Petri Dish

Last episode we discussed the basics of plasma, fusion power, and a design called the tokamak. This week we dive into some of the dark horse fusion power plant designs that are hoping to reach the power in -- power out breakeven point faster than ITER and the other tokamaks, designs like the stellarator, z-pinch, and more! Featuring a promo for Play Comics Podcast, a pod about comic book universes...

Fusion power has been just beyond the horizon for 60 years -- when are we going to get there?! Join us as we learn the fundamentals of how fusion power works! In this part 1, we also discuss a specific fusion plant design, the tokamak! Next time we'll discuss some other designs. Featuring a promo for The Jury Room Podcast!

Coincidentally, March is Endometriosis Awareness Month! Maybe up to 10% of women ages 15-50 have endometriosis (over 170 million people worldwide), with a staggering array of potential symptoms (and a variety of severities). Due to its complexity and our long history of sexism in science and medicine, endometriosis is something we still have a lot to learn about, but we cover a lot of what we do k...

*Special Note* This episode contains a trailer for an upcoming series of episodes on the True Crime podcast Riddle Me That -- the trailer contains mentions of pretty disturbing stuff, so we want listeners to be aware that it is there -- it is in the episode from the 17:00 to 19:30 minute mark. Wine! A fermented fruit drink that now has a mind bogglingly large market with bigtime cultural impact. B...

We have a special kind of episode for y'all this week! Nathan and Sean dive into the scientific work of the first Black chemist inducted into the National Academy of Science in the United States, Dr. Percy Lavon Julian! A true chemistry powerhouse, with accomplishments spanning nearly all of the 20th century, Dr. Julian helped with the scale-up manufacturing of natural products, ranging from treat...

Last episode we discussed the history of antibiotics and alluded to RESISTANCE, the ability of bacteria to adapt to antibiotics to the point where the drugs aren't effective anymore. This is a huge, global problem, one that requires changes in policy and individual behavior, but all that other stuff is for some other time -- we're going to talk about the science of antibiotic resistance and what s...

What do ancient Anglo-Saxons, scientists in Nazi Germany, and moldy petri dishes have in common? They all were working hard to kill bacteria using antibiotics! What are antibiotics and what is the history of their use? Find out this week on Petri Dish! This episode has two promos! One for Cast Junkie, a monthly show that highlights indie podcasts (find them at castjunkie.com). The other is for Pom...

Tens of thousands of organs are transplanted each year in the US alone, but this big number of transplantations still falls short of the need: many people remain on the waitlist for organs and a number of people pass away while waiting for an organ. This week, Nathan and Sean discuss some of the near-future options for the supply side of the organ situation. What is xenotransplantation? How can we...

Our first episode ever was about the microbiome, all the little bacteria and fungi and other folks living on and inside of us. While maybe you might not have heard of the microbiome, you've probably heard of stuff that is *supposed* to help the microbiome -- things like prebiotics and probiotics, which are often advertised as good for your gut health. Is that real? What is the science there? This...

Proteins, DNA, viruses, cells... they're all so small, it is hard to get a feel for what their deal is, they just seem so abstract! This week on Petri Dish, Nathan and Sean shrink down to the size of an average protein and hang out in different environments to help you visualize what a day in the life of a protein is like! This episode has a promo for Plants and Pipettes, a plant molecular biology...

Millions of people have been vaccinated all over the world and by now you're probably at least somewhat acquainted with the two vaccines that have been emergency-approved in the USA. But did you know there are 64 vaccines currently in clinical trials and 10 that have been approved in some country in the world? What is the deal with those vaccines? This episode has a promo for Curiosity Killed the...

*Note* Sean says napa cabbage may be from a hybridization between radish and bok choy, and that they are the same species -- he meant TURNIP and bok choy. Radish is part of the same FAMILY as those other guys, but turnips and bok choy are the same species. Kimchi is a delicious collection of Korean pickled vegetables, showing up in grocery stores all over the world. But what is it? Are its purport...

It is probably going to be a while before we can *totally* stop using things like jet fuel and diesel, but they are both non-renewable *and* leave a carbon footprint. WHAT'RE WE GONNA DO? Biofuels could help! Depending on how they're made, they could end up being carbon neutral, or have a smaller footprint than regular fuel. On top of that, they'll be renewable! But how do they work? Do we have bi...

Join Jimmy Coconuts by a roaring fire for a very jolly Winter Solstice Holiday Season episode! Ol' Man Sean and Uncle Nathan discuss what sorts of genetic and physical modifications could result in your own werewolf, if you had access to slightly futuristic tech and a wobbly moral compass! This episode has a promo for Dear Grad Student, an interview podcast about grad school life, trials, and trib...

Pickled foods are great! Achaar, kimchi, sauerkraut, dill pickles... so good.. Are all pickled foods fermented? How do you pickle stuff? What is the science behind the delicious pickling process? This episode has a promo for Bald Scientist Podcast! Learn some science and life lessons from Professor and Scientist One Pagan! Check him out at @Baldscientist on twitter! Email us at petridishpod -at- g...

What is raw milk cheese? What is vegan cheese? Is velveeta even cheese at all!? This episode Nathan and Sean answer all your cheesiest questions! Also, Sean screwed up in this episode -- he said agar agar is from kelp (a brown algae) when it is actually from red algae... what a dumbass. This episode has a promo for Podcast Review Day! The 8th of every month is a day for you to get out there and re...

In the European Union alone over 9 million tons of cheese are consumed every year. 9 MILLION TONS! And hey, per capita the United States is second place behind EU denizens, consuming a mere 37 pounds of cheese per person per year. Anyway, what is cheese? How is it made? Why does milk have nanoparticles in it? All this and more on this first episode of a two parter on cheese! I know, I can't believ...

Solar? Only good during the daytime. Wind?! What about the BIRDS!? How about a renewable energy source deep beneath our feet, Geothermal Power! Tongue-in-cheek dissing on other power sources aside, geothermal is a kind of renewable energy that hasn't been discussed in the public eye as much as solar and wind, even though it has successfully been powering homes in the US and abroad for decades. Can...

No! Not werewolves! Lichen, like the symbiotic life forms made up of a photosynthesis buddy (like an algae or cyanobacteria) and a fungus buddy! But are they really just a couple? Or is it very common for lichen to actually be threesomes? Foursomes?! Moresomes?!! Find out about this very strange and cool goobers, this week on Petri Dish! This episode has a promo for Curiosity Cake, a podcast for p...

Have you been eating lots of cookies during this whole 2020 fiasco because of all the STRESS? Or have you actually been eating LESS food because of stress? Wait, how are both possible options? Why is stress so confusing? Learn about stress eating AND stress *not* eating this week, on Petri Dish! This episode has a promo for Dear Grad Student, a podcast to celebrate and commiserate the whole situat...

This episode is about peptic ulcers, the ulcers of your stomach and duodenum. For a long time they were considered to be linked to stress, but that idea fell a little out of favor when H. pylori bacteria were discovered as a major causative agent for gastritis. But in more recent years, stress and its connection to peptic ulcers are making a bit of a comeback! This episode has an ad for Scientistt...

Prepare yourselves, dear listeners, for a spooky Halloween episode of Petri Dish! Sean and Nathan have become trapped in a laboratory in Heck! They can only escape by telling their ghastly imprisoner three science tales! Listen in and hear these spooky stories, this week on Petri Dish! This episode has a promo for Papa PhD Podcast, a podcast about what it is like to navigate life and careers after...

2020... The Year of Stress... We're past the halfway point in spooky October everyone, hope you've been having a nice time! This episode is part three of our series on stress -- we covered stress hormones and the parts of your body that make them in the past two episodes, so this episode is all about the BRAIN! The hippocampus! The amygdala! The medial prefrontal cortex! WTF are they doing and why...

This is a corrected version of the episode! The audio from the last release was all messed up! Sorry about the mistake! Are y'all done feeling stressed yet? No? Well neither are we! We continue our discussion from last episode, moving on to the stuff that actually makes the stress hormone, the HPA axis! What does the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis do and how does it work? Also, we discuss wha...

WE'RE SO STRESSED 2020! But what is stress, in a biological level? And how does it related to "feeling stressed"? In this episode we dive into biological stress, both physiological and psychosocial, and talk about some of the stress hormones that course through your blood when you're feeling stressed out! Tune in next episode to learn about where these stress hormones are made and the start of our...