Tom's SciCast

Despite the fact that GMOs are helping us solve problems in agriculture, medicine, and stopping the spread of diseases, there's a lot of negative propaganda against GMOs, I explain why they are safe and part of the solution to our problems.

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What do energy, enzymes, and metabolism mean for life? I take a look at the relationships between energy and life, and the importance of enzymes for our metabolism. Specific topics include a description of what it means to be living, I define energy and how it's governed by the laws of thermodynamics, the different types of energy and relate how life gets energy from chemical reactions and the need role of enzymes in our metabolism. I end with a discussion on the latest findings of quantum biology and how that may challenge our notions of how enzymes work

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The cell cycle is more than just memorizing the position of chromosomes on a slide, it can help us understand growth and development, lead to treatments for cancer, or repair damaged organs and limbs. I go over the major steps of the cell cycle including interphase and the mitotic phase. Education level - high school to non-majors

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Star Wars, Zombies, Rhime of the Ancient Mariner, and Mullet (the fish, not the haircut) come together to help explain the role of energy, membranes, diffusion, transport, and chemical reactions to make something living. 

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What does eating a pizza and aging have to do with our organelles? This episode explores how organelles of the endomembrane system work together to make proteins in our saliva that help us digest our food. Also, learn how we may eventually slow down our aging by studying lysosomes and mitochondria. 

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Don't fear the chemistry! Life is the result of chemical reactions. While many of us fear chemistry, a little chemistry knowledge can go a long way into understanding how we work and understanding some of the basics behind nutrition. In this podcast, I introduce the most important types of molecules used for life without getting too technical. 

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Astronomy and Biology in a single podcast! In this episode, I talk about how stellar processes made life possible.

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There's a hierarchy to the universe from the simplest atoms to the most complex ecosystems. At each level of complexity new properties arise and most importantly, life arises as an emergent property at the level of cells. 

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Are you an expert or a novice learner? Do you know the difference between understanding and memorization? Instead of a fun science topic, today, I'm talking about learning and different ways we learn. Many of us have been in school for years and never thought much about how we learn, what it means to learn, or the best ways to learn. 

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What if I told you we could get rid of the most dangerous  animal on the planet? I make the case of why we should intentionally cause the extinction of a few disease carrying mosquitoes even though we are in the 6th mass extinction.

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