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, 2026•56 min
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, 2026•1 hr 7 min
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, 2026•57 min
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, 2026•43 min
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, 2026•58 min
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, 2026•50 min
Daniel and Kelly answer questions about innate behaviors and what it means to "decode" a genome with help from Dr. Benjamin de Bivort. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 09, 2026•1 hr 17 min
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, 2026•1 hr 5 min
Daniel and Kelly explore Penrose's Orchestrated Objective Reduction Theory that aims to explain consciousness, quantum measurements, quantum gravity and anaesthesia! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 02, 2026•54 min
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, 2026•48 min
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, 2026•47 min
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, 2026•59 min
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, 2026•52 min
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, 2026•42 min
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, 2026•46 min
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, 2026•53 min
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, 2026•57 min
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, 2026•58 min
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, 2026•56 min
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, 2026•1 hr 3 min
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, 2026•1 hr 10 min
Daniel and Kelly answer questions about sentience, chicken eggs, and the early Universe! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feb 17, 2026•54 min
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, 2026•56 min
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, 2026•57 min
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, 2026•19 min
Daniel and Kelly answer questions about bark beetles, ambipolar fields, and gray hairs! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feb 05, 2026•51 min
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, 2026•52 min
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, 2026•52 min
Daniel and Kelly answer questions about black holes, duplicate organs and bubble Universes! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 27, 2026•44 min
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, 2026•52 min