On this episode of YS, co-hosts Matt Smith and Brian Cross dig into penguin poop, gene editing, and the insidious nature of hydrogen. Also: Cosmic ray spallation makes its last appearance in Matt's Chemical Minute, and in the first of two episodes spotlighting Bartlesville's Sutton Avian Research Center, Executive Director Chad Ellis stops by to talk bird conservation across the state of Oklahoma.
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Theme music: "Funky Machine" (ID874) by Lobo Loco (Accessed through FreeMusicArchive.org.; CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Production help provided by Scott Gregory. Yackety Science is recorded at the studios of Public Radio Tulsa, Kendall Hall, The University of Tulsa, and at the Center for Creativity at Tulsa Community College.
Links:
Sutton Avian Research Center:
Sutton Avian Research Center
Wild Brew Fundraiser
Gene Therapy for Babies:
Gene-editing therapy made in just 6 months helps baby with life-threatening disease: Custom CRISPR paves the way for treating genetic disorders in tailormade ways (Science, May 15, 2025)
Patient-Specific In Vivo Gene Editing to Treat a Rare Genetic Disease by Musunure et al. NEJM, May 15, 2025)
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2504747
Penguin Poop in Antarctica:
Boyer, M., Quéléver, L., Brasseur, Z. et al. Penguin guano is an important source of climate-relevant aerosol particles in Antarctica. Commun Earth Environ 6, 368 (2025).
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02312-2
Insidious Hydrogen and the Death of Batteries:
Scientists may have an explanation for why some batteries don’t last (Science News, Sept. 27, 2024)
Disappearing Science:
NIH Grants Terminated
https://grant-watch.us/nih-data.html
NSF Grants Terminated