DNA and the Smell of Death

Bugs are disappearing at alarming rates, scientists are telling us. Bees, butterflies, beetles: all of them have been dropping like flies. And scientists say there are a bunch of reasons to care about this — for example, fewer bugs means less pollination, which means less pasta i ...  Show more

Protein is everywhere — tons of us are trying to cram more of it into our diets, and it's showing up in our lattes, our snack bars, even our popcorn. But just as we’re getting on board with protein-maxxing, a bunch of headlines have started saying the opposite: that eating LESS p ...  Show more

How do you identify human remains? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice explore DNA and the task to identify the remains of missing soldiers with biomedical scientist Tim McMahon and forensic anthropologist Franklin Damann. What is the DPAA?  

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A Forensic look at ForensicsNo dead strawberries this week, but plenty of dead bodies, as Brian Cox and Robin Ince take a gruesome look at the science of death and some of the more unusual ways that forensic scientists are able to look for and gather clues and evidence. From inse ...  Show more

Ben Bowlin of Stuff They Don't Want You to Know joins the show to talk about DNA forensics, cold cases and science. How reliable is DNA evidence?

The grim discovery of bodies along Ocean Parkway then leaves investigators with the task of trying to figure out the victims identities. DNA provides the most concrete results but collecting and analyzing DNA has been and still is a time-consuming process that requires cooperatio ...  Show more