Back to Grinding Science -This Week in Science Podcast (TWIS) - Episode 601

Episode #601 — Back to Grinding Ccience — This week on TWIS (@TWIScience): hosts Dr. Kiki (@drkiki), Justin Jackson (@jacksonfly), & Blair Bazdarich (@blairsmenagerie).

Dr. Kiki, Blair, & Justin explore the world of science news with a few of the week's popular stories:

(0:00) - Recording Start (now with 5000% MOHR TWISCalendar — in your face!)
(0:35) - Show Start, Intro - Dr. Kiki.
(1:01) - Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Disclaimer! - Justin
(2:15) - Opening Theme Music.
(2:50) - Opening "Good Science!" Greetings - with (a briefly muted) Dr. Kiki, Blair & Justin. Intros & Top Story Headlines, some extra crunchy guitar riffs & a cute new kitty!

(3:34) - Info on Pre-sales on TWIS 2017 Calendars! $20 + shipping. https://goo.gl/1phr0L
(3:53) - TWIS will LIVE STREAM from SF Sketchfest! At the California Academy of Sciences, Thursday, January 19th, 2017 @ 6 p.m., Tickets & Info at https://goo.gl/yQTtFD.
(4:20) - National Citizen Science Day is this Saturday (?)

(5:42) - Asgard archaea illuminate the origin of eukaryotic cellular complexity (New Life!), Dr. Kiki - https://goo.gl/6jGqip
(13:23) - Spinning spider silk is now possible, Dr. Kiki - https://goo.gl/DcmMgJ
(20:07) - New transplant technique restores vision in mice, Justin - https://goo.gl/G3AzYa

And now it's time for...

(29:12) - Blair's Animal Corner!
(29:30) - Blair's Animal Corner Theme
(29:50) - Common terns stay with the same partner for life even though they have poor breeding success, Blair - https://goo.gl/W4y6Ru
(38:26) - Songbirds divorce, flee, fail to reproduce due to suburban sprawl, Blair - https://goo.gl/F6Vyuu

(43:45) - And we're at the break!
(44:01) - Half-Time Theme Music.

(44:24) - TWIS 2017 Calendars! $20 + shipping. https://goo.gl/1phr0L

(45:21) - TWIS will LIVE STREAM from SF Sketchfest! At the California Academy of Sciences, Thursday, January 19th, 2017 @ 6 p.m., Tickets & Info at https://goo.gl/yQTtFD.

(45:54) - This is where you can find out about our Zazzle store (http://www.zazzle.com/thisweekinscience) and supporting us through Paypal (http://bit.ly/twis-paypal) and Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thisweekinsci... Tell more folks about TWIS (http://twis.org). And please leave great reviews for the podcast on iTunes (http://apple.co/2bJGvtB). More minions, please!

(49:17) - Interstitial Music: George Hrab, "Skeptic," from the album "Vitriol." (https://itun.es/us/H1qUe).

(49:48) - And we're back from the break!

(50:02) - Retroviruses 'almost half a billion years old', Justin - https://goo.gl/doWY5O
(54:35) - Baboons use vowel sounds strikingly similar to humans, Dr. Kiki - https://goo.gl/MhefaH
(1:02:17) - Glia, not neurons, are most affected by brain aging, Justin - https://goo.gl/BUk08z
(1:07:30) - 'Housekeepers' of the brain (Microglia) renew themselves more quickly than first thought, Justin - https://goo.gl/6eyK6z
(1:13:20) - Appendix may have important function, new research suggests, Dr. Kiki - https://goo.gl/u1OQma
(1:17:28) - Superhero culture magnifies aggressive, not defending behaviors, Dr. Kiki - https://goo.gl/SPZEgJ
(1:25:27) - Astronomers predict a “red nova” will brighten our skies in 2022 (from two stars colliding — wow!), Dr. Kiki - https://goo.gl/Gekl65
(1:26:41) - Orchids mimic human body odor to attract mosquitoes (eww!), Blair - https://goo.gl/1YhSUS

(1:29:28) - Show Wrap-up & Thank you's.

(1:29:47) - Pre-sales on TWIS 2017 Calendars! $20 + shipping. https://goo.gl/1phr0L.

(1:29:56) - Also - TWIS will LIVE STREAM from SF Sketchfest! At the California Academy of Sciences, Thursday, January 19th, 2017 @ 6 p.m., Tickets & Info at https://goo.gl/yQTtFD.

(1:34:00) - End Theme

And that's all, folks! Except, we still have...

(1:37:37) - The After-Show! - incl. freezing temps.in Portland, Blair feels cold in the SF Bay Area, Portland snow, and Blair has never made a snow man! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-zXT5bIBM0)

Listen to the full episode in audio or check out the show notes at our website: http://www.twis.org !

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