Episodi
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Adam and Eve, Ask and Embla, Deucalion and Pyrrha... The cultures of the world seemingly love the idea of humanity descending from two founders. While this notion may not be in line with scientific thought, there are two individuals who everyone can trace either maternal or paternal ancestry to. Say hello to mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam...
Sources for this episode:
Berta, P., Hawkins, J. R., Sinclair, A. H., Taylor, A., Griffiths, B. L., Goodfellow, P. N. and Fellous, M. (1990), Genetic evidence equating SRY and the testis-determining factor. Nature 348: 448- 450. Callaway, E. (2013), Nature News, Genetic Adam and Eve did not too far apart in time (online). (Accessed 18/10/2020). Chan, E. K. F., Timmermann, A., Baldi, B. F., Moore, A. E., Lyons, R. J., Lee, S.-S., Kalsbeek, A. M. F., Petersen, D. C., Rautenbach, H., Förtsch, H. E. A., Bornman, M. S. R. and Hayes, V. M. (2019), Human origins in a southern African palaeo-wetland and first migrations. Nature 575: 185- 189. Chiaroni, J., Underhill, P. A. and Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. (2009), Y chromosome diversity, human expansion, drift and cultural evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 190(48): 20174- 20179. Fleischmann, T. (2019), The Norse Creation of the Cosmos. MFA, Salem Press Encyclopedia of Literature. Fry, S. (2017), Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold. London: Michael Joseph Ltd (part of Penguin). Ingman, M., Kaessmann, H., Pääbo, S. and Gyllensten, U. (2000), Mitochondrial genome variation and the origin of modern humans. Nature 408: 708- 713. Nass, M. M. K. and Nass, S. (1963), Intramitochondrial fibers with DNA characteristics. The Journal of Cell Biology 10: 593- 611. Sykes, B. (2001), The Seven Daughters of Eve. London: Corgi Books (part of the Random House Group Ltd. Thain, M. and Hickman, M. (2004), The Penguin dictionary of biology, 11th edition, London, Penguin Books Ltd. Author unknown (2010), Holy Bible: International Children's Bible (New Century Version). Milton Keynes: Authentic Media Limited. -
We know today that our planet Earth is billions of years old. However, the people of a few centuries ago would have been equally convinced it was only a few thousand years old. So what were some of these old ages, and how big a shift is it from there to the age we've arrived at today?
Sources for this episode:
TBA
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Episodi mancanti?
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It was one of the oldest individual organisms to have lived. And yet, in 2006, its story would come to an end. To find out how, come and join us on this adaptation of a post on the Biopedia website into audio format.
Sources for this episode:
TBA
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Tackling James Lovelock's most famous theorem is no easy task. However, that's exactly what we're going to do today. Join us for a breakdown of the Gaia Hypothesis, a discussion of altruism, a throwback to the Black Queen Hypothesis in episode 21 and some speculation based on an early 2000s book by Lovelock himself.
Sources for this episode:
TBA
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As it turns out, Louis XIII of France and Drypetina of Pontus have something in common. They have hyperdontia, or too many teeth. Today, we go through the phenomena of hyperdontia, hypodontia and concomitant hypo-hyperdontia.
Sources for this episode:
Ammianus Marcellinus (1956) in Three Volumes (Vol. I). Translated by J. C. Rolfe. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann Ltd. Eshgian, N., Al-Talib, T., Nelson, S. and Abubakr, N. H. (2021), Prevalence of hyperdontia, hypodontia, and concomitant hypo-hyperdontia. Journal of Dental Sciences 16: 713-717. Gracco, A. L. T., Zanatta, S., Valvecchi, F. F., Bignotti, D., Perri, A. and Baciliero, F. (2017), Prevalence of dental agenesis in a sample of Italian orthodontic patients: an epidemiological study. Progress in Orthodontics 18:33. Littlewood, I. (2002), The Rough Guide: History of France. London: Rough Guides Ltd. Peker, I., Kaya, E. and Darendeliler-Yaman, S. (2009) Clinical and radio- graphical evaluation of non- syndromic hypodontia and hyperdontia in permanent dentition. Medicina Oral Patologia Oral y Cirugia Bucal 14: e393e7. Pliny (1961), Natural History in Ten Volumes (Volume II: Libri III- VII). Translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press and William Heinemann, Ltd. Snow, P. and Macmillan, A. (2022), Kings & Queens: The Real Lives of the English Monarchs. London: Welbeck. Author unknown (1830), A Collection of the Most Instructive and Amusing Lives Ever Published. Volume VIII: Lord Herbert and Prince Eugene. London: Whittaker, Treacher, and Arnot. Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Agrippina the Younger (online) (Accessed 15/10/2024). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Drypetina (online) (Accessed 15/10/2024). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Louis XIII (online) (Accessed 15/10/2024). -
An episode all about a suggested topic- the walrus! Let's explore how one species used to many, and the challenges the sole surviving species faces in the modern day...
Sources for this episode:
TBA
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WE DID IT! 100 episodes. It feels crazy to say that the beginning of Biopedia in late 2020 is four and a half years ago when this episode comes out. Thank you all so much for listening and I look forward to many more episodes to come!
To celebrate our milestone, we are discussing a milestone in biology- as voted for by you the community over on YouTube. Get ready for an outmoded theory about how bacteria emerge on food and huge names such as Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch!
Sources for this episode:
Madigan, M. T., Bender, K. S., Buckley, D. H., Sattley, W. M. and Stahl, D. A. (2019), Brock Biology of Microorganisms (15th edition). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Pasteur, L. (1881), On the Germ Theory. Science os-2(62): 420-422. -
Don't worry, you have not in fact stumbled onto a physics podcast. However, the Laws of Thermodynamics do have a rather significant connection to evolutionary biology. This is because, at first glance, they appear to lead to a rather startling conclusion- life should not be able to evolve at all...
Sources for this episode:
Berg, J. M., Tymoczko, J. L. and Stryer, L. (2007), Biochemistry (6th edition). New York: W. H. Freeman and Company. Herron, J. C., and Freeman, S. (2015), Evolutionary Analysis. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd. Masanes, L. and Oppenheim, J. (2017), A general derivation and quantification of the third law of thermodynamics. Nature Communications 8: 14538. Ritchie, R. and Ghent, D. (2015), A Level Chemistry for OCR A. Oxford: Oxford University Press. -
Quick correction: I call the episode on sibling species episode 37 in the audio, but it's actually episode 47!
Way back in the early days of Biopedia, we discussed the concept of sibling species. Now, we're talking about cryptic species. Are these the same concept? Well, as we will see today, it's complicated...
Sources for this episode:
Allaby, M. (editor) (2020), Oxford Dictionary of Zoology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bickford, D., Lohman, D. J., Sodhi, N. S., Ng, P. K. L., Meier, R., Winker, K., Ingram, K. K. and Das, I. (2007), Cryptic species as a window on diversity and conservation. TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution 22(3): 148-155. Herron, J. C., and Freeman, S. (2015), Evolutionary Analysis. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd. Hine, R. (2019), A Dictionary of Biology (Oxford Quick Reference), 8th edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Species complex (online) (Accessed 25/07/2024). -
2023 was a warm year. But let's put it into context. To do that, a 2024 study looked at temperature and tree core data to assemble summer temperatures all the way back to 1 CE. As for the result- the title speaks for itself...
Sources for this episode:
Bianchi, G. G., & McCave, I. N. (1999). Holocene periodicity in North Atlantic climate and deep-ocean flow south of Iceland. Nature, 397(6719): 515–517. Büntgen, U., Myglan, V. S., Ljungqvist, F. C., McCormick, M., Di Cosmo, N., Sigl, M., Jungclaus, J., Wagner, S., Krusic, P. J., Esper, J., Kaplan, J. O., de Vaan, M. A. C., Luterbacher, J., Wacker, L., Tegel, W., & Kirdyanov, A. V. (2016). Cooling and societal change during the Late Antique Little Ice Age from 536 to around 660 AD. Nature Geoscience, 9(3): 231–236. Dull, R. A., Southon, J. R., Kutterolf, S., Anchukaitis, K. J., Freundt, A., Wahl, D. B., Sheets, P., Amaroli, P., Hernandez, W., Wiemann, M. C., & Oppenheimer, C. (2019). Radiocarbon and geologic evidence reveal Ilopango volcano as source of the colossal ‘mystery’ eruption of 539/40 CE. Quaternary Science Reviews, 222: 105855. Dytham, C. (2011). Choosing and Using Statistics: A Biologist’s Guide (3rd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. Esper, J., Torbenson, M. and Büntgen, U. (2024), 2023 summer warmth unparalleled over the past 2,000 years. Nature 631: 94-97. Goosse, H., Crespin, E., Dubinkina, S., Loutre, M.-F., Mann, M. E., Renssen, H., Sallaz-Damaz, Y., & Shindell, D. (2012). The role of forcing and internal dynamics in explaining the “Medieval Climate Anomaly.” Climate Dynamics, 39(12): 2847–2866. Graham, N. E., Ammann, C. M., Fleitmann, D., Cobb, K. M., & Luterbacher, J. (2011). Support for global climate reorganization during the “Medieval Climate Anomaly.” Climate Dynamics, 37(5–6): 1217–1245. Lamb, H. H. (1965). The early medieval warm epoch and its sequel. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 1(1): 13–37. Lowe, J., & Walker, M. (2015). Reconstructing Quaternary Environments (3rd ed.). Routledge. Mann, M. E., Zhang, Z., Rutherford, S., Bradley, R. S., Hughes, M. K., Shindell, D., Ammann, C., Faluvegi, G., & Ni, F. (2009). Global Signatures and Dynamical Origins of the Little Ice Age and Medieval Climate Anomaly. Science, 326(5957): 1256–1260. Matthews, J. A., & Briffa, K. R. (2005). The ‘little ice age’: re‐evaluation of an evolving concept. Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography, 87(1): 17–36. Shi, F., Sun, C., Guion, A., Yin, Q., Zhao, S., Liu, T., & Guo, Z. (2022). Roman Warm Period and Late Antique Little Ice Age in an Earth System Model Large Ensemble. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 127(16): e2021JD035832. -
A bit of an unusual one this year- I was recently given a Dr Who book featuring Charles Darwin. So, let's examine the historical details of this novella and see how they represented Darwin. Have they done him justice?
Sources for this episode:
TBA
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Your number of ancestors double every generation. Two parents, four grandparents, and so on. If we compare these numbers to the total number of people alive on the planet as we go back in time, what do we find? And what do researchers say on the subject?
Sources for this episode:
Bell, S., Phys (2013), Researcher uses DNA to demonstrate just how closely everyone on Earth is related to everyone else (online) (Accessed 05/07/2024). Berger, B. M. (1960), How Long Is a Generation? The British Journal of Sociology 11(1): 10-23. Hershberger, S., Scientific American (2020), Humans Are All More Closely Related Than We Commonly Think (online) (Accessed 05/07/2024). Matsamura, S. and Forster, P. (2008), Generation time and effective population size in Polar Eskimos. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 275: 1501-1508. Murdock, N. H. (1998), Teenage Pregnancy. Journal of the National Medical Association 90(3): 135. Author unknown, Guiness World Records (date unknown), Oldest person to give birth (online) (Accessed 05/07/2024). Author unknown, Our World in Data (date unknown), Population, 10,000 BCE to 2021 (online) (Accessed 05/07/2024). -
For a podcast which has talked several times before about global warming and climate change, we haven't addressed fossil fuels yet. So, let's redress that today!
Sources for this episode:
Hine, R. S. (2019), Oxford Dictionary of Biology (8th edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kalair, A., Abas, N., Saleem, M. S., Kalair, A. R. and Khan, N. (2020), Role of energy storage systems in energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables. Energy Storage 3: e135. Ritchie, R. and Gent, D. (2015), A Level Chemistry for OCR A. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Author uknown, The Ohio State University (date unknown), Life on Mars: The Future of Human Adventure- Exploring Mars as a Solution to Earth's Problems (online) (Accessed 28/06/2024). Author unknown, Our World in Data (date unknown) Fossil fuels (online) (Accessed 28/06/2024). Author unknown, UMCP Berkeley (date unknown), The Carboniferous Period (online) (Accessed 28/06/2024). -
In episode 71, we treated a galactic cycle of about 220 million years as a unit of time with which to view evolution. Today, we'll be picking up where we left off and seeing the story through all the way to the end- or rather, the beginning...
Sources for this episode:
Cox, B. and Cohen, A. (2013), Wonders of Life. London: HarperCollins Publishers. Emelyanov, V. V. (2001), Rickettsiaceae, Rickettsia-like Endosymbionts, and the Origin of Mitochondria. Bioscience Reports 21(1): 1-17. Herron, J. C., and Freeman, S. (2015), Evolutionary Analysis. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd. Knoll, A. H. (2005), Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Thain, M. and Hickman, M. (2004), The Penguin Dictionary of Biology (11th edition). London: the Penguin Group. Wernegreen, J. J. (2012), Endosymbiosis. Current Biology 22(14): R555-R561. -
In 1986, the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl- then in the USSR, now in Ukraine- experienced meltdown. This disaster is one of the worst in nuclear history. However, there are some biological consequences we should explore.
Sources for this episode:
The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2020), Chernobyl accident summary (online) (Accessed 29/05/2024). The Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica (2024), Half-life (online) (Accessed 31/05/2024). Ellegren, H., Lingren, G., Primmer, C. R. and Møller, A. P. (1997), Fitness loss and germline mutations in barn swallows breeding in Chernobyl. Nature 389: 593-596. Hine, R. S. (2019), Oxford Dictionary of Biology (8th edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Møller, A. P. and Mousseau, T. A. (2015), Strong effects of ionizing radiation from Chernobyl on mutation rates. Nature Scientific Reports 5: 8363. Weinberg, H. Sh., Korol, A. B., Kirzhner, V. M., Avivi, A., Fahima, T., Nevo, E., Shapiro, S., Rennert, G., Piatak, O., Stepanova, E. I. and Skvarskaja, E. (2001), Very high mutation rate in offspring of Chernobyl accident liquidators. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 268: 1001-1005. -
Recently in conservation news, the UK brought in a ban on sand eel fishing effective as of March 2024. This is connected to how important sand eel are to seabirds. However, as we will see today, there are political repercussions of such an announcement... Let's watch the political and the conservation worlds meet.
Sources for this episode:
Mitsilegas, V. and Guild, E. (2024), THe UK and the ECHR After Brexit: The Challenge of Immigration Control. European Convention of Human Rights Law Review 5(1): 116-131. Murphy, P. and Shoesmith, K., BBC (2023), Sandeel fishing ban a lifeline to seabirds (online) (Accessed 15/05/2024). Author unknown, European Commission (2024), EU requests consultations under Trade and Cooperation Agreement over UK's permanent closure of the sandeel fishery (online) (Accessed 15/05/2024). Author unknown, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (online) (Accessed 31/05/2024). Author unknown, RSPB (date unknown), Big news for seabirds as campaign to close the English North Sea and Scottish waters to sandeel fishing succeeds (online) (Accessed 15/05/2024). Author unknown, Scottish Government (2024), The Sandeel (Prohibition of Fishing) (Scotland) Order 2024: business and regulatory assessment-final (online) (Accessed 15/05/2024). -
Back to talking about the impacts of climate change, and this time it's something pretty fundamental that's being impacted- the length of a day...
Sources for this episode:
Agnew, D. C. (2024), A global timekeeping problem postponed by global warming. Nature 628: 333-336. Mitchell, R. N. and Kirscher, U. (2023), Mid-Proterozoic day length stalled by tidal resonance. Nature Geoscience 16: 567-569. Scaife, A. A., Hermanson, L., van Niekerk, A., Andrews, M., Baldwin, M. P., Belcher, S., Bett, P., Comer, R. E., Dunstone, N. J., Geen, R., Hardiman, S. C., Ineson, S., Knight, J., Nie, Y., Ren, H.-L. and Smith, D. (2024), Long-range predictability of extratropical climate and the length of day. Nature Geoscience 15: 789-793. Author unknown, BBC (2011), Why the Moon is getting further away from Earth (online) (Accessed 30/04/2024). -
The record for the tallest tree is a sequoia that is just over 116 metres tall. Would this be different on other planets? Find out in today's episode- plus an appearance from the transpiration stream and transpiration.
Sources for this episode:
Cox, B. and Cohen, A. (2013), Wonders of Life. London: HarperCollins Publishers. Harberle, R. M. (2015), SOLAR SYSTEM/SUN, ATMOSPHERES, EVOLUTION OF ATMOSPHERES | Planetary Atmospheres: Mars. Chapter in: Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences (2nd edition): p. 168-177. Hine, R. S. (2019), Oxford Dictionary of Biology (8th edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nazari-Sharabian, M., Aghababaei, M., Karakouzian, M. and Karami, M. (2020), Water on Mars- A Literature Review. Galaxies 8(2): 40. Owen, T., Biemann, K., Rushneck, D. R., Biller, J. E., Howarth, D. W. and Lafleur, A. L. (1977), The Composition of the Atmosphere at the Surface of Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research 82(28): 4635-4639. Author unknown, Guiness World Records (date unknown), Tallest tree living (online) (Accessed 22/04/2024). Author unknown, NASA (date unknown), Mars Facts (online) (Accessed 29/04/2024). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Atmospheric pressure (online) (Accessed 29/04/2024). -
We catch up with Darwin and see what exactly he got up to in the Empire of Brazil!
Sources for this episode:
Cardoso, D., et al. (2020), Amazon plant diversity revealed by a taxonomically verified species list. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 114(40): 10695-10700. Darwin, C. (1945), The Voyage of the Beagle. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd. Hubbell, S. P., He, F., Condit, R., Borda-de-Água, L., Kellner, J. and ter Steege, H. (2008), How many tree species are there in the Amazon and how many of them will go extinct? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105(suppl. 1): 11498-11504. Martin, P. A. (1933), Slavery and Abolition in Brazil. The Hispanic American Historical Review 13(2): 151-196. Ray, J. L. (2009), The abolition of slavery and the end of international war. International Organization 43(3): 405-439. Ronque, M. U. V., Fourcassié, V. and Oliveira, P. S. (2018), Ecology and field biology of two dominant Camponotus ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Brazilian savannah. Journal of Natural History 52(3-4): 237-252. Author unknown, Metric Conversions (date unknown), Feet to Meters conversion: ft to m calculator (online) (Accessed 29/04/2024). Author unknown, Rainforest Trust (date unknown), Amazon Basin (online) (Accessed 22/04/2024). Author unknown, Our World in Data (date unknown), Average annual precipitation (online) (Accessed 22/04/2024). Author unknown, United States Senate (date unknown), The Senate Passes the Thirteenth Amendment (online) (Accessed 29/04/2024). Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Porcupinefish (online) (Accessed 22/04/2024). -
As we'll soon be reaching 100 episodes, I was wondering whether you would be interested in an Ask Me Anything (or AMA) when we get there. If so, feel free to send me questions to the show's email address! I look forward to hearing from you.
This update also tentatively raises the idea of a Biopedia Patreon. Is this something you would be interested in? I have no idea how it would work at present, so feedback on this or whether you would be interested in the first place is welcome. Again, reach out to the email address, or else there is a poll available on the YouTube community on the subject.
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