A Little Greener

Food Gardening 101

Growing food at home has so many upsides, from a lower environmental impact to saving you some money at the grocery store to benefiting your physical and mental health. It's also something you can do even if you don't have a yard! In this episode, Casey and Sara talk through some tips to help you plan your very own veggie garden.
Resources for this episode:
Gardening: Invest in guaranteed growth in your own backyard
Gardening for health: a regular dose of gardening
Backyard gardening: grow your own food, improve your health
Harvesting peat moss contributes to climate change, Oregon State scientist says
Why Gardeners Should Stop Using Peat, and What to Use Instead
Dig into the Benefits of Gardening
Environmental Impacts of Food Production

All About the Elephant Shrew

If you look at a picture of an elephant shrew, you might assume that it's perfectly named. It certainly looks similar to shrews found in many parts of the world and has an elongated nose, reminiscent of an elephant's trunk. While the elephant shrew was initially grouped in with shrews, we now know that it is actually NOT a true shrew. Elephant shrews (now also called sengis) are, in fact, most closely related to...elephants! Sara and Casey discuss these very cute, slightly obscure animals and encourage us to keep small species in mind on this week's episode.
Resources for this episode:
Tiny Elephant Shrews Go On Show After Mum Hid Them From Zookeepers
https://sengis.org/
The Guardian: This article is more than 2 years old Tiny elephant shrew species, missing for 50 years, rediscovered
Journal of Anatomy: The rostral nasal anatomy of two elephant shrews.
Mammalia: Footdrumming patterns of southern African elephant shrews
Animal Diversity Web: Macroscelididae
Re:wild
 

The Ohio Train Derailment

On February 3rd, a train owned by Norfolk Southern Railroad was traveling from Madison, Illinois to Conway, PA, when it derailed near the town of East Palestine, Ohio. Some cars on the train were carrying hazardous materials, and ultimately this resulted in the temporary evacuation of residents near the derailment site, and continued monitoring of air and water quality. Casey and Sara discuss some of the potential factors involved in the derailment and safety concerns associated with the materials, as well as their thoughts around railroad safety and the press received by this event.
Resources for this episode:
EPA Letter to Norfolk Southern
NY Times: Ohio Train Derailment: Separating Fact from Fiction
Huff Post: Animal Deaths Calculated at 43,700 Following Train Derailment in East Palestine
NPR: 7 Key Points about the East Palestine Train Derailment
NPR: How EPA Plans To Keep East Palestine Residents Safe After Derailment
AP: Buttigieg Warns Norfolk Southern to Support Ohio Community
CNN: The Ohio toxic train wreck was ‘100% preventable’ – but there’s no evidence the crew did anything wrong, investigators say
NY Times: In Fog of East Palestine’s Crisis, Politicians Write Their Own Stories
AP: EPA Orders Norfolk Southern to Clean Up Toxic Derailment
Independent (UK): Ohio crew tried to stop train after wheel issue warning, says probe – but it came too late to stop derailment

Climate Proxy Data

Articles on climate change will often talk about carbon dioxide levels being higher than they've been in thousands, or even millions, of years. You may also hear things about temperature moving in cycles, or about how different the climate of a certain area used to be. But how do scientists know all of this information before we started taking measurements? That's where proxy data comes in. On this episode, we discuss a few different types of proxy data, learn some new words, and find out just what crystalized rat urine can tell us about climate.
Resources for this episode:
NASA: Carbon Dioxide Vital Signs
NASA: The Raw Truth on Global Temperature Records
NOAA: What are Proxy Data
MIT: How are Gases in the Atmosphere Measured?
British Antarctic Survey: Ice Cores and Climate Change
Scientific American: How are Past Temperatures Determined from Ice Cores?
Texas A&M: Ancient Deepsea Shells Reveal 66 Million Years of Carbon Dioxide Levels
NOAA's Paleoclimatology Data Map
Carbon Brief: How Proxy Data Reveals the Climate of Earth's Distant Past (with alternative access to NOAA's Paleoclimatology Data Map)
 

Busting Climate Myths

Have you ever heard that climate change is a result of solar cycles or volcanoes? Or maybe you've found yourself thinking that it's too late to do anything about climate change anyway, so why bother? Casey and Sara talk through those myths and more, as well as share some tips for having conversations around climate change on this week's episode.
Resources for this week's episode:
National Grid: Six Myths about Climate Change Busted
NASA: Is the Sun Causing Global Warming?
NASA: What Do Volcanoes Have to do with Climate Change?
WWF: 10 Myths About Climate Change
USGS: Volcanoes Can Affect Climate
USA Today: These lies about climate change just wouldn't die in 2022

Zombie Fungus

With the TV show The Last of Us currently all the rage, Sara and Casey talk the real-life zombie fungus. They discuss how zombie fungus works, what the show gets right and wrong, and whether we should be afraid of a zombie fungus pandemic. They also discuss the amazing diversity of fungi and some of the benefits we get from these often overlooked organisms.
Resources for this episode:
Discovery: The Largest Living Thing on Earth is a 3.5 sq mi Fungus
Smithsonian: The Real Zombie Fungus That Inspired HBO's The Last of Us
Vox: The “zombie” fungus in The Last of Us, explained by a biologist
PNAS: Three-dimensional visualization and a deep-learning model reveal complex fungal parasite networks in behaviorally manipulated ants
BMC Ecology: Behavioral mechanisms and morphological symptoms of zombie ants dying from fungal infection
National Geographic: Fungi Are Key to Our Survival, Are We Doing Enough to Protect Them?

Sloths

Many people may have a passing familiarity with the slow-moving sloth, especially with their recent explosion in pop culture, but there is so much more to the sloth than most people realize. Casey and Sara discuss some of the incredibly unique features of sloths, and also take a look at the pros and cons of their popularity for wild sloth populations.
Resources for this episode:
The Sloth Conservation Foundation

A Greener New Year

Wondering how to be a little greener in your own life this year? Join Sara and Casey for a discussion on making environmental resolutions that you can stick to, their personal eco-resolutions, and podcast goals for 2023...plus, a VERY special announcement!

The Best Can of Tuna

Tuna is a popular seafood choice, but the tuna fishing industry has a number of potential environmental impacts. Casey and Sara talk through how you can determine which tuna is a more sustainable choice simply by the information provided right on the can.
Resources for this episode:
Statista: U.S. Consumption of Tuna
National Geographic: How to Pick the Most 'dolphin-safe' Tuna
Seafood Watch: Tips for Choosing Sustainable Canned Tuna
National Geographic: These Popular Tuna Species are No Longer Endangered
Human Rights Watch: Hidden Chains: Rights Abuses and Forced Labor in Thailand's Fishing Industry
Investigation finds suspected human rights abuse by suppliers of major US and Taiwanese seafood companyBusiness and Human Rights Resource Centre: Global Labor Justice - International Labor Rights Forum Sues Global Tuna Giant Bumble Bee Over False Advertising of ‘Fair and Safe’ Fishing Practices
NPR: Is Sustainable Seafood Really Sustainable?
AquaDocs: Fish Stakes
Seafood Watch: Fishing and Farming Methods
NOAA: Fishing Gear: Pelagic Longlines
Atuna: Wild Tuna vs. Farmed
Wild Planet: Sustainability and Sourcing FAQs

Nuclear Fusion

Towards the end of 2022, headlines declared a new breakthrough in nuclear fusion experiments: for the first time ever, scientists were able to get more energy from a fusion reaction than they put in. Like nuclear fission, nuclear fusion does not produce any carbon emissions during the energy production process, so it has potential as a player in clean energy down the road. But, how far down the road? And is the possibility of fusion worth diverting time and resources away from other clean energy technologies w have right now? Sara and Casey discuss the history of nuclear fusion research, what really happened in this latest breakthrough, and what's next for the future of fusion. 
Resources for this episode:
What is ITER?
ITER: What is Fusion?
Nature: Nuclear fusion lab achieves 'ignition.' What does it mean?
CNBC: Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough
Investors Have Now Spent $5 Billion Pursuing the "Holy Grail of Energy"
BBC Science Focus: Why the Promise of Nuclear Fusion is No Longer a Pipe Dream
IAEA: Magnetic Fusion Confinement with Tokamaks and Stellarators