The Show About Science

What could be more fun than learning about the science of ice cream? Eating it of course! Rich Hartel is a professor and food engineer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he runs the Hartel Lab. He joins Nate on the show today to talk about the science behind everyone's favorite dessert. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and...

A thermophile is an organism that thrives in very high temperatures. You can find them living in the hot springs at Yellowstone National Park. These geothermal pools draw visitors to the park each year because of their beautiful colors. Tim McDermott is a soil and environmental biologist at Montana State University who has been researching the thermophiles in Yellowstone for the past 20 years. He...

Tim Howard turned a vacation to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands into an amazing hour of great audio for WNYC's Radiolab. He now works as an editor on Reply All, a podcast about the internet. Tim joins Nate on this episode to talk about the science of audio storytelling, his trip to Galapagos and a mysterious NYC performance artist named Zardulu. Are Darwin’s finches being threatened by invasive...

Patrick Webster visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California as a young, curious kid. There he fell in love with the sea otters that called the aquarium home. After studying marine biology and volunteering with the otters for 4 and a half years, Patrick now works at the aquarium as a member of the social media team. On this episode, Patrick takes us on a behind the scenes look at the sea otter...

A few months back, Nate spit into a tube and put it in the mail to have his DNA analyzed by a company called 23andMe. On this episode of The Show About About Science, Nate travels to the headquarters of 23andMe in Mountain View, California to learn more about his results and to discover what DNA can tell us about our ancestry. Joining Nate on this episode is Jhulianna Cintron, the Senior Product S...

Hey future ocean explorers! Do you dream of discovering new species of squids, octopuses and cuttlefish? Well stop dreaming, because on this episode of The Show About Science, we (virtually) go aboard the Nautilus, a deep sea exploration ship and the home of two robot operated vehicles (ROVs) called Hercules and Argus. Samantha Wishnak, the Digital Media Coordinator for the Ocean Exploration Trust...

Marc Berman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago. He recently conducted a study that looks at whether a walk in the park can actually improve memory and attention. The results may surprise you. In this episode, Nate talks to Marc about that study and learns how scientists study the brain. For more episodes of The Show About Science, try the Pinna i...

Larry Madin is a Senior Scientist and the Deputy Director and Vice President for Research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, MA. He’s also an expert on Salps, an amazing tube shaped sea creature that feeds on phytoplankton and uses a form of underwater jet propulsion to move around. On this episode of The Show About Science, Nate talks to Larry about these mysterious...

Every day, 42 families in the U.S. learn that their child or teen has cancer. Elizabeth A. Stewart, MD is a doctor at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital researching ways to improve pediatric cancer treatments. She joins Nate on The Show About Science to talk about her work and how kids can help. Learn more at https://www.stjude.org/. For more episodes of The Show About Science, try the Pinna iO...

How do caddisflies use underwater tape to protect themselves from predators? What is a palm weevil and why are they destroying all of the palm trees in Southern California? How do baby dragonfly’s eat? These are just a few of the questions answered on the KQED YouTube Channel, Deep Look. Producer Josh Cassidy and host Lauren Sommer join Nate to talk about the amazing creatures featured in Deep Loo...

Coral reefs are important for the health of our oceans and planet. These reefs produce much of the oxygen that we breath and provide a habitat for the fish we eat. Recently, there’s been a lot of reporting on how climate change is causing the widespread death of these ecosystems. Dave Vaughan is Executive Director of Mote's Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restora...

Maureen Wood studies chemical accident prevention for the European Union. On this episode of The Show About Science, she talks to Nate about how government scientists work to prevent dangerous accidents in factories and what a trip to the pool can teach us about chemical safety. For more episodes of The Show About Science, try the Pinna iOS app for free today! Pinna is the home of quality audio st...

Since 1989, Professor Gizmo Gearloose (aka Christine Buik) has been providing programs to delight and inspire people of all ages with live animals, storytelling, music and audience participation. Christine joins Nate on this episode of The Show About Science to imagine what man made inventions may have been inspired by plants and animals. Plus, Nate visits the Sycamore Public Library to see Profes...

Jim Calcagno is a biological anthropologist with research and teaching interests in paleoanthropology, dental anthropology, primate behavioral ecology, and evolutionary anthropology. On this episode of the Show About Science, Nate talks to Dr. Calcagno about gorillas, anthropology and what makes us human. We also learn more about one of Dr. Calcagno’s former students with a connection to the show....

Emily Graslie is the the host of The Brain Scoop and the Chief Curiosity Correspondent at The Field Museum in Chicago. The Brain Scoop is an educational YouTube channel devoted to exploring all aspects relating to the curious world of natural history museums, and the culture of animal preservation. On this episode of The Show About Science, Emily gives Nate a behind the scenes tour of the Field Mu...

If you’re ever in a tropical forest in South or Central America, look up into the trees and you just might spot a sloth. But don’t go too early, these lazy creatures like to sleep late. On this episode, Nate talks about Sloths with Nadia Moraes-Barros, a researcher at CIBIO/InBIO, Laboratório Associado in Portugal and the Deputy Chair of the IUCN/SSC Anteater, Sloth and Armadillo Specialist Group....

Frontiers for Young Minds is a scientific journal where the kids are in charge. Scientists submit research papers explaining their work and then kids do the peer review. Bob Knight is a professor at UC Berkeley with a research program focused on human neuroscience and the Field Chief Editor of Frontiers for Young Minds. On this episode of The Show About Science, Nate talks to Bob about the journal...

South Padre Island, Texas is home to some amazing wildlife! It is also home to Sea Turtle Inc., a sea turtle hospital with a mission to rescue and rehabilitate injured sea turtles. Each year, mama sea turtles return to the beaches of South Padre to lay their eggs. In this episode, Nate talks to Khrstyn Jamerson, an Educator at Sea Turtle Inc., about her work with these amazing creatures. After lis...

About 40 light-years (235 trillion miles) from Earth is a system of seven planets relatively close to the constellation Aquarius. Located outside of our solar system, these planets are scientifically known as exoplanets. This particular exoplanet system, called TRAPPIST-1, was recently discover by Michael Gillon and his team. Michael chats with Nate about his team’s discovery and whether or not li...

Will Dichtel is a chemist at Northwestern University and a 2015 MacArthur Fellow. His research is focused on the development of porous polymers known as covalent organic frameworks. On this episode of The Show About Science, Will talks to Nate about his work and gives him a tour of his organic chemistry lab. You can find out more about Will and the Dichtel Research Group on his website: http://sit...

On this episode of The Show About Science, Nate is reporting from the March for Science in Chicago (http://sciencemarchchicago.com). Over 60,000 Chicagoans marched on April 22, 2017 to show their love and support for the work that scientists do. Listen to this episode and then share your love of science with your friends and family! Chicago! Science!! Music on this episode was provided by FreeSFX....

Luoth Chou studies organic geochemistry, microbiology and astrobiology. ​On this episode of The Show About Science, she joins Nate to talk about her research and The March for Science, a series of rallies and marches set to be held in Washington, D.C. and over 400 cities across the world on April 22, 2017. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our coll...

Kevin Esvelt leads the Sculpting Evolution Group at MIT. Their work explores “evolutionary and ecological engineering and responsive science.” Kevin joins Nate on the program to help him with some homework and to discuss a tool for gene editing called CRISPR. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In our most ambitious episode to date, Nate visits KPCC, the home of Southern California Public Radio, for a tour of the station. Your tour guide for this episode is Sanden Totten, host of the popular kids science podcast, Brains On! Nate was rolling tape from the moment he arrived and you’re not going to want to miss what happens when these two veteran science podcasters meet for the first time....

Coyote Peterson is the host of The Brave Wilderness Channel on Youtube. His passion for wildlife has driven him to embark upon a quest to make animal conservation and education entertaining for the next wave of explorers. On this episode, Nate and Coyote talk about tarantula hawks, snapping turtles, wolverines and the incredible habitats these animals call home. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz co...