Episode 114 - Polar Life

Far to the north and far to the south, conditions on Earth get weird. Cold climates and periods of perpetual night or day create some of the most unique habitats on the planet. In this episode, we look at what makes the polar regions so strange, how they’ve changed over time, what it takes for life to survive there, and what fossils tell us about what lived there in the past.

In the news: gut microbiomes, chewed Neanderthals, ancient symbiosis, and very old turtles.

Time markers:Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00News: 00:04:30Main discussion, Part 1: 00:32:30Main discussion, Part 2: 01:13:30Patron question: 01:44:30

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The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org.

Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/