Incidents and Reflections

Your weekly dose of science news, brought to you by WMUC.

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 67 - 06/21/2020

For anyone who missed or wants to re-experience the Dino Nerds for Black Lives stream back in June, you can now watch a recorded version of our one-time revival, as well as almost 40 hours’ worth of other paleo presentations! Article links

Prehistoric Road Trip [02:26]

Ensonglopedia of the Human (recorded stream of WIP performance) [05:13]

Life Through the Ages II [08:31]

PhyloCode, Phylonyms, and RegNum [11:33]

Ontogenetic dietary shifts in Deinonychus [18:21]

Thermal comfort of Triassic dinosaurs [27:51]

Aquatic stem myriapods [36:27]

Peopling of the Caribbean [44:22]

[albertonykus]

As longtime followers might know, I used to host a science-themed radio show/podcast (@incidentsandreflections). It was co-created by my friend Alex Jacob while we were geology undergraduates at the University of Maryland, and continued by myself and Joan Turmelle (@killdeercheer) after Alex transferred.

After several years of hiatus, Joan and I have decided to start a new podcast series on YouTube, called Through Time and Clades. We have just uploaded our first episode, and you can also follow us on Twitter to stay up to date!

[incidentsandreflections]

If you enjoyed Incidents and Reflections, you might like to know that Albert and Joan have started a new podcast, which they consider a spiritual successor to this one!

[incidentsandreflections]

That’s right folks, we’re back for one night only! 

As part of a weekend-long paleontology-themed stream, Dino Nerds for Black Lives, Albert and Joan will return to bring you the latest exciting discoveries from the world of nature. And, as an added bonus, viewers who donate to the fundraising campaign will be able to submit science-themed questions that we’ll happily answer for you! 

We hope you’ll stop by and show your support! We’ll be streaming 1pm EST, on Sunday, June 21, 2020.

For more information about the stream itself, please go here

[incidentsandreflections]

Happy Darwin Day! Incidents and Reflections celebrated three different Darwin Days while it was on the air. It’s a good day to give those episodes another listen.

Charles Darwin Special (2014)

Parasites Special (2015)

Sexual Selection Special (2016)

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 66 - 05/08/2016

We managed to get Alex back for our series finale, in which we reflect on our history and highlights. Thanks to everyone who followed and listened over the years! Will we ever make a comeback? Listen to the episode and find out!

Episode links

History of Incidents and Reflections [04:04]

Personal highlights from the show [16:34]

First Halloween special (Episode 8)

Darwin Day special (Episode 16)

Planet Earth series (Episodes 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, and 26)

Unexpected dinosaur discoveries (Episodes 28 and 42)

Parasite special (Episode 36)

Turtle evolution special (Episode 44)

Human evolution special (Episode 45)

Albert’s trip to SVP (Episode 49)

John’s trip to Duke Lemur Center (Episode 50)

Interview with Nick Turinetti, creator of Saurian (Episode 53)

Interview with Dr. Thomas Holtz (Episode 63)

The future of the show [49:14]

Song links

Goodbye to You - Scandal [00:00]

Thank You for Coming Along - Phineas and Ferb [56:20]

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 65 - 05/01/2016

For our coverage of the 2014 study on self-control, see Episode 24.

Article links

Great Barrier Reef bleaching (News article, data attributing bleaching to anthropogenic sources, Global Coral Bleaching) [03:12]

Upcoming new books (The Ancestor’s Tale second edition website, The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals and The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs second edition on Amazon.com) [10:47]

Self regulation in corvids [23:24]

REM sleep in bearded dragons (Science News coverage) [40:49]

Song links

Pictures in My Head - The Muppets [00:00]

The Times They are A-Changin’ - Bob Dylan [49:52]

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 64 - 04/24/2016

Article links

More evidence for Tullimonstrum as a vertebrate [06:00]

Evolution of flightlessness in island birds (Not Exactly Rocket Science coverage) [15:45]

New tree of life (Why Evolution is True coverage) [28:13]

Song links

Manta Ray - J. Ralph and Anohni [00:00]

Wings - Birdy [42:12]

[incidentsandreflections]

We decided to cancel this week’s show due to Albert’s field trip and John’s need for some much-deserved rest. See everyone next week!

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 63 - 04/10/2016

We are joined by a very special guest today: Dr. Thomas Holtz, senior lecturer at the University of Maryland Geology Department and paleontologist specializing in theropod dinosaurs, who was gracious enough to explain to us his latest research, answer our questions about recent paleontological matters, and indulge in some fun by helping us perform a live script reading of an upcoming TetZoo Time episode.

Article links

Interview with Dr. Holtz (Dr. Holtz’s website and Twitter, Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages and The Little Giant Book of Dinosaurs on Amazon.com)

The “Nanotyrannus” controversy (Brusatte et al. 2016 on irrelevance of dentary groove morphology on the validity of “Nanotyrannus”) [04:49]

TetZoo Time teaser [26:07]

General Q&A [33:37]

Song links

Walk the Dinosaur - Was (Not Was) [00:00]

Children of the Revolution - T. Rex [60:18]

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 62 - 04/03/2016

Article links

April Fools in the paleoblogosphere (Tetrapod Zoology on Permian bears, Joschua Knüppe’s Hyperodapedon with mammal-like lips, Albert’s autotrophic maniraptors) [04:42]

Metabolism and physiology of extinct animals (Lecture notes summarizing topic for the course GEOL 104, Tattersall et al. 2016 on seasonal endothermy in tegus, Harrell et al. 2016 on evidence for endothermy in mosasaurs, Bernard et al. 2010 on evidence for endothermy in Mesozoic marine reptiles, Bajdek et al. 2016 on hair found in Permian coprolites) [11:52]

Song links

Hot Blooded - Foreigner [00:00]

99.9 F° - Suzanne Vega [52:38]

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 61 - 03/27/2016

For our previous discussion of turtle origins, see Episode 44.

Article links

Phylogenetic position of Tullimonstrum (Catalogue of Organisms coverage) [07:18]

Animals of uncertain phylogenetic placement (Your Fave is Problematica, Catalogue of Organisms on remaining phylogenetic enigmas) [22:04]

Song links

Un-untieable Knot - Phineas and Ferb [00:00]

What is This Thing - Phineas and Ferb [55:36]

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 60 - 03/06/2016

We welcome back Erik as a guest today, but he unfortunately had to drop out halfway through due to technical difficulties. For our pre-movie discussion of Zootopia, see Episode 54.

Article links

John’s reactions to Zootopia [04:00]

Xenarthrans (Anteater, Sloth, and Armadillo Specialist Group, Delsuc et al. 2016 on the phylogenetic position of glyptodonts) [21:20]

Song links

Try Everything - Shakira [00:00]

The Sloth Song - Flanders and Swann [50:25]

Addendum: If John is correct that the character Gazelle is meant to be an impala or a gerenuk, she should indeed lack horns.

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 59 - 02/28/2016

Article links

Personal experiences with suburban nature (Video of goshawk flying through obstacle course, Albert’s sharp-shinned hawk and groundhog photos) [01:25]

Song links

The World is Just Awesome - Discovery Channel [00:00]

Wonders of Life - Eric Idle [50:33]

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 58 - 02/21/2016

John didn’t feel well enough to attend today. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Article links

Assessing and defining ontogeny in dinosaurs (SV-POW coverage, Bailleul et al. 2016 on cranial suture development in archosaurs) [03:42]

Ontogenetic niche shift in Stenopterygius (Cartoon depiction of research findings) [23:23]

Song links

I’ll Make a Man Out of You - Donny Osmond [00:00]

Life’s a Happy Song - The Muppets [38:05]

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 57 - 02/14/2016

Happy Valentine’s Day and belated Darwin Day! For our previous Darwin Day special, see Episode 16.

Article links

Juvenile specimens of Pachycephalosaurus (Horner and Goodwin 2009 on Pachycephalosaurus ontogeny) [07:20]

Bizarre exaggerated structures in dinosaurs (Tetrapod Zoology on mutual sexual selection, species recognition, and identification of sexual selection in the fossil record) [31:45]

Song links

To Win Your Love - Dominique Pruitt [00:00]

She’s a Beauty - The Tubes [57:02]

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 56 - 02/07/2016

Incidents and Reflections - 02/07/2016 by Incidentsandreflections on Mixcloud

See Episode 4 for our discussion of the K-Pg extinction itself. Article links

Convergence between Rusingoryx and lambeosaurine hadrosaurs (Science News coverage) [02:57]

Life after the K-Pg extinction (After the Dinosaurs on Amazon.com) [15:17]

Song links

Children of the Revolution - T. Rex [00:00]

It Ain’t the End of the World - George Segal and Blu Mankuma [51:45]

[incidentsandreflections]

Incidents and Reflections Episode 55 - 01/31/2016

Incidents and Reflections 01/31/2016 by Incidentsandreflections on Mixcloud

Article links

Inferring coloration from fossils (Vinther 2015 reviewing the study of fossil color, Schweitzer et al. 2015 and Vinther 2015 debating the validity of fossil melanosome identification) [03:10]

Song links

Rainbow Connection - The Muppets [00:00]

Shine Like Rainbows - Equestria Girls [53:58]