Down the Reddit Hole - Chubby Bugs and Other Things

Join Biologists Being Basic (B3) hosts Paige, Joe, Gina and Robyn as we take a break from published research articles and ask each other science-based questions from Reddit! See how our scientists and non-scientist team members try to think through and answer questions outside their expertise. We talk, we goof, and we learn new things as we explore the realms of science reddit. Further Resources: Thanks AskScience Reddit and its users for the questions we answered: https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/ If you are curious about the topics we discussed and want more info, please see the following resources! There are some amazing scientists and science communicators who explain some of these topics. The Science of Melanin Magic by Raven Baxter (@ravenscimaven) is a fun and entertaining look at melanin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dt1NYLqMqM For more of her work, check out her webpage: https://www.scimaven.com/ ...or her youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqRkU0Z4V6UjDKnbc5brl8A Want to get to know your moles better? Visit the NIH to learn about moles and how they form: https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/traits/moles ...and the American Academy of Dermatology for the ABCDEs of melanoma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir90SPorFfQ&feature=youtu.be Learn more about alcohol dehydrogenases in humans and primates from this great Science Magazine news article: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/12/ability-consume-alcohol-may-have-shaped-primate-evolution ...or go straight to the scientific paper: https://www.pnas.org/content/112/2/458 Learn more about the alcohol tolerance of tree shrews from this second great Science Magazine news article: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2008/07/now-thats-party-animal ...or go straight to the scientific paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2492458/ Still wondering how animals reach islands? BBC has your back with these possible explanations: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170213-mega-landslides-help-explain-how-life-reaches-remote-islands Scientific American answers how the same fish can end up in different lakes: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-fish-species/ We mentioned Charles Darwin and his incredible book, On the Origin of Species, which is available online for free: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2009/2009-h/2009-h.htm#link2HCH0012 If you’re curious about Darwin and his research, but want a shorter segment, check out BBC’s amazingly animated video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOk_0mUT_JU&t Lastly, if you’re still thinking about those cute lil chubby bugs, check out Popular Science’s answer to the question: https://www.popsci.com/article/science/ask-anything-can-insects-get-fat/ ...and this scientific review about the insect fat bodies that we mentioned: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3075550/ If you have any questions or comments you can email us at biologistsbeingbasic@gmail.com or find us on twitter or instagram (@biosbeingbasic). See our website for more details (http://biosbeingbasic.podomatic.net).