This week we’re finding out whether the magnetic poles flipping killed the Neanderthals, asking how a bird species could hide for 170 years, marvelling at a swarm of tiny robot bees, wondering how two species of sea slugs manage to lose their heads but keep their cool, having a disco party with some glowing sharks, and wishing a very Happy Mother’s Day to the world’s oldest bird mum.
If you find some fun science that you think deserves its place on the show, we'd love to hear from you! Get in touch with us at lockdownsciencepodcast@gmail.com and follow us on @LockdownScience on Twitter and @LockdownSciencePodcast on Instagram.
Bioluminescent sharks:
Mallefet et al. (2021): https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.633582
Insect drones:
YuFeng Chen et al. (2021): https://doi.org/10.1109/TRO.2021.3053647 & video: https://news.mit.edu/2021/researchers-introduce-new-generation-tiny-agile-drones-0302
Black-browed babbler:
Akbar et al. (2020): https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c1a9e03f407b482a158da87/t/6034c09a3440914018d3c306/1614071211606/Black-browed-Babbler.pdf
Adams Transitional Geomagnetic Event:
Cooper, Turney et al. (2021): https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb8677
Autotomising sea slugs:
Mitoh and Yusa (2021): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.014
The Brilliant Abyss:
Helen Scales: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-brilliant-abyss-9781472966865/
Us and STEMM:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/us-and-stemm/id1547268807
Music credit: Blippy Trance Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/