As adults, our odds of dying doubles about every eight years. However, a high-profile paper published in Science this summer seems to tell a different story; past age 80 those increasing odds slow down and almost completely level off past 100, In this episode, we speak with Saul Newman, a biologist at the Australia National…
Is the broiler chicken an icon of the anthropocene — an era when humans are are radically altering the biology and geology of the planet? A new paper out of the UK says so and we take a look at the authors’ argument.
Last week a scientist in China made the shocking announcement that he had used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to create HIV-resistant babies. Here’s what we know so far and why it’s a problem. Check out the audio-only version on iTunes or Soundcloud.
For at least 1000 years, the Bajau people of Southeast Asia have lived in close proximity to the ocean. Bajau fishermen spend up to 60 percent of their day underwater and can dive more than 70 meters down using only homemade goggles. With such an affinity for water, scientists have suspected the Bajau might have…
Tardigrades, also called water bears, may be the toughest group of animals in the world. Barely the size of a poppy seed, they can withstand extreme cold, intense pressure, and even the hard vacuum of space. They can also tolerate high doses of radiation, up to 100 times the lethal amount for humans. How tardigrades…