292 - Matryoshka Moochers and Median Magma

Science... sort of

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 - Nothing like a drink after you’ve been drained. Kelly claims to enjoy a Potter’s cider with added hops and guava. Ryan continues to lament the sorry state of East Coast IPAs but still likes his Juiced In Time. And Abe gets weird with Wicked Weed’s Freak of Nature.

00:42:47 - You may have heard that the Katla volcano in Iceland is about to erupt, but those reports have the author of the paper that got it all started shaking her head. Abe explains why some CO2 emissions aren’t the same thing as an impending eruption. And if you think that it seems like volcanoes are going off more than usual, turns out that psychology more so than geology. Fortunately the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program is happy to keep you up to speed on all the magma that’s about to spew.

01:11:39 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like volcanoes; they’re both closely monitored, but why? After a brief announcement we get back to the fun stuff, and first up is a BSso thesis for Patron Julie S. Julie studied Heat-seeking Haemosporidians: Parasitic Drivers of Human Inhabitation of Thermally-regulated Volcanic Ice Caves. Thanks, Julie! Kelly has an e-mail from Travis about how great former guest Abby Howard and her book Dinosaur Empire are. We agree, obviously. Finally, Abe has an iTunes review from a pretty august author questioning our topic priorities.

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Music for this episode:

• We Intertwined - The Hush Sound

• Weeds - Marina and the Diamonds

• Prove the World Wrong - Ha Ha Tonka