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Grow Your Own ARMOR! episode artwork

Nov 6, 2026 42 min

Grow Your Own ARMOR!

from What The If? Hosted by Philip Shane, Matt Stanley, Gabrielle Paniccia

Picture a world where we all grow a suit of armor right out of our skin, so heavy that if we tried to swim, we'd sink like a rock! In this episode you'll learn how some ants turn the carbon dioxide in their nests into a stony coat of armor, and how a deep-sea snail covers its foot in scales full of iron. We even get into how some lobsters can live for more than a century. Suit up and press play! —— When she's not studying zombie fungus at Harvard or helping us break the universe every week, our very own Gaby Paniccia writes science fiction. Her short story "The Automatic Grocery Store" is now featured on the popular podcast Escape Pod! Listen here: https://escapepod.org/2026/02/19/escape-pod-1033-the-automatic-grocery-store/ —— Check out our membership rewards! Visit us at Patreon.com/Whattheif —— Got an IF of your own? Want to have us consider your idea for a show topic? Send YOUR IF to us! Visit https://whattheif.com/contact and let us know what's in your imagination. No idea is too small, or too big! Keep On IFFin', Philip, Matt & Gaby

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Grow Your Own ARMOR!

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How long is this episode of What The If??

This episode is 42 minutes long.

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This episode was published on November 6, 2026.

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