Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe

Daniel and Kelly answer listener questions about how AI is impacting math and physics, what we really know about the wood wide web, and what happens when matter annihilates. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly interview Dr. Moiya McTier about how we define and measure creativity, and the impacts of the modern world on creative pursuits. Check out her new book, Mothers of Invention. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly explore the structure of the Universe and examine its emptiest places, making no effort to spare the scatological humor. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly answer listener questions about special relativity, organisms that eat plastic, and whether the future is already determined. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly chat with Dr. Andy Sih about the kinds of mistakes wild animals make, and why they make them. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly talk about the recent observation of a dark matter candidate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly answer listener questions about scent dialects, drilling through the ice above the oceans of Enceladus, and why some animals have penises. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly interview Dr. Marcelo Wood about what addiction does to our brains, why some of us become addicted to drugs while others don't, what drugs do to our brains in the long term, and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly talk about whether physicists are trying to understand the expansion of the Universe, or pull the cosmic wool over everyone's eyes. Also, horse milk comes up. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about alternatives to the Big Bang, scurvy, and supercontinents. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly talk about the differences between conservation and rewilding, and discuss some of the successes, failures, and wild ideas that have come from the rewilding movement so far. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly talk about what a recent simulation project can tell us about how the Universe got so clumpy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about crackpots, hearing meteors, and the age of everything. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel, Kelly, and Katrine take on the origins of life. They discuss competing definitions for "life", whether it's even helpful to have a definition, the oldest evidence we have for life, and how we think life got started. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly review the recent movie 'Disclosure Day' and discuss some tough questions about knowledge and secrecy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly are joined by Dr. Manuel Lerdau to answer listener questions about toxic plants, seed germination, and micropropagation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly explain the limitations of chemical rockets and how physics can propel humans to the outer reaches of the solar system. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's July 2026, and the United States is dealing with an outbreak of cyclospora. Diarrhea makes people think of Kelly, so today we're dealing with the many questions Kelly has gotten about parasites in our food supplies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly answer listener questions about tick-induced meat allergies, experiencing quantum effects, and fibroids. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly chat with DKEU's audio engineer, Mat Keselman, about the physics of sound and give a behind the scenes look at how Mat works his magic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly break space, twist time, and then put it back together to explain the most important concept in relativity you've never heard of. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly wonder how many Extraordinaries are planning on becoming supervillains as they discuss how to make Jupiter explode, the changing colors of children's hair, and whether or not aliens could discover electromagnetism without iron. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly chat with Dr. Chelsea Wood about rat lungworm - a particularly unpleasant nematode parasite that is spreading way outside of its native range. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly talk about what it means to be a physics fudge factor and whether DM is fudgy or solid science. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. John Hutchinson is back to help Kelly and Daniel answer listener questions about how fast animals can grow, how fast animals can go, and whether animal size impacts average lifespans. Also, cheese. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly explore what lice can teach us about human evolution, and the role lice have played in some of humanity's most devastating wars. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly dissect the evidence presented in recent peer-reviewed science papers for pre-Sputnik artificial satellites in Earth orbit. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly marinate in ethanol and saltwater, and reflect on the symmetries of antiparticles. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel, Kelly, and Katrine talk about what bathing does to your microbiome, and weigh up the pros and cons. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly walk through the early history of the Universe to explain how forces can be unified, or broken. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Zach joins Daniel and Kelly for a segment on art and science communication. Then Daniel and Kelly explore the concept of absolute hot, and what makes some rocks glow. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly talks about a species of social amoeba that will die to help others. Why the heck does it do that? And bonus: the amoeba are farmers! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly talk about the James Webb Telescope and something mysterious it saw See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly answer questions from listeners about earthworms, the origins of the galaxy, and snails! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly talk to Prof. Scott Egan about the meaning of species in modern biology. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly explain the bizarre Tychonic model of the solar system, which for centuries stood as a valid theory alongside the Copernican model. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about relativistic paradoxes, parasitoid wasp viruses, and detector technologies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A recent paper found tantalizing evidence that rural raccoons are showing evidence of domestication. So how long until we all have pet raccoons? And how well do we really understand the domestication process anyway? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly dig into the mysterious concept of quantum contexuality: how measurements depend on each other. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about muscle memory, water-less showers, and why everyone can't be ambidextrous. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over 50% of Earth's surface is the deep seabed. Dr. Andrew Thaler joins Daniel and Kelly to talk about the amazing diversity of life on the deep seabed, the resources found here, and the rules that govern this region. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly explain how signals get jammed, how to avoid being jammed, and whose music makes the best jam. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about aliens watching Earth, about lone species, and about the size limits of intelligence. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Parasites can have amazingly complicated life cycles - moving through a series of host species, and looking quite different while residing within each type of host. Frankly, this stumped scientists for a long time. In today's episode, Daniel and Kelly take a stroll through the history of science to explore how we finally started to figure parasite life cycles out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly explain the nature of the quantum vacuum, whether its real or philosophical, and if it's possible to use to make your toast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly explain how cells in a fetus or in an adult know what they're supposed to do, and discuss whether opposable thumbs are necessary for the development of tools and technology. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly talk to Dr. Steve Brusatte about his new book "The Story of Birds". We discuss if chickens are really dinosaurs, if we know what color dinosaur feathers were, and why birds survived the devastating asteroid collision with Earth while pterosaurs didn't. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly explain the role of AI in physics and speculate about its future impact on discoveries and curiosity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about Odderon particles, Langerhans cells, and black holes within black holes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel, Kelly, and Katrine talk about biofilms, and how they can be delicious, adorable, and bad. For the bad ones, we discuss current tactics for overcoming them. Show links: 1. Nature's cutest symbiosis: The Bobtail Squid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ivMSCi-Y2Q 2. The Joyful Microbe's guide to Kombucha: https://joyfulmicrobe.com/kombucha/(Notice the lighthearted joy, no fear mongering here!) 3. Beautiful image of a phenazine mutant of Pseudomonas: https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/883781 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.