Pregnancy is, biologically speaking, extremely weird! A pregnant animal’s body goes through so many hormonal and physical changes to make sure a zygote has everything it needs to grow. This week, we’re talking about a few of those things, like why pregnant people get nauseated and other animals might not. So is pseudopregnancy a real thing, or are pandas just tricking zookeepers to get extra treats? Why is there a patent for a birthing machine that looks like a horrible carnival ride? And what the heck is a stone baby?

Want to know more about our topics? Check out these links:

[Truth or Fail]

https://patents.google.com/patent/US3216423A/en

https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/failbetter/apparatusfacilitatingbirthchildcentrifugalforce/

[Fact Off]

Panda pseudopregnancy:

Lithopedion:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3979976/

https://alumni.amc.edu/pages/archives/archives---the-stone-baby

https://utmb.influuent.utsystem.edu/en/publications/lithopedion-stone-baby

https://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/calcium-beyond-the-bones

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4750627/

[Ask the Science Couch]

Morning sickness:

http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2000/05/morning-sickness-protects-mothers-and-their-unborn

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3676933/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2664252?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

https://www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk/resources/literature-review/symptoms-of-nvp-in-animals/

https://www.livescience.com/32301-do-pregnant-animals-get-morning-sickness.html

[Butt One More Thing]

Meconium:

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/112/2901/150.long

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18281199