SciShow Tangents

So, right off the bat, basically all you need to know about this episode is that Hank sings this week's Science Poem. Beyond that, we delve into the eternal mystery that is 'sleep.' Where do ours dreams come from? How does sleeping help rejuvenate our brains and bodies? Why do some people need less sleep than others? Turns out, no one really knows yet, but it's still fun to talk about! Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!   And if you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out this episode's page at scishowtangents.org!

Every day, billions of people perform vital, life sustaining chemistry right in their homes! Baking, frying, boiling, fermenting… all cooking is science, and the way it weaves into our lives and cultures makes it uniquely fascinating! Join us this week to learn why the heck there’s iodine in your salt, what happens if you forget where in the bog you buried your cask of meat, and why baking a cake at high elevations can be so frustrating! Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! And if you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out scishowtangents.org

From countless stories of little green men to colonization plans and endless rover and satellite missions, humans are sort of obsessed with Mars. One of those obsessed humans is Hank Green! This week he finally gets to put all his knowledge about his favorite planet to good use: winning fake points on a game show he made up! Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! And if you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out this episode's page at https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/scishow-tangents!

We couldn’t make podcasts without the science of sound. There’s a lot of technology involved in capturing the vibrations we’re making with our vocal folds so that we can share them with the whole Internet! So this week, we’re fine-tuning our knowledge of sound. Do scientists even know why music makes us feel emotions? Is the ocean really as silent as it seems, or are fish partying down there? And how did computer nerds send each other video games and Christmas cards through radio broadcasts? Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out themes for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! And if you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out this episode's page at https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/scishow-tangents

This week, we’re joined by Trace Dominguez from the YouTube channel Uno Dos of Trace to talk about genetic mutations! Tiny changes in an organism’s DNA sequence can lead to big variations or absolutely nothing. It’s just a roll of the dice! So what mutations have shown up in modern humans—different bones, livers, or even eyeballs? What is “foreign DNA” and where does it even come from? And can anybody name as many X-Men as Sam? If you want to know more about any of the topics discussed today, check out this page's website at https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/scishow-tangents for our sources!

A bunch of things are considered agricultural science, from planting crops and raising sheep for wool to food safety and developing fertilizers. This week, we’re skimming the surface of agriculture, with a little detour into animals that sort of farm too. What accidental evolutionary pressures turned weeds into popular crops? Why are seed vaults so important to humanity? And what made Big Mike  basically go extinct, and are we worried about it happening with other crops? (Big Mike is a banana, by the way.) Want to know more about our topics? Check out this episode's website at wnycsudios.org!

Pregnancy is, biologically speaking, extremely weird! A pregnant animal’s body goes through so many hormonal and physical changes to make sure a zygote has everything it needs to grow. This week, we’re talking about a few of those things, like why pregnant people get nauseated and other animals might not. So is pseudopregnancy a real thing, or are pandas just tricking zookeepers to get extra treats? Why is there a patent for a birthing machine that looks like a horrible carnival ride? And what the heck is a stone baby? Want to know more about our topics? Check out this episode's website at wnycsudios.org!

This week, we’re joined by Blake de Pastino from the YouTube channel PBS Eons to talk about how plants, animals, and geologic events used to be so… huge. There are still blue whales and massive natural disasters, but the days of the Megalodon have passed. So were those big tunnels in South America really dug out by giant ground sloths? Where is the largest impact crater in the Solar System? And did humans really huddle under the skeletal remains of the giant armadillo-like Glyptodon? To learn more about this week's topic, check out this episode's page at https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/scishow-tangents 

Bats have a bad reputation because of the ones that drink blood or spread disease, but these furry flying critters can be pretty cute! This week, we’re talking about everything from echolocation to weird potential uses for bat poop. Are there really bats with suction cups on their wings or is that just a cool toy idea? What is white nose syndrome and could vaping mushroom compounds… help? And what do you really think about Hank’s Dracula impression? Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out themes for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! And if you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out this episode's webpage!

You might know him from his greatest hits: natural selection, Galápagos finches, and eating lots of the animals he studied… it’s Charles Darwin! This week, we’re talking about this famous biologist and some of the weirder science he did. What kind of books did he write after he published On the Origin of Species? Why was he so disgusted by fish spitting out seeds? And was it normal to write a letter to a scientist friend and ask detailed questions about barnacle sex?

If you think about it, we’re all time travelers moving forward at one second per second… right? This week, we try really hard to define time, get sort of existential about it, and then talk about the science of timekeeping, from circadian rhythms to weird mechanical clocks. What happens to someone’s sense of time if you put them in a big bunker locked away from the outside world? How did we decide there would be 60 seconds in a minute, and did we ever try to measure time with a decimal system? And if a human were to instantaneously dissolve into a pile of goo because their time was up, what would it sound like?

When can you start calling a rodent “giant?” When it’s twice the average size of its species? When you’re not grossed out by it? When it could be a mascot for a family fun center? We don’t really have a precise answer to that… but this week, we’re exploring the science of big ol’ rodents! Turns out, giant rodents have shaped the environment in lots of ways, from ancient megafauna stomping through South American wetlands to beavers affecting the climate. And even though they sound kind of scary, giant rats might be able to save human lives. But the real question is: what’s up with capybara anal pouches?

For our very first live show at PodCon 2, we were joined by Elah Feder, the co-host and producer of the podcast Undiscovered! Podcasting on a stage with a live audience meant we really had to bring our A-game, so we swapped stories of famous actors, politicians, and other celebrities who also dabbled in science.

Do you ever just wonder, “are the bees doing okay?” They’re so important to our food industry and native ecosystems, and every couple of years it seems like something horribly bad is happening to them. So this week, we’re taking a look at the fascinating lives and deaths of bees! Can they recognize human faces or understand the concept of zero? Why are blister beetles mimicking sexy bee pheromones? And what do nightclubs and honeybee hives have in common?

We’ve all heard about “The Algorithms” that affect our lives, making decisions for and about us. And artificial intelligence systems are recommending podcasts, picking out targeted ads, and playing games against humans every single day. This week, we’re going to skim the surface of AI and chat about everything from Siri to personality prediction software. How are these tools used to help the world, or are we mostly heading toward a dystopian future? What’s the Turing test and is it even a useful measure of artificial intelligence? And if a poem is written with software… is it really art? (We don’t know either.)