Science... Sort Of

00:00:00 - We begin arguing about rabbits, as you do. Ryan rejects Ben's phony phylogeny and espouses the truth of Glires. Don't let Ben lead you astray. 00:00:54 - We're all happy with the four fundamental forces we know and love, but what if there was a fifth force? A Hungarian team is claiming they might have found one, which is a pretty big deal. You can read their paper now on the arXiv. 00:39:59 - If you made it through Ben's explanations in the first segment, you deserve a drink. Joe, back from his physics sabbatical, is refreshing himself with aTractor Soda Co. Cherry Cream Soda, with some confusing claims but good flavor. Ryan has an Elder Brett from Epic Brewing Co. in part so he can discuss an article about "wild beers" sent to him by Kendall in Denver. Ben has Jones Soda Cream Soda with a picture of a Moose on it. Also, Joe's car is free because we're a bit off the rails this week. And SpaceX has a little problem that Ryan gets excited about. 00:59:35 - Finally, weasels! Weasels are great and Ry

00:00:00 - Mezcal is a magical and misunderstood spirit. Abe, Jacob, and Ryan spend some time breaking down just what the spirit is, from the myths about worms to the economies of towns trying to use craft distillates to escape the horrors of the drug trade. It's complicated. What's a bit simpler, somehow, are the fluid dynamics at play in determining proof, known as the pearls of mezcal. A team has presented their findings on the phenomenon, and we try to explain the science at play. 00:31:58 - Abe, unsurprisingly, is enjoying an agave-based spirit, but in the form of an elixir that seems new yet familiar at the same time. Jacob is up next and braces for mockery with a beer he already had in episode 101. Abe and Ryan had no intentions for teasing, but when it's invited it's hard to resist. Ryan goes full hipster with a Multinational Horn-Dog Black Saison that he makes Abe describe because Abe made it in the first place. Delicious!  00:44:17 - Moa were giant terrifying monster-birds from New Zealand. And t

It's episode 250 and thus a fine time to return to form with Patrick, Charlie, and Ryan! 00:00:00 - Mars is dead, long live Mars! Mars used to have oceans, active volcanoes, maybe even tectonics. So what happened? The guys explore how it might have become a hunk of rock we keep having to rescue Matt Damon from. Also, there's a whole book series on how we might (fictionally) bring it back to life.  0027:57 - However it got that way, Mars is now dry enough to leave one mighty parched. Let us quench. Patrick begins with a beer left behind in his fridge by Ryan, a Siamese Twin Ale from Uncommon Brewers located in the birthplace of the show, Santa Cruz, California. Charlie expertly extracts the hot bean juice from an exquisite Ganesha Espresso bean for 28 seconds at 201 degrees C at 9 bars of pressure. Ryan fires back with a Kerberos Tripel our of a double-walled growler, a three-headed beer for the three originals being back together. 00:34:50 - Is the Loch Ness Monster real? No. It's super not real. BUT, Googl

00:00:00 - Do you eat food? If you do you probably appreciate the Maillard reaction even if you've never heard of it. We try to drop some science on your plate! Want even more food science? This book has you covered. 00:35:09 - Joe begins the drinking segment by tying things back to the Maillard reaction with a Lester's Fixins Bacon with Maple Syrup Soda, which sounds, and tastes, terrible. Chad and Ryan insist her finish it. Ryan has a Segua Red Ale, a Costa Rican microbrew based on a Costa Rican legend. Chad has a fruit smoothie because sometimes you just have to clear out the freezer. 00:45:05 - Archeologists have found many ancient subterranean cities. What happened to us all wanting to live underground together?  Joe explains some of the benefits and pratfalls of trying to make a go of putting a lot of people under the earth, including some more recent attempts.  01:01:44 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like underground cities, they were sort of in vogue once upon a time. Joe begins by thanking Jeff M. for a don

00:00:00 - We are excited to announce the long awaited return of Jacob Stump! Jacob is back so we might as well start out with a poorly planned mission to Mars. Specifically, is Mars One a scam? If you believe one of their selected 'astronauts' then probably yes. 00:25:24 - Much like they're not actually going to Mars, Jacob spends some time telling us what he's not drinking before finally telling us that he's having some Spanish wine. Patrick is doubling down with another Get Elevated from Matty J. which prompts a discussion of handedness. Ryan advocates his left-handed lifestyle and recommends a book for those who want to learn more about his affliction. Ryan also is back to his beer roots enjoying a DirtWolf Double IPA from Victory Brewing.  00:41:23 - Jupiter's wife Juno has come home in the form of a probe sent by NASA. Even President Obama was excited about it. Ryan gets excited just talking about Jupiter, but Patrick and Jacob have some pretty cool things about the probe and its science mission around

If you're interested in helping the people of West Virginia recover from some pretty horrific recent flooding, you can check out the list of options compiled by The Huffington Post.  00:00:00 - Patrick and Ryan are joined by Daphne Pringle, who's a post-doctoral fellow at the Hunstman Cancer Institute of the University of Utah. She's sick of us getting epigenetics wrong like we did in episode 241, so she's here to sort us out. She uses mice to study oncogenes and tumors and cancer and all that. It's pretty far outside of our typical biology talk, so segment one is just trying to explain the basics. Here's some background reading: Raf/MEK/ERK, mouse models, and BRAF targeting.  00:35:53 - Alcohol is a carcinogen probably. Oh well. Daphne represents Utah with her Uinta Detour Double IPA. Patrick was sent some cans of Elevated IPA by listener Matty J. Thanks! And Ryan classes up the joint with an Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon.  00:43:21 - Now that we have totally covered the basics of Daphne's research, le

This was our first time recording since the tragic Pulse shooting in Orlando. We encourage our US listeners to share their thoughts with their elected representatives. You can find yours and their contact info here. 00:00:00 - We begin this week by talking about some literal bridge building. Because of things like physics and geology, engineers have to rethink how we build roads around bridges. Joe assumes Ryan and Abe know about soil science. He's wrong. But some researchers at the University of Texas, Arlington, have developed special giant foam blocks to help solve the bridge settling dilemma. All rivers in this segment referred to as Kwai for clarity.  00:21:45 - Drinks, like bridges, get you where you're going. Abe pops the top off a Hop Savant from Crooked Stave. Ryan, thinking back on his afternoon at Corvus Coffee Roasters with Abe, has a Cold Brew IPA from Rogue. Joe B. bucks tradition with a Best Damn Cherry Cola, which while it may not sound like it, is actually an alcoholic beverage. It's not his

This week is all about Game of Thrones and/or A Song of Ice and Fire featuring returning guest to the show Miles Traer! If you're not caught up on both the show and the books, consider this your all-purpose SPOILER WARNING. 00:00:00 - First up: time travel. How does time travel in a fantasy story work? Apparently, there are three options, and we mainly stick to one, but it's not without its paradoxes. Check out this nifty drawing from Ben for a diagram of just what we think happened in the already infamous Hodor episode. 00:37:53 - They drink a lot in Westeros, so to keep it authentic, we follow suit. Ben begins with a double shot of weird Sangaria brand soft drinks: carrot and traditional. Miles follows up with a 'Westerosi'-style cocktail, the Sazerac; even if he and Ryan disagree about the proportions. Ryan does what his wife does, and has a Three Philosophers from Brewery Ommegang. It makes sense in context. 00:44:15 - There's a lot more science to be done in Westeros than just time travel. Fortunately,

00:00:00 - This week Ryan is joined by his wife, Juliana Olsson, so they can talk with returning guest and author Mary Roach! We do drinks in the preamble so for all you completists out there: Juli had a Three Philosophers and Ryan had a Birthday Suit. Mary, given her druthers, likes a dry gin martini. But the actual point of our conversation is to talk about her new book is Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War and that's what we talk about (mostly). She's on tour promoting the book right now, so go see her if you can and tell her you heard about the tour from us! 00:52:34 - PaloePOWs are a lot like books; they contain a lot of words. Ryan begins with a donation from Liam B., a Canadian donating with US money. How thoughtful! Thanks, Liam. Next up, Todd B. wanted us to watch a video about naked mole rats, the official animal of the podcast. They're pretty cute in an ugly sort of way, and the science being done is pretty cool too. Finally, Ryan reminds y'all that we're running an iTunes review contest.

00:00:00 - This episode Ben and Ryan chat with Cosmologist Sean Carroll about his new book, The Big Picture. Presented here is the first part of our conversation about a number of topics presented in the book. 00:40:58 - Drinks are like the universe in that they exist. Sean enjoys a gin martini or a Gibson depending on his mood. Sometimes he adds both garnishes and we're just not sure about anything anymore. Ben has some guanabana nectar. Ryan explains what that fruit looks like. And Ryan rounds things out with a Celestial Garden from DC Brau. 00:49:51 - The second half of our interview we continue talking about the book, particularly the contributions of Ibn Sina and Rev. Bayes to momentum and probability, respectively. You can keep up with Dr. Carroll on his website or by following him on Twitter. 01:17:32 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like cosmology; they can take some time to wrap your head around. Ryan begins by thanking Jennifer G. (?) for setting up a new recurring donation. Thanks, Jennifer! Ben has a questio

00:00:00 - Few quick announcements in lieu of a PaleoPOW for this episode. First, thanks to Robert M. (not the guest) and John P. for repeating their generous donations to the show. Also, there are still a few hours left to donate to Ryan's crowdfunding campaign: experiment.com/sloths. Lastly, we're running an iTunes review contest. Leave a new review between now and the Summer Solstice and be entered in a drawing for some sweet prizes! 00:01:01 - Ryan heads to Ohio to sit down for a chat with Doc Sloth aka Robert McAfee. When he was on the show before, the talk was of carnivorous sloths and the Ice Age movies, but this time, we're talking about his actual research and the first to be discussed is his work trying to suss out the taxonomy of the diverse fossil ground sloths. 00:26:51 - One way to slow down to sloth speeds is a depressant, in this case: beer! Ryan begins with an Amarillo Brillo, purchased solely for the fact that the label contains a cousin to the sloths: an armadillo. Robert heads south to

00:00:00 - (Beginning with a brief plug from Joe seeking volunteers for a cool STEM even in the LA area, check it out here.) But today's actual first topic is part one of our interview with Matt Candeias, Ph.D. student as well as author and host of the In Defense of Plants blog and podcast (which you can support on Patreon). We talk about his research into rare versus common grassland species, and what made him want to get into science outreach, particularly as a promoter of plants. In our typical rambling style, we also touch on a number of other topics, including how computers used to be rooms full of women. 00:52:06 - You may need to compute some things if you want to make your own booze, but it doesn't take much math to enjoy the final product. Patrick is again disappointed to learn that Ryan has also tried the beer he's having this week, the Faceplant IPA from Lost Rhino Brewing Company, whom we've interviewed before. Matt keeps it local with the Paw Paw Tripel from Scratch Brewing Company. And Ryan quiz

00:00:00 - Kelly is back and she's got an update on some scientists that seem to have found a way to stem the spread of the chytrid fungus affecting all those poor froggies. Hope on the horizon? Maybe, but it'll be a hard technique to apply large scale. We also spend some time talking about a Civil War story involving glowing wounds the help soldiers survive. A science fair project may have found the answer, but Ryan still thinks a body farm experiment needs to be done. 00:28:10 - A stiff drink used to be the only painkiller you might get. Kelly's drink isn't stiff but it still provokes a strong reaction: water kefir. After painstakingly explaining what is and how she made it, Abe and Ryan have nothing good to say. Abe tries to salvage the conversation with some Romantic Chemistry, but alas it falls a bit short. Ryan tries to avoid Kelly's wrath when talking about the Pinchgut Hollow Buckwheat Moonshine his Dad gave him. 00:40:50 - Did you know China has a rover on the moon? Turns out China has a rover on the

00:00:00 - Bev and Abe are back from Antarctica and are back on the show! Ryan had to give a guest lecture on echinoderms, which happens to be a thing Bev knows a lot about. So our first segment is dedicated to getting Abe up to speed on these weird marine animals. 00:40:05 - Talking about sea creatures gives one a powerful thirst. This episode we sate our thirst in three ways. Bev opts for a Squishy apple and cherry cider, Abe keeps it nautical with a Dorado DIPA, and Ryan can't wait to enjoy a Pliny the Elder Abe gave him. 00:47:28 - Now that we all know what echinoderms about we can talk about Bev's actual research! For her Masters, she wanted to figure out how brittle stars were (or weren't) being preserved in the fossil record. She tells us just how she got it done, and you can read the paper she published about her work too! (Lots of cool figures in that paper, be sure to check them out!) 01:13:54 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like echinoderms, only occasionally edible. Ryan begins by plugging his crowdfunding

00:00:00 - Charlie and Ryan are joined by the one and only Tim Dobbs from the Encyclopedia Brunch podcast. In addition to being a fellow podcast and editor for our show, Tim is also a chemical engineer focusing on biotechnology. Our first subject talks about just what the heck biotechnology is, and how it's growing as a part of our economy. 00:29:43 - Biotechnology can apparently make milk, but that's weird so we're drinking other things. Tim is have kombucha. Whatever. Ryan is having a Southern Belle from 3 Stars made with pecans. Also, DC has a nice flag, get on board people. Charlie drinks some fancy espresso because he's fancy like that. We get a bit off track talking about how fruits are all just out to trick us into spreading their seeds. Kind of gross if you really think about it, but you might learn something anyways. 00:42:15 - And for our final topic as we all brace for Batman v Superman: BATS! Bats are great, and if you didn't know that then strap in for some knowledge bombs falling on your head li

00:00:00 - This episode Ryan is joined by Jessica Glass and Matt Davis, who recently published an open-access paper exploring the claims of a 1950's Explorer's Club dinner with giant ground sloth (or mammoth) on the menu. What did they find with their fancy genetics? Listen and find out! 00:41:25 - Supposedly the Explorer's Club drinks were chilled with glacial ice, a thing we used to be pretty good at transporting, but our modern drinks are chilled with the power of refrigeration instead, and it's important for us to tell you what they are! Matt kicks things off with an Orange Lazarus in a tiki mug, leading of course to a discussion of all things tiki. Jessica's up next and Matt brought her a local beer called the Ginga' Ninja, a gingery red IPA for the wilds of Connecticut. Ryan rounds off the round with a new favorite of his: a dry manhattan. Just replace the sweet vermouth in your manhattan with dry vermouth, you dummy! 00:55:43 - Next up Matt forces Jessica and Ryan to team up for SLOTH TRIVIA. The stake

00:00:00 - Ryan is joined this episode by Claire Lukens, a fellow Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming. Claire is a geomorphologist who studies the evolution of the shape of mountains over time. In the first part, we talk about a bit about the basics of her field and some of the techniques she employs. See some photos of her field area at the bottom of the post.   00:18:01 - One of the primary drivers of erosion is water. Beer is mostly water, and it's also fuel for geologists. Ryan has brought a sampler pack from Bristol Brewing Company in Colorado Springs, a favorite from Claire's undergrad days. She has her old standby, a Laughing Lab, and Ryan has a Red Rocket Pale Ale.   00:20:48 - Next we discuss Claire's recent publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which is open access so can go read the whole thing and see the pretty figures. Claire's research group has used two different techniques to trace the history of sediments in Inyo

00:00:00 - This episode Ryan and Patrick are joined by Samuel Hansen, who podcasts about math. The first part of the show is learning a bit more about Samuel, his ACMEscience podcast network, and most importantly his math show Relatively Prime, currently Kickstarting its third season. Also, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is a movie Samuel heartily suggests you see. 00:39:24 - A brief break for drinks! Patrick is fighting a cold and drinking some herbal tea because he's off caffeine and alcohol for a bit. Ryan goes entirely the other direction based on some advice from Richard P. who provides a recipe for a beer cocktail called "Heart of Darkness": 0.5 L of imperial stout (Ryan used this one) 250 mL of cold brew coffee concentrate (Ryan used this one) Take that health! 00:43:25 - Next up we have Samuel explain the concept of chaos and how it can be used in ecological modeling. While Samuel looks up something, Ryan plugs the graphic novel Strange Attractors, which is about math but

00:00:00 - Let's get straight to it: scientists figured out a way to make booze using lasers, and they're calling it sunshine instead of moonshine because they're clever. Since that sounds like chemistry we brought Chad to the podcast table to explain what's going on. LISTEN AND LEARN.   00:40:53 - Chad begins by pre-empting his own paleoPOW with an e-mail from Dave asking about a brand of "Neuro--" drinks. Are they just vaguely tasty snake oil? Pretty much, but in the US they can still get away with all sorts of silly claims thanks to this law. Also, a brief discussion of chemophobia and MSG, good thing Chad is here. Ryan is drinking Dryk Julmust bought on clearance at IKEA spiked with some very old Panamanian rum, and then gets the part of Canada that likes rum wrong. Ben bought a weird pear soda from a Japanese Dollar Store.   00:57:42 - GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! There are some new elements on the periodic table! Chad explains the process of getting new elements officially approved, then the conversation mostly

00:00:00 - Something strange is happening to the scrub jays of Santa Cruz Island. One scientist proposes that they might be splitting into two separate species on one little island, which is actually kind of a big deal. But how cut and dry is this whole speciation concept? Turns out not very. Listen as Joe learns more.   00:26:46 - You could probably map the history of beverages to something like a phylogenetic tree, but why bother when you can just enjoy the imbibing? Ryan is trying out a Hopvine Cider with honey and hops from Millstone Cellars in Maryland. It's weird. Joe is checking out some Sioux City Sarsaparilla (which basically just tastes like root beer), while Patrick starts the new year with some Coke Zero (which basically just tastes like coke). Ryan shares a recipe for some sassafras tea (which may be carcinogenic, FYI).   00:32:31 - It's winter. You need a coat. Have you considered wrapping yourself up in a bunch of spiderwebs? Probably not, but soon you'll at least have the option thanks to The