logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2022
24m 9s

Forests on Forests

Wnyc Studios
About this episode
For much of history, tree canopies were pretty much completely ignored by science. It was as if researchers said collectively, "It's just going to be empty up there, and we've got our hands full studying the trees down here! So why bother?!" But then, around the mid-1980s, a few ecologists around the world got curious and started making their way up into the ... Show More
Up next
Nov 21
Our Common Nature: West Virginia Coal
<p>Today on the show, we’re bringing you an episode from <a href="https://link.podtrac.com/v7mx144d" target="_blank"><i>Our Common Nature</i></a> (https://link.podtrac.com/v7mx144d), a new podcast series where cellist Yo-Yo Ma and host Ana González travel around the United States ... Show More
53m 33s
Nov 14
Quantum Refuge
<p>Qasem Waleed is a 28-year-old physicist who has lived in Gaza his whole life. In 2024, he joined a chorus of Palestinians sharing videos and pictures and writing about the chaos and violence they were living through, as Israel’s military bombardment devastated their lives. But ... Show More
48m 17s
Nov 7
The Wubi Effect
<p>When we think of China today, we think of a technological superpower. From Huawei and 5G to TikTok and viral social media, China is stride for stride with the United States in the world of computing. However, China’s technological renaissance almost didn’t happen. And for one ... Show More
56m 51s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2020
Answering Your Tree-Mail (and Nuclear) Questions
We love listener mail! You've sent us some amazing notes. Some made us laugh, some made us cry, and some made us say—hey, that’s a great question! We should answer it. So that’s what we did. This week, we dig into some of your questions about trees. What’s up with that tree-plant ... Show More
58m 11s
Aug 2022
Do you know about trees? 🌲
Did you know? We are back with another episode of Sleep Tight Science and in this episode we are going to learn about trees. Have you ever wondered about how trees grow? How can you tell how old they are? or Why are trees so important? In this episode we are going to talk about a ... Show More
18m 27s
Nov 2021
Seeing the Wood for the Trees
There have been big promises about tree-planting numbers over the last few years - but is there much point in planting more trees, if we're not looking after the ones we've already got? The Woodland Trust estimates that only 7% of the UK's native woodlands are in good ecological ... Show More
27m 39s
Apr 2022
Turning Old Cell Phones into Forest Guardians
What happens when a tree falls in a forest and no one is listening? The sound starts with truck engines and chainsaws and ends with a small piece of forest being silenced. Illegal logging is slowly thinning out the world’s forests, paving the way for widespread deforestation. Wit ... Show More
27m 24s
Aug 2022
The Wood Wide Web
Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by Ted Lasso's Brendan Hunt, Professor of forest ecology and author of "The Mother Tree", Suzanne Simard and botanist Mark Spencer to discover how trees and plants communicate and what they are saying. Suzanne's incredible discovery that trees ... Show More
42m 51s
Apr 2020
Find your Forest
<p><em>We pretend to whistle with an acorn cap today, bring our hands near our mouth. Feel free to skip this one and/or make sure everyone has washed their hands right before listening.</em></p> <p>Did you know that trees talk to each other? They do! Mother trees can send food to ... Show More
18m 6s
Apr 2019
T4: Why do trees live so long?
A talk to go with Episode 4, when Pan sees her first ever tree. Forest canopy cameraman and expert tree-climber James Aldred explains how trees can stay alive for centuries. Produced by Eliza Lomas and Becky Ripley. Don’t forget to take part in our Forest 404 Experiment to see ho ... Show More
6m 3s
Oct 2021
The Ghaf Tree
What’s a forest of ghaf trees called? Are ghaf leaves and pods edible? What do ghaf trees have to do with tree huggers? What might you find if you dig around ghaf trees? This episode is dedicated to the ghaf tree, the national tree of the UAE and a symbol of tolerance. This amazi ... Show More
20m 50s
Jun 2023
How to Read a Tree
<p>When you’re walking in the woods, you’re often surrounded by trees. But you probably don’t notice them much, and when you do spot some irregularity, like a strange bulge in the trunk of a tree, you likely don’t have any idea how it got there. But my guest says that these trees ... Show More
40m 24s
Jul 2020
The Tree at the End of the World
A harrowing journey is all in a day's work for a Nat Geo explorer trying to find the world’s southernmost tree. But what happens when a self-proclaimed "normal human being" tags along? For more information on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/overheard. Want mor ... Show More
27m 17s