Science Friday Folgen

Samples of 2.5 billion-year-old mantle rocks found at spreading ocean ridges could put bounds on models of how the planet formed. And, researchers decreased the amount of lignin in poplar tree wood, making it stronger and slower to deteriorate.‘Time Capsule’ Rocks Provide Clues About Earth’s MantleIf you’re looking to really learn about the history of our planet, look to geology. Ancient rocks can provide a time capsule of the conditions in which they formed. But even the geologic record has its limits—rocks and minerals get weathered, buried, heated, melted, and recycled over time—so geologists need to search out rare super-old geologic holdouts to tell about the earliest times.Writing in the journal Nature in July, researchers described what they can learn about the chemical history of Earth’s mantle, the geologic layer beneath the planet’s crust, from studying 2.5 billion-year-old rocks collected at spreading ocean ridges. They found that these unusual mantle rocks didn’t necessarily have to have been formed in a world with less available oxygen, but could have been produced just by the mantle layer being hotter long ago.Dr. Elizabeth Cottrell, chair of the Department of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, joins Ira to talk about the research and why a collection of old rocks is an important part of international scientific infrastructure.Genetically Engineering Stronger Poplar Tree WoodTrees play a big role in the fight against climate change: They can soak up carbon dioxide from the air and store it for centuries in the form of biomass. But it turns out that trees could be doing even more.In 2023, Science Friday covered how the company Living Carbon had genetically engineered poplar trees to have a more efficient photosynthesis process. This allowed the trees to grow twice as fast and store 30% more carbon biomass than regular poplars, making them ideal for the carbon credit market.Recently, researchers at the University of Maryland also experimented with genetically modifying poplar trees. But this time, they had a different goal in mind. They modified the tree to reduce the amount of lignin in its wood. This made the wood stronger without the need for harsh chemical processing. It also slowed the deterioration rate of the wood, which allows it to store carbon for longer periods.To explain more about this “super wood,” SciFri guest host Sophie Bushwick is joined by the lead plant geneticist on the study, Dr. Yiping Qi, associate professor at Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture at the University of Maryland.Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

If you’ve ever seen a cute cow video on social media, you might notice they seem to have a lot in common with dogs. They can wag their tails, they love to gobble down tasty treats, and if you’re lucky, they might flop over for a nice belly or neck scratch.Cows are clearly emotional animals, but how smart are they exactly? That’s the question that neuroscientist and author Dr. Gregory Berns had when he and his wife moved from Atlanta to the Georgia countryside in 2020, and started raising cows of their own. And to better understand them, he applied his years of experience researching the brains of animals, like dogs and dolphins.He joins guest host Sophie Bushwick to talk about his new book, Cowpuppy: An Unexpected Friendship And A Scientist’s Journey Into The Secret World Of Cows.Read an excerpt of Cowpuppy: An Unexpected Friendship And A Scientist’s Journey Into The Secret World Of Cows.Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Shark fishing is alive and well, but the fishermen who do it are increasingly prioritizing conservation. And, an unknown ant was spotted in Manhattan in 2011, and it quickly spread through New York City. We now know what it is.Fishing For—And Saving—Sharks off the Jersey ShoreAt an undisclosed beach at 5:30 p.m. in New Jersey, shark fisherman AJ Rotondella and two clients wait for beachgoers to leave. Once the beach is empty, Rotondella cuts up some chunks of fish as bait, and casts lines into the water.“I shark fish, shark fish, shark fish, eat pizza, and shark fish … that’s pretty much it,” Rotondella said. “Waking up in the morning … wide open ocean, anything could be anywhere at any time. And I think that’s fascinating. No matter how long you’ve done this, you’ve never seen it all.”He has always loved fishing, and got into shark fishing 13 years ago, when his brother told him they could catch sharks from the beach. They caught two on their first day and could not catch another shark for the rest of the year.“That really got me interested because I knew it was possible, but I couldn’t do it again,” he said. “I … absolutely obsessed over this.”But Rotondella had a steep learning curve ahead of him. By trial and error, sometimes staying on a beach for multiple days, he learned how to read the tides, water temperatures, currents, and even phases of the moon to figure out how to track the sharks.Read the full story at sciencefriday.com.Scientists Identify The ‘ManhattAnt’ Spreading Across NYCNew York City is home to more than 8 million people. But there’s another massive population below their feet: ants.In 2011, when surveying ant populations on Broadway and Times Square, researchers got quite a surprise: an unidentified species of ant, which was soon dubbed the “ManhattAnt.” Since then, it has become the second-most populous ant species in New York City.Earlier this year, the first study on this unidentified species was released. It concluded that this species, Lasius emarginatus, likely hitchhiked from Europe to the US. Though their populations have grown tremendously, it’s unclear how the ants are interacting with New York’s native ants.Joining guest host Sophie Bushwick to discuss this ant species is Dr. Clint Penick, assistant professor of insect ecology at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama.Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.