In 1885, 350,000 head of cattle traveled overland from Fort Worth, Texas to Abilene, Kansas. In 1886, there were none. Why? This episode looks back at the great cattle drives of the American Southwest--and what led to their demise. The reasons will surprise you.

I sometimes run across little bits of interesting information that aren’t enough for a Podcast on their own, but they’re too good to ignore. So for this episode, I’ve pulled a bunch of them together into a long stream of just interesting stuff. Hope you like it.

Steve interviews his friend and colleague Josh Stevens, an authority on network and computer security--and that elusive, mysterious technology called Blockchain--which, as it turns out, is not all that mysterious and is in fact pretty important.

There's very little that is as enjoyable as a day outside. There's also very little that's as rewarding as a day spent taking part in a BioBlitz. Have a listen.

One of the coolest technologies on the near-term horizon is the quantum computer--an amazing device capable of doing so much more than traditional digital computers. In tis episode, we explain what they are, how they work, and where they're going. Grab a drink--this is a wild ride.

Welcome to the Natural Curiosity Project! I'm Steve Shepard, and as your host, I'll take you on journeys of discovery to learn just how awe-inspiring this planet really is. Hope you'll come along for the ride!

Three minutes of snow geese on Lake Champlain, November 2018. Close your eyes, listen, enjoy.

Thomas Young--the last man who knew everything. What else would you call a guy who translated the Rosetta Stone, contributed to physics, figured out how the eye works, and wrote a comparison of the grammar of 400 languages?

Did you know that HG Wells invented the World Wide Web? Sorry, Tim Berners-Lee--he beat you by about 100 years!

A tiny house wren, singing his heart out in search of a mate.