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What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?
Long Necks, Giant Viruses, Zoo Monkeys, Geoengineered Nope, Lava Water, Sleep Your Age, Dog Connections, COVID Update, Finch Familiarity, Palate Parasite, Owl Wings, Spy Vacuum, Nostalgia, Trivia, And Much More…
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Disclaimer, Disclaimer, Disclaimer!!!
Science.
It’s how you are hearing this, what you watch things on, why you can see at night, how you keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Science.
It’s how appliances work, how vehicles work, why airplanes are a thing,
and what computer programs are made of…
Science.
It’s what doctors study, it’s the why behind food safety, medicine, vaccines, health recommendations, operations, therapies and cures.
Where are you when you use your GPS to navigate? Relativity speaking?
You are smack dab in the middle of science, that’s where.
We talk about science from time to time here in this space.
Results from across the scientific disciplines, around the world and beyond…
In the short time we have been doing this show, a staggering yet believable number of studies have illuminated our world with new information…
Cosmic questions asked and answered, data captured from stars, black holes, supernovas, dark matter, gravity waves, bosons and neutrinos galore…
data in such quantities we barely have the means to store let alone analyze what we have found…
A next generation, with a new appreciation of space exploration has only just begun to lead the way into frontiers long imagined.
We have unearthed fossils, decoded DNA, and found unexpected artifacts
giving glimpses into our past, trading out old fables of how we came to be
For the evidence based understanding of who we actually are
The struggle, not just of humanity, but of all life…
To survive, adapt, evolve and persist amongst the stars.
There were amazing observations of our animal friends, always smarter than we thought they were, and often more complex than we could have guessed.
The living examples of successful evolution all around us.
And we have watched warnings from scientist go unheeded
In addressing global climate change, in pandemic precautions…
and the results of our heedlessness play out in predictable ways.
With so much science all around us, with so much coming our way, there’s no wonder why we can’t stop talking about it here on
This week in science,
coming up next…
Let’s start with some quick science news stories…
Long Necks
Dinosaurs with long necks evolved as a result of rapid climate change 180 million years ago.
Giant viruses in the evolutionary tree
How much of life’s evolution has been influenced by them?
Zoo monkeys prefer traffic noise.
Wouldn’t you to disco? No, just kidding, but they did prefer it.
Geoengineered Nope
Just say no to solar geo-engineering.
Lava tubes of the ancient American south west
Why did the ancient ones delve deep underground to explore lava tubes?
Sleep Your Age
What are your sleep habits like? Do you sleep like an old person or a young person? Two studies this week suggest that youthful sleep could be indicative of overall youthfulness.
Dogs see what you want.
But, they don’t seem to actually care.
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Now for the weekly COVID-19 Update!
COVID Update
We are just about at 250,000 dead in the United States. It took 96 days for the US to reach 1 million cases earlier this year. We just went from 10 to 11 million in 7 days according to Johns Hopkins. If you did not start quarantining for a family Thankgiving on or before November 12th, maybe consider a Zoom holiday this year. Hospitals are filling up all across the country right now, which means the next couple of months are going to be all about personal responsibility – it is everyone’s job to keep others safe right now.
Vaccine News
Moderna AND Pfizer have announced 95% efficacy for their mRNA vaccines. Pfizer wants to apply for EUA with the FDA, but apparently the adverse reactions (pain, burning, fever) are higher for these new vaccines than traditional? Also, the clinical trials will continue potentially even after an EUA is allowed as they will be following subjects for up to two years looking for long-term effects from the vaccine.
Immunity Questions
Multiple reports offer diverging interpretations of SARS-CoV2 immunity. According to some evidence people can be reinfected, but perhaps that is sometimes simply persistent infection where the virus was never completely cleared. Will vaccines work if we don’t develop long-lasting immunity? Maybe some good news is appropriate here: a pre-print report this week following COVID-19 patients over 6 months concludes that lasting immunity is possible. It’s certainly not the last word on this topic, but good news is very appreciated at the moment.
LET US KNOW WHAT QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS YOU HAVE ABOUT COVID-19, OR INFORM US ON ANY REGIONAL UPDATES, BY EMAILING KIRSTEN@THISWEEKINSCIENCE.COM.
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It’s time for Blair’s Animal Corner!
Finches know finches
They can recognize up to 42 individuals by song alone! But can they remember their names? Cause that’s where I run into trouble.
Crustacean got your tongue??
A rare parasitic crustacean whose relatives are known for eating their host’s tongue (ew) was found in a museum collection aross the world eating a shark’s palate (yuck).
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This Just-in… Science!
Hear that? No?
Might be an owl…
I may be paranoid but everyone is in on it…
even the vacuum cleaner.
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The TWIS team gets nostalgic and takes a quiz!
Thank you to all our listeners and viewers! Where ever you enjoy TWIS, we appreciate you for allowing us to keep bringing you this science talk show. Are you up for 800 more episodes?
This Week in Science Questions!
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