How Snails Work | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Most features of the human body are just complex versions of those in simpler creatures that, at first glance, seem totally unlike us. As professor and paleontologist Neil Shubin explains in Your Inner Fish, understanding how a shark’s head, a reptile’s brain, and a fish’s fins developed makes sense of complicated and confounding human anatomy. Casting new light on the human family tree, Shubin explains how ancient fossils, embryos, and DNA all provide clues to a story of human development stretching back 3.5 billion years.

Although it resembles a common eel, the hagfish has one particularly odd quality that sets it apart—it’s capable of producing enormous amounts of soft, but potentially lethal, slime. The slime isn’t dangerous for humans. Just don’t get it on your hands, or on a Prius.

Most features of the human body are just complex versions of those in simpler creatures that, at first glance, seem totally unlike us. As professor and paleontologist Neil Shubin explains in Your Inner Fish, understanding how a shark’s head, a reptile’s brain, and a fish’s fins developed makes sense of complicated and confounding human anatomy. Casting new light on the human family tree, Shubin explains how ancient fossils, embryos, and DNA all provide clues to a story of human development stretching back 3.5 billion years.

Dive into the world of axolotls with the "Stuff You Should Know" podcast hosted by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant. Explore the world of the quirky amphibians known for their unique features and significant cultural representation. Learn about the axolotl's ancient roots, their unique physical features, and the intricacies of their habitat and lifestyle that allowed them to thrive. Discover the captivating process known as neoteny, which enables axolotls to retain their juvenile aquatic form throughout their lives.

Share in the podcast's educational journey as it outlines the conservation challenges faced by the axolotls and the initiatives taken to save them. Learn about the fascinating role these creatures play in scientific and medical research, given their impressive regenerative abilities. For potential axolotl owners, guidance is provided on maintaining suitable living conditions and avoiding harmful practices. Engage with the hosts as they interact with listeners, creating a lighthearted and educational conversation about these endearing creatures.

Why do we get sick? Why hasn’t natural selection, over millions of years, prevented us from getting cancer, heart disease, and depression?

The science of evolutionary medicine says that our bodies have evolved over millions of years as a set of compromises, largely in pursuit of reproductive fitness. Put concisely, whatever gets you to survive and have kids is going to persist in the gene pool, even if it causes you lots of disease and pain in adult life. Learn more about the evolutionary roots of obesity, infectious disease, aging, and depression.

Although it resembles a common eel, the hagfish has one particularly odd quality that sets it apart—it’s capable of producing enormous amounts of soft, but potentially lethal, slime. The slime isn’t dangerous for humans. Just don’t get it on your hands, or on a Prius.

In The Sixth Extinction, journalist Elizabeth Kolbert argues that by drastically changing the shape of the earth and the composition of the atmosphere, humans have set in motion a sixth mass extinction that may one day be our undoing. The book revisits five previous mass extinction events spanning five hundred million years and compares them to the rapid, widespread extinctions underway today of a range of species including frogs, corals, birds, and rhinos.

These extinctions are a consequence of human-created global warming and ocean acidification, the destruction and fragmentation of forests, and our spread of invasive species around the world. What’s more, these actions will determine the course of life on the planet long after our species is gone.

In The Hidden Life of Trees, forester Peter Wohlleben delves deep into the world of old-growth forests, unveiling secret interactions, intricate networks, and fascinating behaviors among trees. Wohlleben draws on scientific research and his experiences to shed light on the ways trees interact with their environment and one another. The Hidden Life of Trees invites us to look at forests with renewed wonder and appreciation, emphasizing the importance of conserving these vital ecosystems and seeing them not just as resources but as living entities deserving our respect and protection.

In this guide, we’ll explain Wohlleben’s arguments for why trees matter and explore some characteristics of trees and forest that make them so remarkable. We’ll then talk about how we can better support and protect the world’s ancient forests. Throughout the guide, we’ll discuss the scientific basis of Wohlleben’s work and compare his conclusions with those of other ecologists and environmental activists, including Suzanne Simard (Finding the Mother Tree) and Robin Wall Kimmerer (Braiding Sweetgrass).

When most people think of microbes, the first things that come to mind are disease-causing germs or healthy probiotic yogurts. We go about our lives largely unaware of the trillions of microbes on every surface and throughout our bodies. In his debut book, science journalist Ed Yong explores the mysterious and fascinating world of microbes: microscopic organisms with the ability to make sea creatures glow, eradicate diseases, and nudge ecosystems into disarray.

He argues that not only are microbes ubiquitous, but they’re also integral to animal bodies (including humans)—although we often think of ourselves as individuals, we’re essentially walking ecosystems containing countless species of microbes living in symbiotic partnership with us. He contends that by understanding the ways that we’re interdependent with microbes, we can then explore opportunities to use microbes to improve our health. And since our understanding of microbes is constantly shifting, our guide will also update Yong’s examples and dive deeper into the health implications of microbial phenomena.