Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe - podcast cover

Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe

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Scientists Daniel and Kelly cannot stop talking about our amazing, wonderful, weird Universe! Each episode is a fun, easy-to-understand, and in-depth explanation of topics in science, from particles to black holes to moon colonies to ecosystems to parasites and everything else in the Universe!

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Episodes

Listener Questions #37

Daniel and Kelly explain how cells in a fetus or in an adult know what they're supposed to do, and discuss whether opposable thumbs are necessary for the development of tools and technology. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 30, 202656 min

Story of Birds (featuring Dr. Steve Brusatte)

Daniel and Kelly talk to Dr. Steve Brusatte about his new book "The Story of Birds". We discuss if chickens are really dinosaurs, if we know what color dinosaur feathers were, and why birds survived the devastating asteroid collision with Earth while pterosaurs didn't. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 28, 20261 hr 7 min

Will AI solve physics?

Daniel and Kelly explain the role of AI in physics and speculate about its future impact on discoveries and curiosity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 23, 202657 min

Listener Questions #36

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about Odderon particles, Langerhans cells, and black holes within black holes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 21, 202643 min

Biofilms (featuring Dr. Katrine Whiteson)

Daniel, Kelly, and Katrine talk about biofilms, and how they can be delicious, adorable, and bad. For the bad ones, we discuss current tactics for overcoming them. Show links: 1. Nature's cutest symbiosis: The Bobtail Squid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ivMSCi-Y2Q 2. The Joyful Microbe's guide to Kombucha: https://joyfulmicrobe.com/kombucha/ (Notice the lighthearted joy, no fear mongering here!) 3. Beautiful image of a phenazine mutant of Pseudomonas: https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/88...

Apr 16, 202658 min

Does science fiction inspire real tech?

Daniel and Kelly discuss whether ideas from science fiction have inspired real scientific or technological progress. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 14, 202650 min

Snakes vs Octopi (featuring Dr. Matt Giorgianni)

If a rattlesake bit an octopus, would its venom have any effect? Daniel and Kelly bring venom expert Dr. Matt Giorgianni on to the show to answer this listener question, and to talk about the evolution of snake venom. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apr 07, 20261 hr 5 min

Listener Questions #34

Daniel and Kelly answer listener questions about what creates the morning fog, why bats don't get dizzy, and the cauchy horizon. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 31, 202648 min

How cholera kills you and how we kill it

Daniel and Kelly talk about what Vibrio cholerae does to your body, and the methods we have to combat it. They also talk about some of the really bad methods we tried using in the past. Like, real bad. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 26, 202647 min

To swill or to smell: How John Snow determined the cause of cholera

Daniel and Kelly dive into the history of medicine, and discuss the data John Snow collected to argue that cholera is transmitted through contaminated water and not foul-smelling air. These data bolstered the emerging germ theory of disease. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 24, 202659 min

Listener Questions #33

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about tongue worms, units, and Kelly's nightmares. Link: Standard reference peanut butter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 19, 202652 min

Do we live in a super bubble?

Daniel and Kelly explore the structure of the space between solar systems and reveal our cosmic context. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 17, 202642 min

Is Cold Fusion impossible?

Daniel and Kelly talk about the challenges of hot fusion and the frustrated potential of cold fusion. And Keanu Reeves. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 12, 202646 min

Listener Questions #32

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about the expanding universe, how sleep aids impact sleep quality, and what characteristics might make aliens better adapted for interstellar travel. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 10, 202653 min

Becoming Martian (featuring Dr. Scott Solomon)

Daniel and Kelly welcome Dr. Scott Solomon back on the show to talk about his new book Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change our Bodies and Minds. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 05, 202657 min

Musk on the Moon

Daniel and Kelly discuss Elon Musk's recent announcement that SpaceX has shifted focus from a self-sustaining settlement on Mars to a self-growing city on the Moon. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mar 03, 202658 min

Listener Questions #31

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about how it can both be true that humans share 98.7% of their DNA with bonobos and that fraternal twins share 50% of their DNA, why black holes don't have color charges, and whether or not you could treat a fever or let it ride. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 26, 202656 min

Which planet has the most moons?

Daniel and Kelly revel in the amazing multiplicity of moons in our solar system and what they reveal about our cosmic history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 24, 20261 hr 3 min

Why do animals cooperate?

Daniel and Kelly talk about the evolution of cooperation, and why humans struggle so much with isolation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 19, 20261 hr 10 min

Listener Questions #30

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about sentience, chicken eggs, and the early Universe! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 17, 202654 min

Why does the Universe minimize action?

Daniel and Kelly dive into one of the most important but mysterious principles of physics: least action. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 12, 202656 min

Rabies

Daniel and Kelly talk about rabies, which results in very few deaths in the United States but is a neglected tropical disease - taking approximately 60,000 lives globally each year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 10, 202657 min

Bonus Episode: History Daily - The First Reported Case of the Spanish Flu

Here’s an episode of a show we think you’ll love. It’s History Daily which tells the fascinating stories of what happened “on this day” in history. New episodes come out every weekday. In this episode, it’s March 11, 1918. A US army cook becomes the first person diagnosed with the Spanish Flu, setting off the deadliest pandemic in modern history. www.historydaily.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....

Feb 07, 202619 min

Listener Questions #29

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about bark beetles, ambipolar fields, and gray hairs! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 05, 202651 min

Can cosmic rays corrupt computers?

Daniel and Kelly talk about how computers store information, and how cosmic rays might flip some vital bits. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feb 03, 202652 min

What is interspecific brood parasitism?

Daniel and Kelly talk about interspecific brood parasites - which are species that sneak their eggs into the nests of other, unsuspecting species. How do they get away with this? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jan 29, 202652 min

Listener Questions #28

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about black holes, duplicate organs and bubble Universes! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jan 27, 202644 min

How fast are we moving?

Daniel and Kelly slow down to understand what velocity really means, and how much we have of it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jan 22, 202652 min
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