Old Things Considered: La Brea, Megalodo...

It’s impossible to ignore the latest nutrition trend: protein-maxxing. Stroll through the grocery store and you’ll find protein chips, protein-packed ice cream, and even sparkling protein water. Not to mention the FDA’s new upturned food pyramid, which puts steak and a roast chic ... Show More

Almost all matter particles have corresponding particles of antimatter: Protons have antiprotons, neutrons have antineutrons, and so on. When matter and antimatter bump into each other they destroy each other and release energy. With carefully manipulated magnetic fields, however ... Show More

Armadillos have been crawling up the southern U.S. as the climate warms, making themselves at home as far north as Kentucky and Indiana. They’re what wildlife biologists call a “signal species,” one whose presence or absence tell us something about how an ecosystem is changing.Ho ... Show More

Ancient wildfires may have doomed Southern California’s big mammals, and do insular societies have more complex languages? First up on this week’s show, what killed off North America’s megafauna, such as dire wolves and saber-toothed cats? Online News Editor Mike Price joins host ... Show More

Greg and Bella explore the science of extinction with the help of dinosaur enthusiast Mr Yates.Together, they’ll look at some famous recent extinctions, find out what role conservation plays in the preservation of species, and explore the major mass extinction events that shaped ... Show More

Dinosaurs ruled the earth for many millions of years, but only after a mass extinction took out most of their rivals. Just how that happened remains a mystery — sounds like a case for paleoclimatologist Celina Suarez! This encore episode, Suarez walks us through her scientific de ... Show More

<p>A group of hunter-gatherers encounter diverse habitats full of creatures they’ve never seen before. A land of opportunity, but also danger.</p><br><p>Join host Tristan Hughes and expert Dr David Meltzer as they delve into the Ice Age in North America, over 10,000 years ago, a ... Show More

Dinosaurs ruled the earth for many millions of years, but only after a mass extinction took out most of their rivals. Just how that happened remains a mystery — sounds like a case for paleoclimatologist Celina Suarez! Suarez walks us through her scientific detective work, with a ... Show More

As part of our week of Sharks on the Ancients, today we tell the story of Megalodon, the largest living marine animal, ever.Does this colossal prehistoric shark still lurk beneath the waves? Tristan Hughes is joined by leading expert Professor John Long to unveil the jaw-dropping ... Show More

Today, you’ll learn about a new project trying to keep humans and sharks separate and safe, how all sharks almost mysteriously went extinct 19 million years ago, and how great white sharks may have contributed to the extinction of a shark twice its size!Boundaries between sharks ... Show More

While the famous La Brea Tar Pits are well-known for charismatic Ice Age megafauna, like sabertooth cats and dire wolves, a lesser-known discovery from the Pits is the partial skeleton of a human woman. In this episode, we walk through what the Tar Pits can tell us about the ecos ... Show More