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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

00:11:19

115- Pregnancy Outcomes and Interpregnancy Intervals

Biopedia ·

2025/11/16

Today, we are going to examine a paper studying the impact both age at first pregnancy and the interval between pregnancies has on the probability of various negative outcomes associated with childbirth.Sources for this episode:TBA

en

00:05:10

114- Voyage of the Beagle Part III

Biopedia ·

2025/11/02

Charles Darwin makes his way south from Rio de Janeiro to Maldonaldo and the south of South America. Along the way, he witnesses some local activities and has time to show off technological marvels to the locals.NOTE: I have found out since recording that St Elmo's light or fire is a weather phenomenon in which plasma appears around anything with a structure like a rod in a vehicle, such as the mast of a ship or the wing of a plane (St. Elmo's fire Wikipedia 04/11/2025). I have also

en

00:10:18

113- Sex Ratios and Family Size in the 1790 US Census

Biopedia ·

2025/10/05

In a sort of unofficial Part II to our discussion in episode 112, we are going to examine the data from the 1790 US census focussed on the towns of Danbury and Brookfield in Fairfield County, Connecticut. We will be using the data for each household to answer two questions- does the ratio between males and females deviate significantly from 50:50? And what is the average family size?Sources for this episode:TBA

en

00:07:17

112- How Common Are Suffix Chains?

Biopedia ·

2025/09/21

Something a bit different today- we are going to be following up from our discussion of namesaking and looking at suffix chains! Examples of links in such chains would include people like Theodore Roosevelt VII or John Smith III. Let's look at some real-life data- including data from the 1790 US census- to ask one question: how common or rare is each new link in the chain?Sources for this episode:TBA

en

00:10:04

111- Could Two People Repopulate the Earth? Part I

Biopedia ·

2025/09/07

Today, we will be wiping out humanity to ask a simple question- what would happen if there really were only two people left to repopulate the planet? Let's meet our hypothetical protagonists Cornelius and Cornelia, and in the first part of this scenario we will examine how many children the pair could realistically have given certain assumptions.Sources for this episode:TBA

en

00:09:55

110- The World's Smallest Snake

Biopedia ·

2025/08/24

A few weeks ago in episode 108, we talked about the largest species of snake to ever exist. Well, today we are travelling to the other end of the size spectrum to talk about the smallest snake in the world. This is Tetracheilostoma carlae, the Barbados threadsnake- which was thought to have gone extinct until the year 2025...Sources for this episode:TBA

en

00:07:39

109- Colestein Veglin

Biopedia ·

2025/08/10

Throughout history, there have been several claims of unusual longevity. For example, Pliny the Elder mentions several cases of people claiming to be 140 in a first century CE census. Moreover, there is a man in England who supposedly died at the age of 169 in 1670. However, they don't quite compare to the case of Colestein Veglin from July 1876.Sources for this episode:TBA

en

00:05:29

108- Titanoboa

Biopedia ·

2025/07/27

Previous episodes of the podcast have established the precedent of examining specific species or taxa. On today's episode, we are going to examine a snake. Not just any snake- the biggest snake to have ever lived...Sources for this episode:TBA

en

00:14:10

107- Pascal's Triangle in Biology

Biopedia ·

2025/07/13

Pascal's Triangle is a useful concept in binomial theorem. However, it also has uses in biology. Today, we use it to answer the question- if you have X number of kids in a family or randomly chosen people in a sample, what is the probability of ending up with at least Y males and/or Z females?Sources for this episode:TBA

en

00:09:57

106- Mitochondrial Eve and Y-Chromosomal Adam

Biopedia ·

2025/06/29

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),

en

00:05:29

105- Former Estimates of Earth's Age

Biopedia ·

2025/06/15

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

en

00:05:32

104- Ming the Mollusc

Biopedia ·

2025/06/01

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

en

00:12:36

103- The Gaia Hypothesis

Biopedia ·

2025/05/18

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

en

00:09:19

102- Hyperdontia and Hypodontia

Biopedia ·

2025/05/04

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

en

00:05:29

101- Walruses

Biopedia ·

2025/04/20

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

en

00:07:11

100- Germ Theory and Spontaneous Generation

Biopedia ·

2025/04/06

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

en

00:06:10

99- The Laws of Thermodynamics in Evolution

Biopedia ·

2025/03/23

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

en

00:06:12

98- Cryptic Species

Biopedia ·

2025/03/09

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.,

en

00:06:02

97- The Hottest Summer in 2000 Years

Biopedia ·

2025/02/23

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.,

en

00:06:10

Darwin Day 2025- Charles Darwin Represented in...

Biopedia ·

2025/02/12

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

en

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