Tiny Matters cover art

All Episodes

Tiny Matters — 188 episodes

#
Title
1

[BONUS] ‘Drinking Grandma,’ digital cadavers and debunking a grave robbing myth: Tiny Show and Tell Us #55

2

The Shroud of Turin: American Medieval x Tiny Matters crossover episode

3

Foraminifera: The one-celled predators that shaped our planet (and kept the receipts)

4

[BONUS] Dangerously tiny frequencies, endometriosis tests, and cookies made from ... plastic?: Tiny Show and Tell Us #54

5

Giant viruses: How these amoeba-infecting behemoths are rewriting the rules of virology

6

[BONUS] Fairy tale evolution and the 400(ish) year old elusive Greenland shark: Tiny Show and Tell Us #53

7

From cow’s milk to blood banks: The surprising evolution of blood transfusions

8

[BONUS] Bread clip taxonomy and power poles on fire: Tiny Show and Tell Us #52

9

Placebo: Why ‘fake’ treatments can have real power

10

[BONUS] A pathology lab, a sausage duel, and the fascinating lives of yeast: Tiny Show and Tell Us #51

11

Fireworks over millennia: From battlefields and royal displays to sustainable spectacles

12

[BONUS] The ‘elite neutralizers’ immune to HIV and why galaxies ‘FART’: Tiny Show and Tell Us #50

13

Collisions in space: Satellites, space debris, and the quest to clean up Earth's orbit

14

[BONUS] A nitrogen asphyxiation disaster and why ears are incredible: Tiny Show and Tell Us #49

15

The Challenger disaster: How a NASA tragedy led to a safer Artemis II

16

[BONUS] The ‘Plankton Manifesto’ and the birth of MRI: Tiny Show and Tell Us #48

17

When movies caught fire: The history and science of nitrocellulose film

18

[BONUS] Von Willebrand disease and how old is the air in your lungs?: Tiny Show and Tell Us #47

19

‘Clean beauty’: Cosmetics, chemophobia and the anti-vax pipeline

20

[BONUS] The Chemists’ Wars: The Origin Story of Chemistry

21

[BONUS] Antarctic dinosaurs, blood restriction therapy, and an HIV prevention breakthrough: Tiny Show and Tell Us #46

22

Deep-sea mining: Environmental uncertainty, ‘Law of the Sea,’ and shark potatoes

23

[BONUS] The history of Turner Syndrome and engineering food for bees: Tiny Show and Tell Us #45

24

How soap shaped civilizations — and ‘ruined’ famous art

25

[BONUS] Camel antibodies and colorful Greco-Roman statues: Tiny Show and Tell Us #44

26

Stinky white gold, Haber-Bosch, and ‘peecycling’: How fertilizer shapes our world

27

[BONUS] Reef balls and peanut allergy immunotherapy: Tiny Show and Tell Us #43

28

The Mothers of Gynecology: The centuries that led to today’s Black maternal mortality crisis

29

A new podcast joining the fam: Chain Reaction by ACS!

30

[BONUS] 5D storage in the ‘Memory of Mankind’ and the root of morning sickness: Tiny Show and Tell Us #42

31

Inside expedition medicine: Keeping people alive in the harshest places on Earth

32

[BONUS] 'Mitochondrial Eve' and birds stealing anti-bird spikes: Tiny Show and Tell Us #41

33

From ancient grain mills to massive offshore turbines: Why wind energy was — and still is — a big deal

34

[BONUS] Dandelion rubber tires and a fentanyl vaccine: Tiny Show and Tell Us #40

35

The history of clinical trials: From fake exorcisms to testing today

36

[BONUS] Bat periods and toxins from fungi: Tiny Show and Tell Us #39

37

The iron lung: How a hulking metal tube became the first machine to keep humans alive

38

[BONUS] The woman who mapped the Milky Way and a toxic evolutionary showdown: Tiny Show and Tell Us #38

39

Sam’s brain-altering bacteria and Deboki’s polio vaccine fascination: EPISODE 100!

40

[BONUS] Bunny pregnancy tests and a dead salmon MRI: Tiny Show and Tell Us #37

41

How life keeps time: Zeitgebers, hidden clocks, and ugh daylight saving

42

[BONUS] Polar bear fact vindication and vibrating insects: Tiny Show and Tell Us #36

43

Dinner with King Tut: How experimental archaeologists are recreating the past

44

[BONUS] Making magenta pennies and touching the sun: Tiny Show and Tell Us #35

45

What's eating the Titanic?

46

[BONUS] 4 years of Tiny Matters?! How we started, what we've learned, and where we're headed!

47

New male contraceptives could be here soon. What took so long?

48

[BONUS] Why horseshoe crab blood is blue, HELLP syndrome, and a one-electron bond: Tiny Show and Tell Us #34

49

Trade, tyranny, and untapped potential: The history and science of spices

50

[BONUS] Fluorescent milk, ‘liquid’ glass, and studying ripples in spacetime: Tiny Show and Tell Us #33

51

How stunning 19th century dyes led to today's drugs

52

[BONUS] Wasp versus beetle and blood iron recycling: Tiny Show and Tell Us #32

53

De-extinction: Genetics, conservation, and lessons from 'dire wolves'

54

[BONUS] Woolly mammoth mice and filtering microplastics out of your water: Tiny Show and Tell Us #31

55

Zircon: How this tiny, ancient mineral is upending what scientists believed about early Earth

56

[BONUS] Biodegradable super glue and a severe greenhouse gas that lowers your voice: Tiny Show and Tell Us #30

57

Is ‘mom brain’ … forever?

58

[BONUS] Birds breathing with their butts and reducing food waste to combat climate change: Tiny Show and Tell Us #29

59

How domesticated is a domestic cat? From the wild to ancient Egyptian tombs to now

60

[BONUS] Diamond rain on Saturn (maybe) and UV rays breaking down harmful dyes: Tiny Show and Tell Us #28

61

The strange science and history of quantum computing and how it could transform chemistry

62

[BONUS] Squirrel pox and did tin buttons cause the downfall of Napoleon's army?: Tiny Show and Tell Us #27

63

Making labs safer: A heavy metal poisoning, a deadly protein exposure, and their aftermath

64

[BONUS] Fetuses ‘listening’ to different languages and climate change affecting psychiatric meds: Tiny Show and Tell Us #26

65

How NASA scientists are monitoring and predicting wildfires from space

66

[BONUS] The FDA’s ban of Red Dye No. 3 and the surprising science of winter roads: Tiny Show and Tell Us #25

67

How a Mars mission from the 1970s shaped the search for extraterrestrial life today

68

[BONUS] Babies leaving cells behind in mom and rethinking the Big Bang: Tiny Show and Tell Us #24

69

Ozempic: The science behind this blockbuster drug and its untapped potential

70

[BONUS] Marfan syndrome and plant pathogens eating DNA: Tiny Show and Tell Us #23

71

How a little-known vaccine project and decades of HIV research made "Operation Warp Speed" possible

72

[BONUS] Time limits for anesthesia and stunning bioluminescence: Tiny Show and Tell Us #22

73

The placenta: A disposable organ we can’t live without

74

[BONUS] An inspiring pharmacist grandma and orcas wearing dead salmon hats: Tiny Show and Tell Us #21

75

How glaciers safeguard Earth’s future and hold clues to our ancient past

76

[BONUS] Evolutionary adaptations to high altitudes and e-cigs vs. dry herb vaporizers: Tiny Show and Tell Us #20

77

How 18th and 19th century 'race science' still has deadly medical consequences today

78

[BONUS] Crocheted wasp nests and sewage in reefs: Tiny Show and Tell Us #19

79

The rape kit: From controversial 1970s invention to ending the backlog today

80

[BONUS] Double rainbows and mysterious chromosomes: Tiny Show and Tell Us #18

81

Not just a ‘royal disease’: Hemophilia’s devastating past to recent advances

82

[BONUS] Fungus farming ants and disappointing orange juice: Tiny Show and Tell Us #17

83

How plants shaped our world: Rising oxygen, blocky bones, and other pivotal moments in evolution

84

[BONUS] 'Night soil' recycling and could viruses be the new antibiotics?: Tiny Show and Tell Us #16

85

Can evolution go backwards?

86

[BONUS] Four armadillos in a trench coat and does pregnancy boost your sense of smell?: Tiny Show and Tell Us #15

87

'A cage of ovulating females': The development and testing of the oral birth control pill

88

Submit a Tiny Show and Tell Us — first 40 people get a coffee mug!

89

[BONUS] A hedgehog doppelgänger and STEVE lighting up the sky: Tiny Show and Tell Us #14

90

Nearly 40 years after the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, wildlife is thriving

91

Happy New Year! Bring on 2025

92

[BONUS] Pollen-food allergy syndrome and stepping on 116 snakes: Tiny Show and Tell Us #13

93

Frostbite: From Napoleonic era treatments to the first FDA approved frostbite drug

94

[BONUS] Xenobots and rethinking 'junk DNA': Tiny Show and Tell Us #12

95

In defense of plants: Pitfall traps, rancid aromas, and other wild pollination strategies with Matt Candeias

96

[BONUS] Why we experience altitude sickness and a chirality mystery: Tiny Show and Tell Us #11

97

Stories trapped in ancient teeth: Reconstructing megalodon’s diet and retracing the steps of woolly mammoths

98

[BONUS] Mice aging in reverse and using origami to understand how a tiny organism captures prey: Tiny Show and Tell Us #10

99

Ghosts and cyborgs: A specter skeptic and the promise (and perils) of biohybrid robots

100

[BONUS] Algae in the clouds and colossal galaxy walls: Tiny Show and Tell Us #9

101

Pesticides across history and learning from millions of years of plant-insect warfare

102

[BONUS] A shark’s ‘jelly-filled canals’ and deadly cyanide in clovers: Tiny Show and Tell Us #8

103

Vaping vs. smoking: What does decades of research tell us?

104

[BONUS] How the moon causes tides and ancient viruses lurking in your DNA: Tiny Show and Tell Us #7

105

Extinction: Rethinking the dodo's demise, and could a supervolcano threaten humanity's future?

106

[BONUS] We think your dog loves you and an intriguing molecule hitches a ride on space dust: Tiny Show and Tell Us #6

107

CTE: From ‘punch drunk’ to today, how this devastating disease is finally being taken seriously

108

[BONUS] Cleaning up brain junk while you sleep and new neurons from exercise: Tiny Show and Tell Us #5

109

Pig hearts in people: Xenotransplantation's history, promise, and the ethical use of people who are brain-dead in research

110

[BONUS] 1930s (inebriated) chemist poetry and a new organelle: Tiny Show and Tell Us #4

111

Could most of our food, medication, and clothing come from...bacteria?

112

[BONUS] A dark energy discovery and a thirsty hydrangea mystery: Tiny Show and Tell Us #3

113

Sewage and the Seine: From Mesopotamia messes and the 1858 Great Stink to today's flush toilets and fatbergs

114

[BONUS] The disappearance of 10,000 skeletons and get those eyes outside: Tiny Show and Tell Us #2

115

It’s sporty (science) summer: Cutting edge monitoring of sweat, and how decades of labiaplasty inspired a new bike saddle

116

Subscribe to the Tiny Matters newsletter!

117

[BONUS] Parrotfish poop beaches and an altitude adaptation: Tiny Show and Tell Us #1

118

‘Beef snow,’ sludge, and seafood fraud: How NIST standardizes everything from $1,143 peanut butter to house dust to keep us safe

119

From volcanoes and Swiftquakes to buzzing bees: How scientists use sound to understand our environment

120

Long COVID: What we’re learning about pathogens and chronic illness goes beyond COVID-19

121

Mysteries in the museum: How textile conservators investigate and preserve historic clothing

122

The curable disease that kills someone every 20 seconds: Tuberculosis (ft. John Green)

123

Introducing 'Tiny show and tell us' (send us your stories!)

124

Arsenic, radium, and a locked room cyanide mystery: Poisons and the rise of forensic toxicology in early 1900s United States

125

IVF: The history, science and struggle that gave rise to a life-changing technology

126

Win a Tiny Matters mug by filling out this survey!

127

Who invented lawns? From Cretaceous grass to modern turf with That's Absurd Please Elaborate

128

What hibernating bears and 'couch potato' cavefish are teaching us about blood clots and fatty liver disease

129

Listener Q&A: Methanol poisoning, quantum entanglement, biomimicry, sea foam snakes, tiny discoveries in 2023, and more!

130

Let's talk about love: Is oxytocin really the 'love drug'? How do we stay in love? And how do our brains adapt to the deaths of people we love?

131

Did mating with Neanderthals make us morning people?: What ancient DNA tells us about the messiness of human evolution

132

Win a Tiny Matters coffee mug ROUND TWO! Submit your questions!

133

Cosmic clues, shrinking transistors, debunking a Salem witch trials theory, and more! Faves from the second year of Tiny Matters

134

He was never there, but his DNA was: The history and debate surrounding forensic DNA profiling

135

The rise and fall of a fake decongestant: What phenylephrine tells us about the history of the FDA

136

The opioid crisis: From pill mills to fentanyl. Are we now seeing glimmers of hope?

137

We don't deserve dogs: The science behind the human-canine relationship

138

The Salem witch trials LSD theory and the fascinating evolution of mummification in ancient Egypt

139

Asteroid Bennu, OSIRIS-REx, and the Apollo 11 moon microbe scare: The challenge of bringing samples home from space

140

It’s flu season: Why do we need a shot every year? And should we be worried about the new avian influenza strain?

141

Listener Q&A: Plastic-eating mushrooms, allergy-curing hookworms, the end of the universe, making a career in scicomm, and more!

142

Flavor is more than meets the taste buds: Health impacts, seltzer facts, and chocolate zucchini cake snacks

143

We’re not all in this together: How colonialist practices are shaping the impact of climate change

144

Mad cow, 'zombie deer disease' and the science and spread of prions

145

Combating misinformation in a crisis: Lessons from Deepwater Horizon

146

Want to win a Tiny Matters mug? Send us your questions!

147

Hurricane Katrina and the Ohio train derailment: Science, confusion, and human influence

148

A fungal pandemic is unlikely in humans. That’s not true for other species.

149

Could psychedelics transform mental healthcare?

150

Treating depression: Then versus now, and the SSRI debate

151

The future of electronics: How small can we go?

152

Are we alone in the universe?

153

Algae transformed Earth. Next stop: Mars?

154

Shipworms, sponges and snail venoms: The search for marine medicine

155

"The Last of Us" fungi Q&A with mycologist Giuliana Furci

156

Microplastics and PFAS (aka 'forever chemicals') are everywhere. What does that mean for our bodies and environment?

157

Detection dogs: Sniffing out explosives, invasive pythons and...disease?

158

Hank Green on dad emails, the business of scicomm, and the value of niche

159

The hunt for a rare microorganism

160

Tell us what YOU want to learn about in 2023!

161

False memories, a surprising Civil War corpse, weekly dino fossil discoveries, and more! Faves from the first year of Tiny Matters

162

Radiolab's Latif Nasser on his love of science history, storytelling, and Wikipedia rabbit holes

163

The Ig Nobel Prize: Levitating frogs, constipated scorpions, and other science that makes you laugh then think

164

Does the microbiome deserve so much hype?

165

Lava bombs, the northern lights, ancient skull surgeries, and more! It's a vacation show & tell

166

What does it mean to 'age'? And will science ever stop us from aging?

167

It's spooky season! Using science to unravel vampire myths and survive a zombie apocalypse

168

The rapid evolution of lactose intolerance (or, in fact, lactose tolerance)

169

Dreaming: Why we hallucinate while asleep (and do spiders do it too?)

170

Wastewater is helping us track disease outbreaks. Could it predict a future pandemic?

171

If the Milky Way could talk, what would it tell us?

172

Regenerating a limb (or brand new body)

173

Preservatives: From ancient methods to today's plastic-wrapped Twinkies

174

Smallpox is the only human infectious disease we've eradicated. Why?

175

Why you should care about sharks (and why Sharknado wasn't totally wrong)

176

Decades later, people are still dying from the 9/11 terrorist attacks

177

The deadly London smog that changed pollution regulation forever

178

Body farms: Anthropological research facilities are teaching us about life after death

179

What happened to Zika virus and the families affected?

180

Sugar: The addiction debate and an ancient mutation that’s killing us today

181

Bioterrorism: Weaponizing science has been around for centuries

182

What is a memory? And how is it stored?

183

Q&A with Tiny Matters hosts Sam Jones and Deboki Chakravarti

184

Typhoid fever didn't end with Typhoid Mary

185

Could probiotics save coral reefs?

186

Why don't we have an HIV vaccine?

187

Dinosaur fossils: Informing Jurassic Park, inspiring new tech, and helping us predict Earth's future

188

Welcome to Tiny Matters! A podcast about the small science of big things