The Science Pawdcast

Send us Fan Mail You can edit genes with CRISPR, but can you control it like a switch, turning it on only in one small part of the brain, at one exact moment, without surgery? We dig into a fascinating proof of concept study where researchers combine a photo activated CRISPR system with mechanoluminescent particles, then use focused ultrasound to trigger light emission inside the body. The ultrasound does not edit DNA itself, but it can precisely activate the editor where the beam is focused,...

Send us Fan Mail Someone in your life has a special talent for raising your blood pressure in under 10 seconds. The uncomfortable question we chase today is whether those “hasslers” just ruin your mood or whether they might be linked to measurable changes in your body over time. We break down a large study of 2,345 adults that mapped social networks and paired those reports with saliva-based DNA methylation data. That lets researchers estimate biological aging using epigenetic measures like ...

Send us Fan Mail A pet medicine mishap kicks things off as we relive “Pilgate,” the moment Brik knocked arthritis meds off the counter and Bernoulli and Beaker ate a truly scary number of pills. Once everyone is safe, we shift to a bigger question that hits home for parents and teachers: are we asking kids to learn on devices that are built to distract them? We break down the changing screen time recommendations in schools, including major limits like those adopted by Los Angeles Unified, an...

Send us Fan Mail Smoke turns the sky orange and suddenly everyone wants a simple villain. We get why that’s tempting, but we care more about what the evidence says about Canadian wildfires, boreal forest fire behavior, and the real drivers behind those brutal smoke days that drift into the U.S. Midwest and East Coast. We walk through just how massive Canada’s boreal forest is, why so many ignitions happen far from roads and crews, and why lightning-caused wildfires account for so much of the ...

Send us Fan Mail The animal that causes the most aggressive wildlife incidents in Canada is probably not the one you’re picturing. We break down a Frontiers in Conservation Science study that tracks thousands of encounters and lands on a surprising culprit: elk, especially around campgrounds. We talk through why “cute” and “safe” are not the same thing, how seasonality can change animal behavior, and the simple hiking habits that lower the odds of a scary surprise on the trail, whether you’re...