The Toothsoup Science Pod

In this episode we take a look at two of the more interesting recent cases of invasive species. First up is the white-nose killer that is rapidly reducing the possibility of the photo you see above. And on the flip-side, what if an invasive species could actually help the local ecology? An invasive plant species is propping up the bee population in Fiji, so which should go?

My first post-Spain episode features an apology for not letting people know where the hell I was for the past month or two, followed by the revelation that the Earth has a secret superpower: the ability to accelerate particles to near light speed using just the power of its magnetic field! Some work by the new NASA Van Allen probes (along with the usual host of scientists and universities) have found that we have our own natural version of the LHC just hanging out there in space.

This week's episode is all about the pictures: an amazing set of images taken using an atomic force microscope that show the atomic configurations of a molecule before and after a reaction.

On this episode of the pod, we take an in-depth look at the physics of, you guessed it, curling. Curling has been around for a while, invented by the Scots and taken up in earnest by the Canadians and Nordic countries. Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden have spent some time finding out why the stones curl the weird way they do.

On this episode of the pod, I apologise for being rather tardy over the last couple of weeks, before talking about the link between bones, computers, and building materials. Researchers at MIT have discovered the previously unknown structural mechanism behind the strength of our bones using a pretty clever technique!

On this week's episode of the Tooth Soup Science Pod, the topic is animals and some fascinating evolutionary traits. First up we have cliff swallows whose adaptation to urban environments has seemingly accelerated their evolution, thanks to an unlikely helping hand: roadkill! Following that, the dead eye archer fish takes a trip to the optometrist to see precisely how good its eyesight is.

On this week's episode of the TSSP, we're talking about renewable energies. But this isn't your typical gee-whiz talk about the technologies that enable renewable energy! Nope, in this episode we're discussing the weakness of renewable energy--it's inability to be produced on-demand--and the ways in which we can store this energy for later use.

This week, we follow up the feasibility of some fuel-filled trees from a previous episode, and explore the wonderful world of plastic electronics.

Your main menu today includes two stories related to the humble mussel. The first has to do with the excellent binding properties of the fibres that mussels use to stick to every conceivable surface (including each other), while the second discusses their continued survival in an ocean environment that continues to warm up; not unlike the chilli mussel soup I found myself craving after researching this one.

On the menu this week is some research that delves into the way the human mind deals with fear and panic in survival situations. Probably the most interesting thing was learning how there exist folks who don't have the capacity to interpret things as fearful! As always, links to articles and the transcript are on the blog.