All Wings Considered
We’re catching some air this week, and talking things with wings! Quandaries range from the practical (how do different animal and insect wings differ?) to the ethereal (this includes dragons). Here...
3 Sep 202534min
Saving the shipwrecks of Stellwagen Bank
Shipwrecks captivate our imagination, and are the subject of many books, academic papers, and movies—from the world-famous Titanic, to sunken World War II warships, to ancient fishing canoes. Some des...
27 Aug 202533min
Your brain on GPS
GPS is essential these days. We use it for everything, from a hunter figuring out where the heck they are in the backcountry, to a delivery truck finding a grocery store, to keeping clocks in sync. Bu...
20 Aug 202531min
Taxonomy's 200-Year Mistake
Fungi used to be considered plants. Bad plants. Carl Linnaeus even referred to them as “the poorest peasants” of the vegetable class. This reputation stuck, and fungi were considered a nuisance in the...
13 Aug 202532min
People are buying coyote urine. Where does it come from?
Last spring, a curious listener called with an unusual question about coyote urine. Is it – as advertised by companies who sell it – an effective, all natural pest deterrent? And more importantly: “Wh...
6 Aug 202531min
Field reports from the cutting edge of science
It’s a weird time to be an environmental scientist. The proposed cuts to federal science funding in the United States are profound, and if they come to pass, it’s not clear what American science will ...
30 Juli 202534min
The Element of Surprise: The $1,000 Balloon
Helium is full of contradictions. It’s the second most abundant element in the universe, but is relatively rare on Earth. It’s non-reactive, totally inert—yet the most valuable helium isotope is sourc...
23 Juli 202540min
A Map to the Next World
“In the last days of the fourth world I wished to make a map for those who would climb through the hole in the sky.” That’s the first line of the poem “A Map to the Next World” by Muscogee writer and ...
16 Juli 202532min
