Let's Learn Everything!

What are the most EXTREME lifeforms on Earth, and how are they surprisingly important to study? And what is the long yet recent history of astrology, and why do we reach for it?Things we Talk About:The Seal StreamSea lion runningTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:04:23) Extremophiles(00:57:55) Astrology(01:43:59) OutroSupport us with a Max Fun Membership!Join our Discord!We also learn about: We’ve put tardigrades through every red bull task imaginable but they’re NOT extremophiles, extremotolerant vs extremophiles that thrive, thermophiles at 122 celsius, anglophiles, what would it suck to experience, psychrophiles, acidophiles and alkaliphiles, hypobarophiles experiencing 500x our pressure, oligatroph, polyextromophiles, life has found a way in so many extreme places, the chernobyl black mold, not just growing towards radiation but eating Hot Particles, fungi have survived harsh radiation in the Earth’s past, melanin lets the fungi handle and perceive radiation safely, it’s similar to photosynthesis though in the same way a tsunami is similar to a glass of water, conan the bacterium can live inside nuclear reactors, DNA redundancy, krill that makes antifreeze proteins, osmoconfromers, acidophile taken to a lab and finally thriving at .7 ph, it’s also hard as hell to capture and study and keep these extremophiles alive, extremophiles gave us PCR, we also us extremophile e coli, bioremediation is what I took when I failed bio and was tutored by an extremophile, we have so much to do-actually that was pretty funny, bioplastics, what extreomophiles teach us about astrobiology, letting some bacteria chill on the outside of the ISS for 3 years, damn girl you’re making me re-evaluate the limits of life, our nuanced and conflicting feeling on astrology, yay we get to read our horoscopes- wait fuck why am I happy about that? babylonian horoscopes, star charts for things like seasons actually were right, the Enuma Anu Enlil collection of omens, what’s your mother’s maiden name and pincode horoscope,  the legacy of the endless pig, uh oh we’re having fun talking about horoscopes, medieval astrology in the royal court and the sciences, before we knew about the earth going around the sun the stars explained the seasons, in the 1700s astrology was seen as a sham, of course royal watching tabloids bring about astrology 2.0, scraping the bottom of the barrel for anything to say about princess margaret, globe conflict 2 electric boogaloo, a pims advert is a rich text, the horoscope test, god the people yearn for therapy, the barnum effect, zodiacs are part of our culture - so something to connect with, the correlation of uncertainty and horoscope popularity, how to manage uncertainty without horoscopes, video games offer a structure and challenge and reward that can help people cope with hard times.Sources:NOAA: What is an Extremophile?Life: Extremeophiles and Extreme EnvironmentsNature: Life in Extreme EnvironmentsPMC: Genomics of an extreme psychrophile, Psychromonas ingrahamiiThe Biologist: Eating Gamme Rays for BreakfastResearch Gate: A Case Study of Strains Inhabiting Chernobyl Reactor No. 4Chemical Communications: : The Incredible Cell Membrane Adaptations of Extremophiles to Harsh EnvironmentsLife: Extremophiles and Extremophilic BehaviourBiotechnology Advances: Structural Features of ThermozynesScience: Conan the BateriumMicrobiology and Molecular Biology Reviews: Oxidative Stress Resistance in Deinococcus radioduransPolar Biology: Cold Resistance the Krill Euphausia superbaExtremophiles: Picrophilus oshimaeLife: Biotechniological Applications of Extremophile ResearchWiki: Thermos aquaticusFrontiers in Microbiology: DNA Polymerases as Useful Reagents for BiotechnologyPNAS: Microbial Growth at Hyperaccelerations up to 403,627 × gFrontiers in Microbiology: Extremophiles and the Limits of Life in a Planetary ContextJournal of Indian Institute of Science: Bioprospecting Extremophiles for AstrobiologyNASA: AstrobiologyFrontiers in Microbiology: DNA Damage and Survival Time Course of Deinococcal Cell Pellets During 3 Years of Exposure to Outer SpaceNew Scientist: Radiation Resistant Bacteria Could Survive Journey From Earth to MarsAstrology sources will be added soon!! Apologies, had a tight turn around on this one with Thanksgiving and prep for the holiday episode, but good on you for actually digging into the sources! Here is your well earned gold star ⭐ - Tom

http://www.LetsLearnEverything.com/qIt's time to submit your questions for our annual Q&A episode!

What, when, where, why, and how... do we sneeze? There's a surprising amount of mystery to the thing we do all the time, and a lot to learn about! And how many parables and metaphors that we use are actually true? Let's actually dig in to the research and bust some myths!! I mean... break some... falsehoods!!Images we Talk About:The Rat DiagramCaseidsDiplodocus BonesPlane DiagramMoai WalkingTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:03:26) Sneezing(00:57:55) Parable Mythbusters(01:43:59) OutroSupport us with a Max Fun Membership!Join our Discord!We also learn about: Caroline was inspired by being sick,  theories of sneezing, sneezing in the odyssey, Aristotle said burping and farting are not divine, 25 sextillion molecules in every breath, it’s a wonder we’re not sneezing all the time, sneezing only goes to your brain stem, a sneeze can send particles 8 meters, what ion channel? last year we made sneezless mice, le petite mort and le petit orgasm, the incredible mid-sneeze mouse diagram, we’re gonna talk about - ghoooosts, A.C.H.O.O or the photic sneeze reflex, our explanations for sneezing reflect our understanding of science at the time, snatiation, S.N.A.T.I.A.T.I.O.N, sneezing from getting horny, pee chills, a sneeze is just a more obvious indicator that wires get crossed, diagnostic sneeze testing, finding the first sneezing animal, the earliest diaphgram, chickens sneeze, African wild dogs voting by sneeze, dolphins chuffing, bugs aren’t part of the sneeze club, unlike the mythbusters we won’t be blowing up cars, okay maybe a few, if you put a frog into boiling water it won’t jump out it will die, boiling frogs in search of the soul, the climate change metaphor works for brain dead leaders, the survivorship bias meme plane, the image is fictitious but Abraham Wald is even cooler, America’s Bletchley - The Statistical Research Group, some people believe the heads had bodies, oh my god they did, the walking Moai, the deforestation happened before the people, invasive rats without a natural predator, pretending we’re surprised about colonialism being the culprit, we didn’t need to do carbon dating to find some of these answers guys.Sources:1990 Paper: The History of Sneezing2013 Paper: The Omen of Sneezing2009 Paper: Sneeze reflex: Facts and fictionSmithsonian: Why Do We Sneeze?National Geographic: The Air You Breathe Is Full of SurprisesWiki: Sneeze2025 Paper: The Sneeze Reflex in Physiological and Pathological states: a mini review2024 Paper: Mouse Sneezing StudyNature: Cough or sneeze? How the brain knows what to unleashScientific American: Looking at the Sun Can Trigger a Sneeze2010 Paper: When the Sun Prickles Your Nose: An EEG Study Identifying Neural Bases of Photic SneezingScienceLine: Why Do People Sneeze When They Look at the Sun?OMIM: Gastric Sneezing2009 Paper: Arousal and Sneezing2017 Article: An Ancient Origin for the Diaphragm2022 Paper: Lung Evolution in Vertebrates and the Water-to-Land TransitionNational Geographic: Animal SneezingNational Geographic: African Wild Dogs Vote by SneezeOceanbites: Sneeze, Cough, Chuff: Respiratory Irritation in DolphinsNatural History Museum: HagfishesSmithsonian: 14 Fun Facts About HagfishSci-Show- Aquatic Sneezing2022 Paper: Sponges Sneeze2022 Paper: Dinosaur SicknessNational Geographic: First Dinosaur Found with a Respiratory Disease---Atlantic on The Boiling FrogKnow Your Meme: Survivorship Bias PlaneCameron Moll Blog Post about Original DrawingAbraham Wald's Plane Statistic MemorandumTerry Hunt's Incredible "Rethinking the Fall of Easter Island"The Walking Moai Paper

Discover how animals like moles have uniquely adapted for digging, exploring the fascinating Devil's Corkscrew and its implications. The discussion dives into the specialized anatomy and behaviors of these fossorial creatures. On the flip side, the podcast examines the complex world of movie censorship, from the UK’s video nasties moral panic to the U.S. Hays Code. The conversation reveals how cultural, political, and commercial interests shape our cinematic experience, illustrating the delicate balance between freedom and regulation.

It's the podcast's birthday!! So Tom has a few ideas he wants to pitch to Caroline and Ella... but first! Ella and Caroline finally revisit the topics they promised! What are the WILD stories behind the race to discover new elements, and what are the real nuancy nuances of craftivism?Images we Talk About:William Morris' PrintTerrero's HankieHankie Given to TerreroMadres de Plaza de MayoPussyhatTom's GiftsTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:06:43) Superheavy Elements 2(01:17:58) Craftivism 2(02:01:28) Tom’s ListSupport us with a Max Fun Membership!Join our Discord!We also learn about: How do we prove this is real, we pinky promise, a refresher in the form of a pop quiz, we didn’t make the elements - except for some we did make, is the gift plutonium? we never thought we’d have another element heavier - and then you happened! the quizkids element reveal, the increasing specificity of Stan’s Apartmentium, just keep adding and smashing its just math - really expensive math, the long island ice tea of nuclear materials is in the bomb, scraping new elements off the filters of flying through a mushroom cloud, the edge of the periodic table was a cold war battle field, the feuds of the transfermium wars, perhaps sodium seaborgate, while they were bickering over naming Germany discovered 5 new elements, it’s like a railgun you nerd, linear vs circular accelerators, it’s like hotwheels tracks, we could’ve designed this! “how can we differently smash this stuff?”, I’m hype about a filter, only Victor Ninov could run GOOSY, “the most audacious fraud in scientific history”, lying about discovering an element and then discovering it before people catch on to the lie, 3 elements wasn’t enough, Oganessian co discovered 14 elements - the most of anyone, I mean really we all co-discovered this topic, “we hit this wall of super heavy elements being bastards”, Goosy 2 Electric Goosyloo, you’re smashing billions of particles per second over months to hopefully get 1 atom, calcium beam of milk, the theoretical island of stability, superstable superheavy elements, disappointment on the horizon, domestic arts for political and social change, I sure wish someone had done research into this nuance, oh fuck that was supposed to be me! the arts and crafts movement was activism for crafts not crafts for activism, fucking up golf courses for women’s suffrage, some suffragettes didn’t want to include working class women, imprisoned women were given sewing needles to reform but they just made incredible protest art, Madres de Plaza de Mayo, a sense of solidarity through craft, lets tonally tokyo drift this episode baby, comparing and contrasting with the pussy hat, craft ins and yarn bombing, craftivism defies expectations and engages community, “appealing” activism, craftivism is a piece of the puzzle not the whole solution, it’s a useful tool in the toolkit, Hoisin Duck Wrap - Irn Bru - Yogurt, Tom gets a tattoo and regrets it, stopping by Tom Scott’s spinoff podcast show, Tom’s gifts, putting it to the test who’s the strongest cohost, the podcast can officially hop!Sources:Kit Chapman's "Super Heavy: Making and Breaking the Periodic Table"Ella's Superheavy Documentary---Britannica: Arts and Crafts MovementTextile Society of America: The benefits and pitfalls of craftivismMuseum of English Rural lift: Suffrage and the Sewing MachineAmerican Golfer 1912: The British Suffragettes Attack Golf CoursesTextile Society of America: The Political Stitch: Voicing Resistance in a Suffrage TextileThe Thread Blog: Historical Craftivism: From Suffragettes to Gandhi to ArgentinaThe Association of the Madres de Plaza de MayoLearning for Justice: Madres de Plaza de MayoV&A: The PussyhatThe Morning Crafter Blog: Craftivism: Empowerment, Resistance, and Activism Through HistoryBook: How To Be A Craftivist by Sarah Corbett2022 Paper: Negotiating the Art of Protest through Craftivism2017 Paper: KNIT + RESIST: placing the Pussyhat Project in the context of craft activism2018 Paper: Knitting Activism, Knitting Gender, Knitting RaceJ. Feliz: An Open Letter to the Craftivism MovementBBC: Police to get broader powers to restrict repeated protests

Dive into the fascinating world of paranormal psychology and discover why our brains love to create spooky experiences. Explore old Halloween traditions, like the wild antics of Mischief Night and the peculiar 'Silent Supper' game. Learn how suggestion can shape our perceptions, making us feel haunted by the unseeable. Marvel at quirky pumpkin-carving rituals and the history behind bobbing for apples. This episode blends science and the supernatural with laughs and reflections on how to reclaim forgotten festivities for a modern Halloween!

Ellen Weatherford, a dynamic producer and podcaster, dives into the fascinating realms of unsolved math problems and video game controllers. She shares the legacy of Fermat's claims and highlights the captivating history behind perfect numbers. Then, Ellen explores the evolution of gaming controllers, discussing iconic innovations from the Magnavox Odyssey to modern ergonomics. With personal anecdotes peppered throughout, listeners will enjoy a nostalgic journey through gaming's tech evolution, sparking curiosity about both math and gaming history!

Discover how chemistry explains the inner workings of computers, from semiconductors to transistors, showcasing the evolution from bulky vacuum tubes to sleek integrated circuits. Dive deep into the Great Moon Hoax of 1835, a satirical series that led many to believe in fantastical lunar discoveries, fueled by intrigue in extraterrestrial life. Learn about the clever techniques used to lend credibility to the hoax and its lasting impact on science fiction and media responsibility.

In this discussion, Lauren Gawne, a senior lecturer and gesture researcher, delves into the complexities of pointing. Is it truly rude? Lauren explores cultural perceptions, revealing that index-finger pointing can feel aggressive due to its associations. The conversation also highlights diverse pointing methods across cultures, such as lip and chin pointing, and discusses the fascinating role of gesture in language—a key component of sign languages. Plus, learn how gestures enhance memory and storytelling. Where will pointing lead us next?

Dive into the quirky world of octopuses, where their alien-like intelligence and decentralized nervous systems challenge our understanding of animal behavior. Explore their playful antics, like navigating mazes and forming social groups, revealing a surprising depth. Shift gears to the Paralympics, tracing its roots and the ongoing struggles for representation and fairness in sports. Discover the inspiring histories, the complexities of competition, and the societal impacts of visibility for disabled athletes, making this a captivating blend of science and sports.