crisscrossing Science

Chad and Mike relisten to this classic episode in which Stephen McCormick tells us about the life cycle of salmon. Salmon start their lives in fresh water then move to the ocean and only return to fresh water again to spawn. But many physiological changes have to occur for each of these steps.

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Mike and Chad discuss volcanoes. How do they form, and are they only Earthly events?

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Chad tells Mike about how bacteria can detect when there are enough of them around so that they can change their behavior. It's a collective action that seems smart, but is just a matter of responding to the environment.

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Chad and Mike are learning more about what have been described as "Flying Puppies" by re-playing this episode with Leah Rensel.

Mike and Chad finally talk about Mike's research in the material called graphene. Graphene is a two dimensional conductor that can be used as a biosensor and many other interesting applications.

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In a particularly bloody episode, Chad and Mike discuss the A, B, and O blood types, as well as the Rh positive and negative. What do these designations mean? And what are some of the health consequences of these differences?

This episode came about because of a listener question. If you have questions, email us at crisscrossingsci@gmail.com

Mike and Chad discuss the first three Nobel award announcements for 2025. We review the science behind the medicine, physics, and chemistry prizes that will be awarded in Stockholm later this year.

If you have ideas for future episodes, or just questions that make you curious, email us at crisscrossingsci@gmail.com and we will try to answer your questions in a future episode.

Mike and Chad discuss new findings by the James Webb Space Telescope about blackholes formed at the beginning of the universe, before there were even stars.

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Mike and Chad are revisiting this episode about the physics of baseball. So grab some peanuts and crackerjacks, and enjoy this classic episode.

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Chad and Mike discuss carnivorous plants, such as the Venus fly trap. They are surprisingly common and many species independently developed the tools needed to consume flies.

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Mike and Chad are on vacation, but still have the moon to keep us together. So enjoy this episode from the vault about where the moon came from.

Mike and Chad invite Kevin Curry back in the studios to talk about movies and the best Science in Science Fiction for the Third Annual Crisspies. This year, we are talking about time travel, which is tricky because time travel is already science fiction. But, we narrowed down the list to the top five contenders and debated which movies should come out on top.

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Mike and Chad discuss some of the ongoing space missions currently in operation by NASA as well as the European Space Agency, and space agencies from India and Japan. There is a lot of research taking place that deserves recognition.

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In celebration of the latest Jurassic Park movie, we are reposting an episode from 2022 about how the birds escaped Jurassic Park. Enjoy.

This episode came from a listener question. To ask questions for yourself, email us at crisscrossingsci@gmail.com or DM us on social media platforms.

Chad and Mike talk about how biological molecules are often left handed or right handed. This affects us in many fascinating ways.

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Mike and Chad are re-listening to this episode from 2020 about the married couple of Marie and Pierre Curie, each of whom won at least one Nobel Prize and were an amazing scientific power couple.

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Chad and Mike invite Dr. David Lewis, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and an anthropologist from Oregon State University, onto the podcast. David talks with us about what this land looked like and how land was managed for thousands of years.

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Mike and Chad are re-sharing this episode with Stephen Tufte, a physics professor from Lewis and Clark. He shared with us the science behind playing the mandolin and what makes it different from a guitar.

Chad and Mike discuss the ancestral plight of turtles and how strange a journey it was for sea creatures to come onto land, then return to the water, and (in the case of the tortoise) return back to land.

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Mike and Chad discuss angular momentum and some of the seemingly counterintuitive predictions that come from it. Yet so many things in our daily lives rely on this concept.

Chad and Mike invite Nobel Laureate Dr. Randy Schekman to discuss his research into yeast cells and the mechanisms that yeast (and human) cells use to direct traffic. Proteins that are created within the cell need to be pushed into the appropriate places and Schekman is one of the discoverers of those mechanisms.

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Chad and Mike are preparing for our next episode in which we talk to Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman. He won the award for learning the mechanisms for how proteins within the cells are moved to where they need to go. The process can be very complicated, so we are doing a pre-episode to help us understand more.

So be sure to listen to both this episode and the next one with our special guest.

Mike and Chad celebrate Einstein's 146th birthday by discussing his Greatest Blunder.

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Chad tells Mike all about moss, and the entire ecosystem that lives in that tiny, fluffy, world.

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Mike and Chad discuss milk. Why do mammals drink it? How do mammals produce it? What is pasteurization? Answers to these questions, and more, when you listen to crisscrossing Science!

Mike and Chad invite astronomer Dr. Kathryn Devine to discuss the process of astronomy and how we can determine how stars form.

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Chad and Mike invite Dr. Jay Mellies to talk about his research into bacteria that are able to break down plastics into their constituent pieces.

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Mike and Chad discuss the bright events called supernova and the chain of events that makes them happen.

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Mike and Chad discuss how plastic is created and why it is so ubiquitous in our modern world. We also consider why plastics are often not recycled and why it will be hard to stop making more.

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Chad tells Mike about the co-discoverers of the mechanism of evolution by natural selection: Wallace and Darwin. What? You've only ever heard of Darwin? Listen and learn...

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Chad and Mike welcome Stephen Frost onto the podcast to discuss the evolutionary history of primates.

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Imagine studying one problem for forty years until finally the scientific community accepts your research. Mike and Chad discuss the work of Raymond Davis, Jr. who measured the number of neutrinos emitted by the sun. His numbers did not agree with theory and it took decades to prove that new physics was involved.

Chad and Mike delve into disease and vaccinations and consider the role of B cells. When are new B cells produced and when do older ones ramp up production of antibodies?

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Mike and Chad talk about the differences between AC and DC power. We then delve into the history of electrifying the world, when advocates for AC (Tesla, Westinghouse) beat out arguments for DC (Edison). It is a crazy story.

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How do Homing Pigeons find their way? It turns out researchers have done many experiments to confuse them! We also have a tie in to Game of Thrones, so be sure to tune in.

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We've been busy watching the Olympics, which got us thinking about GOLD!! So while we finish our efforts for Season 8, we are replaying this episode about where gold comes from.

Mike and Chad are gearing up for Season 8 and have a lot of ideas for upcoming episodes. In the meantime, we were enjoying hummingbirds flying around and thought it would be fun to revisit an episode from 2021 about these little guys that migrate surprisingly far distances. Enjoy.

Enjoy this encore episode in which our guest Janet Peterson discusses how much water we should be drinking.

This is our second annual Crisspies award show, celebrating the Best Science in Science Fiction.

The awards this year go to the best depiction of the Science behind pandemics (too soon?). Which movie will win this year?

Chad and Mike invite Adam Dolezal to discuss the plight of bees and how they are facing new struggles with parasites, pathogens, pesticides, and poor nutrition.

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You may have been wondering about the aurora that have been visible in the last few weeks. Mike tells Chad about sunspots and how these lead to the cool events in our atmosphere.

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Mike and Chad take a tour through magnetism and explain how magnets are used in everyday life.

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Chad and Mike talk about plant formations called Galls in which an external object (insect, bacteria, etc) cause the plant to make small circular scars on its leaves.

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Chad and Mike are celebrating 200 episodes of crisscrossing Science! Join us as we look back on the past and remember our favorite episodes.

Mike and Chad answer a listener's question about why spin affects the flight of baseballs.

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Chad tells Mike all about termites, the Russian nesting dolls of the insect world. Termites can't actually digest wood all by themselves and so utilize trichonympha to help them digest. Meanwhile, trichonympha themselves utilize smaller bacteria to help them digest wood.

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Mike and Chad answer all your questions about the total solar eclipse happening on April 8, 2024.

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Chad tells Mike about the new vaccine to prevent malaria. This has been decades in the making and Chad explains why this was such a difficult vaccine to create.

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We often think of astronomical events as ephemeral; however, today we are talking about three evanescent events that are making astronomers very excited. Pulsars, gamma ray bursts, and fast radio bursts are all at the forefront of science. So listen and learn more.

This summer, two different broods of cicadas will be coming of the ground to breed. One brood only mates every 13 years, the other every 17 years. And both cycles happen to match in 2024. So, we are replaying an episode from the last time a large brood of cicadas came up.