In this episode, Team Yack returns to the far side of the moon along with the Artemis II astronauts. (Cue the Pink Floyd! Bring on the balloons and jubilation!) Brian and Matt also admire the versatility of the octopus’s kinky arm-penis-nose...and then report on Matt’s special box of emotional-support particles. Argon, the laziest of all elements, makes a half-hearted (but pun-filled) appearance in the "chemical minute" segment. And finally, the Yackers cough (or hack? or yack-hack?) dramatically into their hankies before collapsing upon the settee for a robust discussion of John Green's "Everything Is Tuberculosis."
Got a question, comment, or correction? Yack right back at us at YacketyScience@gmail.com. And please do follow us on Spotify, Instagram (@yacketysciene), and Facebook (Yackety Science).
Episode Art: Modified from an Earthset photo taken by NASA's Artemis II astronauts.
Theme music: “Funky Machine” (ID874) by Lobo Loco (Accessed through FreeMusicArchive.org.; CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Production help provided by Public Radio Tulsa's 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:
The Moon and Artemis II:
An NPR News Report on Artemis II
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/07/nx-s1-5775710/artemis-lunar-flyby-complete-heading-home
Cephalopod Sex:
To mate or predate? — Octopuses use the same system for sensing food or a mate, which has implications for speciation. Science (April 2, 2026)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aeg4381
A sensory system for mating in octopus by Pablo Villar et al. (Science 392(6793):96-101)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aec9652
Anti-protons:
Geneva’s CERN hails delicate test on transporting antimatter as a scientific success by Jamey Keaten (AP; March 24, 2026)
https://apnews.com/article/cern-antiproton-road-test-switzerland-geneva-17369ec3439bf5263d82ca11f0124895
Ourobookos: A Yackety Science Book Club
"Everything Is Tuberculosis" by John Green
This description/summary appears at the Magic City Books website:
"Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it. In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, preventable, infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year. In 'Everything Is Tuberculosis,' John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world — and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis."