Teach Me Something

Join us this episode for a light and fun discussion about birds. We talk about some ways birds adapt to their environments, and some cool aspects of their wing and feather design. You can finally learn the answer to why flamingos stand on one leg, and you'll even get to learn about a penguin's secret kickstand (yes, you read that right.) Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/teach-me-someth...

This episode is a short but action-packed summary of the weather concepts we found most interesting. How do tornadoes form? Why do we have hurricanes? What's up with seasons? We'll dive into all these questions, and more, and slip in a brief history of meteorological science. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/teach-me-something . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...

Do you like obscure facts that are cool but useless (unless you go to trivia night at the pub)? Well this is the episode for you! You'll learn such things as the difference between flammable and inflammable (hint, there is no difference), the most smelly chemical, and the strongest acid ever made. You can also get answers to really pressing questions like, "can humans spontaneously combust?" and "...

This week we are tackling chemistry, specifically the periodic table, in a totally not boring way! (We hope.) We'll give you just a bit of background into the periodic table and the origin of the concept of elements. Then we'll add to your random trivia knowledge by telling you where many of the elements got their names. So tune in to learn interesting and seemingly random facts, like that beans w...

In this episode we'll give you a crash-course on Linnaean taxonomy (the gift you never knew you wanted). Then we'll fill you in on some super cool and tiny monkeys that live in the Americas. Marmosets and Tamarins use a fairly unique mating strategy and boy-oh-boy does it pay off. Make sure to listen to this week's episode to find out how these little guys manage to reproduce like bunnies, and lea...

We have finally come to the conclusion of the Poison Squad series! Thank you for sticking with it all the way to the end; I promise that by the end of this episode, the US will finally end up with a workable national food safety law. Just wait (and then wait and wait...), and you'll finally get the closure you're seeking. We end this episode with some bonus coverage of a huge modern-day food adult...

Here in part 3, we finally introduce you to the Poison Squad (not the people, just the concept). We'll also explain how a novel gave a much needed boost to the Pure Food Movement and we'll finish off by returning to the roots of this series and grossing you out. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/teach-me-something . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back for part 2 of our Poison Squad series, and this time it's personal. Corporations are mad at the government, the military is mad at the manufacturers and the meatpackers are mad at...the cooks? Listen to this week's episode to see how food got more dangerous, and manufacturers got more reckless. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/teach-me-something . Hosted on Acast. See acast....

The Poison Squad series is the dirty, disgusting, and at times quite nauseating tale of how the United States finally passed their first national food, water, and drug safety laws. In part 1, we'll introduce you to the hero of the story, Harvey Wiley, and we'll begin to explain the gross and dangerous things that people used to do to food. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/teach-me-some...

This week we dive into venom. What is it? What's in it? How does it work? We'll tell you all about different venomous animals, and the animals that are resistant to venom. If you've ever wondered how an anti-venom works, or how it's made, we'll answer that for you as well. We'll also talk about some recent and very exciting medical developments coming from venom research, including new types of pa...

In the last part of our trilogy, we will start exploring Scottish, Welsh, and English lore. We'll give you a little background on each of these cultures, but mostly we are just going to tell you stories: a heroic tale of a monster's defeat; a love story with a rather odd middle, but a happy ending; and a New Year's tale of Gawain and the Green Knight. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/t...

On part two of our series on the Mythology of the British Isles, we will continue to talk about the myths of Ancient Ireland. We have four very interesting tales to tell you, from the Ulster and Finian cycles. This week you'll meet the important heroes, Finn MacCool and Cú Chulainn, and hear about how serious these people were about their cattle. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/teach-...

In the first episode of our trilogy, we'll briefly introduce you to the Celtic people and tell you a little about how the British Isles were populated. We'll also teach you about the cycles of Irish mythology. We'll round out the episode with two tales from Irish mythology, one about the birth of a great hero and on about the death of the Great Smiter. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/...

This episode we'll get into all the awesome, awful, and extremely fascinating ways that animals find and win their mates. Mating is arguably the most important function of an animal, even more important than long-term survival. Because of this, there is a wide-range of very cool behaviours that (male) animals use to give themselves a chance to reproduce. Should they look nice? Smell nice? Bring gi...

Last episode we talked mostly about asexual reproduction. This episode we'll flip the script and discuss the advantages sexual reproduction brings to the table. We'll talk about some ways that sexual organisms could be more successful, reproductively speaking, than asexual ones. I'll also try to explain a theory which suggests an evolutionary explanation for the origins of sexual reproduction. Sup...

In this episode we discuss sexual reproduction from an evolutionary perspective, with a lot of cool animal facts thrown in. We talk about the reasons that asexual reproduction seems like a much better choice than sex, hands-down. We also talk about why the existence of males makes so little sense (evolutionarily, not philosophically), and why sex is THE big problem for evolutionary biologists. Sup...

When I started learning about ancient medicine, my interest was piqued when I recognized several of the words used as words we still use today. This led me to dive into the world of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, and learn a little about the basis of medicine at the time, humouralism. I explore other systems developed from, and linked to, the four humours; most importantly, I discuss the wildly en...

Have you ever heard of Carthage? Do you know anything about the Carthaginians? How about the Phoenicians? I had vague ideas, but no answers to so many of my questions. So on this, the inaugural episode of Teach Me Something, we learn all about these ancient civilizations, and make a brief pit-stop to discuss sea snails. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/teach-me-something . Hosted on Ac...