Tumble Science Podcast for Kids

What does cheese have to do with technology? What does engineering have to do with biology? And why should we know about it? We’ll slice into these questions to get a taste of what synthetic biology is, how it's already in our lives, and how it got there.  Welcome to Life Lab! This is the first part of our five part series about how tiny life can change everything. In Life Lab, we explore the incredible power of synthetic biology to solve some of our biggest challenges - and asking how it could change our future.  This episode features Christina Agapakis and Kristala Prather. Life Lab is supported by the Engineering Biology Research Consortium, a non-profit committed to educating the next-generation and building a community dedicated to solving big challenges with engineering biology. Funded by the National Science Foundation. We have two bonus interviews for you this week, featuring Christina and Kris! They’re available to Tumble Patrons who pledge just a dollar or more a month, on patreon.com/tumblepodcast. You can find a transcript and other educational materials about this episode on the blog on our website, sciencepodcastforkids.com.

Season 8 of Tumble begins September 16 with a special, five-part series called “Life Lab.” Life Lab will explore the incredible power of a new technology you probably haven’t heard of. This technology could solve some of the biggest challenges on our planet, and beyond. But with great power, comes great responsibility. We’ll be asking important questions about whether it could - or should - change our future. Bonus: Life Lab will be released weekly, for five weeks! After that, we’ll return to our regular schedule of science discovery, every other week. Help us spread the word! If you can’t wait for all new episodes of Tumble, tell your friends, family, and your teachers to listen along with you. Subscribe or follow wherever you listen to Tumble Science Podcast for Kids.

Hear sounds created from images by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, in this updated episode! The biggest space telescope in the universe had a busy summer, wowing us with incredible images of the cosmos like we've never seen before. But it took a lot of work to get there! Learn about it in this episode, originally released in December 2021. Hear more Webb sound here.  Watch the launch here.  See Webb's first images here. How do you launch the largest space telescope ever built into space? The James Webb Space Telescope will travel 1.5 million miles away from Earth to help answer some of our biggest questions about the universe. But first, it has to be launched on a rocket - and the telescope is too big to fit on a rocket. So NASA decided to fold it up - and then unfold it in space. How? NASA scientist Knicole Colón and NASA engineer Alphonso Stewart take us on a journey through the world’s biggest origami project. We have big news to share about Season 8 next week, so keep your ears out for the trailer! 

Join Marshall for our final Road Trip adventure of the summer, as we travel back to the age of the dinosaurs! We'll be sharing a bunch of our favorite episodes about everyone's prehistoric creatures. In this collection, you'll find: The Rise of the Dinosaurs  How to Be a Fossil Fixer  The Call of the Antarctic Dinosaur with Julia Clarke  The Dinosaur Asteroid You'll also get to help Marshall repair his broken time machine with some Dino-trivia questions after each episode. Enjoy!  Support Tumble on Patreon: patreon.com/tumblepodcast

Tumble presents one of our favorite podcasts from RTÉjr Radio: Cereal!  Deception, Mystery and so much more in “Cereal” RTÉjr Radio’s (not really) True Crime Podcast for all the family. Picture the scene. A brand new TV talent show for kids called “The Novice”. Middle Grade students battle it out to get funding and promotion for their mini company on the national stage. The candidates? Fergus, an ambitious eco-warrior who’s invented “The Bog Log” a product that turns your poop into compost for your garden. Xander, a tech whizkid who’s dreamt up the “Homework Helper”, an App that literally does your homework for you. Brother and Sister Duo PJ and Clara, forced to enter by their teacher in place of detention, have conjured a colour changing Mood Ring. And Aoife and Katie, best buds for life cooked up the product that gives this podcast it’s name. Crunch Ems; a Cereal bar treat that’s truly healthy and tastes like a dream. Four perfect products. But all is not what it seems. When the show goes sideways a tale of blackmail and intrigue is revealed. And who better to chart it in his own podcast but 15 year old Rian, runner on The Novice and budding TY podcast presenter. Ryan Tubridy cameos as himself, a veteran broadcast adviser to the young podcast host. And amateur sleuth in his own right. Across 6 episodes Rian takes the listener on a complex journey of discovery to unveil the truth behind the scandal. Find Cereal on on the RTÉ website, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Join Marshall on a fantastic adventure to the center of the human brain. In this road trip adventure pack, we've put together four classic episodes of Tumble for your listening enjoyment. Learn all about the wonders of the human brain in these episodes:  Do Dreams Have Meaning? (20min) Why Words? How we learn language (16min) The Magic Memory Molecule (20min) The Science of Colors Dive deep, and enjoy this selection of great episodes. 

Since Lindsay and Marshall are on a break for the summer, we thought we'd share with you one of our favorite other podcasts! We present to you: Tai Asks Why.  Fifteen-year-old Tai Poole won’t rest until he’s uncovered the mysteries of the universe, one probing question at a time. In Season 4 of his Webby-winning podcast, Tai talks to everyone from NASA scientists to stand-up comedians to his equally curious little brother. If you’ve ever wondered what we can do when we’re anxious or if we’re alone in the universe, Tai has you covered. More episodes are available at hyperurl.co/taiaskswhy

Join Marshall out to eat as we share this special road trip fun pack of Tumble episodes having to do with food! This collection of five classic Tumble episodes includes:  The Science of your Favorite Foods The Tale of the Hungry Koala The Science of Smell The Bacteria Cookbook The Jack O’Lantern Science Mystery Buckle up and enjoy this great selection of episodes. 

What would Earth be like if our oceans never existed? That’s what Charlie wants to know! We recruit Earth detective Lucia Perez-Diaz to help us track down clues hidden within our planet’s rocks. Our investigation takes us through the mysteries of how water got on Earth, the giant plates moving beneath our feet, and why our oceans are shaped the way they are. Lucia’s also an illustrator, and will draw us an Earth without oceans. What will it look like? Listen to find out.Learn more about how Lucia uses her detective skills to reveal the last 200 million years of Earth’s history, on our special bonus interview episode. It’s available to Patrons who pledge $1 a month or higher! You can support our show and get our ad-free feed on patreon.com/tumblepodcast.You can see some of Lucia’s illustrations on our blog at sciencepodcastforkids.com, along with other resources to learn more about water and plate tectonics on our planet!

Why do bubbles pop, and why do bubbles have shadows? We’re in double bubble trouble with two listener questions. Luckily, Dr. Bubbles is here to save the day! We’ll find out how a normal, everyman physicist named Justin Burton became a superhero bubble scientist, on a quest to make a scientifically proven recipe for giant bubbles. Along the way, we’ll discover the answers to our listeners’ bubbling curiosity. Hear from the inventor of edible bubbles, Li Wei Tan, in a bonus interview episode available on our ad-free Patreon feed! It’s available for just $1/month when you pledge to support Tumble at patreon.com/tumblepodcast. We’ll have free resources about bubbles on the blog on our website, sciencepodcastforkids.com. This episode is sponsored by MEL Science. Check out their awesome science boxes at https://melscience.com/sBHH/ Make sure to use the offer code "TUMBLE" at checkout for 60% off your order.  Here is Dr. Bubble’s Giant Bubble Recipe, courtesy of Emory University: Ingredients 1 liter of water (about 2 pints) 50 milliliters of Dawn Professional Detergent, which is available online (a little over 3 tablespoons) 2-3 grams of guar powder (or guar gum), a food thickener sold in some grocery stores or available online (about 1/2 heaping teaspoon) 50 milliliters of rubbing alcohol (a little more than 3 tablespoons) 2 grams of baking powder (about 1/2 teaspoon) Directions Mix the guar powder with the alcohol and stir until there are no clumps. Combine the alcohol/guar slurry with the water and mix gently for 10 minutes. Let it sit for a bit so the guar hydrates. Then mix again. The water should thicken slightly, like thin soup or unset gelatin. Add the baking powder and stir. Add the Dawn Professional Detergent and stir gently, to avoid causing the mixture to foam. Dip a giant bubble wand with a fibrous string into the mixture until it is fully immersed and slowly pull the string out. Wave the wand slowly or blow on it and enjoy the physics of giant soap bubbles! Results may vary based on humidity.