On this week’s show: Rising waters and intense storms make siting high-performance computer centers a challenge, and matching up spider silk DNA with spider silk properties
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First up on the podcast this week, News Intern Jacklin Kwan talks with host Sarah Crespi about how and where to build high-performance computing facilities as climate cha ... Show More
Aug 21
New insights into endometriosis, and mapping dengue in Latin America
First up on the podcast, Staff Writer Meredith Wadman joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss recent advances in understanding endometriosis—a disease where tissue that resembles the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, causing pain and other health effects. The pair talk ab ... Show More
32m 7s
Aug 14
Why chatbots lie, and can synthetic organs and AI replace animal testing?
First up on the podcast, producer Meagan Cantwell and Contributing Correspondent Sara Reardon discuss alternative approaches to animal testing, from a heart on a chip to a miniorgan in a dish. Next on the show, Expert Voices columnist Melanie Mitchell and host Sarah Crespi dig in ... Show More
31m 53s
Aug 7
Why anteaters keep evolving, and how giant whales get enough food to live
First up on the podcast, Online News Editor David Grimm brings stories on peacock feathers’ ability to emit laser light, how anteaters have evolved at least 12 times, and why we should be thanking ketchup for our French fries. Next on the show, rorqual whales, such as the massive ... Show More
28m 8s
Nov 2021
How Does the Invasive Joro Spider Work?
Residents of the American South may have noticed a new spider on the, er, web -- the beautiful, fascinating Joro spider. Learn about it in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/arachnids/joro-spider.htm Learn more about your ad-choic ... Show More
5m 27s
Jan 2024
Do you know about Darwin's Bark Spider? 🕷️🕸️
In this episode, we learned about spiders, especially the Darwin's Bark Spider and some questions from you, our listeners. Spiders are fascinating creatures with unique characteristics: they belong to the arachnid family and can be found worldwide in various sizes and colours. Th ... Show More
25m 50s
Jan 2022
Do Spider Exoskeletons Go Out Of Style? with Dr. Maydianne Andrade
As the itsy bitsy spider crawls up the water spout, it dawns on her: her exoskeleton doesn’t fit. Is it a fashion emergency—or her moment to shine? This week, Dr. Maydianne Andrade joins Jonathan to share the ins and outs of spider growth, behavior, and reproduction.
Dr. Maydi ... Show More
1h 9m
Sep 2022
Undead Spiders, Dandelion Drones, Dark Energy Made Light
Researchers are making small claws out of dead spiders, dandelion seeds are inspiring scientists to mimic their distribution with small sensors to be able to better track ecological information, and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument is helping us create a 3D map of the uni ... Show More
11m 19s