Tom's SciCast

What do energy, enzymes, and metabolism mean for life? I take a look at the relationships between energy and life, and the importance of enzymes for our metabolism. Specific topics include a description of what it means to be living, I define energy and how it's governed by the laws of thermodynamics, the different types of energy and relate how life gets energy from chemical reactions and th...

The cell cycle is more than just memorizing the position of chromosomes on a slide, it can help us understand growth and development, lead to treatments for cancer, or repair damaged organs and limbs. I go over the major steps of the cell cycle including interphase and the mitotic phase. Education level - high school to non-majors Send us Fan Mail

Star Wars, Zombies, Rhime of the Ancient Mariner, and Mullet (the fish, not the haircut) come together to help explain the role of energy, membranes, diffusion, transport, and chemical reactions to make something living.  Send us Fan Mail

What does eating a pizza and aging have to do with our organelles? This episode explores how organelles of the endomembrane system work together to make proteins in our saliva that help us digest our food. Also, learn how we may eventually slow down our aging by studying lysosomes and mitochondria.  Send us Fan Mail

Don't fear the chemistry! Life is the result of chemical reactions. While many of us fear chemistry, a little chemistry knowledge can go a long way into understanding how we work and understanding some of the basics behind nutrition. In this podcast, I introduce the most important types of molecules used for life without getting too technical.  Send us Fan Mail

Astronomy and Biology in a single podcast! In this episode, I talk about how stellar processes made life possible. Send us Fan Mail

There's a hierarchy to the universe from the simplest atoms to the most complex ecosystems. At each level of complexity new properties arise and most importantly, life arises as an emergent property at the level of cells.  Send us Fan Mail

Are you an expert or a novice learner? Do you know the difference between understanding and memorization? Instead of a fun science topic, today, I'm talking about learning and different ways we learn. Many of us have been in school for years and never thought much about how we learn, what it means to learn, or the best ways to learn.  Send us Fan Mail

What if I told you we could get rid of the most dangerous  animal on the planet? I make the case of why we should intentionally cause the extinction of a few disease carrying mosquitoes even though we are in the 6th mass extinction. Send us Fan Mail

Find out how the closed circulatory system and changes to the vertebrate heart helped them become the largest, fastest, most active, and among the most successful animals on the planet. Send us Fan Mail

Sometimes, I get riled up and strongly disagree with other scientists, including some paleontologists who don't think we are currently in the 6th mass extinction.  Sadly, the latest evidence clearly shows we are losing species like when the dinosaurs went extinct. I make my case for the dire threats to modern diversity. Warning: this is a hard podcast to listen to.  Send us Fan Mail

How did we get to our modern world teaming with plant and animal life? It was a long road taking billions of years and four key innovations along the way that paved the way for plants and animals.   Send us Fan Mail

Did you know plants can sense and respond to their environment! Far more than just passive observers, plants use many senses from detecting light, to water in their roots, and they even known when their leaves are being eaten. Follow along as I dive into how plants respond to their environment. Send us Fan Mail

Although species are fundamental to evolution, it has proven difficult to develop a single definition  we can use on millions of  organisms including plants, animals,  their fossils, or even asexually reproducing organisms. I discuss three different species concepts, why they work, and their limitations. Along the way, I talk about dancing male jumping spiders, lung-less salamanders, Dark-eyed Jun...

Find out why photosynthesis is one of the most important evolutionary innovations in the history of the planet. Learn how plants evolved to live in dry environments despite the fact that photosynthesis evolved over 3 billion years ago in a marine environment and has changed very litle.  Send us Fan Mail

Sometimes, teaching lessons  on plants is a "hard sell" for many students. So, I made this podcast explaining why plants are important for evolution, for ecosystems, for society, and even for own happiness. If it weren't for plants, the world would be really different! Early in this podcast, I sometimes interchanged green algae with plants. Plants evolved from green algae sometime a...

Is evolution a fact or a theory? Why did Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection not only revolutionized science, but is also considered one of the most important theories in all of science. In this podcast, I explain how scientific theories have changed how we understand the universe and our place in it. I also discuss why many people do not believe in evolution and explain the evi...

There's a common pattern to the attacks on science, climate change is no exception. Sadly, ignoring science has serious consequences for society. Send us Fan Mail

Despite the overwhelming evidence, some people still debate whether the climate is changing or if humans are causing it. Tom Kennedy explains how we know the climate is changing and how we can rule out natural causes showing that humans are the cause of modern climate change. Send us Fan Mail

Assuming we can't go faster than light, it would take  centuries to travel even to the nearest star.  Can we build a multi-generational spaceship? Tom Kennedy takes a look  the  challenges of humans traveling to the stars. Send us Fan Mail

Each year, thousands of freshman biology students learn cellular respiration, but why? Tom Kennedy takes a larger look at cellular respiration showing that it's at the  heart of our cellular metabolism and had a huge impact on the origins and evolution of life. Send us Fan Mail

There's more to cells than memorizing a few organelles. They are incredibly complex, they are found everywhere, and they affect almost every aspect of our life. Listen in as I talk about the diversity of cells and how they important from making animal life possible to how an organelle can speed up our aging process.  Send us Fan Mail

Have you ever wondered why too much corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup is bad for you? Or, have you wondered if artificial sweeteners are safe? Did you know that carbs are more than just a source of energy? In this podcast I talk about all things carbohydrates and answer some of your questions about carbs.  Send us Fan Mail

Welcome to my new podcast! Most of us have had science classes, but what exactly is science? Why is it important? Listen in as I discuss how science begins with curiosity, needs imagination,  how we do science, and the limitations of science.   Send us Fan Mail