Why Does Caffeine Exist?
Today, billions of people around the world start their day with caffeine. But how and why did the ability to produce this molecule independently evolve in multiple, distantly-related lineages of…
Bird Note: Your River’s Keeper
Water is essential for life, but how much do you know about the health of your local water supply? In this special episode, we speak with two Riverkeepers who explain…
The Arms Race That Made Insects Take Flight
Spiders and their ancestors have been driving an arms race that began before either stepped foot onto land and resulted in the first powered flight on Earth.
Why We Only Have Ten Toes
Today, all mammals from humans to bats have five fingers or fewer. Yes, even whales, whose finger bones are hidden in their fins. Birds have four or fewer and amphibians…
BBC Earth: Uncovering the Secret Lives of Forest Elephants
What do elephant vocalisations mean, and how do elephants socialise? Andrea reveals how these intelligent animals learn to be elephants and how culture is passed down.
Butterfly Metamorphosis
Joe explores the biological marvel of metamorphosis, revealing that caterpillars don't just turn into soup inside their chrysalis. Discover the surprising reality behind how these insects transform their entire bodies…
How We Domesticated Cats (Twice)
A 9,500-year-old burial in Cyprus represents some of the oldest known evidence of human/cat companionships anywhere in the world. But when did this close relationship between humans and cats start? And…
Not a Biologist: Why Wild Hamsters Live Where Beethoven Is Buried
When you hear “hamster,” you probably think of tiny cages, spinning wheels, and sunflower seeds. But wild European hamsters are a completely different story. In this episode of Not a…
Scientists discovered a new species of octopus—and it’s tiny and blue
This tiny octopus was found on the deep seafloor off of the Galápagos Islands and left scientists awe-struck. The teensy blue octopus is an entirely new species, now called Microeledone…
The Second-to-Last Mammoths Ever
About 5,700 years ago, on a small, isolated island off the coast of Alaska, a herd of woolly mammoths crossed a treeless tundra.