Biopedia

Recently in conservation news, the UK brought in a ban on sand eel fishing effective as of March 2024. This is connected to how important sand eel are to seabirds. However, as we will see today, ther…

Back to talking about the impacts of climate change, and this time it's something pretty fundamental that's being impacted- the length of a day...

Sources for this episode:

• Agnew, D. C. (2024), A …

The record for the tallest tree is a sequoia that is just over 116 metres tall. Would this be different on other planets? Find out in today's episode- plus an appearance from the transpiration stream…

We catch up with Darwin and see what exactly he got up to in the Empire of Brazil!

Sources for this episode:

• Cardoso, D., et al. (2020), Amazon plant diversity revealed by a taxonomically verified…

As we'll soon be reaching 100 episodes, I was wondering whether you would be interested in an Ask Me Anything (or AMA) when we get there. If so, feel free to send me questions to the show's email add…

First cousins, second cousins, fourth cousins three times removed... What's the difference? And if all three billion letters of your genetic code were unique, how distant a relation would you have to…

Twenty-one episodes ago, we discussed the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years before the present. However, this isn't the only mass extinction event the Earth has witnessed. Let's go back to…

It's the fourth of seven episodes of Island Folk! Among subjects of discussion are reindeer on South Georgia, invasion and extinction on islands more broadly and a discussion of the Caribbean. Feel f…

Namesaking is the practice of naming a child for someone else- usually a close relative. Today, we will be exploring the psychology and impacts of this practice.

Sources for this episode:

• Abel, E.…

The rewind mini series is back! This time, we're discuss the two forms of eukaryotic cell division, mitosis and meiosis.

Sources for this episode:

• Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasser…

Following on from the definition of biomes in episode 78, we're zooming in and discussing habitats today. What we'll find is that the term is similar but smaller scale in terms of number of species c…

Returning to the idea of discussing biological thought in other cultures and/or times, today's topic is the Four Humours. This is an ancient idea of how the body worked coming from the thinkers of An…

There are two species of dormice in the UK. Today, we will be exploring the legislation around dormice, as well as the study which first pioneered the use of nest boxes for their study.

Sources for …

Today, two terms which, in a sense, extend our discussion of twins from episode 27.

Sources for this episode:

• Blickstein, I. (2003), Superfecundation and superfetation: lessons from the past on ea…

Skeletons are on the menu today- and the different kinds organisms can have.

Sources for this episode:

• Campbell, N. A., Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V. and Reece, J. B.…

Bee declines feature prominently in the news today. But what are the causes for it? Using the example of the UK, we follow the Woodland Trust to explore this issue. Plus, we also discuss two papers w…

Time for a common ecological term to get the treatment it deserves. Today, we're exploring the biome. Not only that, but the term ecoregion is getting thrown in as an extra...

Sources for this episo…

Climate change as a topic is a well-known one. However, we are going to be dissecting a paper published recently which deals with the potential economic impact of a warming world...

Sources for this…

Today's episode is going to feature one of the later monarchs from the Hellenistic era- Mithridates VI of Pontus. This is because his practice of trying to make himself immune to poison- called mithr…

The Black Death in the 14th century is engrained in the popular consciousness. But how familiar is the first wave of the disease that happened in the 500s? In this episode, we explore what plague is,…