1 October, 2025 – Episode 1032 – This One Is For the Fearless

October 3rd, 2025
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What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?

This Week: Cassini, Fungal Evolution, Swimming Jaguars, Mouse Microbes, Cancer News, Lizard Snake, Dodo Birds, Electricity & Crabs, Cold Robot, Getting Oldest, Junk Food Brain, and Much More Fearless Science!

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Check out the full unedited episode of our podcast on YouTube or Twitch.

Remember that you can find TWIS in all the podcast directories. If you are looking for science podcasts on Spotify, we are there! Science podcasts on Google? We are there! Are you looking for science podcasts on iTunes or science podcasts on Apple? We are there, too! Just look for This Week in Science!

Disclaimer, Disclaimer, Disclaimer!!!

The world lost one of the good ones today.

This week, science mourns the passing of Dr. Jane Goodall,
primatologist and conservationist extraordinaire.

For over six decades, she blurred the lines between human and chimpanzee
intellect, behavior, and emotion…
The first to reveal tool use by non-human hands…

She dared to identify emotional states in chimpanzee eyes,
and kinship in chimpanzee communities…
Concepts so foreign to the scientific dogma at the time,
and yet so apparent to the young, open-minded observer

She showed us that to understand nature, you must respect it.
To save it, you must fight for it.

From the jungles of Tanzania to the halls of the United Nations,
from bare bones research huts to the Jane Goodall Institute,
She leaves behind a scientific movement.

We all live in a world forever changed by one woman’s courage
to listen to the voices of the wild.

Forever missed but never forgotten here on
This Week in Science

Fearless Stories of the Week!

Return of Cassini
Is there life in them distant moons?

Fungal evolution 
timeline update

Holy swimming jaguars
Cats don’t like water? News to these beauties!

Momma Mouse Microbes
How are bacteria involved in female reproduction? New research suggests they are essential.

Just good news…
cancer

Lizard Snake
A new fossil straddles the line between lizard & snake.

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Blair’s Animal Corner!

Is the dodo coming back?
It’s been a minute since we chatted dodo… let’s check in on their progress

Female crabs can feel the electricity
Unfortunately, it’s not coming from males, it’s coming from underwater power cables…

Science Stories with Justin!

The robot that came in from the cold
G1 humanoid robots caught spying for China

Brainy Stories with Kiki!

Getting Oldest
How is a supercentenarian different from you?

Junk Food Brain
Poor memory? Blame the junk food!

This Week in Science Questions!

Do you have questions that you want us to answer? Send us your questions (Like, how can you be fearless??)! We will do our best to have answers!

Remember, everyone, we need you to write in with your questions!

Leave us a message on our Facebook page, email Dr. Kiki, or find us on Mastodon Social if you can!

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Take a blast into the past…

What were we discussing at this time last year? This time last year, we discussed  It’s Nobel Time!!!, Pessimistic Bees, Birds Of A Foot, Plunging Biodiversity?, Combining Jellies, Run Time?, Distant Mirror, DNA Maps, Eating Alzheimer’s, Divided Days, And Much More Fearless Science!

This week 10 years ago TWIS we discussed Nobel Prizes!, Giraffe Necks. Naledi Feet, The Cone Zone, Poop Mimicry, Nuptial Gifts, Chernobyl Cheer, Interview on Octopuses w/ Dr. Richard Ross, Psychic Robots, Stimulating Sex, And Much More Fearless Science!

If You love TWIS, and all the science news we pronounce each week, please consider making a donation to the This Week in Science podcast.

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24 September, 2025 – Episode 1031 – How to Pronounce Acetaminophen

September 25th, 2025
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What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?

This Week: It’s Ig Nobel Season!, Cats!, Fish, Extinct Herbivores, Magic Mushrooms, Plastic Brains, Astrocyte Conductors, Social Spiders, and Much More Science to Pronounce!

Become a Patron!

Check out the full unedited episode of our podcast on YouTube or Twitch.

Remember that you can find TWIS in all the podcast directories. If you are looking for science podcasts on Spotify, we are there! Science podcasts on Google? We are there! Are you looking for science podcasts on iTunes or science podcasts on Apple? We are there, too! Just look for This Week in Science!

Disclaimer, Disclaimer, Disclaimer!!!

They are playing politics with women’s health… again.

This time, it’s Tylenol, aka acetaminophen,
Paracetamol, if you happen to be on the European continent.

An announcement was made that was…
I’ll say it…
Not good.

Suggesting without evidence that Tylenol was causally linked to autism

This is what it is like to be led by the scientifically illiterate

But why?
Who will benefit from the FDA slapping frightening labels on harmless medicine?
Aside from the egos of a few who want to champion a cause without the skills to do so…

Such arrogance matched with power and a lack of knowledge
It is truly a dangerous combination
Likely to cause unnecessary suffering

Speaking of causing unnecessary suffering
It is time to administer another unregulated dose of
This Week in Science

Top Science Stories to Pronounce Week!

It’s IgNobel Season!
Who are the winners of the best, most curious science award this year?

Beware of cats! 
Cat food warning

Territorial Fish
What turned fish lovers into fighters?

Bad Introductoin
Science says just don’t with the large herbivore intros.

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Science Stories to Pronounce With Justin!

Magic Mushrooms
Times two! 

Brainy Stories with Kiki!

Plastic Brains
How do polystyrene nanoparticles affect the brain?

Astrocyte Conductors
Is this really the first report of astrocytes contacting multiple synapses & neurons?

Social Spider Brains
Do social spiders have brains that are different from other spiders?

This Week in Science Questions!

Do you have questions that you want us to answer? Send us your questions (like, how do you pronounce acete… aceto… aceta…. Tylenol?), we will do our best to have answers!

Remember, everyone, we need you to write in with your questions!

Leave us a message on our Facebook page, email Dr. Kiki, or find us on Mastodon Social if you can!

Support us on Patreon!

Support is the secret to more science with TWIS!

WANT TO HELP TWIS? LEAVE A POSITIVE REVIEW FOR TWIS ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST PLATFORM TODAY!

Take a blast into the past…

What were we discussing at this time last year? This time last year, we discussed It’s Climate Week!, Bacterial Quick Change, Pollinators, Bronze-Age Cheese, Ancient AI, Magma Soup, Snake Origins, Ant Queens, Mile High Microbiota, Weird Galaxies, Virtual Fish Maze, Man Brain Cycle, Slapfights, Sleep On It, And Much More Science to Pronounce!

This week 10 years ago TWIS we discussed Tears Of Mars, Moon Water, Big Dry Trees, New CRISPR Tool, A Viral Tree, Fake Blood, Bee Tongues, Fish Lovin’, Light Damage, BRAINy News, Memory Prosthetics, No Gravitational Waves, Proper Speaking, Sex Acts, Light Sabers, Much More Science to Pronounce!

If You love TWIS, and all the science news we pronounce each week, please consider making a donation to the This Week in Science podcast.

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19 September, 2025 – Interview 1030 – Science Under Siege

September 23rd, 2025
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What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?

This Week: Interview with Dr. Michael E. Mann and Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., about Science Under Siege.

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Check out the full unedited episode of our podcast on YouTube or Twitch.

And remember that you can find TWIS in all the podcast directories. If you are looking for science podcasts on Spotify, we are there! Science podcasts on Google? We are there! Are you looking for science podcasts on iTunes or science podcasts on Apple? We are there, too! Just look for This Week in Science!

The Interview!

We want to welcome our guests, Dr. Michael E. Mann and Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D.!

Dr. Michael E. Mann is Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication. He also serves as Vice Provost for Climate Science, Policy, and Action and Director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media (PCSSM). You can also find him on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and BlueSky.

Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., is Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also the Co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) and Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair of Tropical Pediatrics. You can also find him on XTwitter.

Science Under Siege

How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces that Threaten Our World
Two of the world’s most respected scientists reveal the forces behind the dangerous anti-science movement—and show us how to fight back

From pandemics to the climate crisis, humanity faces tougher challenges than ever. Whether it’s the health of our people or the health of our planet, we know we are on an unsustainable path. But our efforts to effectively tackle these existential crises are now hampered by a common threat: politically and ideologically motivated opposition to science.

Michael E. Mann and Peter J. Hotez are two of the most respected and well-known scientists in the world and have spent the last twenty years on the front lines of the battle to convey accurate, reliable, and trustworthy information about science in the face of determined and nihilistic opposition.

In this powerful manifesto, they reveal the five main forces threatening science: plutocrats, pros, petrostates, phonies, and the press. It is a call to arms and a road map for dismantling the forces of anti-science. Armed with the information in this book, we can be empowered to promote scientific truths, shine light on channels of dark money, dismantle the corporations poisoning the planet, and ultimately avert disaster.

Dr. Kiki, Dr. Michael E. Mann, and Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D. get a little political in this interesting interview you’ll want to listen to again and again!

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This Week in Questions!

Do you have questions that you want us to answer? Send us your questions! We will do our best to have answers!

Remember, everyone, we need you to write in with your questions!

Leave us a message on our Facebook page, email Dr. Kiki, or find us on Mastodon Social if you can!

Support us on Patreon!

Support is the secret to more science with TWIS!

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17 September, 2025 – Episode 1029 – Sentient Meat Science

September 18th, 2025
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What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?

This Week: Life on Mars, HomoNaledi, Koala Vaccines, Bugs Against Cancer, Human Bees, Earthquake Energy, Alcoholic Chimps, Bad Math, Clone Ants, and Much More Science!

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Check out the full unedited episode of our podcast on YouTube or Twitch.

Remember that you can find TWIS in all the podcast directories. If you are looking for science podcasts on Spotify, we are there! Science podcasts on Google? We are there! Are you looking for science podcasts on iTunes or science podcasts on Apple? We are there, too! Just look for This Week in Science!

Disclaimer, Disclaimer, Disclaimer!!!

Life.
Is such an everyday thing here on Earth.

Everywhere you look,
In every drop of water,
Under every rock
In the air, under the soil
In every cranny
In every nook

Life has found its way.
For billions of years.

Elsewhere in the universe, not so much.

What we know of life here
Suggests it should be out there
Suggests that whenever conditions are right
Life must occur
Not an accident, not a fluke
But a natural progression of chemistry.
An almost inevitable feature of the universe
Though not necessarily a permanent one
To be a multicellular, complex, sentient form of life
is incomprehensibly rare

While we are here, while we are part
of the complex sentient universe

Let us celebrate our ability to know
With This Week in Science

Top Stories of the Week!

Life On Mars?
We have no idea. What is the new news?

Homo Naledi 
Gets a proper study

Koala Vaccines 
Are hitting the bush!

Bugs Against Cancer
Will microbes be our best defense?

Humans Bees
Humans have social bee genes

Getting Heated
Where does most of the energy from an earthquake go?

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Blair’s Animal Corner!

Ghost sharks with teeth on their heads
It’s exactly what it sounds like.

Flagrant displays for predators not mates
Matador bugs deter being a meal by waving a big red flag. Why does this work? Scientists still don’t know.

Science Stories with Justin!

Chimps
They’re basically alcoholics

Brainy Stories with Kiki!

Bad Math
What is wrong with scientific publishing?

Ants That Clone
What even is a species anyway?

This Week in Science Questions!

Do you have questions that you want us to answer? Send us your questions (Like, is sentient meat real science??)! We will do our best to have answers!

Remember, everyone, we need you to write in with your questions!

Leave us a message on our Facebook page, email Dr. Kiki, or find us on Mastodon Social if you can!

Support us on Patreon!

Support is the secret to more science with TWIS!

WANT TO HELP TWIS? LEAVE A POSITIVE REVIEW FOR TWIS ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST PLATFORM TODAY!

Take a blast into the past…

What were we discussing at this time last year? This time last year, we discussed It’s IgNobel Time!, Thermal Collecting Coral, PLANT NEWSNanobreath, Food Dye Discovery, Get Out The Trash, Earth Rings, Bumblebee Memories, Decoy Dolphins, Liquid Cats, Spy Squids, Human Cement, ChatGTP does Good?, Learning By Thinking, Memory Trash, And Much More Science!

This week 10 years ago TWIS we discussed Another Hominid?, Oats For Paleos!, Global Oceans, Viral Babies, Panda Upside, Caterpillar Poop, Monogamy And Bird Love, Pheromoned Fruit Flies, Ultrasound For Brains, Basque Links, Cholesterol Trouble, Colliding Black Holes, School Lunch Redux, Prothesis With Feeling, And Much More!

If You love TWIS, and all the science news we pronounce each week, please consider making a donation to the This Week in Science podcast.

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3 September, 2025 – Episode 1028 – Science Unplugged

September 4th, 2025
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What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?

This Week: Government Climate Propaganda, Health Gutted, SeeMe, Less Pain With ADRIANA, It’s Not You, It’s Us, Justin Trashes a Study, Correlation? Causation on the Toilet?, Electrical Immunity?, Spleendid Healing, That Succulent Glow, and Much More Science Unplugged!

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Check out the full unedited episode of our podcast on YouTube or Twitch.

Remember that you can find TWIS in all the podcast directories. If you are looking for science podcasts on Spotify, we are there! Science podcasts on Google? We are there! Are you looking for science podcasts on iTunes or science podcasts on Apple? We are there, too! Just look for This Week in Science!

Disclaimer, Disclaimer, Disclaimer!!!

Science… is not a brand.
It’s a process of discovery.
A catalog of knowledge.
A way of understanding the world
Without human bias
But a brand, it is not.

That’s why the US health and human services department
A historically science-based agency
That funds health and welfare programs, conducts medical research,
oversees food and drug safety via the Food and Drug Administration
manages health insurance programs like Medicare and Medicaid
And responds to public health emergencies
by taking advice from the National Institutes of Health
And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Ceases to be a science-based agency when it…
Stops using science as a process of discovery,
Stops relying on a catalog of knowledge,
And only understands the world
Through the lens of human bias

Since becoming the head of the US Health and Human Services Department
Robert FK Jr…
Has never been briefed by a CDC expert… on anything
Despite altering research priorities, shutting down pandemic preparation, and replacing positions held by experts with people who are not…

Soon, the CDC itself will have a new hand-picked leader.
And the top science-driven public health organization… will be pointless.
It won’t matter
what the CDC says,
What the NIH researches,
or what the FDA sanctions.
Despite the long histories of these agencies using science to make decisions, the credibility of their science-based brand is gone.

And the same is happening at the Department of Energy…
Without science, these are meaningless organizations
Putting out unvalidated, untrustworthy, and dangerous nonsense.
Science is not a brand.
But it is what keeps the brand of health agencies credible.

And increasingly, the only place you can find a credible agency is right here on
This Week in Science
Coming up next

Interesting News of the Week!

Government Climate Propaganda
Why do you think the US DOE is so wrong about climate change?

Health Gutted
What is happening to public health in the US?

SeeMe
do not unplug me!

Less Pain With ADRIANA
Who is ADRIANA & why are we so excited about her?

It’s not you,
It’s Us

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Quick Stories with Justin!

Justin trashes a study
This time it’s a GLP-1 Study

A correlation study
That spends too much time on the toilet

Brainy Stories with Kiki!

Electrical Immunity?
What happens when macrophages are shocked?

Spleendid Healing
Is the spleen the secret to repairing heart damage?

That Succulent Glow
Want a glow-in-the-dark plant? How about a succulent?

This Week in Science Questions!

Do you have questions that you want us to answer? Send us your questions (Like, how do you unplug from Science??)! We will do our best to have answers!

Remember, everyone, we need you to write in with your questions!

Leave us a message on our Facebook page, email Dr. Kiki, or find us on Mastodon Social if you can!

Support us on Patreon!

Support is the secret to more science with TWIS!

WANT TO HELP TWIS? LEAVE A POSITIVE REVIEW FOR TWIS ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST PLATFORM TODAY!

Take a blast into the past…

What were we discussing at this time last year? This time last year, we discussed  Space Sails & Winds, Starliners Return, Radiant Cooling, Butterfly Wings, Dog Toys, Cat Play, Shark Hunts, Viking Culture, Thar Be Gold, ShroomBots, Neo Beta Unveiled, And Much More!

This week 10 years ago TWIS, we discussed Psychology Studies Repeated, Drop CO2 Cuz It’s Hot, CO@ Gas?, Wyoming Crocs?, Seahorse Mommy-Daddy, Self-Medicating Bees, Visualizing Echolocation, Radioactive Coal Ash, Runner’s No-Fat High, Fat And Guts, Bronze Age Brass, Biological Potential, Get Some Sleep!, And Much More!

If You love TWIS, and all the science news we present each week, please consider making a donation to the This Week in Science podcast.

Support us on Patreon!

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28 August, 2025 – Episode 1027 – You Can’t Retract Good Science

August 28th, 2025
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What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?

This Week: Interstellar Interloper, Mind’s Eye, Jumping Spiders, Pig Lungs, Covid Shots, Ape Medicine, Cane Toads, Bird Poop, Justin Trashes a Study, Phantom limb, Big Brainy Thumb, Nature Words, and Much More Good Science!

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Check out the full unedited episode of our podcast on YouTube or Twitch.

Remember that you can find TWIS in all the podcast directories. If you are looking for science podcasts on Spotify, we are there! Science podcasts on Google? We are there! Are you looking for science podcasts on iTunes or science podcasts on Apple? We are there, too! Just look for This Week in Science!

Disclaimer, Disclaimer, Disclaimer!!!

Although the sun is shining
High above
There are shadows creeping
In spite of

All that we have learned from
science, literature, history, and art
Like there is a madness growing
An ignorance in the American heart

How freedoms are lost
Is how power is seized
And it’s a long road back
From enslavement to freed

So this book, that research, those ideas
Every ban comes with a hidden cost
Because knowledge is a form of freedom
And a free mind is never lost

There are brilliant people in the world
More than ever before
And one not too distant day
They will again be knocking on the American door

After the failure of the ignorant and the cruel
When the smart kids have had enough
The sun will still be shining
High above

Meanwhile, down on Earth…
It’s This Week in Science!

Scientifically Interesting News!

Interstellar Interloper
What’s up with comet 3I/Atlas?

Mind’s Eye
Is there a risk to opening the mind’s eye?

Jumping spiders see a “sea of red”
Will this mean doom for one particular species?

Pig Lung Test
What happened when researchers transplanted a pig lung into a human?

COVID shot
Can you even get the COVID shot this year?

Ape Medicine
Why are chimpanzees putting insects in their wounds?

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A TWIS SHIRT OR MUG OR OTHER POWER ITEM OF TWIS MERCHANDISE, CLICK ON THE ZAZZLE LINK TO BROWSE OUR STORE

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Blair’s Animal Corner!

New ammo for cane toads
CRISPR to the rescue!

Duck!
Seabirds poop while flying, and they do so quite often. So is it really good luck to get plopped??

Science Stories with Justin!

Justin trashes a study
“I spent 3 1/2 hours trying to figure out how I was reading it wrong, turns out it was the study was trash!”

Brainy Stories with Kiki!

Phantom Limb Mistake
Does phantom limb syndrome arise in the brain or the periphery?

Big Brainy Thumb
What does the thumb have to do with the brain?

Nature Words
Where are they going?

This Week in Science Questions!

Do you have questions that you want us to answer? Send us your questions (Like, what can you retract???)! We will do our best to have answers!

Remember, everyone, we need you to write in with your questions!

Leave us a message on our Facebook page, email Dr. Kiki, or find us on Mastodon Social if you can!

Support us on Patreon!

Support is the secret to more science with TWIS!

WANT TO HELP TWIS? LEAVE A POSITIVE REVIEW FOR TWIS ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST PLATFORM TODAY!

Take a blast into the past…

What were we discussing at this time last year? This time last year, we discussed Stucktronauts, Material Questions, Frozen Remains, Genetics Grammar, Megalithic mystery solved, Culling Crocodiles, Antlions Play Opossum, Sweet Bat News, NASA DART, Pong Goo, Brain Attack!, And Much More Science to get stuck with!

This week 10 years ago TWIS we discussed One Jab To Rule, Evolution And Vaccines, No Omega-3 Benefits, Skydiving Spiders, Pestering Guppies, Monkey Brains for Fractions, Fusion Power Headway?, Hawking Information, Kids Lunch, Mendelian MS + D, Female Viagra Approved!, And Much More!

If You love TWIS, and all the science news we pronounce each week, please consider making a donation to the This Week in Science podcast.

Support us on Patreon!

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20 August, 2025 – Episode 1026 – What is Your Science Policy ?

August 22nd, 2025
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What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?

This Week: Interview with Adriana Bankston, Jakalopes, Bat Hugs, Mystery Skull, Autism, Flowers for Robots, Baby Brains, Decoding Inner Speech, Space Threats, And Much More Science!

Become a Patron!

Check out the full unedited episode of our science podcast on YouTube or Twitch.

And, remember that you can find TWIS in all the podcast directories. If you are looking for science podcasts on Spotify, we are there! Science podcasts on Google? We are there! Are you looking for science podcasts on iTunes or science podcasts on Apple? We are there, too! Just look for This Week in Science!

Disclaimer, Disclaimer, Disclaimer!!!

Authoritarianism… is nothing new.
It rears its ugly head every half century or so…
Manages to persist malignantly in some places
Until it can be removed from power
What follows is a slow process of reforming society
around freedoms lost, truths forbidden, and progress towards peace and prosperity

At some point, the generation that suffered, fought, and overcame
the past authoritarian movement
Dies
collective memory fades

Struggles of modern life evoke nostalgia
for an age that never existed
At first, it is a form of escapism
An indulgence in magical thinking
An over idealised past
Stripped of all its failings

Power-hungry narcissists pounce on the opportunity
Readorn themselves in the pageantry of strong men
Promising a return to the mythical old ways as a path to the future
Arrogance, ignorance, and revisionism promenading as pride

Manufactured hatred is presented as a justifiable cause
Placing the failure of the world to be perfect
Upon the weakest, the most vulnerable targets
With increasingly divisive rhetoric blaming the others
All those others… so many others that it’s hard to see
Who would even be left if every other went away

Anyone who pushes back on the propaganda,
Who challenges lies with truth
Becomes a co-conspirator
Becomes another
Journalists, teachers, historians, scientists, comedians
It doesn’t matter who you are
If you are not licking the boot, it will be at your neck
Until you fight back
And fight we will, with…
This Week in Science

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The Interview!

We want to welcome our guest, Adriana Bankston, PhD, advocate for scientific research and innovation at the federal level. You can find her on her Substack, her YouTube Channel, and on Instagram and Bluesky.

Andrea Bankston has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology from Emory University, and currently works as an AAAS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY POLICY FELLOW to support federal scientific research and innovation in the U.S. House of Representatives. Adriana works at the intersection of scientific research, higher education, and STEM workforce development with a focus on science policy to advance our nation forward through evidence-based practices and inspire the next generation to get involved. SHE IS AN ADVOCATE for scientific research and innovation at the federal level. WELCOME TO TWIS, ADRIANA!

Dr. Kiki, the gang, and Adriana get a little political in this interesting interview you’ll want to listen to again and again!

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Blair’s Animal Corner!

Who saw the jackalope headlines??
It’s really not a big deal, we promise.

Who wants a bat hug??
I do I do! …but you can hold the dead mouse.

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Science News With Justin!

Mystery Greek Hominin Skull
Mystery hominin skull gets an intriguing new date range

Epilepsy Drugs
Reversing autism symptoms with epilepsy drugs

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Some Science stories with Kiki!

Flowers For Robots
Are we redesigning nature for robot nurture?

Baby Brains
Do microbes manipulate baby brains?

Decoding Inner Speech
Can your internal thoughts be decoded now?

Who Knew?
Space threats are being oversold?!?

Support us on Patreon!

DON’T FORGET TO GET FRIENDS TO SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

This Week in Science Questions!

Do you have questions that you want us to answer? Send us your questions (Like, what is your science policy?)! We will do our best to have answers!

Remember, everyone, we need you to write in with your questions!

Leave us a message on our Facebook page, email Dr. Kiki, or find us on Mastodon Social if you can!

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6 August, 2025 – Episode 1025 – Prompting You to Think Scientifically

August 8th, 2025
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What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?

This Week: Funding State, mRNA HIV vaccine, Radioactive rhino horn, Wasting Source, Editing Diabetes, Roaches, Cockatoos, GLP1, Snails, Roach Bots, Political Sway, and Much More to Prompt You to Think Scientifically!

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Disclaimer, Disclaimer, Disclaimer!!!

We are on our own.
22 projects to develop vaccines using mRNA technology…
Have been halted by the Department of Health and Human Services
In order to start investing in better solutions…

And while that may seem like an insane move
In light of the recent success of mRNA vaccines,
not just in COVID but also in successful HIV vaccine trials…
Behind the scenes, it’s probably much worse

R Francis Kennedy Jr.’s decision to cut $500 million in vaccine research follows other actions such as
firing the panel that makes vaccine recommendations,
and refusing to endorse vaccinations even as a measles outbreak killed children…

He said a “universal vaccine” that mimics “natural immunity” is the administration’s focus.
Quotey voice – “It could be effective — we believe it’s going to be effective — against not only coronaviruses, but also flu,” said,
and then went into an in-depth explanation of the biomolecular pathways and mechanisms discovered through years of iterative research that led to…
Just kidding, it’s going to be woo woo concept driven snake oil…

And that’s just it.

The largest, most advanced human health agency on the planet
Has stopped using science.

No appeals, no recourse, no second opinions.
We are on our own. But we are not alone. And we need to start acting like it.
Here on, This Week in Science!

Scientifically Interesting News!

Funding State
Some recent political and legal wins suggest a reason for optimism regarding funding for science in America

mRNA HIV vaccine
Scripps Research Institute designed an mRNA-encoded HIV vaccine

Radioactive rhino horn
Scientific innovation offers a new weapon against rhino poaching

Wasting Source
Have we figured out the cause of Sea-star wasting disease?

Editing away type-1 diabetes
First gene-edited islet transplant in a human passes functional trial

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Blair’s Animal Corner!

Pregnant roaches need sleep
Like us, pregnant roaches need more sleep

Cockatoo dance party
Cockatoos perform 30 distinct dance moves and may combine them in unique ways

Science Stories with Justin!

GLP-1 drug candidates
Study identifies millions of GLP-1 drug candidates in children…

Regenerating snail eyes
This snail’s eyes grow back: Could they help humans do the same?

Science stories with Kiki!

Roach Bots
Why do we need hybrid insect robots?

Political Sway
Do you trust the chatbots too much?

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Take a blast into the past…

What were we discussing at this time last year? This time last year we scientifically discussed an Interview W/Dr. Emily Fischer, Cats, Dogs, COVID and Flu Nasal Vaccines, Concrete, Greenland, Thick Leaves, Sea Lions, Racing Horses, Starliner, Early Evolution, Rock Art, Brains, Earbud Fatigue, And Much More Science!

This week 10 years ago TWIS we scientifically discussed Homo Harems, Horse Heads, Tiny Brains, Top Cock Crows, Panda Onions!, Zombie Spider Slaves, Kiss Or No?, Blood Snow Leopards, Mole Cancer Fighters, Facebook Botany, And Much More!

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