00:00:00 - We are thrilled to be joined by Kelly’s collaborator Scott Egan, whose lab at Rice University recently found an example of parasitism on a parasite. No matter how much we’ve talked about it before, we still have a lot of questions of the complexities of these interactions and some harsh judgments for the leeching lifestyle. 00:35:59 ...…

00:00:00 - Matt from In Defense of Plants joins Joe and Ryan to talk about F.R.E.D., which is an acronym for a root-database that just reached version 2.0! Why does having a bunch of root data available matter? What’s the point of databases in general? Listen and find out! 00:22:43 - Roots drink, we drink. It’s all the same. Ryan has a typicall ...…

00:00:00 - Sometimes life finds a way, to get in the way, so instead of the show we were supposed to record, here’s another from the archives. This time, we’re rolling back the clock to October 2014, mere moments after the live show you heard in episode 214. After our show, Kyle Hill (@Sci_Phile) took the stage to do a Because Science live pane ...…

The folks at Wondery have asked us to share a preview from their podcast American Innovations hosted by popular science author Steven Johnson. If you like the preview and would like to hear the full episode plus episodes on topics like mapping the human genome or the rise of the personal computer, head over to Wondery.com or iTunes for more!…

00:00:00 - Abe, Bev, and Ryan went fossil hunting! This time they took a trip out to the shores of Chesapeake Bay, but first. What is the Chesapeake Bay, how did it get there, and what was the climate like when the fossils they ended up finding were forming? We chat about that, mostly informed by Roadside Geology of Maryland, Delaware, and Wash ...…

00:00:00 - Back in 2015, Ryan was joined by writer Brian Switek (@Laelaps) for an evening of drinks and discussion of dinosaurs in pop culture. The chat begins with the then recently released Jurassic World, which Brian did some website content for, and goes forth from there. 00:43:22 - Since we never actually say it out loud, a modern-day inte ...…

00:00:00 - This week Ryan is joined by Will Harris and David Moscato (@DMos150) from the Common Descent podcast. First up, we learn about the paleontology research they both did as Masters students at East Tennessee State University working at their Gray Fossil Site. Long story short: Will did gators, David did snakes (and other lizards). 00:58 ...…

00:00:00 - Scientists yet again found themselves baffled! That's right baffled! While they calmly waited for test results to confirm that the wolf-like animal shot by a Montana was indeed a wolf. Shocker. Anyways, turns out wolves cooperate with each other better than dogs do. Are dogs just broken wolves? That's what this study sought to test i ...…

00:00:00 - Ryan and Juliana sit down with Kevin Hoch (@krhoch) to talk about pterosaurs! They're not dinosaurs but they're still great. We begin with some pterosaur basics to make sure everyone is up to speed. 00:21:52 - Much like pterosaurs at presumably some point in the past, we are in Tulsa, OK. Kevin provides some beer, including a Bump in ...…

00:00:00 - Kelly and Ryan are joined by author Carl Zimmer to discuss his latest book: She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity 00:24:28 - In which Kelly and Ryan take a quick coffee break, even if Kelly goes decaf. 00:28:17 - Part two of our chat with Carl. If you simply must have more then you should defi ...…

00:00:00 - We're starting off this episode with a bit of news about the ongoing Kīlauea eruption in Hawaii. Abe explains the basics of what's happening and if you want updates you can read the USGS reports on the situation and follow their topical @USGSVolcanoes Twitter account. But for our actual first subject we're talking about hitting aster ...…

00:00:00 - We're doing another Anchor-themed clip show! Following up on episode 266, we have another round of short audio clips that Ryan created for the podcast startup Anchor under the banner of Organized Curiosity (explanation of the name here). Enjoy! 00:02:02 - Bio bios: Magnificent frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) 00:07:12 - News: Bobcat ...…

00:00:00 - Abe, Joe, and Ryan are joined by volcanologist Jess Phoenix, who is stepping away from science to run for Congress in California's 25th district. In our first segment, we talk about how she got started in science with a strong outreach focus to help prepare the next generation of field scientists in her community with her organizatio ...…

00:00:00 - Ben and Ryan are joined by Ben's actual friend Miya Warrington. Miya studies the behavioral ecology of animal communication, which we spend the first segment discussing the generalities of the research and why this type of research is important. You can learn more about her research at her website or by checking out the comic Jorge C ...…

00:00:00 - Patrick and Ryan are joined by Justin "The Yeti" Yeakel who has a new paper in Nature Communications about a model he and his co-authors have developed about starvation and body size in mammals, turns out, bigger is generally better. The interview was conducted during Justin's commute, so the connection comes and goes, but it's alway ...…

00:00:00 - This episode Ryan is joined by four (4!) guests to talk about their paper published in Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics about whether or not humans are to blame for the extinction of Caribbean mammals. What did they discover? You can read a summary of the work written by co-author Alexis Mychajliw here and then li ...…

00:00:00 - After a brief intro from Ryan and Abe, where explains his new job with the USGS (congrats!) we dive right into Ryan's yearly AGU catch-up with Miles Traer. The first section is mostly about food. You can find Ryan's mom's gumbo recipe here: seafood gumbo. 00:26:25 - Since they're recording in person, Ryan thought it'd be fun to excha ...…

00:00:00 - Here begins our coverage of the 2017 meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Ryan is joined by Matt Candeias, host of Brachiolope Media's In Defense of Plants podcast. 00:02:58 - First, Ryan chats with Susheel Adusumilli about his work looking at changes in Antarctic peninsular ice over the last 20+ years using satellite imagery d ...…

00:00:00 - Ryan is joined by Professors Christopher Jackson and Tom Narock. We begin by talking about their research. Chris uses seismic data to explore landform evolution over deep time. Tom is trying to use semantics and machine learning to help earth scientists wrangle all the data that's out there (or, if you're suspicious, he's securing hi ...…

00:00:00 - Now for part 2 of our coverage of GSA's annual meeting in Seattle, WA. First up, Ryan's conversation with Robin Trayler, who does stable isotope work on South American mammals (but not sloths, they're spoken for, thank you very much). He explains how stable isotopes from animals can teach us about past climate. You can read his abstr ...…

00:00:00 - Ryan and Charlie quickly introduce the premise of the episode: interviews Ryan did at the GSA annual meeting in Seattle, WA. The first interview is with Ph.D. candidate Khai Button about his work examining beaks in dinosaurs and birds (which are also dinosaurs), as well outreach work he does 3D scanning fossils with high school stude ...…

00:00:00 - Ben and Ryan are joined by Matt Candeias from the In Defense Of Plants podcast, the newest member of the Brachiolope Media Network! With introductions out of the way, we get hyped to hear Ben tell us about a neutron star collision, known as a kilonova, detected by LIGO. 00:31:12 - Drinks also contain neutrons, which collide with the ...…

00:00:00 - Kelly and Ryan are joined by Abby Howard (@AbbyHoward) to talk about her new graphic novel Dinosaur Empire! Journey through the Mesozoic Era, the first in her Earth Before Us series of all ages paleontology focused books. We chat with her about how she got her start drawing comics, especially those of a dinosaurian variety. 00:27:05 ...…

00:00:00 - This episode Ryan is joined by returning guest Daphne Pringle and first-time guest Dr. Jen Gallagher, a listener who wrote in to let us know about some of the positive changes that have happened at WVU's Department of Biology. We spend the first segment talking about Jen's research using yeast and genomics to study drug and pesticide ...…

00:00:00 - A team at CalTech has figured out a new way to increase the rate that the ocean might be able to suck down carbon from our atmosphere. The overall plan is still missing a few steps, but it's an exciting step forward in how might get ourselves out of this climate mess. 00:20:45 - Drinks are another way we've figured out how to infuse ...…

00:00:00 - Studying volcanoes is hard because they're really hot and acidic and just generally sort of deadly to we frail humans. But what about robots? OK, also sort of deadly to robots, but a team is still using an autonomous boat to map out a volcanic lake in Costa Rica, and that's pretty neat. To see Abe's diagram of how volcanic arcs form, ...…

00:00:00 - Ryan and Kelly are joined by Mikhail "Misha" Gopko to talk about his latest paper exploring parasites controlling their fish host from inside their eye. Brain-infecting is one thing, but when you can see your parasite inside your own eyeball? That's just creepy. 00:24:44 - Kelly considers fibbing but opts for honesty as she drinks he ...…

00:00:00 - Something a little different this week as Ryan presents some audio from a project he did with the startup Anchor.fm earlier this year producing some science segments for a channel called Organized Curiosity. He's drinking a Manta Ray from Ballast Point Brewing Company, which will become relevant later, but for now, here are the topic ...…

00:00:00 - This episode Ryan and Ben are joined by Dr. Rachel Brown Reid to tell us about her work with road killed coyotes. But first, we have to make sure Ben is up to speed with the basics of stable isotope analysis. Rachel and Ryan do their best to explain. 00:32:56 - Now that we've supped from the font of knowledge, how about just having s ...…

00:00:00 - We are stoked to have returning guest Daphne Pringle back on the show! And while it's not the most upbeat topic, she is indeed here to talk about cancer. Turns out, cancer evolves just like any other organism, but we don't always study in the same way. Maybe we should? Discussion ensues based on the following papers: Cancer as an evo ...…

00:00:00 - First up, Ryan, Abe, and Joe discuss some research showing that arctic foxes inadvertently grow herbivore-friendly gardens above their dens, making them ecosystem engineers, which is pretty freaking cool. 00:20:45 - Arctic foxes bring the produce, but we bring the drinks. This time Joe is enjoying a Sprecher Cherry Cola. Abe is all a ...…

00:00:00 - Kelly Weinersmith is here and she's got a book coming out co-written with some dude named Zach Weinersmith, whoever that is. The book is called Soonish, it's coming out soon, but you can pre-order it now. Pre-ordering is super important for their rankings on the sales charts, plus you get super cool rewards so get on it! 00:21:48 - O ...…

00:00:00 - Ryan is joined by Rachel Silverstein (@irrelephantidae) and Marina Chanidou (@marinaloveschem) who were featured by Marvel as the inaugural Agents of G.I.R.L. In the first segment, we chat about Rachel's proboscidean paleontology at the Saltville Valley site, and Marina's work using chemistry to figure out what food was kept in very ...…

00:00:00 - This week Ryan interviews W. John Calder, who just finished his Ph.D. studying fire ecology and paleoclimate. We spend the first segment talking about the basics of his research, and some admittedly nitpicky differences between their fields. 00:36:30 - Fires are best put out with liquid, but maybe not this kind of liquid. Ryan is sip ...…

00:00:00 - Kelly has a new paper out! It's about wasps being parasites within other parasites right on campus where she works, so that's about as nifty as it gets. You can watch a video about the study here, and read the open access paper here. 00:20:15 - Nothing like thinking about having your brain infected by parasites to make you want a dri ...…

00:00:00 - Do you ever wonder how those music ID services work so well? Well wonder no further because we've got Tim Dobbs here to explain it! 00:24:49 - That noise on the microphone? That's us drinking, but don't worry, we'll tell you what's in the glass. Patrick continues his quest to try beers Ryan hasn't had, this time with a Sierra Nevada ...…

00:00:00 - Usually whenever you want to make up nonsense that sounds plausible, you throw in the word 'quantum'. We're all guilty of it from time to time. Fortunately, we have Ben Tippett here to explain the actual quantum happenings behind our first observation of quantum distortion in empty space. You can read the paper on the arXiv here. 00: ...…

More of Ryan bumming around a professional meeting, microphone in hand. 00:00:00 - First up is Stacey Felgate (@StaceyFelgate) and Kim Gottschalk (@Kim_Gottschalk). Stacey tells us a little bit about her work on blue carbon storage in salt marshes. Next, Kim tells us about her project investigating the source of Antarctic bottom water with GO-S ...…

Ryan is live at the AGU Fall Meeting and people agree to talk to him. 00:00:00 - First, we chat Martín S Hoecker-Martínez about his philosophy of outreach and his work studying the carbon fluxing of the ocean around Antarctica with ORCAS (acronym, not the animal). Be sure to follow him on Twitter (@msmithma) and learn more with these helpful li ...…

00:00:00 - It's our annual Thanksgiving show! That means 100% for 100% of this one show. Enjoy it! First up, Bettina wants to know what Ryan, Patrick, and Charlie think about the concept of rewilding. Ryan discussed this topic on an episode of Generation Anthropocene, but Patrick and Charlie have their own thoughts to contribute as well. Plus i ...…

To begin, a brief word on the election. More on what we can all do next to follow down the line. Stay tuned. 00:00:00 - Patrick and Ryan are very excited to be joined by Alex Hastings, Assistant Curator at the Virginia Museum of Natural History and all around crocodylian expert. We spend the first segment of the show pestering him about all thi ...…

00:00:00 - Worried about your cherry supply in the coming years? Well, bears may have you covered. According to a new study out of Japan, mountain-climbing bears seem adept at moving cherry seeds uphill to escape rising temperatures. However, according to the most recent IPCC report, not all plants and animals will be so lucky. 00:19:45 - Some ...…

00:00:00 - Thanks to Joe, it's the return of the Elon Musk Happy Hour! This time, Musk wants to send loads of people to Mars, probably forever. In traditional Science... sort of fashion we ask: is this a thing? And maybe more importantly, would you go? (Also, Ryan says go read Seveneves.) 00:31:03 - Mars is pretty dry, so it'll be important to ...…

00:00:00 - We begin arguing about rabbits, as you do. Ryan rejects Ben's phony phylogeny and espouses the truth of Glires. Don't let Ben lead you astray. 00:00:54 - We're all happy with the four fundamental forces we know and love, but what if there was a fifth force? A Hungarian team is claiming they might have found one, which is a pretty big ...…

00:00:00 - Mezcal is a magical and misunderstood spirit. Abe, Jacob, and Ryan spend some time breaking down just what the spirit is, from the myths about worms to the economies of towns trying to use craft distillates to escape the horrors of the drug trade. It's complicated. What's a bit simpler, somehow, are the fluid dynamics at play in dete ...…

It's episode 250 and thus a fine time to return to form with Patrick, Charlie, and Ryan! 00:00:00 - Mars is dead, long live Mars! Mars used to have oceans, active volcanoes, maybe even tectonics. So what happened? The guys explore how it might have become a hunk of rock we keep having to rescue Matt Damon from. Also, there's a whole book series ...…

00:00:00 - Do you eat food? If you do you probably appreciate the Maillard reaction even if you've never heard of it. We try to drop some science on your plate! Want even more food science? This book has you covered. 00:35:09 - Joe begins the drinking segment by tying things back to the Maillard reaction with a Lester's Fixins Bacon with Maple ...…

00:00:00 - We are excited to announce the long awaited return of Jacob Stump! Jacob is back so we might as well start out with a poorly planned mission to Mars. Specifically, is Mars One a scam? If you believe one of their selected 'astronauts' then probably yes. 00:25:24 - Much like they're not actually going to Mars, Jacob spends some time te ...…

If you're interested in helping the people of West Virginia recover from some pretty horrific recent flooding, you can check out the list of options compiled by The Huffington Post. 00:00:00 - Patrick and Ryan are joined by Daphne Pringle, who's a post-doctoral fellow at the Hunstman Cancer Institute of the University of Utah. She's sick of us ...…

This was our first time recording since the tragic Pulse shooting in Orlando. We encourage our US listeners to share their thoughts with their elected representatives. You can find yours and their contact info here. 00:00:00 - We begin this week by talking about some literal bridge building. Because of things like physics and geology, engineers ...…