Smologies with Alie Ward

How long can we live? How much of aging is genetics vs. environment? How old are your cells? What can we learn from the world’s oldest people? World-renowned aging expert and biogerontologist Dr. Caleb "Tuck" Finch takes a quick break from his prolific research at USC to answer Alie's sometimes basic questions about everything from molecules to Blue Zones. A donation was made to Cure Alzheimer's Fund [https://curealz.org/] Full-length (*not* G-rated) Biogerontology episode + tons of science links [https://www.alieward.com/ologies/biogerontology?rq=bioger] More kid-friendly Smologies episodes! [https://www.alieward.com/smologies] Become a patron of Ologies [https://www.patreon.com/ologies] for as little as a buck a month OlogiesMerch.com [https://www.ologiesmerch.com/] has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes! Follow Ologies on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ologies] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/ologies.bsky.social] Follow Alie Ward on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/alieward] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@alie_ologies] Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions [http://maitlandaudio.com/], Jarrett Sleeper [https://www.jarrettsleeper.com/] of MindJam Media [https://www.mindjammedia.com/], and Steven Ray Morris [https://twitter.com/stevenRayMorris] Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Aveline Malek and Erin Talbert Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

Squids. Cuttlefish. Octopusseseses. The world's most impassioned squid nerd, Sarah McAnulty, picks Alie up in her squidmobile to talk about raising cephlopods from eggs, their personalities, camouflage, invisibility cloaks, and why she is so charmed by squid. Also addressed: Alien DNA and the Kraken. Follow Sarah on Instagram [https://instagram.com/SarahMackAttack] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/sarahmackattack.bsky.social] A donation was made this week to SkypeAScientist.com [https://www.skypeascientist.com/] Follow Skype A Scientist on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/skypeascientist/?hl=en] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:k55qpyhfnom2lb73ozpl57se] Full-length (*not* G-rated) Teuthology episode + tons of science links [https://www.alieward.com/ologies/areology] More kid-friendly Smologies episodes! [https://www.alieward.com/smologies] Become a patron of Ologies [https://www.patreon.com/ologies] for as little as a buck a month OlogiesMerch.com [https://www.ologiesmerch.com/] has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes! Follow Ologies on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ologies] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/ologies.bsky.social] Follow Alie Ward on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/alieward] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@alie_ologies] Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions [http://maitlandaudio.com/], Jarrett Sleeper [https://www.jarrettsleeper.com/] of MindJam Media [https://www.mindjammedia.com/], and Steven Ray Morris [https://twitter.com/stevenRayMorris] Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Aveline Malek and Erin Talbert Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

The Red Planet. A mysterious dusty orb millions of miles away. Our emergency escape bunker. Alie sits down with Dr. Jennifer Buz to talk about what Mars’s DEEEEAL is, why we send rovers there, the poetry of the moon Phobos, Martian sunsets and whether we could landscape Mars to look like a golf course. Jennifer is maybe the chillest areologist on this planet and an absolute gem.  You're going to want to look at Dr. Jennifer Buz's website JNNFR.BZ [http://jnnfr.bz] Full-length (*not* G-rated) 2-part Areology episodes + tons of science links [https://www.alieward.com/ologies/areology] More kid-friendly Smologies episodes! [https://www.alieward.com/smologies] Become a patron of Ologies [https://www.patreon.com/ologies] for as little as a buck a month OlogiesMerch.com [https://www.ologiesmerch.com/] has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes! Follow Ologies on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ologies] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/ologies.bsky.social] Follow Alie Ward on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/alieward] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@alie_ologies] Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions [http://maitlandaudio.com/], Jarrett Sleeper [https://www.jarrettsleeper.com/] of MindJam Media [https://www.mindjammedia.com/], and Steven Ray Morris [https://twitter.com/stevenRayMorris] Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Aveline Malek and Erin Talbert Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

Soil! Dirt! Earth. Dr. Lydia Jennings, aka Native Soil Nerd, breaks down the stuff under our feet and explains everything from electrons in soil to why it can be different colors. Also: medicine from microbes, dirt versus soil, why we should care about the ground beneath out feet, and what makes the smell of rain so fantastic. Follow Dr. Lydia Jennings on Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/1nativesoilnerd.bsky.social] and Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/llcooljennings/?hl=en] Her website: nativesoilnerd.com [https://nativesoilnerd.com/] A donation went to RisingHearts.org [https://www.risinghearts.org/] Full-length (*not*G-rated) Indigenous Pedology episode + tons of science links [https://www.alieward.com/ologies/indigenouspedology] More kid-friendly Smologies episodes! [https://www.alieward.com/smologies] Become a patron of Ologies [https://www.patreon.com/ologies] for as little as a buck a month OlogiesMerch.com [https://www.ologiesmerch.com/] has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes! Follow Ologies on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ologies] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/ologies.bsky.social] Follow Alie Ward on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/alieward] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@alie_ologies] Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions [http://maitlandaudio.com/] and Jarrett Sleeper [https://www.jarrettsleeper.com/] of MindJam Media [https://www.mindjammedia.com/] Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Aveline Malek and Erin Talbert Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm

Yep. Here it is. A kid-friendly episode on… poop. Camel poop. Rhino poop. Dog poop. Cat poop. Your poop. The charming and informative Dr. Rachel Santymire -- aka Dr. Poop -- has a background in animal physiology and endocrinology and is elbow deep in dung as a research director at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Dr. Poop sits down with Alie to talk turds and why some critters like to chow down on their own (or others’), the stinkiest poopers, good smelling poop, how getting curious about poop can help save a species, and why the Lincoln Park Zoo has 17 freezers full of dookie. You’re welcome. Follow Dr. Santymire on Google Scholar [https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=FQUPUZoAAAAJ] A donation went to Lincoln Park Zoo [https://www.lpzoo.org/] Full-length (*not* G-rated) Scatology episode + tons of science links [https://www.alieward.com/ologies/scatology?rq=scatology] More kid-friendly Smologies episodes! [https://www.alieward.com/smologies] Become a patron of Ologies [https://www.patreon.com/ologies] for as little as a buck a month OlogiesMerch.com [https://www.ologiesmerch.com/] has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes! Follow Ologies on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ologies] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/ologies.bsky.social] Follow Alie Ward on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/alieward] and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@alie_ologies] Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions [http://maitlandaudio.com/], Jarrett Sleeper [https://www.jarrettsleeper.com/] of MindJam Media [https://www.mindjammedia.com/], and Steven Ray Morris [https://twitter.com/stevenRayMorris] Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Jacob Chaffee, Kelly R. Dwyer, Aveline Malek and Erin Talbert Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm