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PODCAST

Biopedia

Vince"s Podcasts

Biology is a fascinating subject which is well worth exploring. Its scope stretches from individual DNA strands and viruses to blue whales, metapopulations and the biosphere. We will shine the spotlight on a different biological concept in every episode. Topics I"ve covered in the past include the origins of cell theory, Dollo"s law and the Anthropocene; however, there is still plenty more to discover. Our focus will range from the very smallest scales to the very largest; from virions to the Gaia

science life sciences

All Episodes

00:05:11

96- Ancestors versus Human Population

Biopedia ·

2025/02/09

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

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00:05:11

95- Rewind: Fossil Fuels

Biopedia ·

2025/01/26

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

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00:04:21

94- Galactic Cycles Part II

Biopedia ·

2025/01/12

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,

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00:06:05

93- Biological Impacts of Chernobyl

Biopedia ·

2024/12/29

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

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00:06:05

92- The UK Sand Eel Fishing Ban

Biopedia ·

2024/12/15

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

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00:05:41

91- Climate Change and Day Length

Biopedia ·

2024/12/01

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.,

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00:04:58

90- Trees on Mars

Biopedia ·

2024/11/17

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

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00:06:47

89- Voyage of the Beagle Part II

Biopedia ·

2024/11/03

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

en

00:01:51

Update- Ask Me Anything and Patreon Question

Biopedia ·

2024/10/15

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

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00:07:12

88- Different Types of Cousin

Biopedia ·

2024/10/06

First cousins, second cousins, fourth cousins three times removed... What's the difference? And if all three billion letters of your genetic code were unique, how distant a relation would you have to have before the two of you didn't share any of these original letters anymore? This scenario has some assumptions, but we'll use it to explore how large the human genome is!Sources for this episode: Berger, B. M. (1960), How Long Is a Generation? The British Journal of Sociology 11(1):

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00:07:25

87- The Permian Extinction

Biopedia ·

2024/09/22

Twenty-one episodes ago, we discussed the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years before the present. However, this isn't the only mass extinction event the Earth has witnessed. Let's go back to 252 million years ago and watch the Great Dying unfold... Sources for this episode: Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V. and Reece, J. B. (2018), Biology: a global approach, 11th edition (Global Edition), Harlow, Pearson Education Limited. Clennett,

en

00:01:25

Island Folk 4- Island Invasion and Extinction

Biopedia ·

2024/09/11

It's the fourth of seven episodes of Island Folk! Among subjects of discussion are reindeer on South Georgia, invasion and extinction on islands more broadly and a discussion of the Caribbean. Feel free to give the show a listen at the link below: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3qaiLb44t4IPICE1iOoRzm?si=9358f712ea9e4d0c

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00:08:20

86- The Psychology of Namesaking

Biopedia ·

2024/09/01

Namesaking is the practice of naming a child for someone else- usually a close relative. Today, we will be exploring the psychology and impacts of this practice.Sources for this episode: Abel, E. L. (2013), Jr. Naming Etiquette. Names 61(4): 230-238. Bird, A. E. and McAndrew, F. T. (2019), Does Namesaking a Child Influence Attachment Style? North American Journal of Psychology 21(13): 39-44. Busse, T. V., Busse, K. and Busse, M. (1979), Identical First Names for Parent and Child. The Journal

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00:06:46

85- Rewind: Mitosis and Meiosis

Biopedia ·

2024/08/18

The rewind mini series is back! This time, we're discuss the two forms of eukaryotic cell division, mitosis and meiosis.Sources for this episode: Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V. and Reece, J. B. (2018), Biology: a global approach, 11th edition (Global Edition), Harlow, Pearson Education Limited. Hine, R. (2019), A Dictionary of Biology (Oxford Quick Reference), 8th edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Russell, P. J. (2006), iGenetics: A

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00:05:51

84- Habitat

Biopedia ·

2024/08/04

Following on from the definition of biomes in episode 78, we're zooming in and discussing habitats today. What we'll find is that the term is similar but smaller scale in terms of number of species considered- and that there used to be considerable uncertainty in the literature...Sources for this episode: Allaby, M. (editor) (2020), Oxford Dictionary of Zoology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Carpenter, J. R. (1939), The Biome. The American Midland Naturalist 21(1): 75-91. Hall, L

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00:03:24

83- The Four Humours

Biopedia ·

2024/07/21

Returning to the idea of discussing biological thought in other cultures and/or times, today's topic is the Four Humours. This is an ancient idea of how the body worked coming from the thinkers of Ancient Greece and Rome.Sources for this episode: Jouanna, J. (2012), Greek Medicine from Hippocrates to Galen: Selected Papers. Leiden: BRILL. Stelmack, R. M. and Stalikas, A. (1991), Galen and the Humour Theory of Temperament. Personality and Individual Differences 12(3): 255-263. Thorndike,

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00:06:13

82- Dormice in the UK

Biopedia ·

2024/07/07

There are two species of dormice in the UK. Today, we will be exploring the legislation around dormice, as well as the study which first pioneered the use of nest boxes for their study.Sources for this episode: Chanin, P. and Gubert, L. (2011), Surveying hazel dormice (Muscardinus avellinarius) with tubes and boxes: a comparison. Mammal Notes. Morris, P. A., Bright, P. W. and Woods, D. (1990), Use of Nestboxes by the Dormouse Muscardinus avellinarius. Biological Conservation 51: 1-13. Author

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00:05:35

81- Superfetation and Superfecundation

Biopedia ·

2024/06/23

Today, two terms which, in a sense, extend our discussion of twins from episode 27.Sources for this episode: Blickstein, I. (2003), Superfecundation and superfetation: lessons from the past on early human development. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine 14(4): 217-219. Segal, N. L. and Nedelec, J. L. (2021), Heteropaternal twinning: Unique case of opposite-sex twins with different fathers. Forensic Science International 327: 110948. Thain, M. and Hickman, M. (2004), The

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00:03:35

80- Endoskeletons, Exoskeletons and Hydrostatic...

Biopedia ·

2024/06/09

Skeletons are on the menu today- and the different kinds organisms can have.Sources for this episode: Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V. and Reece, J. B. (2018), Biology: a global approach, 11th edition (Global Edition), Harlow, Pearson Education Limited. Clennett, C., Locke, J. and Jackson, T. (editorial consultants) (2023), How Biology Works. LonondM Darling Kindersley Ltd. Hine, R. S. (2019), Oxford Dictionary of Biology (8th edition). Oxford:

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00:06:31

79- Bee Declines in the UK

Biopedia ·

2024/05/26

Bee declines feature prominently in the news today. But what are the causes for it? Using the example of the UK, we follow the Woodland Trust to explore this issue. Plus, we also discuss two papers which hold differing viewpoints about the pollination crisis generally...Sources for this episode: Briggs, H., BBC News (2019), Bees: Many British pollinating insects in decline, study shows (online) (Accessed 05/03/2024). Engel, M. S., Rasmussen, C. and Gonzalez, V. H. (2021), Bees. In: Starr, C. K

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135 results

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