Strange by Nature Podcast

• Death by Potatoes

  We've been building to it all month, it is time for Halloween and we have some great topics. Kirk kicks off the show with a topic that may have you think twice about the candy you pop in your mouth this year. He talks about all of the ways that insects end up in your candy. Red food coloring from ground up beetles, excretions from the Lac beetles in your hard candy coating and maybe some bee vomit, insects are an important part of the candy business. Are your potatoes trying to kill you? Time to unlock a new fear. Rachel gives us all a new reason to be afraid of the basement. This week she teaches us about solanine, the very deadly chemical in potatoes that can kill. What could be more Halloween than bats? Victoria tells us all about Bat Flies. These strange Halloween-colored parasitic flies look like spiders, suck blood, give live birth, and live their whole lives on bats. They are truly bizarre. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected] Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

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• Ghosts in the Lab

  Victoria kicks things off this week with the terrifying topic of Prion diseases. These bizarre infections can take years to manifest, are incurable, and can turn your brain into a sponge. Charming. Kirk is up next with a ghost story for this spooky season. Science wins out over superstition and in the end it ends up being a tale of how infrasound can affect human physiology and may be to blame for many ghost reports. Rachel rounds out the show with a creature feature on the most venomous and possibly most painful animal in the world, the Stonefish. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected] Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

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• The Door to Hell

  This week's show starts of with Rachel telling us about the Door to Hell. Seems like a fitting topic as we approach Halloween. But what is it? The Door to Hell is also known as the Darvaza Gas Crater in Turkmenistan. It is a pit of fire that has burned for perhaps 50 years. It is the result of a drilling project gone horribly wrong. It reminds us a bit of the Burning Mountain in Australia from Episode 68 called "Dead Man's Fingers."  Victoria is up next with the strange fish the Arctic Char. We're likely watching speciation take place as this one fish species has an amazing range of sizes and behaviors. Due to the amazing number of "morphs" present, the Arctic Char has been called the "most variable vertebrate on Earth." Kirk wraps up this week's show with a bizarre creature feature, the Sea Squirt. This strange creature lives a double life and not even Rachel and Victoria suspect that it is actually not an invertebrate.    Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected] Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

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• The Beetle with a Fake Termite on its Back

  Kirk keeps the Halloween month theme going by talking a bit about Black Cats big and small. What makes them strange? Why do they exist? Why were they the preferred color of cat to have on ships? All questions are answered. Rachel is up next and she brings us to...the ocean. I know, we're all shocked. This week it is to talk about Sea Urchins. They are truly some of the strangest creatures in the ocean. Victoria takes us underground into a termite colony to find a strange new Rove Beetle just described by science. It physically mimics the look of a termite by having an entire fake termite puppet on its back. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected] Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

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• Fixing Blindness with a Tooth in the Eye

  Happy October!  We've got quite a show for you this week. Victoria kicks Spooky Month off with the Worm Pearlfish. At first they don't sound too bad but it turns out that they sneak though the anus of sea cucumbers and eat their gonads. Yikes. No thanks. Kirk keeps the ick going with an absolutely wild story about doctors restoring blind people's vision by putting their tooth in their eye. Say what? It is as weird as it sounds. Warning, this segment contains graphic descriptions of eye surgery and isn't for the squeamish. Rachel rounds out the show this week by talking about the Club-winged Manakin. This cloud-forest dwelling bird has an amazing call but weirdly they make the sounds with their wings and not their voices. Join us weekly for more strange nature. Our supporters on Patreon get every episode ad-free!  Support us: patreon.com/strangebynature Email us: [email protected] Visit us at: strangebynaturepodcast.com  where you can sign up for our episode emails.

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