SciShow Tangents

Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, Let it Snow; the timeless sounds of the holiday. And to that pantheon of greats is added another track: this 30-minute-long, spoken-word science podcast!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Stefan: @itsmestefanchin Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @slamschultz Hank: @hankgreen

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links!

[Truth or Fail]

Poinsettia monopoly

https://www.npr.org/2017/12/22/573046507/how-poinsettias-became-synonymous-with-christmas

http://www.mobileranger.com/blog/the-plant-of-christmas-the-poinsettia/

https://www.actahort.org/books/226/226_34.htm

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-dec-23-me-poinsettia23-story.html

https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/download/12136/PDF

Vanilla flavor

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-cream-bananas_n_55f8d911e4b0d6492d638853

https://www.webmd.com/children/features/is-poinsettia-really-poisonous

Latex/rubber

https://web.extension.illinois.edu/poinsettia/facts.cfm

http://www.industrialrubbergoods.com/natural-rubber.html

https://www.thespruce.com/facts-about-poinsettias-that-may-surprise-you-2132343

[Fact Off]

Tinniculite 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134%2FS1075701517070078

https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/msa/ammin/article/102/2/466/264546/new-mineral-names

https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/9/6/373/htm

Pine needle recycling

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329280439_Fuels_and_Value-Added_Chemicals_from_Biomass

https://theconversation.com/new-recycling-process-could-help-your-christmas-tree-lead-a-surprising-second-life-107984

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610217350713

[Ask the Science Couch]

Natural vs. artificial tree

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/business/energy-environment/fake-christmas-tree-vs-real-tree.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/12/14/real-vs-fake-heres-why-artificial-christmas-trees-rise/2314418002/

https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Real-vs-Artificial-Christmas-Tree-Which-Is-More-14866084.php

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/12/14/real-vs-fake-heres-why-artificial-christmas-trees-rise/2314418002/

[Butt One More Thing]

Mistletoe

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/metro/urban-jungle/pages/121218.html

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/culturing-science/mistletoe-natural-history/

https://www.etymonline.com/word/mistletoe

https://www.etymonline.com/word/missel?ref=etymonline_crossreference

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From ancient clay pots to the heat-proof panels on the space shuttle, ceramics have been an integral part of human technology from the very beginning. I can’t even think of any jokes about ceramic! It’s just cool!

More importantly! Over the last week or so, Hank has absolutely ruined everyones’ Twitter timelines with one simple question: “is butt legs?” In this episode, you get to bear ear-witness to the genesis of this wretched, society-shattering question! #buttislegs

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:

[Truth or Fail]

Non-deflatable football

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deflategate

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Air-Bag.html

Strong water

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Aluminum-oxide#section=Mechanism-of-Action

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.470.4214&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Pajamas

https://www.underarmour.com/en-us/tb12

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3699878/

https://www.espn.com/espnw/life-style/story/_/id/23315114/we-tried-do-tom-brady-recovery-pajamas-live-their-name

[Fact Off]

Moon art

Magnetic field

https://www.livescience.com/57868-earth-magnetic-field-spike-ancient-times.html

https://www.space.com/43173-earth-magnetic-field-flips-when.html

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/14/515032512/iron-age-potters-carefully-recorded-earths-magnetic-field-by-accident

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/earths-mysterious-magnetic-field-stored-in-a-jar?verso=true

[Ask the Science Couch]

Glazes

https://edu.rsc.org/feature/the-chemistry-of-pottery/2020245.article

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/glaze

Specific materials (tin, salt, etc.) 

https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/ceramic-and-glaze-fluxes-2745860

https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1560&context=open_access_etds

https://www.britannica.com/art/tin-glazed-earthenware

[Butt One More Thing]

Ceramic butt wiping

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/toilet-tissue-anthropologists-uncover-all-the-ways-weve-wiped/

https://www.bmj.com/content/345/bmj.e8287.full

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Bones… seems like a simple enough topic, right? Well, would you believe me if I told you that scientists can’t even agree on how and why bones evolved in the first place?! And teeth? Don’t even get us started on teeth...

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:

[Truth or Fail]

Bone Conduction

https://www.kqed.org/science/1926248/how-elephants-listen-with-their-feet

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/03/010312071729.htm

https://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/february18/elephants-triangulation-seismic-vibration-signal-021809.html

Chew Bones

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/07/giraffes-eat-skeletons-bones-spd/

https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/9767/Bredin_Can(2008).pdf;jsessionid=8BFA2F57B27C91C3BB4F18175D4712A8?sequence=1

Glowing Bones

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/01/chameleon-bones-florescent-ultraviolet-light-spd/

https://www.sciencealert.com/these-cute-little-orange-frogs-have-a-florescent-secret-under-their-skin

[Fact Off]

Myotragus goat

https://www.pnas.org/content/106/48/20354

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1325260/

https://phys.org/news/2009-11-extinct-goat-cold-blooded.html

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/11/17/extinct-goat-tried-out-reptilian-cold-blooded-living-it-didnt-work/#.XdMCY5JKhxw

pics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myotragus

Subvocalization remote

https://dam-prod.media.mit.edu/x/2018/03/23/p43-kapur_BRjFwE6.pdf

https://www.sciencealert.com/silent-voice-headset-subvocalisation-computer-interface-mit

[Ask the Science Couch]

Bone evolution:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3237026/

https://austhrutime.com/bone.htm

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC509207/

Aspidin: 

https://natureecoevocommunity.nature.com/users/169723-joseph-keating/posts/37157-aspidin-a-bone-of-contention

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6109381/

Teeth: 

https://www.nature.com/news/fossil-scans-reveal-origins-of-teeth-1.13964

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24268-fish-fossil-suggests-our-skeleton-evolved-face-first/

[Butt One More Thing]

Lizard Tails:

https://www.futurity.org/salamanders-lizards-tails-regeneration-1838762/

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When it comes to proper nutrition, just about the only thing everyone can agree on is that people need to eat food. Everything else, from eggs to carbs to vitamins, is basically up in the air!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these link:

[Fact Off]

Osedax worms

https://sfamjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2005.00824.x

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967063707001483

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/305/5684/668/tab-pdf

“Vitamin” B17 aka. Laetrile

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.3322/canjclin.31.2.91?sid=nlm%3Apubmed

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/laetrile-pdq#_10

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK65988/

https://www.amboss.com/us/knowledge/Vitamins

[Ask the Science Couch]

History of nutrition science

https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k2392

Nutrition research is complicated

https://www.vox.com/2016/1/14/10760622/nutrition-science-complicated

https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/explore-healing-practices/food-medicine/why-does-nutrition-advice-change

[Butt One More Thing]

Sewage sludge protein 

https://www.feednavigator.com/Article/2017/04/06/Sewage-sludge-to-animal-feed

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Be Advised! This episode was recorded before we decided to reset the scores for Season 2 and rename them Sambucks. Please don't tweet at us about this (and if you do tweet at us about it, be nice)!

People absolutely love going places and doing stuff! And in our zeal to go places and do stuff even faster, we've invented some wild things. Come with us on journey of discovery as we sail the seven seas of science and fly the friendly skies of... innovation...? 

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:

[Truth or Fail]

Loading Patterns

https://www.who.int/ith/mode_of_travel/tcd_aircraft/en/

https://www.pnas.org/content/115/14/3623

Reducing Fiber 

https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-you-should-fart-in-planes-2013-2

Dirtiest Part of a Plane

https://www.travelmath.com/feature/airline-hygiene-exposed/

[Fact Off]

Ski lift

https://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2953.htm

Pictures/info:https://books.google.com/books?id=slgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23

https://books.google.com/books?id=XFgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38

https://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/releases/heritage_and_steam/2006/0228_skilift.shtml

Flight suit

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/04/13/wiley-post-one-eyed-pilot-first-fly-solo-around-world-developed-first-pressure-suits-discovered-jet-stream/

https://airandspace.si.edu/multimedia-gallery/si-98-15012hjpg

https://www.airspacemag.com/videos/category/new-label/this-pressure-suit-helped-pilots-survive-new/

[Ask the Science Couch]

License plate restrictions

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/mar/20/licence-plate-driving-bans-paris-ineffective-air-pollution

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095756416000039

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0967070X01000245?via%3Dihub

Braess’ Paradox

http://homepage.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/Dietrich.Braess/Paradox-BNW.pdf

https://phys.org/news/2010-09-scientist-braess-paradox-high-traffic.html

Removing roads

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/nov/01/society.travelsenvironmentalimpact

https://www.landscapeperformance.org/case-study-briefs/cheonggyecheon-stream-restoration

[Butt One More Thing]

Fart volume

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-big-is-a-fart-somewhere-between-a-bottle-of-nail-polish-and-a-can-of-soda/

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Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out this episode's page at scishowtangents.org!

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Ancient man harnessing and wielding the elemental power of the flame was pretty cool, I guess, but I think this being Tangent's one year anniversary is a little cooler, honestly! Plus, we announce who won the first season, so actually this episode is sort of twice as important as fire if you think about it!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

And if you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links: 

[Truth or Fail]

Fire-chasing beetles

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0037627

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227016226_The_Photomechanic_Infrared_Receptor_for_the_Detection_of_Forest_Fires_in_the_Buprestid_Beetle_Melanophila_Acuminata

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/how-a-half-inch-beetle-finds-fires-80-miles-away/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3998979?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2012/05/27/fire-chasing-beetles-sense-infrared-radiation-from-fires-hundreds-of-kilometres-away/

https://academic.oup.com/jee/article-abstract/36/2/341/2202937

[Fact Off]

Surgical fires

https://www.livescience.com/65615-chest-cavity-fire-surgery.html

https://www.ismp.org/resources/surgical-fires-caused-skin-preps-and-ointments-rare-dangerous-and-preventable

Death ray building

https://twitter.com/tara_mulholland/status/374877389425086464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E374877389425086464&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffinancialpost.com%2Fnews%2Flondons-fryscraper-owners-to-spend-millions-of-pounds-to-block-car-melting-beam

https://www.pri.org/stories/2013-09-03/londons-walkie-talkie-skyscraper-blamed-melting-cars-starting-small-fire

https://www.livescience.com/39371-skyscraper-melts-cars-20-fenchurch.html

https://www.mississauga.com/news-story/4067822-london-s-fryscaper-draws-crowd-on-hottest-day/

https://www.cityam.com/exclusive-walkie-scorchie-melted-my-jag/

[Ask the Science Couch]

Flame Extinguishment Experiment (FLEX) 

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/FLEX_Video.html

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/in-space-flames-behave-in-ways-nobody-thought-possible-132637810/

Cool flames

https://blogs.nasa.gov/ISS_Science_Blog/2013/11/25/cool-flames-on-the-international-space-station-an-anatomy-of-discovery/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010218012002131

https://youtu.be/BxxqCLxxY3M

[Butt One More Thing]

Incinerating toilets

http://www.nsf.org/consumer-resources/water-quality/wastewater-sewage-treatment/electrical-incinerating-toilets

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-06/documents/incinera.pdf

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SciShow Tangents' Month of Fear concludes with what is undeniably the scariest, most valid fear of any of those discussed... spiders! I'm not saying spiders will pour out of your headphones and into your ears when you listen to this, but I'm also not promising they won't.

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links!

[Truth or Fail]

Records

https://thevinylfactory.com/features/the-10-weirdest-things-pressed-into-vinyl-records-this-year/

https://www.npr.org/2016/01/09/462289635/bones-and-grooves-weird-secret-history-of-soviet-x-ray-music

Tattoos

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/gwitchin-tattoo-skin-stitching-first-nations-1.3796606

Canvases

https://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2008/07/cobwebportraits.html

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-lost-art-of-painting-on-cobweb-canvases

https://phys.org/news/2010-05-scientists-goats-spider-silk.html

[Fact Off]

[Ask the Science Couch]

Web construction

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ask-smithsonian-how-do-spiders-make-webs-180957426/

https://sciencing.com/identify-spider-pattern-8635659.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6053566/

Making silk

https://www.livescience.com/32582-how-do-spiders-make-silk.html

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/spidroins

[Butt One More Thing]

Trashline orb weavers

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/meet-the-spiders-that-completely-defy-what-we-know-as-jet-lag/

https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/trashline-orbweavers

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SciShow Tangents' Month of Fear continues and… wait… do you feel it… the walls they’re... closing in around you! Crushing you!

...were you scared? Well, if you were Hank you probably would have been because his fear is enclosed spaces! How is that related to science? Good question!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links: 

[Truth or Fail]

Fire Extinguisher

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/tuot-ncf041819.php

Water-Filled Suit

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214552417301335

Air Purifier

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/06/space-station-mold-survives-200-times-radiation-dose-would-kill-human

[Fact Off]

Noc the beluga whale

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/story-one-whale-who-tried-bridge-linguistic-divide-between-animals-humans-180951437/?page=1

http://cell.com/current-biology/supplemental/S0960-9822%2812%2901009-3

https://www.public.navy.mil/navwar/NIWC-Pacific/technology/Pages/mammals.aspx

Normal beluga: https://dosits.org/resources/resource-categories/feature-sounds/beluga/

Noc sound: https://www.nature.com/news/the-whale-that-talked-1.11635

Dark flies

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2012/03/14/fifty-seven-years-of-darkness/#.XaY74udKgW_

https://phys.org/news/2016-02-evolution-dark-fly.html

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160204111403.htm

[Ask the Science Couch]

Estimates of plant rooms

https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-many-plants-would-you-need-to-generate-oxygen-for-y-5955071

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/1999-02/917906305.Bt.r.html

https://everything2.com/title/How+much+plant+life+is+needed+to+keep+a+person+alive+in+a+sealed+room%253F

Photorespiration

http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/155/1/56

Biosphere 2

http://biosphere2.org/visit/about-biosphere2/fast-facts

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/sunday-review/biosphere-2-climate-change.html

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/68/9/722/5055575?searchresult=1

[Butt One More Thing]

Apollo 10 floating poop

https://www.vox.com/2015/5/26/8646675/apollo-10-turd-poop

https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/AS10_CM.PDF

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As the SciShow Tangents Month of Fear continues, your hosts get down into the wormy, slimy muck to discuss Ceri’s biggest fear: decomposition! Does that sound too generic to be truly terrifying? That’s what Sam thought too, and now he is also quite scared of decomposing! Boo!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! 

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out this these links:

[Truth or Fail]

Straw Urinals - https://www.unreservedmedia.com/paris-open-air-urinals/

Peepee Day - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/6554958/Urinate-on-the-compost-heap-to-save-the-planet-says-the-National-Trust.html

https://grist.org/living/ask-umbra-can-i-pee-in-my-compost-pile/

Human Composting - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/washington-first-state-allow-burial-method-human-composting-180972020/

[Fact Off]

Ocean viruses - https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/9/e1602565.full

https://www.ocean.washington.edu/courses/oc400/Arrigo2005.pdf

Burying beetles - https://www.fws.gov/Midwest/endangered/insects/ambb/abb_fact.html

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/10/news-burying-beetle-nursery-bacteria-fungus-decomposition/

[Ask the Science Couch]

Food Safety

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/fsis-content/internet/main/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/food-safety-tips-for-college-students/ct_index

https://food.unl.edu/will-reheating-food-make-it-safe-if-you-forget-refrigerate-it

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/food-technology/bacterial-food-poisoning/

https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/what-you-need-know-about-foodborne-illnesses

Decomposers

https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dsny/docs/tip-sheet-decomposer-id-cpts-id-f.pdf

Pizza (Quora answer)

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-safe-to-eat-pizza-left-out-overnight

[Butt One More Thing]

A/V plug

http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/deathly-doodle-leakage

http://fluidpusher.blogspot.com/2009/10/questions-of-day-jenn-edition.html

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