We Know Some Stuff

Whats the smallest pet you have ever owned? A goldfish? A beetle? A sea monkey? Even smaller than all of those pets are microbes, that is bacteria, yeast, and molds. Just like your household pets, microbes have changed a lot in the millennia they have been around. Katherine Chacon Vargas is kinda like a bacteria breeder, she wants to know how different bacteria are different, and why they make our food so tasty. Either grab a snack or close your eyes and imagine your favorite cheese while your listen to this episode

Evolution take a long long time. like really long time. So long that any one scientist has to get creative to measure evolution. Michelle Gilbert is one such scientist, and measures evolution by looking at how the shape of fish changes through time. Through evolution species undergo a lot of changes to give them competitive advantages, how and why these changes come about will be discussed in this episode.

Why did you click on this episode? Do you even remember? Natasha De La Rosa works with memory, and she has plenty to say about how we remember, what affects our memory, and how we can “train our brains”. Luckily you can play this audio on a loop in case you can’t seem to remember what she is saying

The great women of science are great, unfortunately the most notable ones can probably be counted on one hand. As with nearly all professions women are working towards gender equality and the sciences is no exception. Still women are vastly underrepresented in science academia. Emma Dauster studies females (well female mice), she makes gender a critical part of her work because most science is done by, for, and on men. Emma isn’t going to talk about her rats today, but she is going to talk about the current state of female and nonbinary representation in science.

Do you remember your favorite science teacher? Did you even have a favorite science teacher? We begin learning science in grade school and either we chose to stop, or continue for the rest of our lives. How do we come to that decision? Jessie Bartle is a high school science teacher and is on the front lines of inspiring scientific minds to think critically. We are going to talk about what it means to think critically, and how to teach this skill.

Always eat your vitamins! I used to throw mine behind a bush on my way to school. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea, because Michelle Rozycki is skeptical of vitamins too. She knows a thing or two about vitamins because she loves to take them, but there are some vitamin ABC’s (and DEK’s too) that we should know

We talk a lot about science here on We Know Some Stuff, but we don’t always talk about how we do the science. June Teichman does science, so by default that qualifies her to talk about how we do science! June is going to walk us through how someone plans, executes, and analyzes a scientific experience. From idea to publication with some nonsense about ramen noodles and more!

rom farm to table is a phrase we hear so much in today’s modern restaurant and packaged food product scene. But how do we go from farm to table? cars? planes? Or with help from people like Chris VonAchen. Chris is going to talk to us about the process of turning crops into “value-added products”, how this is a major help to local farmers, and the benefits of eating local.

He see you when you are dormant, he knows when you are metabolically awake. Michael Hickey is a spy of sorts, he wants to look at bacteria in different ways because it is always good to know how many and what kind of bacteria we are working with. Michael is going to discuss the latest espionage techniques in the business and tells us why we should keep giving him a salary.

Fish are friends, not food. Well, yeah, they are food too. But how do we treat our aquatic friends? Lian loves fish, but not so much the impact humans have on fish. In this episode Lian is going to talk to us about the effects of over-fishing, blue tourism, and climate change on our fishy friends.