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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

00:06:43

65- The Fermi Paradox and the Great Filter

Biopedia ·

2023/08/20

Enrico Fermi is the man behind today’s episode, as we’re going to talk all about the Fermi paradox. In essence, why do we not see anyone else out there in the universe besides ourselves? Well, a number of solutions have been proposed- and they have to do with the second concept in today’s episode: the Great Filter. Sources for this episode: 1) Bailey, M. M. (2023), Could AI be the Great Filter? What Astrobiology can Teach the Intelligence Community about Anthropogenic Risks. arXiv preprint

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00:01:12

Announcement- YouTube Community

Biopedia ·

2023/08/13

Hello everyone, just a quick note that the YouTube comments are active on all videos and in the community tab. Feel free to drop me a line there as an alternative to the show's email address and stay tuned for extra features such as polls in future!

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00:06:03

64- New Global Heat Records

Biopedia ·

2023/08/05

In July 2023, the world experienced three consecutive days which were the hottest day on record. In fact, an interview with the Washington Post cited that it was the hottest day for 125,000 years. What does that mean? Well, today's episode will put that number into prehistorical and historical context, as well as compare our current global warming to an example of change from the Cretaceous. 1) Blum, M. G. B., and Jakobsson, M. (2010), Deep Divergence of Human Gene Trees and Models of Human

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00:07:37

63- Hypothetical Galactic Population Size

Biopedia ·

2023/07/16

On today's episode, we're going to range out into the cosmos for our inaugural episode in the world of astrobiology! We're going to ask the question: how many people could our galaxy support? Using some assumptions and approximations, we're going to see that the number dwarfs our current numbers here on Earth by quite some margin... 1) Asimov, I. (1952, 2016 edition), Foundation and Empire. London: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 2) Briggs, J. C. (2017), Emergence of a sixth mass

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00:07:20

62- The United Nations Framework Convention on...

Biopedia ·

2023/06/18

Climate change is a big topic, and one we're not going to cover here. However, there are international efforts to try and do something about it. Today's topic is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC to its friends), which was first set up in the nineties. What exactly did it lead to? Well, that's what we're here for... Sources for this episode: 1) Bowman, W. D., Hacker, S. D. and Cain, M. L. (2017). Ecology (4th International Edition).Oxford: Oxford

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00:01:32

Update- Podcast schedule

Biopedia ·

2023/06/06

Hello everyone, Vince here with a quick update on how the podcast schedule is probably going to work from now on. I'm likely as not going to try out a monthly schedule- meaning that a new After Alexander will show up on the first Saturday of every month and a Biopedia on the third Sunday- although that may vary depending if I have more or less time for it in a given month. Who knows, there may well be more than one episode a month if I'm lucky! There may also be some extra content in the

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00:05:24

Darwin Day 2023- Historical Context to Charles Darwin

Biopedia ·

2023/02/12

It's that time of year again! This time round, I thought I'd put Charles Darwin's life into a little bit of historical context. This is because I imagine most people have a stereotypical image of him in their heads as a model Victorian gentleman. However, his life saw quite a few other historical events that wouldn't really spring to mind. For instance, would it have occurred to you that Darwin witnessed the closing years of the Napoleonic Wars? So, in honour of Darwin's birthday, let's explore a

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00:04:02

61- Monophyly, Paraphyly and Polyphyly

Biopedia ·

2023/02/05

This episode is going to be a return to genetics with an introduction to some phylogenetic terms. Groups can be monophyletic, paraphyletic or polyphyletic depending on who exactly is included. Confused? Well, that's what Biopedia is here to solve... Sources for this episode: 1) 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. 2) Herron, J. C., and

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00:02:23

Island Folk 2- Britain and the Island Fortress

Biopedia ·

2023/01/01

Another day, another episode of Island Folk! Sean Dettman and I discussed the concept of the island fortress as it was perceived in WW2 Britain. Basically, this is the idea that the inhabitants of the UK took comfort in the island nature of their country and the sea protecting them against hostile forces. Sean's upcoming publication on this subject was the focus of the episode's discussion. Along the way, we discuss connections to contemporary events, the paradigm of Britain's lack of invasions

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00:04:26

60- Porphyria

Biopedia ·

2022/12/25

In today's episode, we revisit an old blog post from all the way back in January 2021. George III of the United Kingdom is probably the person most famously associated with porphyria. However, what isn't as often discussed is what exactly it is. Moreover, as we will introduce in today's episode, it isn't just George Hanover who was affected with the condition; his wider family seems to have suffered from it too. We don't touch on this that much in the episode, but it in fact seems to stretch back to

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00:03:00

Island Folk 1- Rapa Nui

Biopedia ·

2022/11/20

My inaugural Island Folk episode has launched! In it, Sean Dettman and I discuss the history of Rapa Nui in relation to the removal of the island's trees, and whether it was this that proved the death knell for the civilisation or the arrival of Europeans. This is a big topic with a lot more nuance than either our discussion or my preceding research was able to fit in or find, but I aim to come back to it in one or more future Biopedia episodes. If people are interested, I will add some references

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00:02:16

Announcement- Island Folk

Biopedia ·

2022/11/16

Hello everyone, quick announcement- I've been offered the chance to host a radio programme! Island Folk- the show where we talk about islands and play folk music- forms part of Hautlieu Radio. My background means I'll mostly be discussing island biology, but other aspects such as island history or culture also fall within the show's remit. It usually goes live on Thursdays (3-4 pm) before being uploaded to SoundCloud. It's a very different project to any audio experience I've had before, but I'm

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00:10:46

59- James E. Lovelock

Biopedia ·

2022/11/13

James Ephraim Lovelock, best known for the Gaia hypothesis, died on the 26th of July 2022, on his 103rd birthday. In his honour, this episode is going to detail some of his achievements. During our discussion, we're going to examine his contribution to Martian life detection in the form of a paper published in 1965, as well as outline what the Gaia hypothesis actually refers to... Sources for this episode: 1) Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V. and Reece, J

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00:07:36

58- Islamic Golden Age Evolutionary Theory

Biopedia ·

2022/07/24

The traditional narrative of the history of biology as a field focusses on the West. As such, other regions of the world are underdiscussed- which is important when discussing how to decolonise our curriculum and therefore what needs to be included and reflected. In this episode, we're going to step back in time to the Islamic Golden Age and discuss evolutionary theory- centuries before Charles Darwin was even born. Sources for this episode: 1) Fuentes, A. (2021), "The Descent of Man", 150 years on

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00:03:31

57- Benedict's Test

Biopedia ·

2022/04/10

Today's topic is a return to the world of biochemistry with a discussion of Benedict's test- used to test for reducing sugars and, with some modifications, non-reducing sugars. We won't be discussing the precise methodology- and the subtle differences in methods/reagents between the sources I accessed- but we'll discuss what exactly a reducing sugar is and introduce the topic of food tests along the way. Sources for this episode: 1) Fullick A., Locke, J. and Bircher, P. (2015), A Level Biology for

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00:17:12

Darwin Day 2022- HMS Beagle

Biopedia ·

2022/02/12

As of February 12th 2022, it's been 113 years since Charles Robert Darwin was born. As such, we're back with another Darwin Day episode! This time around, we turn our attention to His Majesty's Ship Beagle, which Darwin would famously sail on. However, most people probably don't know a lot about the ship besides this fact. So, let's explore the Beagle's past and its possible connection to the present... Sources for this episode: 1) Burchett, M. (1996), Oceanography and Marine Biology: Water

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00:05:38

56- Three Types of Selection

Biopedia ·

2021/12/26

Natural selection is not just one phenomenon, but can be spliced into different types depending on what its action results in. Today's episode will examine disruptive selection, stabilising selection and directional selection; what they are, what their effects on populations are and some examples we see in the natural world. Sources for this episode: 1) Allaby, M., (2020), A Dictionary of Zoology (Oxford Quick Reference), 5th edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press. 2) Cain, M. L., Bowman, W. D

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00:04:40

55- Hybridomas

Biopedia ·

2021/10/24

Cultured cells are useful, but have their limitations. For instance, B cells- white blood cells which produce antibodies- have a limited lifespan in vitro, meaning their use for making antibodies commercially is limited. The solution to this is the topic of today's episode: the hybridoma. Sources for this episode: 1) Fullick, A. and Coates, A. (ed. Ryan, L.) (2016), GCSE AQA Biology (Third Edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2) Madigan, M. T., Martinko, J. M., Dunlap, P. V. and Clark, D. P

en

00:05:44

54- Bonsai Trees

Biopedia ·

2021/10/17

Perhaps you've never thought much about bonsai trees. However, their existence does raise some biologically relevant questions. For instance, how is a bonsai tree created? Moreover, as we'll see in today's episode, they have also been considered as a tool in conservation... Sources for this episode: 1) Cain, M. L., Bowman, W. D. and Hacker, S. D. (2011), Ecology (Second Edition). Sunderland, Massachusetts, Sinauer Associated Ltd. 2) The Editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica (2021), Bonsai (online)

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00:03:43

53- Grolar Bears

Biopedia ·

2021/10/10

We're going to explore a particular kind of hybridisation today- the kind that produces grolar bears. As the name might suggest, this refers to the offspring of a grizzly bear and a polar bear. Its existence- and that of cases like it- also allow us to put something called the biological species concept under scrutiny... Sources for this episode: 1) Cain, M. L., Bowman, W. D. and Hacker, S. D. (2011), Ecology (Second Edition). Sunderland, Massachusetts, Sinauer Associated Ltd. 2) Callaway, E., New

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