SciShow Tangents

Big vs Small with Tiny Matters

Sep 5, 2023

Two Sams join Ceri and Hank in a team-based episode of Tangents. They talk about fitness challenges at Walt Disney World, perceptions of size, bizarre beasts, miniature organs, satellite launches, and the search for the smallest single-celled organism.

48:38

Creator website

Episode guests

Sam Jones

Deboki Chakravarti

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Ultramicrobacteria, part of the candidate phyla radiation group, have minimal genomes and rely on other bacteria for survival.

Using nuclear bombs for projects like Project Gas Buggy during the Cold War era had potential risks and unintended consequences.

Deep dives

Tiny Matters: The smallest organisms and their impactful role

This episode of the podcast Tiny Matters explores the fascinating world of the smallest organisms and their significant impact. The hosts discuss the discovery of ultramicrobacteria, some of the tiniest single-celled organisms, which are part of the candidate phyla radiation group. These bacteria, known as ultramicrobacteria, have minimal genomes and are missing essential proteins, relying on other bacteria for survival. The podcast also delves into the creation of miniaturized human hearts using stem cells, the development of miniature brains for games, and the use of tiny 3D glasses to study praying mantises' vision. The hosts provide insights into these groundbreaking scientific feats, highlighting the importance of these small-scale discoveries in various research fields.

Introduction

2min

Experiences with Fitness Challenges and the Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World

2min

Big versus Small and Perceptions of Size

25min

Introduction to Bizarre Beasts and Journey to the Microcosmos

2min

Miniature Hearts and Brain Games

8min

Comparing the Size of a Satellite to a Jar of Queso Blanco

3min

What is the Smallest Single-Celled Organism?

10min

Sam's out this week, but worry not: he found another Sam to replace him! Sam Jones, host of the podcast Tiny Matters that is! Sam and her co-host, our own Deboki Chakravarti, join Ceri and Hank in our first ever team-based episode of Tangents! Two teams enter, one team leaves!

What more Tiny Matters? Check out the podcast here: https://www.acs.org/pressroom/tiny-matters.html!

And check out Deboki at https://twitter.com/okidoki_boki , and Sam at https://twitter.com/samjscience

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Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @im_sam_schultz Hank: @hankgreen

[Truth or Fail Express]

Project Gasbuggy

https://www.nytimes.com/1970/02/22/archives/project-gasbuggy-and-catch85-thats-krypton85-one-of-the-radioactive.html

https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,899941,00.html

https://books.google.com/books?id=g9QDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22project+gasbuggy%22&pg=PA102#v=onepage&q=%22project%20gasbuggy%22&f=false

Operation Big Itch

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13623699908409460

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/biological/bigitch.pdf

Operation North Pole (Project Cirrus)