involved too)! Check it out at https://www.ageofradio.org/everythingilearnedfrommovies

Email us at petridishpod -at- gmail.com. On twitter @dishpodcast and instagram @petridishpodcast.

References:

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-pathmechdis-012419-032654

http://endometriosis.org/resources/articles/facts-about-endometriosis/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000293781930002X

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1471491418301436

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41574-019-0245-z

*Special Note* This episode contains a trailer for an upcoming series of episodes on the True Crime podcast Riddle Me That -- the trailer contains mentions of pretty disturbing stuff, so we want listeners to be aware that it is there -- it is in the episode from the 17:00 to 19:30 minute mark.

Wine! A fermented fruit drink that now has a mind bogglingly large market with bigtime cultural impact. But is wine actually as complex as winemakers and sommeliers say? Is there a scientific basis to whatever 'terrior' is? What are organic and biodynamic wines? Sulfites?!  SULFITES!?

Aside from the trailer mentioned above, this episode also features a promo for Talking Bugs, an interview podcast with entomologists!

Email us at petridishpod -at- gmail.com. On twitter @dishpodcast and instagram @petridishpodcast.

References:

We have a special kind of episode for y'all this week! Nathan and Sean dive into the scientific work of the first Black chemist inducted into the National Academy of Science in the United States, Dr. Percy Lavon Julian! A true chemistry powerhouse, with accomplishments spanning nearly all of the 20th century, Dr. Julian helped with the scale-up manufacturing of natural products, ranging from treatments for glaucoma to birth control pills!

This episode has a PARTNER EPISODE! The podcast One Mic: Black History (https://www.onemichistory.com/) is putting out a biographical episode on Dr. Percy Lavon Julian to accompany ours! Check it out, we purposefully went light on the biography here so that they could do a more dedicated look at his life!

This episode has features a promo for Papa PhD Podcast, a podcast about life and careers after getting that sweet PhD! Check it out at @PapaPhDPodcast!

Email us at petridishpod -at- gmail.com. On twitter @dishpodcast and instagram @petridishpodcast.

References:

Last episode we discussed the history of antibiotics and alluded to RESISTANCE, the ability of bacteria to adapt to antibiotics to the point where the drugs aren't effective anymore. This is a huge, global problem, one that requires changes in policy and individual behavior, but all that other stuff is for some other time -- we're going to talk about the science of antibiotic resistance and what sorts of things scientists are cooking up to try to fight back!

This episode has features a promo for Sips, Suds, and Smokes, a podcast about whiskey, beer, and cigars! Check them out on twitter @sipssudssmokes!

Email us at petridishpod -at- gmail.com. On twitter @dishpodcast and instagram @petridishpodcast.

References:

https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/solutions-initiative/index.html

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antibiotic-resistance

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6924a2.htm?s_cid=mm6924a2_w

https://www.pnas.org/content/118/5/e2016886118

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02928/full

https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(18)30162-4.pdf

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6474/200

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18843302/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6380099/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6188119/

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/04/02/antibiotic-use-is-rapidly-increasing-in-developing-countries

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652619322085

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.00633/full

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966842X1730210X

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-018-0181-x

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5573035/

https://www.pnas.org/content/113/51/14477

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00018-3

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1665-6

What do ancient Anglo-Saxons, scientists in Nazi Germany, and moldy petri dishes have in common? They all were working hard to kill bacteria using antibiotics! What are antibiotics and what is the history of their use? Find out this week on Petri Dish!

This episode has two promos! One for Cast Junkie, a monthly show that highlights indie podcasts (find them at castjunkie.com). The other is for Pomegranates and Pitchforks, a horror and true crime podcast! Find them on twitter @PomPitchPod!

Email us at petridishpod -at- gmail.com. On twitter @dishpodcast and instagram @petridishpodcast.

References:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369527419300190

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1260294?seq=1

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3589797/

https://mbio.asm.org/content/6/4/e01129-15.full

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-69273-8

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6478456/

https://artsci.case.edu/dittrick/2013/11/08/of-syphilis-and-salvarsan-the-danger-and-promise-of-cure/

https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd2201

Tens of thousands of organs are transplanted each year in the US alone, but this big number of transplantations still falls short of the need: many people remain on the waitlist for organs and a number of people pass away while waiting for an organ. This week, Nathan and Sean discuss some of the near-future options for the supply side of the organ situation. What is xenotransplantation? How can we reduce the odds of rejection while increasing supply of useable organs? Find out this week!

This episode has a promo for Oz-9, a sci-fi audio fiction podcast! Check them out on twitter @Oz9podcast!

Email us at petridishpod -at- gmail.com. On twitter @dishpodcast and instagram @petridishpodcast.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3246856/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007122655800409?via%3Dihub

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1399-3089.2010.00608.x

https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.4027

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5935127/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0765-z

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aor.13701

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tri.13462

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/advs.201900344

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1931524419300957

Our first episode ever was about the microbiome, all the little bacteria and fungi and other folks living on and inside of us. While maybe you might not have heard of the microbiome, you've probably heard of stuff that is *supposed* to help the microbiome -- things like prebiotics and probiotics, which are often advertised as good for your gut health. Is that real? What is the science there?

This episode has a promo for Curiosity Cake, a podcast featuring laid back conversations with experts on to interesting topics! Check them out on twitter @curiosity_cake!

Email us at petridishpod -at- gmail.com. On twitter @dishpodcast and instagram @petridishpodcast.

References:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19940-1

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S009286741931387X

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867418311024

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(18)31108-5

Proteins, DNA, viruses, cells... they're all so small, it is hard to get a feel for what their deal is, they just seem so abstract! This week on Petri Dish, Nathan and Sean shrink down to the size of an average protein and hang out in different environments to help you visualize what a day in the life of a protein is like!

This episode has a promo for Plants and Pipettes, a plant molecular biology podcast! Check them out on twitter @plantspipettes!

Email us at petridishpod -at- gmail.com. On twitter @dishpodcast and instagram @petridishpodcast.

References: