Is there a more perfectly named animal than the hammerhead shark? It’s a name that really hits the nail on the head, and – as we only recently learned – in more ways than one. Host Rachel Funnell talks to Professor Stephen Kajiura, from the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida Atlantic University, to find out how such a wacky design proved beneficial for these animals, and why a wide old noggin is actually pretty great when you live like the metal detectors of the sea. --------- Like what you heard? Get 25% off All Access annual memberships with code SCI25* and start funding independent science journalism today. *Terms & Conditions: 25% OFF PROMO CODE: SCI25 offer for 1 billing period of an All Access Subscription: Annual paid subscription. New users only. Offer subject to change or cancellation at any time. Subscription auto-renews at full amount unless cancelled. You can cancel at any time. Membership paid subscriptions are only available in Canada, the United States (excluding Puerto Rico and US territories), the United Kingdom, and Australia. Our standard terms & conditions apply.
Have you ever been dazzled by the bright blue feathers of a kingfisher, or seen the sheen of green on a mallard's head? Set your sights further afield and tropical birds come in almost all the colors of the rainbow. Of all the species, is there anything more distinctive than the pink feathers of a flamingo? Host Eleanor Higgs talks to Tim Savage, Section Manager of Birds at Whipsnade Zoo, and Amanda Ferguson, Diet Management Officer for both Whipsnade and ZSL London Zoo, to learn more about what goes into keeping these birds a rosy shade of pink – and if they could potentially be turned another color too. Like what you heard? Get 25% off All Access annual memberships with code SCI25* and start funding independent science journalism today. *Terms & Conditions: 25% OFF PROMO CODE: SCI25 offer for 1 billing period of an All Access Subscription: Annual paid subscription. New users only. Offer subject to change or cancellation at any time. Subscription auto-renews at full amount unless cancelled. You can cancel at any time. Membership paid subscriptions are only available in Canada, the United States (excluding Puerto Rico and US territories), the United Kingdom, and Australia. Our standard terms & conditions apply.
If you’d visited a series of bunkers in Louisiana in the early 1940s, you would’ve found weapons. Lots of weapons. Visit it today, and you’ll find yourself wandering among row upon row of pickled fish. It’s a curious makeover for a vast expanse of storage space, one that came to pass thanks to humans’ love of wacky fish and the alleged lack of integrity of Dinwiddie Hall’s floors. This is the origin story of Tulane’s Biodiversity Research Institute, a place where you can find fish that are extinct, fish that nobody’s ever seen alive, and a fish that’s the only known specimen of a deep-sea shark. So, how did all ~8 million of these pickled fish get here, and why? We sat down with TUBRI director Brian Sidlauskas to find out. -- Like what you heard? Get 25% off All Access annual memberships with code SCI25* and start funding independent science journalism today. *Terms & Conditions: 25% OFF PROMO CODE: SCI25 offer for 1 billing period of an All Access Subscription: Annual paid subscription. New users only. Offer subject to change or cancellation at any time. Subscription auto-renews at full amount unless cancelled. You can cancel at any time. Membership paid subscriptions are only available in Canada, the United States (excluding Puerto Rico and US territories), the United Kingdom, and Australia. Our standard terms & conditions apply.
New to anatomy? Locating your heart is a good start. Thing is, many people when asked will be pointing somewhere in the region of the left side of their body. It’s an easy mistake to make, not least because when we go to the doctor, that’s where they stick the stethoscope to have a listen. For the most part, it’s actually in the dead center, but with a lean. There are several good reasons for this, but a few conditions can mean your heart and its apex can shift around slightly. To find out where the heart is and how it got there, we sat down with Professor of Anatomy and Director of the Clinical Anatomy Learning Centre at Lancaster University, Adam Taylor. Turns out your ticker goes on quite a journey to wind up where it is. --- Like what you heard? Get 25% off All Access annual memberships with code SCI25* and start funding independent science journalism today. *Terms & Conditions: 25% OFF PROMO CODE: SCI25 offer for 1 billing period of an All Access Subscription: Annual paid subscription. New users only. Offer subject to change or cancellation at any time. Subscription auto-renews at full amount unless cancelled. You can cancel at any time. Membership paid subscriptions are only available in Canada, the United States (excluding Puerto Rico and US territories), the United Kingdom, and Australia. Our standard terms & conditions apply.
Imagine having a job that’s dependent on sunny weather. As a resident of England, I'd be pretty much done for. There are, however, hard workers on this planet that rustle up energy for the rest of the food chain to enjoy day in, day out. Yes, I'm talking about plants. A little thing called photosynthesis enables them to essentially “eat the Sun,” creating food from sunlight, come rain or shine, but what about at night? Are there any plants that can photosynthesize by the light of the Moon? As Head of Living Collection Support at London’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Thomas Freeth told us, plants have found all sorts of ways to overcome the changing nature of night and day. Like what you heard? Get 25% off All Access annual memberships with code SCI25* and start funding independent science journalism today. *Terms & Conditions: 25% OFF PROMO CODE: SCI25 offer for 1 billing period of an All Access Subscription: Annual paid subscription. New users only. Offer subject to change or cancellation at any time. Subscription auto-renews at full amount unless cancelled. You can cancel at any time. Membership paid subscriptions are only available in Canada, the United States (excluding Puerto Rico and US territories), the United Kingdom, and Australia. Our standard terms & conditions apply.