This time we take a deep dive into an hypothesis The longevity bottleneck hypothesis: Could dinosaurs have shaped ageing in present-day mammals?” by João Pedro de Magalhães

https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.202300098

See our branch of the animal kingdom, mammals, first evolved around 200 million years ago. During the age of dinosaurs. To quote the paper “long evolutionary pressure on early mammals for rapid reproduction led to the loss or inactivation of genes and pathways associated with long life”

To talk about this and look at the evolution of aging, the wonderful and fantastic Dr Molly Burke agreed to talk about her research and the science of aging more generally! Her lab at the Oregon State university uses model organisms to experimentally study evolution. (https://ib.oregonstate.edu/directory/molly-k-burke).

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This episode cracks open the history and traditions of NASA (ie. Lucky peanuts) to get to the nutty goodness, which includes hard science and looking towards future missions! To explore this Dr. Morgan Cable joins the pod! Dr. Morgan Cable is a research scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The Science Lead for the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor concept and Co-Deputy PI of the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) Instrument aboard the Mars 2020 (Perseverance) rover, also apart of the Cassini, Dragonfly and the Europa Clipper missions in various ways. Links and descriptions of things mentioned in the episode supplied by Dr Morgan Cable lightly edited:

Cassini virtual singers: https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/a-farewell-to-cassini-our-friend-at-saturn/

Curiosity leaving ‘JPL’ in Morse code on Mars: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/rover-leaves-tracks-in-morse-code

Perseverance parachute hidden code: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/science/nasa-mars-parachute-code.html

Monoliths for Europa Clipper, represent the team mascot, inspired by the monolith on Jupiter’s moon Europa in 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s ironic because in the novel and the film we were told to “attempt no landing” at Europa, but in our first PSG meeting the author (Arthur C. Clarke) actually dialed in and gave us permission, which is really cool! You can hear more about that in an interview with Steve Vance (a fellow JPLer and scientist on Europa Clipper) here. So we make one Monolith and bring it to each Project Science Group (PSG) meeting. Here it is in one of our team photos, and we also have a team award called the Monolith Award and here is a twitter post about a recipient.

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There are just some research programs that some people find scary. Some make sense. Playing with radioactive material or pathogens can be risky! What about the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP)?

HAARP is located in Gakona, Alaska a joint project between government agencies and the University of Alaska. It studies the ionosphere and its potential to improve radio communications and surveillance technology.

Government involvement? Surveillance? seems like a ripe topic for conspiracy theorists who do not trust institutions and don't have a firm grasp science and technology. So let's explore what some "think" this equipment can do! (with what it actually does)

As promised here is where you can get a kit to mind control a cockroach.... I didn't buy it! I am not sponsored etc. Just proof you can find it.

https://backyardbrains.com/products/roboroach

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