Episodes
Monday Feb 12, 2024
Episode 61: You've Got a Friend In Me
Monday Feb 12, 2024
Monday Feb 12, 2024
We're back! Did you know about sea cucumbers? Did you know sea cucumbers sometimes have some fishy friends? Now you do! Tune on in to hear about sea cucumbers, some ramblings about their cousins, and the fishy friend that lives with them in one of the stranger of the symbiotic relationships in the ocean.
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Episode 60:The Science Behind the Purr
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
We know why cats purr, but do we really know HOW cats purr? After a new paper was released in early November, now we do! Or at least we have some new insight into it. Tune in to learn more about cats, the aerodynamics behind your cat's purr, some new cat discoveries, and find out the nitty gritty behind how cats make their purring sounds.
Sources:
Herbst, C.T, Prigge, T., Garcia, M., Hampala, V., Hofer, R., Weissengruber G.E., Svec, J.G., Fitch W.T. 2023. Domestic cat larynges can produce purring frequencies without neural input. Current Biology, 33:4727-4732
Why cats purr is a surprisingly long-standing mystery. Now we're one step closer to solving it. https://www.livescience.com/animals/cats/why-cats-purr-is-a-surprisingly-long-standing-mystery-now-were-one-step-closer-to-solving-it
How cats purr: The mystery unraveled at last! https://cats-magazine.com/2023/10/11/how-cats-purr-the-mystery-unraveled-at-last/
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Episode 59: Butterflies That Have Parasites That Have Parasites
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Monday Oct 16, 2023
What happens when you introduce a species of butterfly to a new island, and not one, but two new wasps also show up? A parasitic wasp version of nesting dolls! For our Halloween episode, we're talking about some butterfly body snatchers who also have body snatchers; a butterfly's parasitic wasp also has a parasitic wasp! Tune in to learn how one caterpillar can have two hidden parasitoids at once, just how tiny a wasp can be, and who the Glanville Fritillary Butterfly was named after!
Sunday Oct 01, 2023
Episode 58:The Jellyfish are Learning!
Sunday Oct 01, 2023
Sunday Oct 01, 2023
Can jellyfish learn despite not having a brain? This week we're talking about a recently published paper providing evidence that box jellyfish are capable of types of learning previously thought to require, well, a brain! Tune in to learn more about box jellyfish, their nervous systems, and what sorts of things a jellyfish can learn!
The paper:
Bielecki, J., Nielsen, S.K.D., Nachman, G., and Garm, A. 2023. Associative learning in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora. Current Biology 33, 1-10.
Saturday Sep 16, 2023
Episode 57: Send Newts
Saturday Sep 16, 2023
Saturday Sep 16, 2023
It's a good time of year for newt finding! This week we're talking all about our little Eastern Newt and other salamander friends. Have you ever wondered what makes a newt different from a salamander? Tune in to find out!
Monday Sep 04, 2023
Episode 56: Science of Sleep
Monday Sep 04, 2023
Monday Sep 04, 2023
Have you ever wondered what triggers the feeling of sleepiness at night? Or what about what happens while you're sleeping? This episode is all about the cycles of sleep: what the different stages of sleep there are, and how we cycle through them, and the circadian rhythms we have that cycle us through these sleep-wake patterns every day.
Sunday Aug 20, 2023
Episode 55: Masters of Disguise: Spider Edition
Sunday Aug 20, 2023
Sunday Aug 20, 2023
Cuttlefish can change colors to instantly blend in, a lot of animals have color patterns to disappear into their typical surroundings, but did you know that some spiders can change color too? This week we talk about the goldenrod crab spider, whose camouflage abilities help them to disappear on meadow flowers so they can nab their prey and hide from predators. Tune in to hear about the color-changing abilities of the goldenrod crab spider and the surprising ways they use prey pigments along with their own pigments to change colors!
Sunday Aug 06, 2023
Episode 54: Coral Bleaching in a Hot Tub Ocean
Sunday Aug 06, 2023
Sunday Aug 06, 2023
In July, Florida experienced record high water temperatures, causing mass coral bleaching and mass mortality events. But what happens when coral bleaches? Is a bleached coral a dead coral? What causes coral bleaching? We're going to cover all of it! Tune in to learn about corals, and how current events sure are stressing them out enough that they just bleach and turn white.
To see footage of the bleaching event around the Florida Keys: https://www.flickr.com/photos/myfwc/sets/72177720309991225/
patreon: www.patreon.com/quirkycreepyfreakypod
Sunday Jul 23, 2023
Episode 53: Sea Anemones: A Hermit Crab’s Best Friend
Sunday Jul 23, 2023
Sunday Jul 23, 2023
This week, we have hermit crabs and the special relationship they have with sea anemones! Or, at least some sea anemone species. Tune in this week to learn about hermit crabs and the sea anemones that some of them like to carry on their shells, and why they carry around sea anemones in the first place! You'll also learn about sea anemones that can help the shell grow with the hermit crab. So many hermit crab and anemone fun facts!
Sunday Jul 09, 2023
Episode 52: The Cookiecutter of the Sea
Sunday Jul 09, 2023
Sunday Jul 09, 2023
Welcome to shark month! This episode, we talk about the shark at the base of mysteries for centuries, the cookiecutter shark! We talk about how this shark is not only responsible for many bites on marine animals, but is also responsible for damaging nuclear submarines!