The ideal booty call and a potent jet lag drug for hamsters

Oral conception, monkey floss, big ears, diapers, and more (RecSci Quick Bites)

In this bonus RecSci Quick Bites episode, Lu and Tirth discuss an incredible case of oral conception, monkeys’ choice for dental floss, how your ears get bigger as you age, whether moms can identify their baby’s soiled diapers, analyzing poop in log form, boxers versus briefs, and how to settle co-first authorship between friends. Timestamps: * 0:00 Intro * 1:17 Oral conception study * 5:02 Monkey study * 7:19 Big ears study * 9:48 Diaper study * 12:17 Poop analysis study * 14:48 Underwear study * 17:43 Co-first authorship * 19:35 Outro Article links: * Verkyul, 1988. Impregnation via the proximal gastrointestinal tract in a patient with an aplastic distal vagina. Case report. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1471-0528.1988.tb06583.x?saml_referrer * Watanabe et al., 2007. Long-tailed macaques use human hair as dental floss. American Journal of Primatology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajp.20403 * Heathcote, 1995. Why do old men have big ears? British Medical Journal. https://www.bmj.com/content/311/7021/1668.short * Case et al., 2006. My baby doesn't smell as bad as yours: The plasticity of disgust. Evolution and Human Behavior. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513806000195 * Krauth et al., 2012. An In-Depth Analysis of a Piece of Shit: Distribution of Schistosoma mansoni and Hookworm Eggs in Human Stool. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0001969 * Minguez-Alarcon et al., 2018. Type of underwear worn and markers of testicular function among men attending a fertility center. Human Reproduction. https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/33/9/1749/5066758 * Bai & Zhu et al., 2021. Adjacent Cell Marker Lateral Spillover Compensation and Reinforcement for Multiplexed Images. Frontiers in Immunology. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.652631/full You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found! Follow us on social media @RecSciPod! * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod * TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social * Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod Theme music by Dasein: * Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/5fNAhYtrSM9nW9GpCiDpST?si=ea49670388f24e5c * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-WQ6G62lfM * Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/song/cas/1706824849 Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)

Sexist birds and intimidating runners with hills

Does the sex of the bird affect how soon they fly away when approached by humans? What about the sex of the human? Coming across a steep hill while out jogging can be intimidating. Does being tired affect how runners perceive the size of hills? In this episode, Lu and Tirth discuss how European birds are sexist towards humans and how just tricking people into believing they have to climb a hill can cause them to exaggerate its steepness. Timestamps: * 0:00 Intro * 0:48 Ways to improve the podcast * 7:25 Bird study * 17:08 Hill study * 26:44 Let’s read some mail * 29:23 What did you learn today, outro Article links: * Morelli et al., 2025. Sex matters: European urban birds flee approaching women sooner than approaching men. People and Nature. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pan3.70226 * Bhalla et al., 1999. Visual-Motor Recalibration in Geographical Slant Perception. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1999-03275-014 You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found! Follow us on social media @RecSciPod! * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod * TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social * Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod Theme music by Dasein: * Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/5fNAhYtrSM9nW9GpCiDpST?si=ea49670388f24e5c * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-WQ6G62lfM * Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/song/cas/1706824849 Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)

Kids vs traffic and food preference in fetuses

Crossing the street alone is a difficult and dangerous task for young kids. Is it even more perilous for overweight and out-of-shape children? Kids are notorious picky eaters. When does this start? In the womb? In this episode, Lu and Tirth play another game of Family Feud But Science and discuss practical athleticism in overweight children and whether fetuses are picky "eaters." Timestamps: * 0:00 Intro * 0:38 BTS * 1:48 Family Feud But Science * 15:00 Fat kids study * 26:23 Fetuses study * 35:03 Let’s read some mail * 39:22 What did you learn today, outro Article links: * Chaddock et al., 2012. Role of Childhood Aerobic Fitness in Successful Street Crossing. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/2012/04000/role_of_childhood_aerobic_fitness_in_successful.23.aspx * Ustin et al., 2022. Flavor Sensing in Utero and Emerging Discriminative Behaviors in the Human Fetus. Psychological science. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09567976221105460 * Ladas et al., 2007. Colonic gas explosion during therapeutic colonoscopy with electrocautery. World Journal of Gastroenterology. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4171316/ You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found! Follow us on social media @RecSciPod! * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod * TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social * Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod Theme music by Dasein: * Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/5fNAhYtrSM9nW9GpCiDpST?si=ea49670388f24e5c * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-WQ6G62lfM * Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/song/cas/1706824849 Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)

The ideal booty call and a potent jet lag drug for hamsters

What do men and women look for in an ideal partner for a one night stand, friends with benefits relationship, and marriage? What’s the best way to find out? An economics experiment, of course. Do hamsters experience jet lag? Do hamsters respond to Viagra? Does Viagra cure jet lag in hamsters? In the season 2 premier, Lu and Tirth catchup on all the life changing events that took place during the offseason and discuss giving people “mate dollars” to build their ideal mate and using Viagra to treat jet lag in hamsters. Timestamps: * 0:00 Intro * 0:52 Big updates from the offseason * 6:45 Booty call study * 19:09 Jet lag study * 26:54 Let’s read some mail * 29:22 What did you learn today, outro Article links: * March et al., 2018. Netflix and Chill? What Sex Differences Can Tell Us About Mate Preferences in (Hypothetical) Booty-Call Relationships. Evolutionary Psychology. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1474704918812138 * Agostino et al., 2007. Sildenafil accelerates reentrainment of circadian rhythms after advancing light schedules. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0703388104 You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found! Follow us on social media @RecSciPod! * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod * TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social * Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod Theme music by Dasein: * Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/5fNAhYtrSM9nW9GpCiDpST?si=ea49670388f24e5c * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-WQ6G62lfM * Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/song/cas/1706824849 Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)

RecSciPod season 2 announcement

Season 2 will premier on May 19, 2026. We're fairly sure. Probably. Who knows? You can find Recreational Science (#RecSciPod) everywhere great podcasts are found! Follow us on social media @RecSciPod! * YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RecSciPod * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recscipod * TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@recscipod * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/recscipod.bsky.social * Threads https://www.threads.com/@recscipod Theme music by Dasein: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ Recreational Science is produced by Scientafic (https://www.scientafic.com/recscipod)