Take a dive into the genes, microbes, molecules and other tiny things that have a big impact on our world with Tiny Matters. Join scientists Sam Jones and Debok...
Frostbite: From Napoleonic era treatments to the first FDA approved frostbite drug
Dominique Jean Larrey lived quite a life. He was born in 1766, and at the age of 13, had to walk from his home in a French village to study in the city of Toulouse. That journey was 70 miles, and yes, he walked it. That would be important much later in his life, when he found himself walking through the bitter cold in Russia as the Chief Surgeon of Napoleon's army. During that time, Napoleon's troops had to contend with the reality of Russian cold and temperatures that got as low as -37 degrees Celsius, which is about -35 Fahrenheit.Larrey attributed his ability to withstand the cold to his walking. But many of the soldiers around him wound up with frostbite, and to treat them, Larrey suggested slowly rewarming the affected area and rubbing it with snow. Frostbite treatment has been on quite the journey since then, and it was just earlier this year that the FDA approved the first drug to treat frostbite in the US, which is exciting news for the doctors who see cases of frostbite and for patients who are often left with the horrific reality of amputation. Send us your science stories/factoids/news for a chance to be featured on an upcoming Tiny Show and Tell Us bonus episode and to be entered to win a Tiny Matters coffee mug! And, while you're at it, subscribe to our newsletter at bit.ly/tinymattersnewsletter.Links to the Tiny Show & Tell story are here and here. All Tiny Matters transcripts and references are available here.
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[BONUS] Xenobots and rethinking 'junk DNA': Tiny Show and Tell Us #12
In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we cover exciting new 'living robots' called xenobots — made from frog cells with the help of a supercomputer — and what they might be used for down the road. Then we challenge how much "junk" really makes up "junk DNA" and discuss the regulatory sequences and other things our DNA codes for that aren't functional proteins. We need your stories — they're what make these bonus episodes possible! Write in to [email protected] *or fill out this form* with your favorite science fact or science news story for a chance to be featured in a future episode and win a Tiny Matters mug!A transcript and references for this episode can be found at acs.org/tinymatters.
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In defense of plants: Pitfall traps, rancid aromas, and other wild pollination strategies with Matt Candeias
On Tiny Matters we just weren’t giving enough love to plants, but we’re dedicated to fixing that! In this week’s episode, we chat with Matt Candeias, the host of the podcast In Defense of Plants. We tackle a subject that we had definitely oversimplified in our minds: pollination. From stinky corpse flowers to pitfall traps to faux fermentation, the way plants have evolved so many strategies to reproduce is beyond fascinating. We can’t wait to take you all on this pollination ride!Send us your science stories/factoids/news for a chance to be featured on an upcoming Tiny Show and Tell Us bonus episode and to be entered to win a Tiny Matters coffee mug! And, while you're at it, subscribe to our newsletter at bit.ly/tinymattersnewsletter. Links to the Tiny Show & Tell story are here and here. All Tiny Matters transcripts and references are available here.
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[BONUS] Why we experience altitude sickness and a chirality mystery: Tiny Show and Tell Us #11
In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we cover why your body feels so ‘off’ at high altitudes and how we’ve evolved not to detect low oxygen levels but high amounts of carbon dioxide. Then we unpack the confusing world of molecule chirality — what it is, why it matters, and how we evolved to only have ‘left-handed’ amino acids but ‘right-handed’ DNA and RNA.We need your stories — they're what make these bonus episodes possible! Write in to [email protected] *or fill out this form* with your favorite science fact or science news story for a chance to be featured in a future episode and win a Tiny Matters mug!A transcript and references for this episode can be found at acs.org/tinymatters.
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Stories trapped in ancient teeth: Reconstructing megalodon’s diet and retracing the steps of woolly mammoths
How often do you think about your teeth? In this episode of Tiny Matters, we talk about how the atoms trapped within teeth can reveal what an animal ate and where it lived, and how studying teeth has helped ecologists reconstruct prehistoric food webs of megatooth sharks and retrace the steps of woolly mammoths across the Arctic. And hopefully, we’ll give you a few new reasons to appreciate your own pearly whites. Send us your science stories/factoids/news for a chance to be featured on an upcoming Tiny Show and Tell Us bonus episode and to be entered to win a Tiny Matters coffee mug! And, while you're at it, subscribe to our newsletter at bit.ly/tinymattersnewsletter.Links to the Tiny Show & Tell story are here and here. All Tiny Matters transcripts and references are available here.
Take a dive into the genes, microbes, molecules and other tiny things that have a big impact on our world with Tiny Matters. Join scientists Sam Jones and Deboki Chakravarti as they take apart complex and contentious topics in science and help rebuild your understanding. From deadly diseases to ancient sewers to forensic toxicology, Sam and Deboki embrace the messiness of science and its place in the past, present, and future. Tiny Matters releases new episodes every Wednesday and is brought to you by the American Chemical Society, a non-profit scientific organization advancing chemistry and connecting the broader scientific community. Tiny Matters is produced by Multitude.
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