UnDisciplined

About 3.2 million people watch Tucker Carlson each night on Fox News. Think about that number this way: it's the equivalent of every person in the state of Utah, all watching the same show. Every night. And when Carlson gets them riled up–some of them get really really mean.

Most of us don’t think about evolution often, if at all, and when we do we often conjure up images of Charles Darwin in the Galapagos Islands. Today, the study of evolution is largely driven by mathematics, complexity theory, and machine learning, but a more complete understanding of evolution can also provide us with an important perspective on our place as a little leaf on the giant tree of life...

This week we take a deep dive into the ancient, exploring the world as it existed over 66 million years ago, in an attempt to understand our present and our future. Creatures called Mosasaurs once inhabited our seas. They’re long extinct now, victims of the fifth great extinction event, along with 80 percent of the species alive at that time. But their lives and their world may give us insight int...

We have a complicated relationship with bears. Ask any hiker what their greatest fear is, and running into a bear will be at the top of that list. But we want to see them too! People travel from all over the world to our national parks with the hope of sighting a bear. Bears play an important role in our history, culture, environment, and economy. This week we’re talking about why you should care...

Methane. It's more than just the gas released when cows... release gas. It has a warming potential 25x higher than carbon dioxide. Researchers in Utah's Uinta Basin have been studying emissions of methane and other chemicals from natural gas drilling sites since 2015. They recently found that, despite gas production decreasing, methane leaks at these sites have remained the same. As the world work...

They've got warts, they sometimes smell like roasted peanuts, and in Wyoming, they're changing how they move because of a fungus. This week, we'll be discussing a concept known as behavioral fever in boreal toads, and how this fever is helping toads fight chytrid fungus. Dr. Barrile studies how individual toads’ movement and habitat choices scale up to influence population growth and demographic r...

Just about everyone has experienced a shift in their relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some people we didn't get to see as much, some people we saw a lot more of--for better or worse. But researchers are discovering that it wasn't just our relationships with people we know that changed, it was our relationships with people in the media we consume. This week we're talking about how the pa...

If you started your day with a cup of coffee, kept it going with a cup of cola, or ended it with a glass of wine, you are part of a long human tradition of spicing up your life with intoxicating substances. As a species, we have been getting drunk and stoned for a very long time. But, like so many other things, it turns out we aren't all that unique in this way. Animals were getting blitzed long b...

There's a lot more going on beneath the forest floor than you might realize. A vast underground network of fungi help some 95% of plants survive, helping them absorb nutrients and commnicate with other plants. New research shows that this fungi network might also be protecting the forest's biggest trees against pests and pathogens. Sara Germain is a PhD candidate in ecology at Utah State Universit...

This week on UnDisciplined we're talking about teens and their smartphones. You've likely heard about how social media is making teens more depressed, anxious and lonely. However, there are some positives to teens staying connected virtually. Intriguing new research looks at how teens are using the internet to cope with stress.

This week on UnDisciplined, we're talking about a breakthrough in our understanding of long COVID. Some 30% of COVID patients will have lingering symptoms for 3 to 6 months after contracting the virus. New research suggests that long COVID might be the result on an antibody attacking the immune system and we'll be talking about what we do and don't know about the causes of this phenomenon. John Ar...

Climate change is profoundly affecting animals, but not only in the ways you might be thinking of. Compelling new research suggests that animals are shape-shifting to adapt. Birds beaks are getting bigger, mouse tails longer, all in an effort to better regulate their body temperatures. Sara Ryding is the lead author of this study published in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution. Sara is a Ph...

Covid-19 is not the first virus to travel around the globe. This week on UnDisciplined, we'll be talking about how the slave trade brought new viruses to the Americas. New research uses ancient DNA to trace the origins of pathogens found in Mexico City back to Africa.

This week on Undisciplined we're talking about disability and accessibility in ancient Greece. You might think that accommodations for disabled people are a relatively new concept, but compelling new research suggests that ancient Greeks were thinking about accessibility as far back as the 4th century BC. Scholars found evidence that ancient architects built ramps specifically to help those with l...

We all dream, but why? And what do our dreams reveal about our waking lives? Since the beginning of human history, dreams have played a pivotal role in helping humans make sense of the world. What role do dreams play in our modern lives? This week, we'll be exploring the history of and science behind dreaming. Sidarta Ribeiro is the author of a new book called Oracle of Night - The History and Sci...

The events of the past several months, and even years suggest that anger is a driving force in American politics. Are politicians stoking the flames and making their supporters angry? A new study looks at just that. We'll be talking to a politcal scientist whose research focuses on the role of emtion in politics.

This week we are talking about urban bees and how converting vacant lots into green spaces doesn't only benefit humans. With a few adjustments, green spaces can help support local bee populations. We're talking to Ohio State University reserachers about how to help urban bees thrive. Mary Gardiner is a professor of entomology at the Ohio State University. Katie Turo is a post doctoral fellow in th...

This week we're talking about fatigue. And no, it's not the same as being tired. Despite it being the top complaint among people with chronic conditions and those recovering from cancer, fatigue was largely ignored by the medical establishment until recently. We'll be talking to medical historian Emily K. Abel about her new book tracing the history of fatigue in the United States.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first emerged, tests were hard to come by, and you often had to wait days or even weeks for the results. We’ll be talking with an interdisciplinary group of researchers who developed a way to make testing more efficient.

University of Utah researchers set out to measure changes in Park City’s air quality during the ski season and Sundance Film Festival. Then COVID-19 hit. And the city went into lockdown. And the data became even more fascinating.

Since 2016, more women have run for political office than ever before, from the governor’s race to local school board elections. With this came an influx of first-time female candidates. But what about the women who didn’t get elected? We’ll be talking to a political science researcher who dug into 70 years of state and local election data to see whether or not women are more likely to quit after...

Researchers recently uncovered the biggest mass extinction event since the dinosaurs. About 19 million years ago, the shark population was decimated by roughly 90 percent. Up until that point, sharks ruled the ocean. Researchers figured this out by analyzing over a thousand fossilized shark skins.

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, is one of the first sources Google provides for many different searches. From notable figures to new technology, historical events to horror films, Wikipedia is the initial place countless people look to get quick information. Despite the extensive numbers of articles Wikipedia provides, there is a large gap in gender when it comes to notable figures. Articles abo...

How much do your personal choices affect climate change? Does promoting the use of energy efficient light bulbs take away from pushing for bigger policy changes like a carbon tax? A new study suggests that reflecting on our individual sustainability efforts might actually make us more likely to support ambitious policy proposals.

There are few things sweeter than a puppy staring back at you. But how does the puppy understand what you're saying, and when exactly do they start picking up on our cues? A new study by University of Arizona researchers shows that puppies as young as two months old can recognize when people are talking to them and look where they're pointing.