Ep 239: Science... sort of - Echinodermathon

00:00:00 - Bev and Abe are back from Antarctica and are back on the show! Ryan had to give a guest lecture on echinoderms, which happens to be a thing Bev knows a lot about. So our first segment is dedicated to getting Abe up to speed on these weird marine animals. 00:40:05 - Talking about sea creatures gives one a powerful thirst. This episode we sate our thirst in three ways. Bev opts for a Squishy apple and cherry cider, Abe keeps it nautical with a Dorado DIPA, and Ryan can't wait to enjoy a Pliny the Elder Abe gave him. 00:47:28 - Now that we all know what echinoderms about we can talk about Bev's actual research! For her Masters, she wanted to figure out how brittle stars were (or weren't) being preserved in the fossil record. She tells us just how she got it done, and you can read the paper she published about her work too! (Lots of cool figures in that paper, be sure to check them out!) 01:13:54 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like echinoderms, only occasionally edible. Ryan begins by plugging his crowdfunding effort to do some sloth research. Next up, Abe has an e-mail from Rebecca abut a nephew who wants to be a volcanologist. He suggests junior ranger programs at National Parks, geology summer camps, and some cool resources over at kids.gov. Beverly has an e-mail form Bennet T. in response to our time zone and metric talk from episode 226. She gives us her take and explains how things like this work in Antarctica. Ryan wraps things up with a new recurring donation from Denise N. Thanks, Denise!   Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the Brachiolope Media Network for more great science podcasts!   Music of this week's show: Anthropology rap - Community Beauty Is Only Skin Deep - The Temptations Eldorado 1997 - Manu Chao Dissolve - Jonathan Coulton