Science... sort of

00:00:00 - Dr. Arik Kershenbaum (@arikkershenbaum) stops by to talk about his new book, The Zoologist's Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal about Aliens—And Ourselves, AKA the fastest we've ever said yes to an interview.

00:27:50 - Both life and beef requires water, so let's talk about what we're drinking. Patrick has a perfectly adequate Punk AF from BrewDog, Ryan is also having a non-alcoholic Upside Dawn Golden Ale from Athletic Brewing. It is also fine.

00:36:29 - Part 2 of our discussion with Arik Kershenbaum is the second part of our conversation about his book. Please enjoy!

00:58:04- PaloePOWs are a lot like alien life: is it really out there? Ryan begins with a 4-star Apple Podcasts review from Entertaining, but… who is frustrated by politics creeping into the show, which prompts a hopefully helpful discussion about what exactly this sort of criticism might mean. Patrick finishes with an e-mail from Peter C. about classifying human species as we colonize other planets based on the game Stellaris, but of course Ryan can't help but bring up The Expanse. Discussion ensues.

You can support us and local bookstores by shopping at our store on Bookshop.org and even more cool rewards await you if you decide to support us on our Patreon!

Music credit: Alien Language - Podington Bear Audio Production by Rob Heath

00:00:00 - Carl Zimmer (@CarlZimmer) has returned to the show to talk to us about his new book, Life's Edge: The Search For What It Means To Be Alive. While it may be hard to define life, we can provide definite timestamps for the first part of our conversation about the book!

00:26:16 - Having access to liquid is an essential part of life, which includes drinks. Ryan pontificates about his Hoplark HopTea with Spruce Tips which is surprisingly refreshing. After a digression, Patrick gets to reveal that he is also enjoying the nearly non-alcoholic Nanny State from BrewDog.

00:36:52 - Part 2 of our discussion with Carl Zimmer is the second part of our conversation about his book. Please enjoy!

00:57:42 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like life, hard to define but you know it when you see it. Ryan insists that Patrick reconciles with Jeff' S's e-mail responding to our previous dismissal of 3D in movies by pointing out the Spy Kids franchise as a counterexample. Ryan then reads an e-mail from Bob M. about some previous confusion regarding ungulates and notoungulates referred to in a previous episode. The best resource we know of is the Tree of Life Project, but please get in touch if you know of others!

You can support us and local bookstores by shopping at our store on Bookshop.org and even more cool rewards await you if you decide to support us on our Patreon!

Music credit: A Beautiful Life - Broke For Free Audio Production by Rob Heath

00:00:00 - Returning guest Jen Gallagher (@yeastychic) has brought along two former students to talk about their continued research into the world of yeast! We're excited to be joined by Matt Winas, currently the lead scientist at Imperial Yeast Labs, and Postdoctoral Research Apoorva Ravishankar. First up, we chat with Matt about his work on sake yeast hybridization and how yeast respond toxic metallic nanoparticles.

00:28:21 - Yeast make all manner of drinks so let's talk about that. Apoorva eschews the yeast theme with a hot cup of coffee (with cream and sugar) and the gang reminisces about the coffee shop closest to their lab at WVU. Matt is enjoying a Suss It Out rye IPA from Level Cross Brewing Company, one of the perks of working for a yeast company. Jen is honoring her scientific progeny with a Baby Cakes stout from Tribus Beer Co. Ryan had a different beer lined up but is instead going with a Hop Farmin Miner from Weathered Ground Brewery in WV.

00:37:26 - Next we chat with Apoorva about her research on exactly how yeast responds to glyphosate-based herbicides, which are heavily used in agriculture and gardening and how a chemical designed to control/kill plants can have some dramatic responses on yeast.

01:05:09 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like yeast, you can wake them up with a little bit of warm water and sugar. First up, we thank George H. for being a recurring PayPal donor to the show . Thanks, George! And we wrap up by letting Jen respond to her own feedback regarding the sequencing of mitochondrial DNA mentioned in episode 331. Always good to get extra clarification from an expert!

You can support us and local bookstores by shopping at our store on Bookshop.org and even more cool rewards await you if you decide to support us on our Patreon!

Music credit: Budding - Broke For Free Audio Production by Rob Heath

00:00:00 - Kelly and Ryan are psyched to be joined by Gina Zwicky (@GinaGoesOutside) to talk about all things herps (amphibians + reptiles)! We begin with a discussion about Gina's work the immune system of Caribbeans lizards, specifically the major histocompatibility complexes of the Saban's anole using the National Center for Biotechnology Information's (NCBI) awesome genetic database. And Ryan transitions the group to the next segment but half remembering a cool project on the island of Dominica that will be a joint rum distiller and sea turtle conservation hub. Neat!

00:27:08 - Amphibians need to stay near water, and much like them we also enjoy a drink. First, Gina shares her LaCroix habit, lime at the moment but ranking of flavors is involved. Kelly takes a break from red wine with a warm, relaxing cup of chamomile tea. And even though nobody asked, Ryan is having a Black Rock Milk Stout from Devil's Backbone Brewing in Kelly's neck of the wood AKA East Virginia. We also talk a bit about what it means to be a super taster and how to test yourself to see if you are one too.

00:37:39 - In the second segment, we talk about Gina's work with Frog Watch, an AZA accredited program to get folks outside in their area to monitor frog populations. Gina runs tours in her neck of the woods in souther Louisiana, but if you're in the US there may be a similar program nearby so go and check it out where you live and see if you can go listen to some cool frogs!

01:02:21 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like frog watching, they're both mostly about listening. First, we thank Amanda B. for becoming a recurring PayPal donor (again!). Thanks, Amanda! And another round of our thanks goes out to @z_dieg for tweeting about how much he liked our AGU episode helmed by our very own Tim Dobbs. Great job, Tim!

You can support us and local bookstores by shopping at our store on Bookshop.org and even more cool rewards await you if you decide to support us on our Patreon!

Music credit: Frogs in Tuxes - Podington Bear Audio Production by Rob Heath

00:00:00 - The Triassic Period was clearly a tough time to be alive, since a lot of things kept dying. Researchers have recently uncovered a potentially new extinction that happened during the Triassic, and another team has uncovered more evidence of what cased the extinction we already knew about at the end of the Triassic. The culprit in both cases? Volcanoes! Abe and Ryan try to co-explain.

00:29:05 - Like volcanoes, beers also release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Abe is eager to go first with Science Is Crushable IPA by Benchtop Brewing Company. Charlie features a beer sent by a buddy as part of a winter beer exchange, a Tired But Wired by Anchorage Brewing Company featuring some excellent label art by Woflskulljack. And Ryan is excited to try a Kitty Claw clarified cafe milk punch from Mercy Me in D.C.

00:37:31 - Ryan already had the chance to talk about this story once before on the Undisciplined: November Science News Roundup, but he's too excited to not bring it up again because researchers have found that female mongooses start turf wars on purpose for access to males outside their main group to prevent inbreeding. The paper is open access, please go and watch the videos, they're quite a thing to see.

00:51:45 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like mongoose battles; they both have an ulterior motive. Charlie has a comment from Travis about enjoying and learning from our interview with Maya Becker in episode 320, which prompts Charlie to offer to take Ryan glacier camping. Abe has a Patreon comment regarding using comics to explain science as discussed in episode 308, including letting students answer questions with a drawing instead of text. Finally, we bestow a BSso thesis to Patreon supporter Tyson G., and that thesis title is: Finding new berth in old miseries by outrunning magma: Novel habitats provided by Large Igneous Provinces induces turf wars in genetically drifted expanding mongoose populations. Thanks, Tyson!

You can support us and local bookstores by shopping at our store on Bookshop.org and even more cool rewards await you if you decide to support us on our Patreon!

Music credit: Looking For Trouble - Podington Bear Audio Production by Rob Heath

00:00:00 - Thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the AGU Fall Meeting had to go all online, but that didn't showing up and recording some interviews. But plot twist! This year we sent Producer Tim Dobbs to do the interviewing and Ryan is just along for the ride. In his first interview, Tim talks to Amato Evan about his work looking at how dust clouds from the Sahara in Africa have climatic affects as far away as the other side of the Atlantic AKA Godzilla Dust Storms!

00:33:18 - A little dust in the throat goes away with a quick drink. This episode, Ryan is amazed by the color of his Kyoto Bakushu Matcha IPA (seriously, clickthrough on the link to see it). Whereas Tim is trying to figure out what to do with his bottle of BarMatt Equatorial Ceylon Tea Liqueur. Ryan provides suggestions.

00:42:33 - Tim's next chat is with Joshua Bregy, who, no joke, uses wood from old coffins to asses past climate. It's as cool as it sounds. What more even needs to be said here? Just go and listen already. You can check out Josh's data on Github.

Tim and Ryan wrap up by discussing some of the ins and outs of a year of all online meetings. As well as talking briefly about their own poster that they presented in a session about helping scientists get better at communicating. Go figure. Ryan also mentions AGU's Voices for Science program, which he's been participating in the last year and they're accepting applications for next year's cohort. If you're an earth scientist interested in communicating science or science policy, go apply!

01:19:06 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like dust storms; they get everywhere. First, we thank Rohit R. for being a recurring PayPal donor. Thanks, Rohit! Then we have a voicemail from Richard P. who has an excellent question about why rodents are so nibbly? You'll have to listen to find out the answer, but it is an area of active research believe it or not. Lastly, go check out Tim's BioArtBot project!

You can support us and local bookstores by shopping at our store on Bookshop.org and even more cool rewards await you if you decide to support us on our Patreon!

Music credit: Dust In Sunlight - Podington Bear Audio Production by Tim Dobbs (@TimSDobbs)

00:00:00 - Ryan is joined by Jesse B. Grove V to discuss the highly anticipated sci-fi action thriller, Christopher Nolan's TENET. Jesse is drinking an Outer Realm from Original Pattern Brewing Company and Ryan is drinking The Magic Touch by American Solera and they are both IPAs because that's the kind of guys they are. Be sure to check out the Sator Square and here is a link to the graphic timeline mentioned towards the end of the episode.

Tune in to find out just how much they did, or didn't, or did like the film! You can also follow Ryan (@haupt) and Jesse (@LintonFellows) on Letterboxd.com to keep up with their movie-watching habits.

And apologies to Doughboys for riffing on their format.

More cool rewards await you if you decide to support us on our Patreon!

Audio Production by Rob Heath

00:00:00- We're doing another Anchor-themed clip show! Following up on episodes 266, 282, and 326 we have another round of short audio clips that Ryan created for the podcast startup Anchor under the banner of Organized Curiosity (explanation of the name here).

00:01:43 - Ryan explains the 'Up-Goer Five' challenge, reads an abstract he wrote using the Up-Goer Five Text Editor, tries to explain what the abstract actually means, and then shares some thoughts on whether or not this exercise is effective.

00:17:57 - News you probably cannot use: Cheerios included some seeds in their cereal boxes to help folks grow flowers for the bees. A nice idea, but unfortunately still might do more harm than good.

00:23:22 - It's the holidays so Ryan is drinking glögg and eating raisins. It's tradition. Make your own glögg AND make your own raisins so you can enjoy some too.

00:24:50 - Q&A: Paul from Cork, Ireland calls in to talk about how he hopes his daughter takes an interest in science (us to!) and to talk about whales. Ryan then tells the tale of the time he met a wild humpback, which was amazing but smelly.

00:31:20 - A new study suggests a pretty fundamental shakeup of the dinosaur family tree. First, he explains how dinosaur diversity was previously organized. Then he explains what the new study actually found.

00:40:40 - Bio bios: dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

00:45:44 - Q&A: Tachi calls in to leave some comments about the "Up Goer Five" challenge, Ryan responds. Also, go read The Elements of Style, it's great.

00:47:10 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like clip shows; they comfort you in dark times. In this episode, we thank Zachary G. for his recurring donation via PayPal. Thanks, Zachary! Ryan also appeared on the podcast MonsterTalk to talk about the Loveland Frog so go check that out.

Thanks for getting through 2020 with us, see you on the other side.

More cool rewards await you if you decide to support us on our Patreon!

Music credit: Golden Hour - Broke For Free

00:00:00 - Abe and Ryan are joined by paleontologists Lindsey Yann and Advait Jukar (@amjukar) to talk about all manner of proboscideans! First up, hundreds of mammoth fossils have been found underneath the construction site for a new airport outside Mexico City. An amazing find with some similarities to the Waco Mammoth National Monument where Lindsey was just hired as the park's first in-house paleontologist. And as the park's paleontologist, she is actively soliciting new research projects so if you have ideas get in touch!

00:26:05 - We may not have built-in straws but we can still enjoy a beverage. Ryan heeds Advait's advice and grabs a bottle of Old Monk Very Old Vatted XXX Rum, which has expanded Ryan's view of the diversity of beverages available from the subcontinent. Advait himself is enjoying a pilsner from East Rock Brewing Company from his new hometown of New Haven, CT. Whereas the only paleontologically-themed beer in Abe's fridge was a Tyrannosaurus Flex from New Real Brewing Company. And in exploring Waco's brewing scene, Lindsey scored the perfectly appropriate Hidden Herd from Brothwell Brewing.

00:38:14 - Next, Advait explains some of the key differences between the sometimes-confused mammoths and mastodons. A new study of the latter looking at the mitochondrial genomes of different groups of mastodons suggesting they migrated with the ice. It's a very cool way to determine how these massive animals moved around their environment.

01:08:15 - PaleoPOWs also move in herds. First up, Abe thanks Jesse O. for a recurring PayPal donation (a much-appreciated holdover from the pre-Patreon days). Thanks, Jesse! And Ryan thanks former guest of the show Alex Hastings for a shoutout in the Star Tribune. Thanks, Alex! Alex also has his own podcast now called Squabbling Squibs, check it out!

Ryan has also recently appeared on the iFanboy Pick of the Week Podcast #754 talking about comics (obviously) and AGU's Third Pob From The Sun talking sasquatch and ground sloths, because why not?

More cool rewards await you if you decide to support us on our Patreon!

Audio Production by Rob Heath Music credit: Lakeside Path - Blue Dot Sessions

00:00:00 - Researcher Daniel Katz and journalist Lucas Joel (@LucasVanWykJoel) join Ryan to talk about Dan's research into Detroit's pollen problem. Too many vacant lots means a lot more ragweed for the residents of the city to deal with. Want to get involved with Dan's research? Check out his citizen science project Pollen Tracker!

00:41:26 - After the allergy-inducing first segment, a drink is enjoyed by all. Ryan Escapes with the help of Offshoot Beer Co. Lucas is having his very favorite South African rooibos tea. And Dan is having Electric Jellyfish from Pinthouse PIzza which isn't thematic but "oh well".

00:54:14 - Some recent fossil finds in Burmese amber have been making the news, but unfortunately, it's unclear if the amber is being ethically sourced and it may even be funding the genocide of Myanmar's Kachin Christian minority. Is it ok to be publishing on specimens obtained this way? What does it mean when the studies get quickly retracted? And how are scientific societies addressing the issue? A sobering but important topic.

01:37:31 - A quick PaleoPOW to thank Dan K. for his continuing support via PayPal. Thanks, Dan! And if you're in the US, go VOTE!

More cool rewards await you if you decide to support us on our Patreon!

Audio Production by Rob Heath Music credit: Detroit - Podington Bear