Ep 75 Mercury: The cost of progress

Ep 75 Mercury: The cost of progress

When you think of mercury, what springs to mind? Is it the entrancing drop of shimmery liquid that flows from a broken thermometer, giving the metal the name quicksilver? Or is it the warnings of overconsumption of fish and bioaccumulation? Or perhaps it’s the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland? The story of mercury, in both its biology as well as its history, is vast and varied, and in this episode, we attempt to piece together a picture of this heavy metal. We first delve into the pathophysiological effects of the different forms of mercury exposure on the body, and then take a narrow tour of the metal’s history, focusing primarily on Minamata disease, before wrapping it all up with a look at just how widespread mercury contamination is today. Although the relationship between humans and mercury is as old as history itself, there are still so many lessons to be learned from it, especially “what is the true cost of progress?”.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(292)

Ep 214 Boogers: Digging for treasure

Ep 214 Boogers: Digging for treasure

Hard and crusty. Green and gloopy. Clear and watery. Boogers come in a veritable rainbow of colors and a full spectrum of textures from liquid to solid. They’re really quite impressive if you think ab...

30 Kesä 1h 2min

Special Episode: Dr. Carl Elliott & The Occasional Human Sacrifice

Special Episode: Dr. Carl Elliott & The Occasional Human Sacrifice

Stories of unethical medical experimentation often center around the individuals who spearheaded such atrocities or highlight how patient protection laws were changed in response to the studies. But r...

23 Kesä 57min

Ep 213 Burns Part 2: It’s like sci-fi but real 

Ep 213 Burns Part 2: It’s like sci-fi but real 

At the turn of the 20th century, a severe burn was often a death sentence. Today, that is no longer the case. Over the past eighty years, burn care has undergone a profound transformation thanks to cr...

16 Kesä 58min

Ep 212 Burns Part 1: The first million or so years

Ep 212 Burns Part 1: The first million or so years

Burns have been a part of the human experience since our hominin relatives began controlling fire 1.5 million years ago. Until very recently, we’ve been limited in our ability to manage burn wounds wi...

9 Kesä 55min

Special Episode: Alexandra Sifferlin & The Elusive Body

Special Episode: Alexandra Sifferlin & The Elusive Body

An accurate diagnosis can give us so much. It can give us a path forward. It can give us answers to long-standing questions. And it can give us much-needed hope. Yet many people around the world wait ...

2 Kesä 51min

Ep 211 Motion Sickness: It comes in waves

Ep 211 Motion Sickness: It comes in waves

It comes on sneakily. You become aware of your stomach. You break out in a cold sweat. Your mouth fills with saliva. And before you know it, you’re leaning over the side of the boat (or out of the car...

26 Touko 1h 16min

Ep 210 Histoplasmosis: Bats, birds, and budding yeast

Ep 210 Histoplasmosis: Bats, birds, and budding yeast

Once thought to be a rare, always fatal disease, histoplasmosis is now recognized as one of the most prevalent fungal infections in North America. It infects hundreds of thousands of people every year...

19 Touko 1h 18min

Special Episode: Dr. Olivia Weisser & The Dreaded Pox

Special Episode: Dr. Olivia Weisser & The Dreaded Pox

In a time when smallpox, tuberculosis, measles, and typhus ran rampant through the streets of London, there was another disease that instilled even more fear than these other killers: syphilis. So fea...

12 Touko 51min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

hippokrateen-vastaanotolla
rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
tiedekulma-podcast
rss-hereilla
utelias-mieli
docemilia
rss-totuuden-liepeilla
sotataidon-ytimessa
radio-antro
filocast-filosofian-perusteet
rss-vaasan-yliopiston-podcastit
rss-poliisin-mieli
rss-duodecim-lehti
rss-ammamafia
rss-laakaripodi
rss-jyvaskylan-yliopisto
rss-kasvikutsut