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What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?
Wobbly Ring, Covid Cats, Oldest sperm, Pi Planet, Close Call, Early Arsenic Life, Interview w/ Dr. Kevin Croker re: GEODEs, Friend Zone, Stranger Danger, Chicago Race, Microbial Brains, Dissociation Center, And Much More…
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Disclaimer, Disclaimer, Disclaimer!!!
Science.
It’s the reason for the modern world
Why medicine is a thing
How technology comes to exist
A great collection of facts that have given humanity access to reliable knowledge
Reliable because it is derived rationally, based on evidence and experimentation.
Take the evidence of facts collected by thousands of scientists using the scientific method on the subject of global warming.
Increases in atmospheric carbon
Global temperature rise
Warming oceans
Melting ice sheets
Retreating glaciers
Decreased snow cover
Rising sea levels
Increases in extreme weather events
Ocean acidification
Now contrast that with a politician who says
“It’ll just start getting cooler, you just watch,
I don’t think science knows, actually,”
And while not thinking science knows is nothing new amongst politicians, cigarette manufacturers, the fossil fuel industry, religion, racists, lawyers fighting dna evidence, who ever’s job it is to convince people to wear magnets, go on a pre-packaged diet or avoid vaccinating their kids…
None of these are reliable sources of information.
Science works because it comes from the most reliable source of information humans have ever discovered… a combination of reality, rational unbiased methodology, and of course
This Week in Science,
Coming Up Next…
Let’s start with some quick science news stories…
Wobbly Ring
Remember that picture of a black hole that we were gifted with last year? Well, a review of data from several previous observations of the black hole at the center of galaxy M87, and a little mathematical computer aided zhoozhing has now resulted in a movie that shows changes in the matter in the accretion disc around the event horizon. It looks like it has a wobbly hoola-hoop.
Covid Cats
They get it.
Oldest sperm
It’s really old.
Pi Planet
With an orbital period of just 3.14 days, K2-315b is the Earth-sized exoplanet that Pi fans will love.
Close Call
School bus-size asteroid to safely zoom past Earth
Early Arsenic Life
Adding to evidence suggesting that earth’s early micro-organisms likely photosynethsized in the absence of oxygen, researchers have found oxygen-free modern microbial mats in the high-altitude Atacama desert that appear to use arsenic instead.
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Now for our interview!
Interview with Kevin Croker
Dr. Croker is an astrophysicist at the University of Hawai’i at M?noa where he is studying dark energy and objects like neutron stars and GEODES. He recently authored a paper on GEODES that we discussed on the show a few weeks ago (You can find it at about 1:30).
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It’s time for Blair’s Animal Corner!
Male baboons could do well in the friend zone
Male baboons with female friends could end up living longer. So it’s not that I don’t want to be with you, Gerald, it’s that I want you to live forever!
People are strange when they’re a stranger
But once animals get friendly, they become easy prey.
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Tell us a story Justin!
In Chicago…
your race determines how you are covered in the news when you are killed
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Dr. Kiki’s got some science for you!
Microbial Brains
Microbes influence the development of brains while young are in utero, according to a study looking at mice.
Dissociation Center
Have we found the part of the brain that holds our sense of reality together?
This Week in Science Questions!
The world seems crazy at the moment. And, it kind of is. Keep your wits about you. Stay curious, but also check your sources. I hope you count on us as a reliable and credible source of science information. But, I also hope you double-check things if they don’t sound quite right. Thank you for spending this time with us. Stay safe, social distance, wear a mask, and wash your hands. Make sure you are registered. And vote.
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I'm the host of this little science show. 
