Petri Dish

This week we have an episode on a topic recommended by a friend of the show! We begin with a story about a cute little goat born in the late 1930s in the Netherlands, and spiral into a wide ranging discussion about evolution, natural selection, phenotypic plasticity, and nature vs nurture! Tune in! References: https://medium.com/philosophy-of-science-communication/i-was-slijpers-goat-d79e59d32ac6...

Nathan had a magical experience recently in a mangrove forest and because Sean is a good older brother, Petri Dish is covering the ins and outs about this ecosystem! Learn about the cool adaptations that allow these plants to survive in salty waters, including being able to secrete salt crystals out of their leaves! References: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/47427/mapping-mangroves-by-sa...

Hi everyone and welcome to our second and final episode on penises! Why are bird penises so strange? Why does the spiny anteater have a four-headed penis? Why don't humans have a penis bone? All great questions that at least at mildly addressed in this episode of Petri Dish! References: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3677097 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2009.2139 https://www.n...

Hi Everyone! Happy Presidents' Day! In honor of presidents past, we have decided to do an episode on a topic Nathan has been requesting for a while -- dicks! Yes, somehow we have gotten around to doing an episode on penises. But as this topic was researched, we found to our surprise that penises are actually kind of interesting! So here, on PART ONE of a two part series on penises, we present to y...

Hi Everyone! Hope you're having an excellent Valentine's Day! In honor of all the romance out there, we're releasing an episode about chlamydia, one of the most successful bacterial sexually transmitted diseases in the world! The bacteria involved is a pretty funky one and is responsible for a few different diseases, so strap in and learn some new information about this old friend of humanity's. R...

Hey! We're back from our 2 week hiatus with an episode on Omicron! At this point, the omicron wave seems to be largely done in the US (in terms of new cases, people are still dying though so please be careful!) Science doesn't happen right away though, so there is still a lot we're learning about omicron and future potential variants! References: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04462-1...

Hey everyone! Hope you're all staying safe and healthy! We here at Petri Dish are taking a 2 week hiatus, but we'll be back with more science soon!

Hi everyone! In part 1 of crustaceans we laid down a lot of groundwork on what crustaceans even *are*. But here in part 2 we wanted to spend some time talking about a hot topic in crustacean-world: "carcinization" aka "stuff keeps evolving into crabs"! But not *all* crustaceans are yearning for crabdom -- there is a specific group called anomurans that really dig that crab vibe. Learn about them a...

Hey everyone! On this episode of Petri Dish we ask the question everyone has been asking since time immemorial -- what the fuck is a shrimp? Like seriously, what is that shit? No, I mean, I ask because there are so many things called shrimp -- fairy shrimp, mantis shrimp, seed shrimp, and so on... And while they look kind of similar to one another, they really aren't all that related, separated by...

Our final episode on kelp! We've spent the last two episodes discussing natural kelp forests and some of the fun things we can use kelp to do like bioremediation. This episode, we talk about the nutritional value of kelp and some food uses, including in food for cows! Real ad for BetterHelp, check out their offer at betterhelp.com/listener References: http://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Contents/Index?cont...

Part 2 of 3 of our series on Kelp! Part 1 was all about natural kelp forests and how cool they are, but part 2 is focused on how humans can EXPLOIT kelp for our own purposes, muahahaha! Can we use kelp to fix all that carbon we've been releasing into the atmosphere to help us reverse climate change? What about farming kelp for food and products? What about using kelp as a fancy filtration system t...

Hey everyone! This next series of Petri Dish is about Kelp, due to strong demand from Nathan. Kelp are those big floaty plant-looking things (but they aren't plants, technically)! This episode, we dive into natural kelp forests and how they're both environmentally great and also at risk of shrinkage. In future episodes we'll cover kelp farming and the fun uses of kelp! Real ad for BetterHelp, chec...

This week we have a one-off episode for you on koji! Koji is a Japanese fermented ingredient with analogues in other East Asian cuisines -- basically it is a grain that has some mold growing on it. But oh, the fancy foods you can make with it! Soy sauce, miso, sake, and so many other delicious things! But how does koji get made? What is the deal with the mold? And what sorts of fun things could yo...

Hi folks! Welcome to part 2 on Afforestation/Reforestation! Last time, we discussed the Chinese effort to plant a ton of trees, both to combat desertification and to capture carbon, with complex results in terms of water availability and climate across the whole of China. This time, we discuss the Great Green Wall of Africa, an effort to stem the growth of the Sahara (whether it is growing or not...

Hey everyone! On this week's episode of Petri Dish, Sean and Nathan start their two-part conversation on Afforestation and Reforestation! There's a lot of talk about how trees can help save the planet from climate change and make all kinds of fun biomes for critters, replenish aquifers, prevent desertification, and so on. But is it as simple as just planting a ton of trees? Tune in to find out abo...

On this, our last episode of our series on beer, we discuss the history of beer then talk about some of the cool ways synthetic biology and genetic engineering are being used to make the beer of the future! References: https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/17/4/499/1127626 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0062700 http://www.doc-developpement-durable.org/file/Fabrica...

Last week we discussed how to make a beer. This week we use that knowledge to discuss the differences between different kinds of beers, from delicious stouts to stanky sours! Next week we'll talk about the past and future of beer, including genetic modification! References: https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-01/beersci-what-difference-between-lager-and-ale/ https://www.businessinsider.com...

Beer! One of humanity's oldest companions! Why are there so many kinds? How do we go about making beer? What is science doing to advance beer into the future? This is a three-parter on beer, with the first week focusing on the steps involved in beermaking, along with the science behind them! Next week we'll cover the different kinds of beer, followed by an episode on the future of beer! References...

On this episode of Petri Dish, we have two updates on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic! First, the FDA has approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine on children ages 5 and up! Second, there is a new promising small molecule drug coming out of clinical trials that seems to reduce severe COVID by 50% in high-risk patients AND it can be taken orally! Find out about the science behind these two topics this...

It's the spooky season once again and this year on Petri Dish we explore the science and history of mummies! While ancient Egyptian mummies certainly have captivated the world, they aren't even close to the only culture that purposefully mummified the dead! Learn about other ancient mummies, and some much more modern ones as well, this week on Petri Dish! Warning! This episode mentions human remai...

In our final episode in our series on HIV/AIDS, we discuss the cutting edge treatments and vaccines that are currently being tested! One of the treatments discussed even aims to be about as close to a 'cure' as is possible for HIV infection -- learn how they plan to do it! References: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4287108/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/04/health/aids-cure-london-p...

Welcome to part 3 of our series on HIV/AIDS! In the previous two episodes we covered the history of HIV/AIDS and how HIV/AIDS works on the cellular level. In this episode we use that information to understand how our current arsenal of anti-retroviral drugs work! Next week we'll be discussing the treatments on the horizon that may help us reach an end of the HIV/AIDS global epidemic! Ad Sponsor In...

This week on Petri Dish we dive deeper into HIV/AIDS pathophysiology -- how does HIV do what it does to your body? How does the virus target specific cells? What does it do once it gets into your cells? Definitely an important episode to listen to in order to prep for our next two episodes on current and future treatments! Ad Sponsor Info: Link: https://hellofresh-ca.o5kg.net/c/2544961/791027/7893...

Recent news has led to a lot of excitement with relation to HIV/AIDS -- approval for clinical trials using a new vaccine and a new treatment/potential cure has led to a lot of buzz! But what is the current state of the HIV/AIDS global epidemic? When did HIV first evolve into being? What even is HIV? Ad Sponsor Info: Link: https://hellofresh-ca.o5kg.net/c/2544961/791027/7893 Code: HFAFF80 Offer: $8...

This week we have a short episode, a Q&A on COVID vaccine booster shots based on the latest info from 09/17/2021! Who can currently get a COVID booster shot? What happened with the FDA recently relating to booster shots? What even is a booster shot? Find out this week! Ad Sponsor Info: Link: https://hellofresh-ca.o5kg.net/c/2544961/791027/7893 Code: HFAFF80 Offer: $80 Discount ($50 - $20 - $10...