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Sponge Life, Giant Viral CRISPR, All For One, Far Flying Fies, Biodiversity Rules, WORLD WILDLIFE DAY!!!, Fairy Wren Affairs, First Land Life, More Moles Good, Defeating AutoImmune Disease, Zombie Frogs Are Sexier?, Smart Lady Spiders, And Much More!
Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer!
Not everything you think you know is true…
This goes for all of you, all of us, and even includes all of them over there…
We humans are brilliant people…
We have amazing cognitive abilities…
In fact it’s not far from the point of having amazing cognitive abilities that we can say we humans in fact are amazing cognitive abilities…
We don’t just have brains, we are brains…
And as brains we often assume that the world we have reconstructed from our cognitive cartwheeling through sensory regulated reality is a perfect picture of what is out there…
And, depending on the resolution and relative scale at which you set the perspective of being at least able to claim an accurate knowledge about anything…
we manage a fairly decent horseshoes and hand grenades view of the world…
Close enough to organize societies,
Close enough to conquer nature,
Close enough to devise technologies beyond the point where any one person can entirely tell you how anything actually works anymore…
And like a blues refrain, like a philosophical or political meme, like a Sufi, Zen or mother goose tale…
We brains are left with a warm feeling of understanding… close enough to call it truth…
But…
there is one place beyond the skull walls our brains have learned never to rest comfortably on concepts of truth…
The world of science…
for everything we learn in science teaches us that truth is an evolution of ideas,
and a path more restless journey than comfortable destination we brains are traveling on…
And so,
in dedication to brainy restlessness everywhere we bring you…
This Week In Science… coming up next…
Sponge Life
Chemical evidence puts sponges as the earliest life-form, 50 million years earlier than the earliest 600 million year old fossil record evidence.
Giant Viral CRISPR
Not really CRISPR, but a CRISPR-like system has been discovered in the immune systems of the giant Mimivirus, suggesting that the giant viruses have undergone defense system evolution similar to other microbes, including lateral gene-transfer.
All For One
Amoeba are considered unicellular, but some, like Dictyostelium discoideum, become social in certain situations. It was found that 1% of the associated cells take on an immune system-like role with functions that until now were thought to arise with the immune systems of multi-cellular animals.
FlyQuiz…
no peeking
It’s World Wildlife Day!
“The future of wildlife is in our hands”
Communication is key in any relationship
…Of fairy wrens. Those that duet readily are less likely to be cockolded. Take note, gentlemen.
People value biodiversity
And they are willing to pay more to keep it. This is great news for organizations that have trouble asking for government funding because “people won’t pay for it.” It turns out they will!
Support us on Patreon!
First life on land?
Oldest anyway
Defeating AutoImmune Disease
Russian researchers used humanized mice to develop an antibody against Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) that selectively targets macrophages, but not other immune cells that release TNF, effectively maintaining the beneficial purposes of TNF, like stopping tumor growth, while getting rid of the deleterious effects, like unrestricted cytokine release.
Zombie Frogs Are Sexier?
Researchers investigating Japanese tree frogs found that those infected with a pathogenic fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), which causes chytrid fugus disease in frogs, might also be responsible for the increase in calling and change in call sound seen in infected males that is more attractive to females.
Loud Deep
It’s loud at the bottom ofthe ocean… even 7 miles beneath the surface in the Marianas Trench.
Black Widows are smart. Smartly dressed, that is!
Their red hourglass warns birds to stay away, but that telltale mark is conveniently difficult for yummy insects to spy.
Holy Plankton poop, batman!
Plastic pollution alters plankton poop!
Decoding Hair
A recent analysis of over 6000 people has elucidated the genes for several hair traits, including a gene for gray hair, that were previously unknown.
Booty Lift 2015
Plastic surgery for the behind was more popular in 2015, along with higher rates of surgery for men.
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I'm the host of this little science show. 
The plastic surgery story that Justin talked about is fake. It’s just a Korean plastic surgery ad that has been blown out of proportion. Still hilarious though. 😀
Ah! You’re right… we’ll make sure to correct that in the next show. Thank you!