Brain Break Room

In this episode we climb the mountain of scientific evidence for gender affirming care, but first we stop at base camp to cover the basics. What is gender affirming care? Who is it for? And then quickly onto the summit: the overwhelming evidence showing the benefit of gender affirming care for the people that need it.Content Warning: brief mention of statistics related to suicidali

This episode answers the question of how our bodies avoid absolute chaos when we have two X chromosomes. Featuring the story of a brilliant female scientist - Dr. Mary Lyon, the experiments that led to her breakthrough discovery, and how it is helping patients today. Cat-lovers, never fear, the magic and mystery of calico cats is also covered!Sources of content and inspiration"The

Ever wonder how we figured out how the world was getting hotter? Have you too been haunted by pop hits referencing climate change, wondering how long we have known about it? This episode explores work done by scientists in the 1800s that predicted the current climate crisis.Sources of content and inspirationRead "How 19th Century Scientists Predicted Global Warming " by Clive Thomp

Quick update on podcast business: tldl (too long don't listen); more full length episodes to come soon!

Today's episode dives into the biological definition of the sexes. Male / female is just where the story begins. Listen to learn more!Sources of inspiration and content"X Chromosome Infographic" published by National Human Genome Research Institute"Geneticists make new discovery about how a baby's sex is determined" published by ScienceDailyThe impact of sex on gene expression acro

The third and final migratory bird mini-series episode is here! Features bird brains, funky physics, and increasingly carnivorous mice. Sources of Content and InspirationA World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds by Scott WeidensaulCreditsCover art by Abby ArmatoIntro and Outro music "In My Dreams" by Freebeats.io Sign up for the newsletter at http://eepurl.com/hS0F

The birds are cool mini-series continues with a special guest! We take a brief pause from the wonders of bird migration to dive into the world of amateur birding. In an episode filled with fun bird facts, an avid birder joins me to discuss the joy of walking slowly outside, the birding community, bird tracking controversy, and the next craze - fantasy birding. Sources of Content an

Billions of birds follow their genes for seasonal journeys up to thousands of miles long. That’s right - this episode dives into the fascinating details behind bird migration. Part one of a three-episode mini-series starts with migration basics and goes into the dramatic traits and changes that allow birds to migrate. Organs shrink and expand, insides are liquified, and respirato

This episode takes a walk on the dark side of foraging. Listen to learn about seven deadly mushrooms – what they look like, where they grow, and (most importantly) the science behind what makes them deadly.To learn more Follow Alexis Nikole-Nelson @blackforager on Instagram or @alexisnikole on TikTok for joyful foraging content!Read “7 of the World’s Most Poisonous Mushrooms�

This episode is brought to you by the brilliance of one Lindsay Ejoh. She is a neuroscientist that joined the pod to talk about how we experience pain in our body (and especially in the brain). We discuss the wide world of pain research and explore the placebo effect and its opposite (nocebo), how our body naturally relieves pain, what chronic pain looks like in the brain, and more