About this podcast
Biology is a fascinating subject which is well worth exploring. Its scope stretches from individual DNA strands and viruses to blue whales, metapopulations and the biosphere. We will shine the spotlight on a different biological concept in every episode. Topics I've covered in the past include the origins of cell theory, Dollo's law and the Anthropocene; however, there is still plenty more to discover. Our focus will range from the very smallest scales to the very largest; from virions to the Gaia hypothesis. So come and explore the fascinating world of biology, one episode at a time!
Episodes
The newest 20 of 154 episodes
- 131- The Kardashev Scale of Civilisations · 10 min · Season 7 Episode 14How do you quantify how big a civilisation is? In the 1960s, Nikolai Semenovich Kardashev came up with a scale based on how much energy hypothetical civilisations can exploit…
- 130- Photosynthesis · 11 min · Season 7 Episode 13It's long overdue, but we're finally tackling photosynthesis on the podcast! In a process which divides into the light-dependent and light-independent reactions, autotrophs…
- 129- The Most Generations at Once · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 12What is the record for the most generations that have been alive at the same time in a family? Let's introduce Augusta Pagel (1879-1989) to the stage. Before she died, she…
- 128- Can Dolphins Detect Pregnancy? · 4 min · Season 7 Episode 11Following another request, today we examine whether it is possible for dolphins- using their ultrasonic communication- to detect human pregnancy. The answer might be more…
- Announcement- I've written a book! · 5 minVince here- I've written a historical fiction book set in Constantinople in 1081! Well, kind of. The first draft of the manuscript is complete at about 59,000 words across 34…
- 127- Life Expectancy of Hobbits · 4 min · Season 7 Episode 10A bit of a silly topic today. What is the average life expectancy of hobbits in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium? Along the way, we will learn something about current and historic…
- 126- Moles · 11 min · Season 7 Episode 9As requested by listener GT, we are going to talk all about moles today! Join us for the evolutionary history of the Talpidae family, English prophecies about moles, how much a…
- 125- Pollinator Decline Debate Part II: A Dissenting Voice · 3 min · Season 7 Episode 8Last week we introduced some discussion on bee/pollinator declines. This week, we will discuss a perspective by Jaboury Ghazoul- a professor at ETH Zurich- who argued in a 2005…
- 124- Pollinator Decline Debate Part I: Non-Bee Pollinators · 3 min · Season 7 Episode 7Once again adapting a blog post into an episode, we are going to be examining a paper from 2016 which gives a potential new perspective on bee/pollinator declines. It argues that…
- 123- Calculating Inbreeding Coefficient · 9 min · Season 7 Episode 6There is a number we use in genetics to represent how inbred a particular individual- e.g.: Charles II of Spain, Ptolemy XIII or Danaerys Targaryen- is. On today's episode…
- 122- How to Build a Phylogenetic Tree · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 5The term phylogenetic tree often gets bandied about, but how exactly do you construct one? Using three exemplar snake species and the differences in amino acid sequences in a…
- 121- Biofilms and Alzheimer's · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 4We're going to be adapting an old Biopedia blog post today and examining how biofilms might be relevant in the generation of Alzheimer's. Sources for this episode: TBA
- Darwin Day 2026- The Ancestry of Charles Darwin · 11 min · Season 7 Episode 3Happy seventh Darwin Day! Today on the podcast, we are going to examine the family tree of Charles Robert Darwin. Let's explore more than ten generations of Darwins, starting all…
- Announcement- The F1 Generation · 2 minI have become a father! My firstborn daughter is here and is of course wonderful. However, the fact of her existence means that there may be some disruption to the podcast…
- 120- Olive Trees · 7 min · Season 7 Episode 2As part of a triple feature with After Alexander and Autocrat, we will be discussing the olive tree today. Let's explore the biology and ecology of a tree species that is central…
- 119- The Human Era Calendar · 8 min · Season 7 Episode 1Happy 2026! Or rather- 12,026. At least, according to one interpretation. It has been suggested that the Anno Domini/Common Era system of timekeeping has some limitations. So…
- 118- A Calendar for Mars · 11 min · Season 6 Episode 26It goes without saying that the Red Planet is very different to our own world. For one thing, the day and year length of Mars differ from those experienced on Earth. So how would…
- 117- Total Mass of Humanity's X Chromosomes · 8 min · Season 6 Episode 25A silly question today- if you were to add together all of the X chromosomes of all of the people in the world, what would their total mass be? To answer this, we are going to…
- 116- Generations · 7 min · Season 6 Episode 24Generation Beta is, according to futurist Mark McCrindle, just starting to appear in the world. So, today, let's examine the generations that have been given a label in societal…
- 115- Pregnancy Outcomes and Interpregnancy Intervals · 11 min · Season 6 Episode 23Today, we are going to examine a paper studying the impact both age at first pregnancy and the interval between pregnancies has on the probability of various negative outcomes…
