Back in April, a company called Colossal Biosciences announced that they had brought dire wolves — ancient canines of Game of Thrones fame — back from extinction. The internet went wild. But while some media outlets proclaimed the return of a long-gone species, many scientists shot back on social media that these weren’t really dire wolves, they were just genetically engineered grey wolves. Suddenly everybody had an opinion on what de-extinction is, what it is not, and whether or not we should be doing things like this in the first place. In this episode, we talk to scientists who have been working in this area for a while, and they not only share their thoughts on these wolves — they completely change our understanding of the term “de-extinction.”

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In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we talk about cute woolly mammoth mice and debate whether research to bring back extinct species (or their genes) is ethical or a good use of money and time. Then we discuss the best way to remove microplastics from water.

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How did the early Earth, over four billion years ago, evolve into the planet we know and love today? It’s a big question, and an open question. To get answers, geologists turn to a surprising source — a tiny mineral no bigger than the diameter of a human hair, that has secrets about our planet locked away in its crystal structure. This miniscule mineral, with its big stories is called zircon.

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In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we talk about a new and exciting biodegradable polymer that seems to outperform commercial super glues. Then we discuss a compound called sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) that is used in high voltage equipment. Not only is SF6 a potent greenhouse gas, if you breathe it in it has the opposite effect of helium — it makes your voice deep. But it can also lead to asphyxiation so you should not breathe it in. We repeat: do not breathe this gas in.

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An estimated 132 million babies were born across the globe last year — really just a drop in the bucket when you think about the over 100 billion babies born since modern humans first lived on Earth 200,000 years ago. And until very recently we had few tools to understand how they were doing in the womb, how they would fare in the days after birth, and how a pregnant person would change physically and mentally not just during pregnancy but in the months and years that followed. Things have changed dramatically, particularly over the last decade, in terms of the care and technology that’s available preconception, during pregnancy, and post-birth. But there is still so much we don’t know about these time periods, both for baby and mom, and many a black box remains.

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In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we talk about breathing in birds — how it takes two breath cycles for air to leave their bodies, and while it travels within their bodies, it's stored in various sacks, some of which are in their butts. Then we discuss how food waste contributes to approximately 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions every year, and what we can do to reduce it.

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3,500 years ago, cats started showing up in Egyptian paintings on tomb walls and in sculptures and carvings. Not only were they abundant in these representations, but it was very clear that they were domestic. They had collars around their necks and were eating out of food dishes underneath the dining room table. That scene is not so different from the life many cats lead today. So how did cats go from the wild to being immortalized on tomb wall paintings and lounging on living room couches? And just how domestic is a domestic cat?

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In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we tackle the debate surrounding whether or not it rains diamonds on Saturn. Then we talk about how UV degradation can break down some of the harmful residual dyes from plastic pollution, and what it means in the context of microplastics.

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