Synopsis
Science and stories about our awesome planet-- in just a few minutes!
Episodes
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Why It’s HARD To Bring A New Apple To Market
19/05/2025 Duration: 04minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: grafting: joining together a cut branch with a cut root of the same species to produce a new individual. MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Most realistic dragon
18/05/2025 Duration: 01minMinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Proportional dragons
17/05/2025 Duration: 01minMinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Nobody Really Knows What A Concussion Is
16/05/2025 Duration: 03minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy: a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma (often athletes) Traumatic brain injury (TBI): a disruption in the normal function of the brain that can be caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head, or penetrating head injury Subdural hematoma: a collection of blood between the layers of tissue that surround the brain Cerebral microbleeding: small chronic brain hemorrhages which are likely caused by structural abnormalities of the small vessels of the brain MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com -
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The Great Acceleration
15/05/2025 Duration: 03minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: The Great Acceleration - the dramatic increase in human activity, largely since 1950, that is evident across a variety of socio-economic and biophysical measures, and that has made humans into a planetary scale force The Anthropocene - our current geological epoch (contested), beginning when humans first had significant impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems Hockey stick graph - typically refers to the Mann et al 1999 graph of Earth’s temperature, but can also refer to any trend that's roughly constant for a long duration and then has a drastic upwards shift MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com
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Can AI Help Us Identify Animals?
14/05/2025 Duration: 03minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Deep learning: a subset of machine learning in artificial intelligence that can learning from data that is unstructured or unlabeled MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Smartphones: A New Model for Energy Efficiency?
13/05/2025 Duration: 02minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Dematerialization - using less (or no) material to deliver the same service Energy conservation - using less energy by adjusting behavior (turning down your heat) Energy efficiency - using less energy by using technology that requires less energy to perform the same function (insulating your house to keep warm while using less energy) Energy intensity - energy consumption per unit of GDP (reduced by increasing energy efficiency) Energy services - the useful functions you're able to perform by using energy (what we refer to as ‘function’) MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your
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The Best Dragon (According to Science)
12/05/2025 Duration: 04minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Tetrapods: four-limbed (with a few exceptions, such as snakes which have vestigial limbs) animals constituting the superclass Tetrapoda. MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Sex Ratios
11/05/2025 Duration: 01minMinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Asparagus Pee
10/05/2025 Duration: 01minMinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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How Much Air Can A Tree Hold?
09/05/2025 Duration: 02minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: carbon: element that makes up half of tree wood by weight. MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Why Are Adults So Bad At New Languages?
08/05/2025 Duration: 03minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Second-Language Acquisition: The process of a language that’s not the speaker’s native language. Bilingualism: The ability to speak and understand two languages. Monitor Model: A group of hypotheses that propose that linguistic competence is only advanced when language is subconsciously acquired. Sociolinguistics: The study of language in relation to all sorts of social factors. Linguistic Investment: A motivation to learn a language based on the understanding that the speaker will acquire a wider range of symbolic and material resources, which will in turn increase the value of their cultural capital and social power. Hyperpolyglot: A person who can speak and understand more than six languages. MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/
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How The Modern World Tricks Our Bodies Into Hurting Themselves
07/05/2025 Duration: 03minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Cyclooxygenase: An enzyme responsible for the production of thromboxane and prostaglandins. Thromboxane: A lipid that acts as a platelet aggregator. Platelets: Special non-nucleic blood cells that clump together to cause blood clots. Prostaglandins: A lipid that causes vasodilation and inflammation. Aspirin: A form of acetylsalicylic acid that acts as an NSAID. NSAIDs: Non-steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs that inhibit COX, and thus inflammation and clotting. MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) Learn more about your ad cho
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Why Exercise Is Hard
06/05/2025 Duration: 04minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Physical activity - any bodily movement produced by the contraction of skeletal muscle that increases energy expenditure above a basal level Exercise - a form of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and performed (primarily) with the goal of improving health or fitness Recommended levels of physical activity (USA) - 150 minutes moderate-intensity or 75 minutes vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, or an equivalent combination, and muscle-strengthening activities at least 2 days / week Evolutionary medicine - a field that uses evolutionary theory & data to better understand (the origins of) health & disease Mismatch conditions - health conditions that are more prevalent or severe today than in the past because the body is inadequately or insufficiently adapted to modern environmental conditions (likely including: cavities, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis) MinuteEarth is
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The Secret Global Sewer System
05/05/2025 Duration: 03minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Waterlog - to saturate (a field) with water; a problem for most crops Drainage - the removal of liquid (water) from an area Ditch - a narrow channel dug in the ground, typically used for drainage alongside a road or the edge of a field Drain tile - a pipe buried (beneath a field) for drainage. Originally made of ceramic tiles, now typically of corrugated plastic Precision agriculture - putting corn seed + small dose of fertilizer/pesticides in hole in ground Controlled drainage - the use of a water control structure to raise the depth of a drain tile outlet to hold water in the field when drainage isn't needed Wood chip bioreactor - an underground trench filled with wood chips that provide carbon for bacteria that denitrify the water flowing through it Saturated buffer - a strip on the edge of a field filled with plants & bacteria that can remove some nitrogen from the water flowing onto it from drain tiles De
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Keeled dragons
04/05/2025 Duration: 01minMinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Four-limbed dragons
03/05/2025 Duration: 01minMinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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How We Evolved To Browse The Web
02/05/2025 Duration: 04minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Optimality models: tools used to evaluate the costs and benefits of different organismal features, traits, and characteristics, including behavior, in the natural world. Optimal foraging theory: a behavioral ecology model that helps predict how an animal behaves when searching for food. Marginal value theorem: an optimality model that describes the strategy that maximizes gain per unit time in systems where resources, and thus rate of returns, decrease with time. Central place foraging: a model for analyzing how an organism traveling from a home base to a distant foraging location can maximize foraging rates. MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://new
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Our Best View Of Bacteria Is...From Space?!
01/05/2025 Duration: 03minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Microbe - an organism (such as a bacterium or protozoan) of microscopic or ultramicroscopic size. Remote sensing - the scanning of the earth , especially by satellite or high-flying aircraft, in order to obtain information about it. Pathogen - a bacterium, virus, or other microbe that can cause disease. Chlorophyll - a green pigment, present in all green plants and in cyanobacteria, responsible for the absorption of light to provide energy for photosynthesis. Phytoplankton - photosynthesizing microscopic biotic organisms that inhabit the upper sunlit layer of almost all oceans and bodies of fresh water on Earth. Cholera - an infectious and often fatal bacterial disease of the small intestine, typically contracted from infected water supplies and causing severe vomiting and diarrhea. Evaporite - a natural salt or mineral deposit left after the evaporation of a body of water. Microbially induced sedimentary structu
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The Bacteria That Made Life Possible Is Now Killing Us
30/04/2025 Duration: 03minTo learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Cyanobacteria: aquatic photosynthesizing bacteria often erroneously call blue-green algae Blue-green algae: incorrect name often used for cyanobacteria because they are blue-green in appearance and can be confused with algae Dead zone: coastal area where cyanobacteria blooms lead to anaerobic conditions, killing fish and other organisms Mycrosystins: a class of toxic compounds released by certain cyanobacteria MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info If you like what we do, you can help us! - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Buy our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Buy our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices