SciShow Tangents

Plants and animals get all the glory, but fungi are out there every day, breaking down leaf litter, making our bread nice and fluffy, and fermenting alcohols. They deserve a little thanks, so we did a whole episode about them!Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:[Truth or Fail]Fungal Pesticides:https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/04/12/522068205/fungal-pesticides-offer-a-growing-alternative-to-traditional-chemicalshttps://agrochemicals.iupac.org/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=3&sobi2Id=31https://phys.org/news/2019-02-virus-infested-fungus-chemical-pesticides.htmlTinder Fungi:https://www.uab.cat/web/newsroom/news-detail-1345668003610.html?noticiaid=1345754508535Egyptian Medicine:https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/10/nyregion/secrets-of-the-mummys-medicine-chest.html[Fact Off]Whiskey mold:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18065010https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5315285/https://www.wired.com/2011/05/ff-angelsshare/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/78dyqb/kentuckys-whiskey-fungus-problem-is-out-of-controlPlastic-digesting fungus:https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/fungi-research-lifts-lid-shy-organisms-break-down-plastichttps://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0202047https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117300295http://blog.worldagroforestry.org/index.php/2017/09/12/scientists-find-fungus-appetite-plastic-rubbish-dump/[Ask the Science Couch]“Zombie” ants:https://www.pnas.org/content/114/47/12590https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0187170https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3204140/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/11/how-the-zombie-fungus-takes-over-ants-bodies-to-control-their-minds/545864/[Butt One More Thing]Zygomycota:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003237https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8OAmcUnm4g Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From 1961 to 1972, thousands of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, seamstresses, pilots, and even a child or two worked on the Apollo Program, collaborating to bring humanity to the moon. Today, Tangents celebrates this unparalleled work of collective science and engineering!  Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:[Truth or Fail]Golf Club:https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/objects-of-intrigue-alan-shepards-golf-clubhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/08/16/why-was-alan-shepard-allowed-to-bring-golf-clubs-to-the-moon/#1d7fe6b67f86Family Photo:https://www.businessinsider.com/apollo-16-hidden-family-portrait-on-the-moon-2015-10Ashes: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/eugene-shoemaker-buried-moon-celestis-nasahttps://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/sl9/news82.html[Fact Off]Greg Force: Boy Hero: https://www.honeysucklecreek.net/other_stations/guam/index.htmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/07/20/apollo11.irpt/index.htmlSpacesuit seamstresses: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/neil-armstrongs-spacesuit-was-made-by-a-bra-manufacturer-3652414/http://mentalfloss.com/article/82726/how-playtex-helped-win-space-racehttps://www.racked.com/2018/9/5/17771270/spacesuit-girdles-playtex-seamstresses-nasahttps://gizmodo.com/how-to-sew-a-spacesuit-5788241[Ask the Science Couch]Michael Collins lonely: https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/jul/HQ_09-164_Collins_statement.htmlhttps://www.space.com/16971-michael-collins-apollo-11.htmlhttps://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_11/overview/[Butt One More Thing]Moon poop bacteria:https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/3/22/18236125/apollo-moon-poop-mars-science Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Living things are so full of complicated systems of cells and DNA, that things are bound to go wrong. And sometimes when things go wrong, cancer is the result. Today on Tangents we talk about the causes, health impacts, and potential cures (both real and fake) of cancer. Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:[Truth or Fail]Norman Bakerhttps://historycollection.co/norman-baker-man-claimed-cure-cancer/Cow Warhttps://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=3298&context=iowastate_veterinarianAnimal Testes Transplanthttps://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4x3p73/early-body-hacking-when-men-got-goat-testicle-grafts-to-boost-their-sex-driveThe Philosophy of Success Bookhttps://archive.org/details/Law_Of_Success_in_16_Lessons[Fact Off]Turtle fossil bone cancer:https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/02/ridiculously-rare-cancer-found-fossil-leg-turtle-triassic-paleontology/https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/article-abstract/2723578Parasite-human cancer transmission:https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/p1104-parasite-tumors.htmlhttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tapeworm-spreads-deadly-cancer-to-human/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190325110313.htm[Ask the Science Couch]General:https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/infectious-agents/hpv-and-cancerhttps://www.popsci.com/transmissible-cancers-animals/Tasmanian devil:https://www.tcg.vet.cam.ac.uk/about/DFTDhttps://www.nature.com/articles/onc2009350https://elifesciences.org/articles/35314Clams:https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(15)00243-3https://www.nature.com/articles/nature18599[Butt One More Thing]Farts & cancer:https://time.com/2976464/scientists-say-smelling-farts-might-prevent-cancer/https://pubs.rsc.org/En/content/articlelanding/2014/md/c3md00323j#!divAbstract Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Natural disasters are a fact of life when you live on a giant ball of water, ice, and rock with a gooey magma center that’s hurtling through space… and all the pollution we’re pumping into the environment doesn’t really seem to be helping, either.Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:[Truth or Fail]Cloud seedinghttps://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-935704-30-0_9https://science.sciencemag.org/content/195/4274/139Absorbent polymerhttps://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5d.htmlhttp://discovermagazine.com/2002/sep/featrainHail cannonhttps://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/1520-0477(1981)062%3C0368%3AHRTFHC%3E2.0.CO%3B2https://www.businessinsider.com/volkswagen-hail-cannons-mexico-farmers-draught-2018-8https://books.google.com/books?id=h-ADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA548https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hail-cannons-the-devices-that-supposedly-blast-away-bad-weatherSoothttps://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/C5b.html[Fact Off]Year Without a Summer:https://scied.ucar.edu/shortcontent/mount-tambora-and-year-without-summerhttp://mentalfloss.com/article/73585/15-facts-about-year-without-summerhttps://medium.com/@spencerbaum/the-year-without-summer-and-the-origins-of-frankenstein-13e6884c3eceTae Bo “earthquake:”https://www.geek.com/geek-cetera/korean-skyscraper-shakes-from-17-middle-aged-people-doing-tae-bo-1405157/http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/07/117_91209.htmlhttp://mentalfloss.com/article/31349/how-power-literally-rocked-house[Ask the Science Couch]Glass rain:https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/alien-worlds/galaxy-of-horrors/Cryovolcanoes: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/media/cassini-20081215b.htmLhttps://www.nature.com/news/2009/090325/full/news.2009.190.htmlIce quakes on Earth: http://climate.missouri.edu/news/arc/mar2014b.phphttp://time.com/5517690/frost-quakes-ice-polar-vortex-sounds/[Butt One More Thing]Hurricane Florence poop:https://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Hurricane-Florence-Bathed-North-Carolina-in-Raw-Sewage-New-Figures-Show-it-was-Even-Worse-than-we-Thought.htmlhttps://www.livescience.com/63625-pig-manure-overflow-hurricane-florence.html Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Fossils: a profound link to our Earth’s past… some are profound... some are beautiful… some are poop! Kallie Moore, host of PBS Eons joins the Tangents crew to talk old stone bones, fraudulent fossils, and a dinosaur so well preserved, we may be able to figure out what its last meal was. Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions! If you want more Kallie Moore, check out PBS Eons:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzR-rom72PHN9Zg7RML9EbAAnd if you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:[Truth or Fail]Pseudofossils:http://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/Pseudofossils-1663.aspxUnderwater cave:https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/09/pictures/110927-crocodile-fossils-found-underwater-cave/http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/6440/N3779.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=yhttp://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/6920Picture: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/09/pictures/110927-crocodile-fossils-found-underwater-cave/#/40959.jpgAmber:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00379271.2010.10697637https://www.pnas.org/content/112/32/9961?ijkey=4607330261d2012edc599837b06f71be63ebc148&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha[Fact Off]Opalized fossils: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/12/exclusive-sparkly-opal-filled-fossils-reveal-new-dinosaur-species-paleontology/Super preserved Ankylosaur:https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/06/dinosaur-nodosaur-fossil-discovery/https://www.livescience.com/65640-opal-dinosaur-herd-bones.html[Ask the Science Couch]Zircon:https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/10/scientists-may-have-found-earliest-evidence-life-earthhttps://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/09/news-earth-rocks-sediment-first-life-zircon/Tully monster:https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/laelaps/tully-monster-still-a-mystery/https://www.isgs.illinois.edu/outreach/geology-resources/illinois-state-fossil-tullimonstrum-gregarium[Butt One More Thing]Fake poop:https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140729-dinosaur-coprolite-paleontology-dung-fossil-auction/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Birds singing, dogs barking, computers sending and receiving data, you reading this description: at the end of the day, it’s all communication. This week, we sit down with Vanessa Hill, host of the YouTube channel Braincraft, and do a little communicating about communication!Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!If you want more Vanessa Hill, check out BrainCraft: https://www.youtube.com/user/braincraftvideoAnd if you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:[Fact Off]Languages & ecological risk:Evolved antenna:https://ti.arc.nasa.gov/m/pub-archive/1244h/1244%20(Hornby).pdfhttp://www.genetic-programming.org/gecco2004hc/lohn-paper.pdfhttps://www.jpl.nasa.gov/nmp/st5/ABOUT/about-index.phpPicture of ST5 antenna: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/nmp/st5/TECHNOLOGY/antenna.htmlEvolution of antenna: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/2-Sequence-of-evolved-antennas-leading-up-to-antenna-ST5-331427_fig2_226537559[Ask the Science Couch]Animal communication: http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/vajda/ling201/test1materials/Animalchart.htmhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2014/08/22/chirps-whistles-clicks-do-any-animals-have-a-true-language/?utm_term=.1e218b9e7f00http://www.cogs.indiana.edu/spackled/2009readings/Slobodchikoff%202009.PDFhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1834009/http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150512-birds-hold-the-key-to-language  [Butt One More Thing]FRTs:https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2003/11/farting-fish-keep-touchhttps://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rsbl.2003.0107 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Everybody eats, and everybody poops, but in between… that’s where the magic happens! This week we’re talking about everyone’s favorite organic method of removing nutrients from food: digestion!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 these links:[Fact Off]Throat to small intestine:Phytobezoars:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4400622/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673384/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/apt.12141[Ask the Science Couch]Gum composition:https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/102/2/e22.longhttps://patents.google.com/patent/US6986907B2/enhttps://pslc.ws/macrog/pib.htmSwallowed gum:https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/swallowed-gum.htmlhttp://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/basics/transit.html[Butt One More Thing]Everlasting pill: https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/antimony-metallic-cleanse-middle-ageshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3037053/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Be they big or small, purposeful or accidental, innocuous or potentially-planet-destroying, there is no question that humans are great at making messes and not so great at cleaning them up. Joe Hanson, host of the PBS channel Hot Mess, joins us to talk about some of the more notable messes we’ve made, and what, if anything, we can do to be less messy in the future. 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 scishowtangents.org! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 oursdreams 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 these links:[Truth or Fail]Sleeping and Idea Generation:https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/05/sleep-creativity-theory/560399/http://mentalfloss.com/article/12763/11-creative-breakthroughs-people-had-their-sleephttps://www.brainpickings.org/2016/02/08/mendeleev-periodic-table-dream/https://www.inverse.com/article/3696-5-dreams-that-led-to-scientific-breakthroughs[Fact Off]Auto activation deficit: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24026624https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130911211923.htmNarcolepsy and dogs: https://med.stanford.edu/narcolepsy/narcolepsyhistory.htmlhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12026-014-8513-4https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625934/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9481825https://med.stanford.edu/content/dam/sm/psychiatry/documents/narcolepsy/latestnews/cell98.pdf[Ask the Science Couch]Naturally short sleepers:https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2018/03/410051/scientists-discover-how-gene-mutation-reduces-need-sleephttps://www.pnas.org/content/115/13/3434.short?rss=1https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3589707/Circadian rhythms:http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/science/variations/individual-variation-geneticshttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/having-this-gene-may-make-some-people-night-owls/Flies:https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1007098[Butt One More Thing]Dormant butt syndrome:https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/blog/your-dormant-butt-might-be-to-blame-for-knee-hip-or-back-pain Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 these links:[Truth or Fail]Hartshorn salt:https://www.thespruceeats.com/ammonium-carbonate-hartshorn-hirschhornsalz-1446913https://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/foods/recipe/ammonia.htmlBog butter:https://www.irishtimes.com/news/for-peat-s-safe-bog-butter-unearthed-with-turf-1.583009https://www.nature.com/news/1998/040315/full/news040315-5.htmlTurnspit: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/05/13/311127237/turnspit-dogs-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-vernepator-curhttps://books.google.com/books?id=FVF_PhTjK7cC&pg=PA316#v=onepage&q&f=false[Fact Off]Iodine in salt:https://www.nber.org/papers/w19233Hank’s notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13t4UeMlNg5bH3v1HpkixBa_PYT6AB8NtCFqIBEw9XQk/edit?ts=5cbfd777Graphene vegetable oil:https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-turned-cheap-cooking-oil-into-a-material-200-times-stronger-than-steelhttps://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14217[Ask the Science Couch]Cooking at high elevation:https://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/icooks/article-3-03.htmlhttps://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/foodnut/p41.pdfhttps://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/bread/bread_science.htmlhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6098858/[Butt One More Thing]Baby poop meat:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0309174013005263?via%3Dihubhttps://www.livescience.com/43465-baby-poop-sausage-probiotic.html Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.