episode 55: Penguins propelling poo – self-drilling seeds, arctic explorers, and some plant science
You know the drill: we talk about our favourite plant (it’s drilling itself into the ground), a cool researcher (she travelled to Antarctica to study lichen), a cognitive bias (the end will please you) and fun stuff (a lot of it). Please enjoy.
Joram’s favourite plant is Erodium cicutarium, closely related to Geranium. Video of the action
Tegan presents the life and work of Elke Mackenzie, a British explorer and botanist.
Joram presents the Peak-End rule
- Zucchini photo from Tegan
- Bleak financial outlook for PhD students in Australia
- Mothers in academia face extra challenges during the pandemic: LINK 1; LINK 2
- Fish version of a liger: paddlefish and sturgeon make sturddlefish.
- Bioluminescence evolved 84 times, but not in humans
- Microplastics are found in fruit and veggie produce, two studies report
- Penguin poop studies, old and new, and a blog post on the matter
- Kyoto Aquarium maps out complicated relationship between penguins (and caretakers)
- All the ways the Hydroxychloroquine study was cr*p
Cat fact: ancient cat skeleton found & cats domesticated themselves
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Our opening and closing music is Caravana by Phillip Gross
Until next time!
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