Science Magazine Podcast

A fungus-driven robot, counting snow crabs, and a book on climate capitalism

Aug 29, 2024

Join Erik Stokstad, a conservation news expert, as he tackles the alarming decline of snow crabs due to climate change and fishing stock overestimation. Discover the ecological chaos caused by invasive brown tree snakes in Guam. Then, Anand Mishra, a Cornell engineering researcher, unveils his groundbreaking work on biohybrid robots powered by mushroom cells. Lastly, explore Akshat Rathi's optimistic take on capitalism as a solution to climate change, highlighting strategies that could lead us to zero emissions.

53:44

Creator website

Episode guests

Erik Stokstad

Anand Mishra

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

The decline of the snow crab fishery due to climate change highlights the need for better monitoring of overestimated fish stock populations.

Integrating living fungal cells into robotic systems shows potential for creating adaptive robots that respond dynamically to environmental stimuli.

Deep dives

Impact of Climate Change on Snow Crabs

The collapse of the snow crab fishery in 2021, which was valued at around $200 million, highlights the significant effects of climate change on marine ecosystems. Researchers are studying how warming waters and changes in seasonal sea ice are impacting the food web essential for the survival of snow crabs. They found that increased temperatures raised the crabs' metabolism, making them hungrier, while simultaneously decreasing the availability of their food sources due to reduced algal blooms and phytoplankton. Although recent surveys show a slow recovery of juvenile crab populations, the fishery remains closed to allow for full regeneration.

Intro

2min

The Decline of Alaska's Snow Crabs

5min

Fishing Stock Sustainability Challenges

8min

Battling the Brown Tree Snake

4min

Innovative Conservation and Biohybrid Robotics

3min

Fungi and Robotics: A Symbiotic Future

11min

Navigating Climate Solutions Through Capitalism

18min

First up this week on the podcast, the latest conservation news with Staff Writer Erik Stokstad. Stokstad and host Sarah Crespi talk about the fate of snow crabs in the Bering Sea, how much we have been overestimating fishing stocks worldwide, and invasive snakes in Guam that bite off more than they can chew.

Next, a fungus takes the wheel. Anand Mishra, a research associate in the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell University, discusses a method of integrating electronics with fungal cells in a biohybrid robot. By using the hardy cells from a mushroom instead of the delicate cells of an animal, Mishra and colleagues hope to durably introduce the sensing and signaling capacity of these living organisms into robots.

Finally, the fourth installment of our six-part series on books that look to an optimistic future. This month, host Angela Saini talks with science writer Akshat Rathi about how capitalism might just save us from climate change and his book Climate Capitalism: Winning the Race to Zero Emissions and Solving the Crisis of Our Age.

This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.

About the Science Podcast

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Erik Stokstad; Angela Saini

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zt21ifv

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