Volcanoes. Trees. Drunk butterflies. Mars missions. Slug sex. Death. Beauty standards. Anxiety busters. Beer science. Bee drama. Take away a pocket full of science knowledge and charming, bizarre stories about what fuels these professional -ologists' obsessions. Humorist and science correspondent Alie Ward asks smart people stupid questions and the answers might change your life.
https://www.stitcher.com
Smologies #36: FEATHERS with Allison Shultz
Plumage! Dance battles! Possible holographic disco birds? Natural History Museum of LA ornithology curator Dr. Allison Shultz is a professional plumologist aka feather expert. We visit the museum’s collection of rare specimens and chat about everything from fossilized dinosaur feathers to peacock tails, the fanciest roosters, quill pens, pigments, flight feathers, the blackest black birds, and why birdwatching is like seeing tiny purple raccoons zoom overhead. Birds: like Pokemon Go but weirder.
Visit Dr. Allison Shultz’s website and follow her on Twitter
Full-length (*not* G-rated) Plumology episode + tons of science links
More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!
Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month
OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!
Follow @Ologies on Twitter and Instagram
Follow @AlieWard on Twitter and Instagram
Sound editing by Steven Ray Morris, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions
Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Kelly R. Dwyer & Erin Talbert
Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm