This episode explores new research which has created a strain of the bacteria E. coli, that eats carbon dioxide for energy rather than organic compounds like sugars and fats.  --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read the ‘Wings’ by Miroslav Holub 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 simulated microgravity, such as that encountered in spaceflight, disrupts the functioning of the epithelial barrier (the lining of the gut). --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read the 'Astronaut of Waste’ by Joel Sloman 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 elevated levels of mercury in mountain lions may be caused by coastal fog. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘In the Fog’ by Giovanni Pascoli 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 rainfall patterns across the globe are likely changing due to a rapid warming of the Indo-Pacific region. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Clouds’ by Stephen Dobyns 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 environmental impacts of Bitcoin mining might be lower than previously thought. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here.  Read ‘Miners’ by Wilfred Owen 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 metal pollution from agriculture and shipping poses an emerging threat to coral reefs.   --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Coral’ by Derek Walcott 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 a large number of microplastics in oysters and clams along the Oregon coast in the United States. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘What Makes a Pearl’ by Emily Rose Cole 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 how satellites can be used to map the effect that ship emissions have on cloud formation.  --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Oh Great O North Cloud’ by Allen Grossman 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 an ancient extinction event on Earth may have been caused (in part) by mercury poisoning from volcanic eruptions. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Quicksilver’ by Julie Suk 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 while much of the Earth's land surface remains relatively wild, it is threatened by anthropogenic fragmentation. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Human Habitat’ by Alison Hawthorne Deming 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 a strong correlation between the rate of deforestation and the transmission of malaria in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Rainforest’ by Teresa Mei Chuc 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 there has been a clear degradation in mountain permafrost across the central Alps over the past two decades, likely brought about by climate change. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.    Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Twilight in the Alps’ by Henry van Dyke Jr 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 heat stress from climate change has caused a dramatic decline across bird populations in the Mojave Desert in North America. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.    Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘The Death of the Bird’ by A. D. Hope 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 increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide causes marsh plants to increase in bulk but decrease in size, resulting in dense networks of underground roots that can potentially protect these marshes against rising sea levels.   --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Marshlands’ by Emily Pauline Johnson 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 spider silk and wood fibres can be combines to create materials that are incredibly strong and tough, and which are also biodegradable and do not do not damage the environment in the same way as plastics and many other synthetics. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Guide to Avian Architecture’ by Megan Synder-Camp 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 salamanders may be harnessing their regenerative capabilities to protect themselves against the negative effects of anthropogenic climate change. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Salamanders’ 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 global warming is causing snowfall to decline in the Northwest United States, which will have a dramatic impact on the freshwater supply across the region. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘A Patch of Old Snow’ by Robert Frost 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 

What is distress tolerance? How does it affect us? And how can we help to foster it? In this episode new research which looks at how distress tolerance plays a crucial role in developing innovation and creativity in the workplace. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here.  Read ‘The Door’ by Miroslav Holub here. Find out how you can foster your own creativity 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, for the first time, traces of the iron-60 isotope in Antarctic snow, the origins of which have been shown to come from the explosions of distant stars during supernova events.   --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘The Black Stars’ by Primo Levi 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 

Methane is the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, accounting for about 20% of global emissions. Over the last decade there has been a significant increase in the amount of methane emitted into our atmosphere, and new research suggests that fracking is likely to be partly responsible for this increase. In this episode I explore this research and what it means for our environment.   --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Fracking, North Dakota’ by David Olsen 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 

Between 2002 and 2017, 1,558 people across 50 countries were killed for defending their environments and lands; this is more than double the number of United Kingdom and Australian armed service people killed on active duty in war zones over the same period. In this episode I explore some of the research which aims to understand where this is happening and how it can be stopped. --- Read this episode’s science poem here.   Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Extinction’ by Jackie Kay here. Find out more about Global Witness 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 

Trees and plants use carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, removing it from the atmosphere. In this episode of the podcast I investigate how forest elephants help to make this process more efficient, and how their extinction will have negative effects on global warming. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘The Elephant Graveyard’ by Roy Marz 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 

Recent research has shown that global warming might be responsible for an increase in fungal infections amongst humans. In this episode of the podcast I investigate the research behind these claims, and what it means for future climates. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘The Book of the Dead Man (Fungi)’ by Marvin Bell 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 

Recent scientific research has found that radiation levels in parts of the central Pacific Ocean, where the United States conducted nuclear tests during the Cold War, are up to 1,000 times higher than in samples from areas affected by the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters. This episode explores what this means for the islanders.  --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Tell Them’ by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner 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 

Recent research has shown that shown that across Africa a higher percentage of mosquito bites than previously thought take place at times when people are not protected by nets and insecticide. This episode explores this research and what it means for the global battle against malaria.  --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Mosquito’ by Myronn Hardy here.   Read the study into the quality of mosquito bed nets in Kenya 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 

Recent research has shown that mushrooms in colder climates tend to be darker than those in warmer environments. Join me for a poetic investigation into why this may be the case, and how this can help us to better understand the fungal kingdom. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Mushrooms’ 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 

Recent research has shown how dung beetles use the sun, the wind, and even the stars to navigate. Join me for a poetic investigation into the internal compasses of these fascinating insects. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Dung Beetles Navigate by Starlight’ by Dr Sarah Watkinson here. Buy Sarah’s chapbook 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 uncovers research which has has found an estimated 414 million pieces of human-made rubbish on Australia’s remote Cocos Islands. --- Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘We are no longer interested in the sea’ by Michael Conley here. Buy ‘A Change of Climate’ 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