This episode explores new research, which has found that migratory birds have lighter-coloured feathers. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.       Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Migration’ by Ira Sadoff here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that a waterfall's sound and visual appearance can be used to track changes in its flow. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.      Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘The Waterfall’ by Mary Oliver here.   --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has shown how the magnetisation of rocks can be used to find the impact sites of meteorites. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.     Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Santa Fe Trail’ by Barbara Guest here.     --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that the world's largest mass extinction may have begun with volcanic winter. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.    Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘For a Coming Extinction’ by W. S. Merwin here.   --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth   

This episode explores new research, which has investigated how the communication styles of volunteers attempting to replicate life in deep space changed over time. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Space’ by William Burford here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that the sounds of spring are changing, with dawn choruses across North America and Europe becoming quieter and less varied.  --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Dawn Chorus’ by Sasha Dugdale here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has investigated the different losses that young adults have suffered during COVID-19. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Are they Shadows’ by Samuel Daniel here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that ancient driftwood can be used to track 500 years of Arctic warming and changes to sea ice levels. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Driftwood’ by Ralph Cheever Dunning here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that dragonflies can migrate thousands of kilometres across the Indian Ocean, from India via the Maldives to Africa, and back again. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Fly, Dragonfly!’ by Joyce Sidman here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that a cosmic impact destroyed Tall el-Hammam, an ancient city in the Jordan Valley. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.    Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘On an Evening of Bright Meteors’ by Maurice Lesemann here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that ancient residents of Teotihuacán reshaped the landscape in a way that continues to influence modern construction in this part of Mexico. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Flower Song’ by Francisco Xavier Alarcón here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that global light pollution has increased by at least 49% over the last 25 years. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Light’ by C. K. Williams here.   --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has used synthetic storms and natural archives to reconstruct Atlantic hurricane frequency over the past couple of thousand years. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.    Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Storm’ by Tessa Sweazy Webb here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that rare earth elements are finding their way into Colorado water supplies, driven by changes in the climate. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Metals Metals’ by Russell Edson here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett.  --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that bird diversity is threatened by urbanisation. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘There Are Birds Here’ by Jamaal May here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that the flight performance of bees is affected by temperature. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Bees were Better’ by Naomi Shihab Nye here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has used machine learning to understand why extreme precipitation in the Midwestern United States is becoming more frequent. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.    Read the scientific study that inspired it here.      Read ‘Postscript from Mississippi’ by Rebecca Morgan Frank here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that the rise and fall of sea levels influence the likelihood of volcanic eruptions. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here.     Read ‘Santorini’ by George Seferis here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that trees in Colorado subalpine forests are dying at increasing rates from warmer and drier summer conditions. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here.    Read ‘Spruces’ by Wilbert Snow here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that snakes can be used to potentially reveal radiation levels in the soil around Fukushima. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here.   Read ‘Snake’ by Katie Peterson here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has developed a novel forensic tool for detecting the illegal trading of critically endangered cockatoos. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here.   Read ‘The Cockatoo’ by Cid Corman here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that poachers have killed a third of Wisconsin wolves since they were removed from the Endangered Species List in late 2020.   --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here.   Read ‘A Wolf’ by Jorge Luis Borges here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that wildfire changes songbird plumage and testosterone. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Baby Wren’s Voices’ by Thomas R. Smith here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that painted lady butterflies achieve the longest known insect migration from the Sahara Desert to Europe. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here.     Read ‘Painted Lady’ by Margaret Danner here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has used millimetre-sized computers to reveal how one species of Pacific Island land snail has used the sun to escape extinction. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here.     Read ‘Snail’ by Langston Hughes here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has successfully revived tiny 24,000-year-old microorganisms buried under Siberian permafrost. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here.    Read ‘The Librarian Decides on Cryonics’ by Judith Skillman here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that Californian wildfire smoke reached Europe in 2020, causing a strong cloudiness of the sun. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here.   Read ‘The Smoke of Distant Fires’ by Eduardo Chirinos here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has nitrogen has turned sargassum (i.e. brown seaweed) into the world's largest harmful algal bloom. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Seaweeds’ by Sandra Mcpherson here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that Greenland is becoming darker and warmer. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘You Could Never Take A Car to Greenland’ by Maggie Smith here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that lichen may take up to a century to fully recover from wildfire. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Springtime in the Rockies, Lichen’ by Lew Welch here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which re-considers what is happening to plastic waste in marine and sedimentary environments. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Deep Sea’ by Axton Clark here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that sponges leave trails on the sea floor in the Arctic deep sea. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘The Sponge’ by Joshua Mehigan here.   --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that a 4,000-year-old carved stone slab is Europe’s oldest known map. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Map’ by Biswamit Dwibedy here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that road salts and other human sources are threatening the world's freshwater supplies. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Salt to Make a Sea’ by Renée Ashley here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that sea level rise is killing trees along the Atlantic Coast, creating ‘ghost forests’ that are visible from space. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Another Grieving Forest’ by Alfred Kreymborg here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that sperm whales shared behaviours to outmanoeuvre 19th-century human hunters. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Invitation’ by Aimee Nezhukumatathil here.   --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that sperm whales shared behaviours to outmanoeuvre 19th-century human hunters. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Whaler’ by W. S. Merwin here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has discovered plants buried deep beneath the ground, indicating that Greenland was once ice-free. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Over Greenland’ by Peter Campion here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has discovered sea slugs that can decapitate themselves and regrow their entire bodies. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Autotomy’ by Wisława Szymborska here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has read an unopened letter from Renaissance Europe – without breaking its seal or damaging it in any way. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Letters for the Dead’ by Philip Levine here.   --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has discovered that the way a fish swims reveals a lot about its personality. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Fish’ by Many Ann Hoberman here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has discovered how whale song echoes can be used to map the ocean floor. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here.   Read ‘Whalesong’ by Sophie Stephenson-Wright here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has discovered that a large seashell found in the archives of a French museum is actually a musical instrument used around 18,000 years ago. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read 'The Sea Shell’ by Marin Sorescu here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has investigated how fungi navigate through the complex microscopic maze-like structures found in the soil. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Fungus on Fallen Alder at Lookout Creek’ by Ellen Bass here.

This episode explores new research, which has found a dramatic increase in microplastics in seagrass soil since the 1970s. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘In the Greenhouse’ by Eugenio Montale here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that satellite cameras coupled with machine learning can be used to detect and count African elephants in complex geographical landscapes. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Elephant Armageddon’ by Gerard Malanga here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has found that 5,700 lakes in the Northern Hemisphere may permanently lose ice cover this century because of global warming. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘River Snow’ by Mark van Doren here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth 

This episode explores new research, which has shown that the mangroves on the coasts of Oman disappeared about 6,000 years because of climate change. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Caribbean Marsh’ by Muna Lee here. --- Music by Rufus Beckett. --- Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:   Email: [email protected]   Twitter: @samillingworth