Smologies with Alie Ward
Ologies → Smologies. It’s all of the science, with none of the swearing! Smologies are shortened, kid-friendly episodes of the award-winning science podcast, Ologies, which covers topics from Toads (Bufology) to the Moon (Selenology) and everything in between. Enjoy clean and witty bite-sized science delights as host Alie Ward asks Ologists of all kinds smart – and sometimes silly – questions. Get to know the charming and diverse array of experts who share not only their wisdom, but also their lived experiences.
Episodes
“People fear most what they understand least." Words of wisdom from explorer, American treasure, and bat expert Dr. Merlin Tuttle. Alie headed to the bat capital of Austin and sat down with the legendary chiropterologist to discuss what a bat actually is and why we don’t need to be so frightened of them, how big they get, what's up with their smushy noses, bat chatter, echolocation, sleeping upside down, bat besties, how to spot th...
PUMPKIN PUMPKIN! Not only a thing to scream while passing a patch, but also the name of the book by author and human delight Anne Copeland. Yes, she's so charmed by pumpkins that she dedicated a whole book to exploring their folklore, history, planting protocol, care, and cooking. Alie stops by her house in the rural hamlet of Yucaipa, California to chat about everything from creation myths surrounding pumpkins to the secret medici...
Spine mysteries, face purses, limericks, flim flam, flags, divebombs, sibling rivalries, and more! The warm and wonderful pelicanologist Juita Martinez studies these glorious dinosaurs and shares what it’s like to hold a floofy baby sea bird, how these birds’ ecosystems are being restored, and what she loves about being in nature. Also: How much fish can they fit in there, anyway?
A donation went to BackyardBasecamp.org
Mushrooms! Spores! Fairy rings! Humongous fungus! The incredibly charming and warm Dr. Tom Volk, world-renowned mushroom expert, welcomes Alie into his office to dive deep into the underground world of fungal enthusiasts: Giant communication networks, glow-in-the-dark mushrooms, the tastiest varieties for the mushroom-averse, foraging, and the unexpected way mushrooms help gobble up the planet’s waste.
Dr. Tom Volk's awesome fungus ...
Classical Archaeologist and TV host Dr. Darius Arya joins us to dish about priceless garbage piles, pottery graveyards, tomb discoveries, what's under European cities, ancient spa days, ingenious construction methods, and unlikely laundry techniques. Plus, what did Ancient Romans use before toilet paper - and perhaps more importantly, WHY??
Dr. Darius Arya's website and Instagram
A donation was made to AncientRomeLive.org
Fairy tales. Fables. Heroes’ journeys. Star Wars. Disney princesses. And yes, some ancient Greek and Roman myths. Professional mythologist and screenwriting consultant John Bucher spins some yarns and unravels some mysteries behind what makes a good story and why we need them. Also: why we are always re-booting old tales and what dreams have to do with mythology.
Ah, charismatic megafauna! Teeth, claws, fur, poop, hibernation, hiking, nature preserves, and living your childhood dreams with Alie’s longtime -ologist crush, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant. The large carnivore ecologist, researcher and TV presenter tells us all about her field work, what it’s like to stuff a baby bear in your coat, carnivore microbiomes, how well carnivores can taste and smell their food (and yours), how smart the average b...
Why were postcards invented and why do they still exist? Why do we fib about our vacations and say they’re better than they are? Alie stopped into the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan and talked to curator of 40+ years, Donna Braden, about her work with the postcard collections -- as well as her musings about how we create our stories about ourselves, why Americans love to hit the open road and what the biggest postcard you'...
This one’s got it all: teeny tiny cellular factories, mitochondrial relevancy, what big smelly vats of poop have to do with curing cancer, how many trips to the sun your unravelled DNA could make, and mysteries of the brain. Dr. Raven The Science Maven has a background in molecular biology and a Ph.D in Science Communication, which she puts to work while Alie generally does her best to suppress high pitched noises of excitement. Le...
Butterflies are… gross. Yes they are delightful and beautiful and part of any idyllic picnic-scape, but lepidopterologist, TV host and jungle explorer Phil Torres is here to gossip about how shamelessly disgusting our favorite bugs actually are. Learn their secrets, their feasting habits, how they turn themselves into goo and then into another creature, what flowers to plant to attract them, and what moths have to do with it all.
When were glasses invented? What happened back then if your horse stepped on them? How is the digital age changing adults’ and kids’ vision? The first half of this special episode about Optical Technology features the charmingly hilarious director of the Museum of the Eye in San Francisco, Jenny Benjamin. Then we bop over to Houston, Texas for the ultra-knowledgeable real-life optometrist, Dr. Nadia Sledge to chat about how to keep...
Plumage! Dance battles! Possible holographic disco birds? Natural History Museum of LA ornithology curator Dr. Allison Shultz is a professional plumologist aka feather expert. We visit the museum’s collection of rare specimens and chat about everything from fossilized dinosaur feathers to peacock tails, the fanciest roosters, quill pens, pigments, flight feathers, the blackest black birds, and why birdwatching is like seeing tiny p...
What exactly is “fun?” How will you know when you’re having it? What’s a fun magnet? Catherine Price is an award-winning journalist and author who spent years researching the science of fun for her book “The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again.” She let me lob many questions at her including: what’s the difference between happiness and laughter and fun, how can you have more of it, do animals have fun, and is it the same for ever...
At just 22, Iddris Sandu’s life story was already legendary. This Architectural Technologist learned to program at the age of 11 and has worked with everyone from Kanye West to Nipsey Hussle to Space X. In this episode from 2020 we talk coding, holograms, what ancient flutes have to do with computers, how programming works and why it's important. The designer and entrepreneur also shares his favorite programming languages, philosop...
SHAAAARKS. Leading shark researcher Dr. Chris Lowe dishes about why sharks get a bad rap, antibiotic mucus, 120 year old teenagers, eye lasers, and how to snooze when you’ve got to keep swimming. Alie learns that sharks are not the ocean's bad guys but true evolutionary marvels who suffer from sensationalized reputations and sometimes inside-out butts. Listen up as a science primer during this, the Week of the Shark.
Scorpions: the victims of undue shade. A handful of people on planet Earth have a PhD in scorpions and Dr. Lauren Esposito is one of them. She spills the beans on how venom works, what's up with the blacklight glow effect, how dangerous they *really* are, what all the movies get wrong, the best names for scorpions, where she's traveled to look under rocks, where a scorpion's butt is, if scorpions dance (SPOILER: YES), what good mot...
What IS an island? How do birds and plants and mammals GET there? What happens when they stay? Dr. Andy Kraemer studies how life populates and survives on hunks of remote rock and chats all about the Galapagos Islands -- where he does his research. We address the smallest island in the world, the largest, some bananas biological adaptations, Darwin's finchy mistakes, shrinking skeletons, and of course, pirates.
Donations went to isl...
Cumulus! Lenticular! Venti sugar-free stratocumulus stratiformis translucidus undulatus! Those light and fluffy things that hang overhead weigh thousands of pounds and form under all kinds of conditions. Cloud doctor and nephologist Dr. Rachel Storer chats about why she loves clouds, the different varieties of them, what makes it rain, whether sailors delight at red skies at night, why clouds are never square and where we can find ...
It’s time. Otters. Sea otters. River otters. Big beefy otters. Tiny otters. Giant river otters. Dr. Chris J. Law, a professional Lutrinologist, shares tales about coastal vs. inland otters, magical teeth, lustrous fur, rock pockets, kelp naps, hand holding, toilet habits, and why otters make you trust them, despite the fact that you should perhaps not trust an otter.
Dr. Chris J. Law’s website and sci-art
How long can we live? How much of aging is genetics vs. environment? How old are your cells? What can we learn from the world’s oldest people? World-renowned aging expert and biogerontologist Dr. Caleb "Tuck" Finch takes a quick break from his prolific research at USC to answer Alie's sometimes basic questions about everything from molecules to Blue Zones.
A donation was made to Cure Alzheimer's Fund
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