Bad Desert Rain, Climate Change Sperm, Slow Your Roll, Primates Of The Caribbean, Neander-Lungs, Insect Pollution Punch, Plastic Poop, Reap And Soy, Scorpion Tales, Greenland Space Landing, Air Filter For Health, And Much More…

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Perspective is everything.

That said, and with some authority,

I will now state with an equally authoritative voice that…

Perspective is not everything…

It is true that there is a proper perspective for most situations that allows those things being perceived to be more manageable, more positive, more insightful, more inspiring or simply more informative…

And of course the opposite is true as well.

But a glass half empty or half full, contains the same amount of water regardless of your perspective.

A petri dish left out over a weekend could be perceived as sloppy lab work…

Following this perspective could lead to countless meetings on the best way to prevent such things from happening in the future, maybe followed by some dirty looks from fellow folks in lab coats for making them attend such meetings through no fault of their own…

Or, it could be seen as an experiment all unto itself.

What happens when you leave a plate of bacteria out overnight in the lab?

What were the results of this mistake-speriment?

This is of course the perspective that Alexander Flemming assumed when he discovered that something had attacked a bacterial sample mistakenly left out in his lab…

Regardless of the perspective that Flemming had happened to don that day…

The occurrence of a soil fungus finding its way to that sample would have been the same.

No More Denial, Bionic Mushrooms!, Whales From SPACE!, Piranha Barks, Frogs Legs Forever, Wasting Diversity?, Milky Way’s Black Hole, Speaking of Holes, Blind Big Bird, Llama Bodies, Sliver Of Truth, And Much More…

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Not every moment that passes by us on the carousel of life seems important.

They all are,

they all could be championed to some degree or another,

each tic and every tock could be better engaged to accomplish great things.

But, for the most part they just seem to zip by unnoticed.

Then,

every once in a while,

we take on a moment together.

And when we do,

when we all take on a single moment with our collective focus

When we take action together.

We are more effective than any one of us can ever be alone.

I am of course speaking of science.

Though it may apply to other things as well.

Because the moment in which you can do is always now.

And that moment is here on…

This Week in Science,

Coming Up Next…

No More Denial

Well, at least for two years in the House… Democrats gained back the House of Representatives, and in doing so have taken back the House Committee of Science Space and Technology. Ranking member Eddie Bernice Johnson made a statement laying out priorities.

Bionic Mushrooms!

Interview w/ Dr. Daniel Holz, Brainy Birds, Liquid Land, Extra-Fast Internet, Momma Chimp Knows, Better Beetle Babies, Moss Medicine, Stressful Stink, Do Lizards Dream?, And Much More…

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Interview w/ Dr. Daniel Holz,

Professor at the University of Chicago, in the Enrico Fermi Institute, the Department of Physics, the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics. He studies gravitational waves, and is a member of LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. Follow him on Twitter!

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This Week in What Has Science Done for me Lately?!?

“Dr. Sanford,

First I want to say how much I enjoy TWIS. I listen to several science podcasts — Naked Scientists and Guardian Science from the UK, Quirks and Quarks from the CBC, Science Friday (of course) & Undiscovered, Science from the AAAS, Science Talk from Scientific American, plus a couple of 60-120 second science sound bites. TWIS is my favorite. I hope you will have more interviews, and I would like to suggest that you create a separate collection of the interviews on the site to make it easier for listeners to find them and listen to them over again.

Over the years of listening (I remember when you were a doctoral candidate and podcasting from UC Davis), I have learned a great deal about multiple scientific subjects. One that particularly concerns me is my health. I am 72 years old and am fortunate in that I have no serious health problems so far. I am doing everything I can to keep my health for as long as possible.

My Two Dads, Life Questions, Nervous Stem Cells, Goo For Growth, Blind As A Bat?, Tornado Hurricane, Nicotine Noodles, Dead Rats, Preserve Life Now, Snow Song, And Much More…

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Regardless of how many people have stated it in the past…

Ignorance is not bliss.

Yes there are things you cannot un-hear

Things you cannot un-see

And yes the world is full of totally regrettable and completely forgettable information…

It may even be safe to say that on any given day

There are more events worth forgetting than remembering.

However…

By having a mind nimble enough to sift through the noisy informational wreckage of a sentient society

Separating the factual from the fictional,

the cement-able concepts from the dreadfully disposable…

Seeking out sources that are soundly scientific

And deep-sixing suspiciously un-skeptical concepts

Are not acts of ignorance…

But acts of reason and rational thought.

These are the actions of an advanced mind.

An advancing intellect.

And there is no more certain sign that you’ve got such a mindful intellect than the act of listening to

This Week In Science…

Coming up next!

My Two Dads

An effort to create embryos from stem cells taken from two male mice was unsuccessful, but teaches us much.

Life Questions

New physical evidence suggests claims of early life from rocks in Greenland might be faulty.

The Bad News, Cassini’s Last Word, Galactic Archaeology, Smelly Fruit, Disturbing Mouse Calls, Neandertals Now & Then, Brains & Nerves & Things, New Vesuvius View, Fish Hook Ethics, Is Hubble Safe?, And Much More…

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Imagine for a moment that something you think you know is wrong.

Not just any old tid-bit of information,

but something big…

Something fundamental to your understanding of other things that you know and believe.

You wake up one morning to breaking news headlines to learn that:

The sun is actually orbiting around the earth.

Now that would be a tremendous change to how you understand the solar system to operate.

And, if you are sufficiently skeptical,

slightly scientifically informed even…

You will likely doubt that this new information is true.

You may wonder why this is obviously incorrect idea is being propagated.

Yes, the experts and reporters are all exclaiming the evidence

of the recent research that has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt

that it is true…

The sun orbits the earth,

and it was just a poor understanding of the past that lead us to believe otherwise…

But you wouldn’t believe it.

How could you?

It makes no sense,

goes against all you know and learned.

Goes against how much the people you trusted knew more than you…

actually knew.

No.

You will not be swayed by any form of false evidence to the contrary.

The world may have gone mad,

but you alone will maintain the reasonable assumption

that the Earth is in orbit around the Sun and NOT the other way round.

Interview w/ Dr. Susanne Brander from OSU, Nobel Prize Time!, Change Is Coming, Standard Model Challenge?, Neanderteeth, Bird PDA, Cats And Rats, Is That A Moon?, Goblin Planet, Very Old Dishes, And Much More…

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Hmm…

My calendar says it is time for science.

So, we’ll be talking about science news,

with Kiki, Justin, and our guest Susanne.

You’ll notice, some of these voices are female.

In fact, the majority are.

And it should go without saying,

that female voices deserve to be heard.

So without further ado,

let’s talk about things that matter,

With people that matter.

Because everyone matters,

and we’re excited to talk about something

That is scientific, fun, enlightening, and true.

On This Week in Science!

Coming up next…

Interview with Dr. Susanne Brander

Dr. Brander is an ecotoxicologist working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR. She also holds an adjunct position in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology at the University of North Carolina. According to her lab website, “The Brander lab’s research encompasses the fields of toxicology, endocrinology, and ecology; integrating molecular approaches with measurements at the organism and population level. Our main focus is on the effects of stressors such as emerging pollutants, plastics, and changing climate on aquatic organisms,

Genie In The Lab, The Sixth Sense, Not So Brutal, Sickness Smells, Vegetarian Sharks, Mantis Fishers, Nasal Influence, Retroviral Addiction, Microbial Trash Cans, Synthetic Cellular Circuits, And Much More…

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Chances are…

just that, things that happen by chance…

The unexpected meeting between two people

that otherwise would never have met if not for circumstances in which, unintentionally…

they do meet, they talk and…

Chances are that’s all they do.

Talk and for a few passing moments,

enjoy each other’s company and go their separate ways.

But there’s also a smaller chance that the conversation leaves a lasting impression on one of them.

And, though the probability becomes slimmer still.

There’s a chance that the conversation leaves a lasting impression on both of them.

So much so that they might decide that this conversation,

the one they just happened upon by chance,

should continue…

that it in fact,

should never end.

Science is a lot like that…

conversations started long ago,

often by chance,

that no one has tired of having…

Because it’s just too damn interesting to walk away from…

Just like This Week in Science,

Coming up next…

Genie In The Lab

A CRISPR-based gene drive to destroy reproductive ability in female mosquitoes was successful in the lab.

The Sixth Sense

Just like our other senses, there is a fast-acting sensory system in the gut tha...

Interview w/ Dr. Kathryn Matthews from Oceana, 2018 IgNobel Awards, Alzheimer’s Discovery, Touchy Sea Otters, Love Hate Relations, Early Birds, Cold Case Ivory, Star Trek Exoplanet, Sandalwood For Hair, Antidepressants And Antibacterials, Robotic Skins, And Much More…

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DISCLAIMER, DISCLAIMER, DISCLAIMER!!!

The world is big and complicated and full of noise…

Not just the buzzing, humming, tire screeching, siren squealing, clickety-clack type noise…

But informational noise of all sorts.

The news you read today,

the conversations you had,

conversations you didn’t have but over heard in passing…

advertisements, road signs, the temperature of the air,

thoughts you only half formed,

How you look in a mirror,

the feeling of your feet when putting on shoes,

And how often it is you put on shoes compared to

how infrequently you reflect on how nice it feels to take them off…

And at the center of all the complicated informational noise going on around you…

is your brain.

Some of the noise is interesting,

some of it isn’t,

what’s a brain to do…

A few things to keep in mind at all times,

wherever you are and whatever your brain happens to be doing…

Anything can be interesting if you ask the right question…

Every question has an answer…

And every moment is an opportunity to ask the right question…

And with that in mind,

we bring you a few moments of people asking the right questions

on a variety of interesting subjects here on

This Week in Science,

Coming up next…

Interview with

Interview w/ David Quammen, Sugar Maker, New Neurons Discovered, Human Egg Marks, Beer Before Farming!, Old Art, Shrimp Shields, Beetle Baby Branding, Shark Encounters, Plastic Dolphin Pee, AI For Radio, Finding Ordinary Matter, Hot Drops Move, Wolverine Me, And Much More!!!

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DISCLAIMER, DISCLAIMER, DISCLAIMER!!!

If you don’t believe in evolution…

you are wrong.

Even if you haven’t replaced evolution with anything specific or supernatural…

By choosing to go against all observations across all domains of science…

you have chosen to be wrong.

If you do believe in evolution, congratulations!

Though you are likely wrong as well…

Not as wrong as someone who outright denies that life forms evolve…

But your understanding of what evolution means,

how it works,

how it’s taken place over the past 4 billion years

is likely not a model that fits well with how evolution has taken place on earth.

But fear not, you are not alone…

In fact you’ve probably got a better grasp than Lamarck, Darwin, and Huxley had.

Not that they were wrong,

you just happen to have been afforded an extra hundred years and more

of scientific insight and discovery to base your impression on…

And, tonight we will delve deeper into how evolution happens,

where we’ve been in search for answers and maybe where we are going…

All that and more ahead on

This Week in Science,

Coming up next!

Interview with David Quammen

David Quammen studied at both Yale and Oxford,

Chickens And Eggs, Sexy Brain Cells, Medical Gene Editing, Space Elevator, Color Hawk Eyes, Meals And Mating, Medieval DNA, Plant Promises, Old Cheese, Ladies Follow Ladies, Self-aware Fish, And Much More…

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The distant future is a long way off…

At least it used to be.

It used to be a lot further,

and much farther…

When people refer to the distant future these days,

They often mean what people used to mean when they would say that something was right around the corner…

From the beginning of space to the outer edges time…

The pace of things on planet earth is constantly picking up.

So every once in a while it’s worth slowing down…

And catching up on with all the wonderful things that go on in the world of

This week in Science

Coming Up Next…

Chickens And Eggs

In quantum weirdness, it doesn’t matter!

Sexy Brain Cells

Microglia look and act differently in the male and female mouse brains.

Medical Gene Editing

A very small trial of a CRISPR-based therapy to treat muscular dystrophy in dogs reported successful reinstatement of protein production in affected tissues.

Space elevator

Is this REALLY finally happening?