Brain Junk

We've got a vocab "argument" when it comes to the beauty industry. They say that super hydrating lotion has snail mucins. Scientists say mucins are in a protein family secreted by animals for a whole host of reasons. Come clean beauty industry! It's snail mucus. Show Notes:NIH National Library of Medicine: Super cool snail slime paperNPR scientist interviewSnail Facial with REAL SNAILS!Transcript:[00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome to Brain Junk. I'm Amy Barton.[00:00:05] Speaker B: And I'm Trace Kerr. And today is everything you never knew you wanted to know about Snail mucus.[00:00:13] Speaker A: Oh, I am delighted already.[00:00:18] Speaker B: It's not just for sidewalks anymore.[00:00:20] Speaker A: Really? I hope there's some practical use, like this is a part of our perfume or, you know, that chapstick you just used. Okay, dazzle me with grossness, please.[00:00:30] Speaker B: You're going to love this. Okay, so let's get into mucus first. Such a great word. What do you think of when I say mucus?[00:00:38] Sp

It's the 31st of October and we've got some tricks and treats for you! We've dug up a whole bag of weird facts from ghost month in China to brain worms to devil's chairs. Settle in with your pile of candy and unwrap this creepy episode with us.P.S. Trace's lovely sister-in-law, Kathleen made an Excel spreadsheet of all our episodes and it's coming soon to our website for you to dig through.Show Notes:Australian woman with a BRAIN WORMThe Nun studyExtra mouse teethPopular Mechanics article about supernumerary teeth 2024 tooth clinical trialBrains at night And the Science article: Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult BrainGhost monthLegend tripping: mourning chairs/devils chairsflying ticks and the tick video that had Trace reeling! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

Let's look into the past with time capsules! People have stashed important items in clay pots or the walls of buildings for centuries. It wasn't until 1939 that the phrase "time capsule" became popular as a way to explain the fascination we have with saving bits of ourselves for the future.image: US Army photo of 1905 Arlington national Cemetery time capsule being openedWe didn't hear him in background of the episode, but Leap says hello!Show Notes:Norwegian time capsule a bit of a let down: Smithsonian MagazineCampbell House in Spokane, WA.1939 New York World's Fair Westinghouse Time Capsule Some of the oldest American time capsules!MFA Boston: Massachusetts 1795 Time CapsuleVoyager Golden RecordsOglethorpe University: Crypt of Civilization This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

In Wisconsin's Chippewa Flowage (what the heck is that? OMG it's amazing) there are floating islands of peat. Covered with trees and doing what they want. You've got to check out the videos in our show notes!P.S. Today is Amy Barton's birthday!!!!! DM her on our Instagram with Bday wishes!image: Yahoo newsShow Notes: YouTube: Discover Wisconsin Boats moving the floaty islands! YOU HAVE TO WATCH This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

Back in 1984, Coca-Cola and Pepsi started a very short space race. In 1985, Cans and soda went on the STS 51-F shuttle flight. It was sticky and fizzy and burping was a DISASTER. Amy takes us on a Vomit Comet ride to the stars talking burps, tears, and all things gastrointestinal in low gravity.Show Notes:Check out our merch SHOP!Air and Space museum Coke can and Pepsi canMicrogavity? What the heck is that?No spices allowed in space!We mentioned Mary Roach and her science writing. Check out her books!Astronaut Chris Hadfield interview about burping in space.YouTube: Can you cry in space?Liquid in space videoUK Space Agency video: Fizzy drinks in spaceAmy got really dark talking about the moon falling into the Earth. Here's an explanation as to why that isn't going to happen.The Vomit Comet This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

We've decided the Hoatzin is Brain Junk's new mascot! It's the weirdest, cow poop smelling, leaf-burping bird from the Andes. We adore them.image: Pixabay, Herbert BieserShow notes:Video of climbing baby Hoatzin: YoutubeCurrent Biology: Hoatzin quick guideEarth Planet Youtube This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

It's October 1910 and the first attempt to cross the Atlantic in an airship is all ready to go. They've got a crew of six, a fancy new radio, and a...cat. We'll give you three guesses as to which of those things were NOT supposed to be on the airship. image: Library of CongressShow Notes:Smithsonian Nation Air and Space Museum go here for pictures of: Kiddo the catNeed some in-depth detail on the airship America, including diagrams and examples of how the crew slept? Check out this Airships.net article! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

Back in 1881, two young towns in Eastern Washington wanted to be the county seat in newly created Spokane county. Spokane vs. Cheney had rich businessmen turning out to vote. What happened next is still hotly contested (depending which city's historical society you ask).Show notes:Historylink.org by Jim Kershner: Armed Cheney citizens forcibly remove the county seat from Spokane Falls to Cheney on March 21, 1881Spokane Historical by Drew Goodman: Fight for the Spokane County SeatWikipedia in-depth history of Spokane Short Spokane history timeline from Discoveryrobots.org and their references This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

We've plucked a bunch of random facts from the junk drawer! Tree rings, platypusary, and death by salt are just a few of the super cool facts curated for your ears!Care to share a little Brain junk with your friends? Check out our new merch! https://brain-junk-merch.printify.me/productsShow Notes:Funny thing, Trace used articles from C&EN news but some of those articles aren't available to the "general public". We've got links to other sources covering the information!Platypusary: Blend of platypus +‎ nursery, coined by Australian naturalist Henry Burrell (1873–1945), the first person who succeeded in constructing a functioning platypusary.Blue HoneyChrysippus may have died from laughing at his own joke: WikipediaAssassins' teapot: YouTubeOld old water and one crazy scientistLike how old? over a million years YIKESToxic foods Medical News Today and just how much salt is too muchStradivarius in C&EN newsOsmoregulation and bull sharks: You might've swum in a lake with one!More bull sharks!Flipping over

A huge reason you have a touch screen on your smart phone is because of a pigeon and a bomb? Let's talk about WWII pigeon pilots!Show Notes:TikTok pigeon pilot footage NIST history report on pigeons and inventionWikipedia: Project Pigeon This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

Napkins! While recording this episode, we discovered that economic class influences what you use to wipe your face way more than we thought. You might use paper or cloth or maybe no napkin at all, but whatever you use, the history behind the napkin is fascinating. image: pixabayShow Notes:Atlas Obscura: A Brief History of Napkins, From Soft Dough to PaperWikipedia on napkinsCulinaria: The Origin of the ForkChih pha: The Chinese napkinWe talk about which is better environmentally, paper napkins or cloth. It seems like cloth might be better. Sorry paper napkin stans. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

An oak gall might look like an apple growing on the bottom of a leaf, but it's really a snug home for baby oak gall wasps. Turns out, a gall is more than just a baby-bug playpen. Oak galls have been used for thousands of years to make ink. And, these teeny wasps are part of the reason why Alfred Kinsey had the chops to create his Kinsey scale of human sexuality.image by: manfredrichter on pixabayimage below: The Ellesmere Chaucer, a beautifully decorated manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, was created between approximately 1400 and 1410, using iron gall ink for the text lettering. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.Show Notes:Instagram example of a gallDavey Insect and Disease Research Center on oak gallsMaking Ink from Oak Galls from The Huntington museum in CaliforniaWikipedia on making oak gall ink (support Wikipedia if you can, they are a valuable resource)UK's Royal Horticultural Society on oak galls and waspsAmerican Museum of Natural History: Kinsey's waspsNa

If you thought a person always has only one male parent and one female parent, well...you'd be wrong. Most of the time the two parent thing is the rule, but occasionally it is possible, mostly in a lab, to have a child with three genetic contributors. Show Notes: (It's a good thing this isn't on paper 'cause there are tons of notes this time)228: Why Don't We Lay Eggs? We talk about how viruses change who we are.LiveScience: What is the maximum number of biological parents an organism can have?Genome Biology and Evolution from Oxford Academic: Genome Expression Balance in a Triploid Trihybrid Vertebrate Nature: First UK children born using three-person IVF: what scientists want to knowFamous internet cat might not be a chimera but rather an example of mosaicism. Gotta love a chromosomal triploidNIH National Library of Medicine and the possibility of having "multiple parents": Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques: Ethical, Social, and Policy Considerations. This is a public episode. If you would like to discus

The Sandbox tree, Water Hemlock, and Giant Hogweed are the mean girls of the plant world. They don't care about your feelings. If you get too close you might experience rashes, blindness, third degree burns, and/or death. These plants say, touch me, I DARE YOU.Show Notes:Sandbox Tree info on BritannicaAnimalogic YouTube with exploding Sandbox tree seedpodsWater Hemlock is terribleNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation Giant Hogweed WARNINGSTrigger warning for this last link. Photos of a leg burned with Giant Hogweed sap This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

Turns out, in less than 20 years of pumping underground water sources for agriculture and drinking water, we've changed the tilt of the Earth. Yikes! Need some cheering up? Listen to the Quahog Wild episode!Show Notes:258: Quahog WildAdvanced Earth and Space Sciences paper (Geophysical Research Letters): Drift of Earth's Pole Confirms Groundwater Depletion as a Significant Contributor to Global Sea Level Rise 1993–2010 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023GL103509The Smartless podcast This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

Known locally as a valtoare, this bowl built into a river has been used to wash clothes for hundreds of years. Click the links, it's something to see! This week we start in a river washing clothes and dive into the history of washing machines. It's so much clean fun. (Get it? CLEAN 'cause its about washing clothes? Hehehe we'll see ourselves out).Show Notes:TikTok video of a Romanian Whirlpool in action YouTube of ladies washing with a valtoare WorldRecordAcademy.org articlePeasantartcraft.com about Romanian lifestyleFrom Trace's weird word origin deep dive:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangle_(machine)https://www.etymonline.com/word/mangle This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

In Northern Europe, up to 30% of men over the age of 60 can be affected by Dupuytren's Disease. Hand and finger tendons thicken and contract causing permanent loss of mobility. Turns out this disease is a leftover from Neanderthal genes.Show notes:Molecular Biology and Evolution article: Major Genetic Risk Factors for Dupuytren's Disease Are Inherited From Neandertals June 2023Dupuytren Contracture: what exactly is it and how does it affect a person's handsNature Ecology and Evolution article: Encounters with archaic hominins Nov 2018The sailor's handshake and syphilisAmy mentioned the book The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels and how it led her on a deep dive into handshakes This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

Okay this title is a reach, but it was too good to not use. Turns out coastal critters are hitching rides around the world on our floating trash. From dramatic events like Japan's 2011 tsunami, to the stuff we toss into the garbage, we are changing the world and it's ecology in unexpected ways.Show Notes:Science.org: Tsunami-driven rafting: Transoceanic species dispersal and implications for marine biogeography Nature Article on TrashMarine Debris Program: article and videoScience AlertCoastal Debris This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

Welcome to the wonderful "ology" created when bored and curious scientists were trapped in their apartments by the pandemic. It's Oreology! Is the creamy filling a liquid or a solid? Grab a bag of Oreos and help us answer burning questions surrounding this tasty snack.image Mooss from PixabayShow Notes:Youtube of How It's Made: Oreo (go to 3:30 for cream being placed on the cookies!)Physics of Fluid: On Oreology, the fracture and flow of “milk's favorite cookie®”Crystal Owens GitHub OreometerQuicksand IS a non-Newtonian fluid! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com

We're circling back to the African Giant Pouched Rat! Turns out, in addition to being super great at detecting land mines, these rats also have very interesting vaginas. Show Notes:Step into the way back machine and give our 100th episode a listen(we talk about bomb sniffing rats)!Cornell Ed article on vaginal plasticityPhys Org article by Laura Gallup: Bomb-sniffing rodents undergo 'weird' vaginal transformationsJust incase you NEED to know more about thr African Giant Pouched Rat and their stretchy cheeks. Journal of Mammology: Evolution of Cheek Pouches in African Pouched Rats (Rodentia: Cricetomyinae)YES the FB movie of the snacking rat P.S. We aren't really looking for someone to organize our episode contents. Not because we don't need it. It's mostly because we run this show on the shoe-stringiest of shoe string budgets This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brainjunkpodcast.substack.com