Explore every episode of the podcast Tom's SciCast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 74. Astrobiology, natural laws of the universe, confronting bias. | 20 août 2025 | 01:16:31 | |
What is astrobiology? Why study astrobiology? I also discuss the age and scale of the universe, introduce some important laws of the universe, why Earth could be a template for understanding life in the universe, and discuss my own biases in astrobiology. | |||
| 73. The Modern Synthesis of Evolution | 27 juin 2025 | 00:45:56 | |
I explain how the Modern Synthesis led to our current understanding of evolution. I also discuss the current issues in evolution including epigenetics, horizontal gene transfer, and abiogenesis and the need for a unified theory of life. | |||
| 72. Sex, Sexual Reproduction, and Sexual Selection | 24 juin 2025 | 00:54:29 | |
A continuation on the mechanisms of evolution with a focus on sexual selection. I also define, sexual reproduction, two sexes, sexual selection, and provide examples of sexual selection. | |||
| 71. Mechanisms of Evolution II: genetic drift, recombination, mutations | 22 juin 2025 | 00:54:37 | |
I focus on the mechanisms of random evolution and how mutations and recombination not only cause evolution but are important sources of variation. | |||
| 70. Mechanisms of Evolution I: Natural selection | 22 juin 2025 | 00:41:48 | |
In this podcast, I explain the different types of natural selection including directional selection, stabilizing selection, disruptive selection, balancing selection, and a brief introduction to sexual selection. | |||
| 69. What is a species? | 21 juin 2025 | 00:35:55 | |
I explain why defining species is difficult and describe four species concepts including morphological, biological, polyphasic, and phylogenetic species concept. | |||
| 68. Cellular respiration | 16 mai 2025 | 01:40:59 | |
This is Chapter 7 of my Bio for Health Sciences text book. I cover cellular respiration, including why it's important, the four stages of respiration, and finally a quick ending with fermentation. | |||
| 67. Energy, Membranes, Transport, and Metabolism | 16 avr. 2025 | 02:05:34 | |
This is Chapter 6 of my bio for health sciences text book. In this chapter, I cover a variety of related topics including: The structure and function of cell membranes, cellular transport (osmosis, diffusion, facilitated diffusion, and active transport), Energy, Redox reactions, and enzymes. | |||
| 66. Cells are the Basic Unit of Life | 11 avr. 2025 | 01:41:13 | |
This is Chapter 5 of my Bio for Health Sciences text book. It covers the similarities of all cells due to common ancestry, introduces prokaryotic diversity, eukaryotic diversity, the endomembrane system, and the cytoskeleton. | |||
| 65. The Chemistry of Life | 08 avr. 2025 | 01:39:36 | |
This podcast is Chapter 4 of my book Biology for Health Sciences. Life is based on chemistry and it helps to know a little to help us in our everyday lives, like why some fats are good while others are bad or why glucose and fructose are both real sugar. In this chapter, I cover metabolism, the four macromolecules (carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids) and other vitamins and organic molecules | |||
| 64. The Ingredients of Life | 06 avr. 2025 | 01:32:38 | |
This podcast is the 3rd chapter of my text book, Biology for Health Sciences. I cover the structure of atoms, the origins of the elements, chemical bonding, why carbon is the element of life, water, Ph, and the why this matters in our daily lives. | |||
| 63. The Gray Areas of Life: Misconceptions and Discoveries | 27 févr. 2025 | 00:30:49 | |
Tom unpacks the complex definitions of life and challenges common misconceptions about living organisms, from mules and parasites to viruses. Listeners gain insights into the key characteristics that define life while exploring philosophical questions surrounding it. | |||
| 62. Themes in Science: From Emergent Properties to Evolution | 15 oct. 2024 | 01:21:33 | |
This is Chapter 2 of my textbook, Biology for Health Sciences, a college freshman course for students entering nursing, nutrition, exercise science, environmental science, or other careers in the health field. Topics include; what is life, the hierarchy of life, emergent properties, ecology, and evolution | |||
| 61. A Biologists Looks at 50: Reflections from 30 years of doing science | 05 avr. 2024 | 01:02:48 | |
A look back on my life in science, birds, fish, invasive species, streams, dams, and climate change and sleeping lizards. | |||
| 60. The Fermi paradox, aliens, biology, evolution | 13 mars 2024 | 00:59:37 | |
Where is every one? Why haven't we been visited by alien races, made contact with aliens, or even discovered a hint of an alien race? Ever since Fermi asked this simple question, people have been coming up with answers as to why we don't see aliens. Some solutions are scary, but I think a potential answer could be found by looking at our own solar system. | |||
| 59. Why we should colonize the solar system | 02 mars 2024 | 00:37:01 | |
I believe humans are special and improve our chances of surviving as a species, I explain why we should colonize the solar system and beyond. | |||
| 58. The Silurian Hypothesis, evolution, civilizations, aliens, and the legacy of humanity. | 26 nov. 2023 | 00:45:51 | |
I explore how the Silurian Hypothesis provides insight into what it takes for a planet to host or evolve a civilization, how we might detect them, and the legacy of humans on Earth. | |||
| 57. Life, aliens, opinions, and other things I've been thinking about lately | 12 oct. 2023 | 00:40:26 | |
After 6 months, I'm back! I talk about how some of my views have changed to become more nuanced and how my own biases shape the way I think about astrobiology. | |||
| 56. Do the laws of nature make life likely to occur and evolution progressive? | 27 mars 2023 | 00:40:40 | |
In researching astrobiology for my up coming book, I've started to view the evolution of life and civilizations in a paradigm shifting way that challenges the very basics of our understanding of evolution. Listen in as I explain why I think evolution is progressive. | |||
| 55. What makes an animal different from all other life? | 10 mars 2023 | 00:41:18 | |
What makes animals different from all other organisms? I discuss the evolutionary origins and unique features of animals along with a few other fun facts. And find out why I don't think sponges are animals. | |||
| 54. Plants have relationships too! | 03 mars 2023 | 00:39:35 | |
The more I learn about plants, the more I'm amazed. From insects to fungus and bacteria, plants form many relationships. Some plants even talk to each other through the air or underground, while others form three-way relationships with ants and fungus. | |||
| 53. If our solar system was like Star Wars | 23 févr. 2023 | 00:36:45 | |
Tatooine, Dagobah, Hoth, or the Death Star, how Star Wars resembles our solar system. I couldn't help myself, I had to do an episode comparing our solar system to my favorite movie. Learn how the Earth was like Mustafar. (Yes, I did say wookies were on Endor, Ewoks were supposed to be wookies) | |||
| 52. Photosynthesis, light, the Calvin Cycle, energy, and electrons | 18 févr. 2023 | 00:44:11 | |
From the nature of light, to the light reaction and through the Calvin Cycle I explain how photosynthesis works. I cover how light energy transformed into chemical energy and follow the electrons from water to the Calvin Cycle. | |||
| 51. Biology is the Apex of Science | 19 janv. 2023 | 00:42:34 | |
After a few memes with cats sitting on biology books making references to biology being soft and textbooks calling chemistry the central science, I figured it's time to start calling biology the Apex Science, or the apex of science. Drawing from my own experience, I explain how biology is special because it incorporates almost every other field of the natural sciences, putting it at the top | |||
| 50. From AI to Giant Space Telescopes: A look back at 2022 | 20 déc. 2022 | 00:59:58 | |
These are some of the biggest discoveries, events. and breakthroughs of 2022, from huge volcanoes, long-lived bacteria, breakthroughs in cancer treatments, AI, and why the James Web Telescope is one of the most important things we have done as a society. | |||
| 49. The future of science | 06 déc. 2022 | 01:00:57 | |
How we do science is changing. I use my own experiences from graduate school to understand science and where it is going from question driven science to the importance of natural history and keeping up with Artificial Intelligence. | |||
| 48. Can we Move Beyond the Kardashev Scale? | 01 déc. 2022 | 01:03:46 | |
Can one number be used to rank a civilization's advancement? I discuss the Kardashev Scale and how we might expand upon it by looking at other measures of advancement beyond energy use. | |||
| 47. How gene regulation makes our life possible | 22 nov. 2022 | 01:10:46 | |
Do you have mutant super powers like eating ice cream without it hurting your stomach? How can diet and exercise slow down aging, or why do age in the first place? Does what happen to you affect your children? How do we make more proteins than we have protein-coding genes for? Lastly, how can two black labs have both chocolate and yellow lab puppies? We can find answers to these questions by knowing how our genes are regulated. I discuss gene regulation including operons, alternative mRNA splicing, epistasis, and epigenetics, | |||
| 46. DNA: replication, cancer, and aging. | 15 nov. 2022 | 00:51:08 | |
Why are some cancer cells immortal? What can we learn about aging from a lobster? Why does a gene from a human work in a bacteria? The answers lies in genetics. In this episode I explain how understanding the basics of DNA replication, the genetic code, and mutations improves our lives from treating cancer, slowing aging, to making medicines. | |||
| 45. The Relationships Between Sexual Reproduction and Inheritance | 10 nov. 2022 | 01:23:39 | |
Why do we reproduce sexually, why do we look similar to our parents and siblings, but are different? In this episode, I take a close look at the origins of sexual reproduction, how meiosis generates genetic diversity, and Mendel's basic principles of inheritance. One of the major themes in my classes is that biology is complicated, and that goes for genetics so I also discuss extensions to Mendelian genetics. And lastly, I explain several common misconceptions about inheritance. | |||
| 44. Is the outer solar system the best place to find life? | 08 nov. 2022 | 00:55:19 | |
Why is the outer solar system perhaps the best place to look for life? If it is, then where should we look for it? And importantly, what would it mean to find life in our solar system? | |||
| 43. Is there life on Mars? | 22 oct. 2022 | 01:09:55 | |
For hundreds of years, we have wondered if life is on Mars. I take a close look at the evidence from nearly 50 years of orbiters, landers, rovers, and even Marian rocks found on Earth to answer this question. The evidence is compelling! | |||
| 42. What is life? | 12 oct. 2022 | 00:30:20 | |
Surprisingly, defining life is hard. Listen in as Tom Kennedy takes a broader look at what makes something living. | |||
| 41. Things you didn't know about the habitable zone | 06 oct. 2022 | 00:45:49 | |
When searching for life, look for liquid water, AKA the habitable zone. But knowing where liquid water on a planet's surface can be difficult. I explain how the characteristics of a star and its planets greatly influences the size of the habitable zone and ultimately the chances of discovering life. | |||
| 40. What Would Alien Life Look Like? | 30 sept. 2022 | 00:41:19 | |
Could alien life resemble life on Earth, or, would it completely different? Join me as I discuss the importance of convergent evolution and introduce a new concept of biological determinism to speculate about what life might look like from simple microbes to intelligent beings. | |||
| 39. What's the future of humanity? | 07 mars 2022 | 00:39:12 | |
What does the future hold for humanity? Join me as I speculate about the prospects of our survival into the future along with the obstacles we must overcome to ensure our survival. There's a lot of fun speculation in this podcast, I'd love to hear your comments! | |||
| 38. The edge of life: Cell membranes, diffusion, and transport. | 28 févr. 2022 | 01:02:26 | |
Cellular membranes separate life from the outside world. I take a look into the world of membranes explaining how forming a barrier lets cells use their membranes to do many things from storing energy to sending signals. | |||
| 37. Where Did Life Come From? | 20 févr. 2022 | 00:54:30 | |
One of the most biggest mysteries in science is how did life get started. In the past 100 years, several important theories improved our understanding about the origins of life. But each one has its limitations that become clear based on how we define life. | |||
| 36. What is the science of biology? | 22 janv. 2022 | 00:56:52 | |
Biology is more than just memorizing the parts of cell or dissecting some poor animal in lab, it's a broad field driven by curiosity and imagination grounded in the scientific method. | |||
| 35. Did The Cenozoic Era End On September 1, 1914? | 04 déc. 2021 | 00:58:00 | |
Why do I believe the current geological era that began when the dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago came to an abrupt end on September 1, 1914. I make my case that we ended one era while starting a new one where invasive species will play a large role in the future of life on Earth. I also speculate on the future of humanity as we go forward into an uncharted future. | |||
| 34. What would it mean to find alien life? Exploring life in the Universe Part 4 | 25 nov. 2021 | 00:52:41 | |
How would finding alien life, whether microbes or advanced civilizations, change how we think about ourselves in the universe? Would it matter if alien life looked like us or radically different? | |||
| 33. Are we alone in the universe? Exploring life in the universe Part 3 | 18 nov. 2021 | 00:43:17 | |
Is the universe teaming with life, or is life on the Earth unique? Join me as I discuss the possibility of life from microbes to intelligent life in the universe along with the current limits of our knowledge. | |||
| 32. Where might we find life in the solar System? Exploring life in the universe Part 2 | 09 nov. 2021 | 00:43:07 | |
Is Earth the only place in our solar system with life or is it wide spread? In this podcast, I discuss what life is, what conditions are needed for life to start, and places in the solar system where we might find life and why that would be important. | |||
| 31. How life is connected to the universe: Exploring life in the universe Part 1 | 04 nov. 2021 | 00:24:07 | |
We are star dust. But what exactly does that mean? Learn how life is connected to the universe going back to the Big Bang. | |||
| 30. How Science Works: What we learned from studying exercise and weight loss | 06 oct. 2021 | 00:45:40 | |
Have you ever wondered why you didn't lose weight when you started a new exercise program? Learn how science has led to major changes in how we understand the role of exercise on weight loss and our health. | |||
| 29. Trophic Cascades and Ripple Effects in Ecosystems | 26 juil. 2021 | 00:26:10 | |
How did the introduction of a lake trout in Yellowstone reduce elk populations? How did the re-introduction of wolves in Yellowstone improve stream quality and songbird populations. I take a closer look at how how the loss or addition of a single species can ripple across the landscape. | |||
| 28. A closer look at evolution by natural selection | 19 juin 2021 | 01:11:05 | |
Why do some animals remain unchanged for hundreds of millions of years or why do some evolve quickly with beautiful feathers or intricate songs. Listen in as I cover the different types of selection causing the diversity we see today including directional, stabilizing, disruptive, balancing, and sexual selection. | |||
| 27. Some things you didn't know about roots and leaves | 03 juin 2021 | 00:36:26 | |
Some roots don't grow in soil and some leaves eat insects. Discover the amazing things that roots, shoots, and leaves can do. Plants are cool! | |||
| 26. Plants, the unsung hero of our world | 18 mai 2021 | 00:34:16 | |
Plants have had an enormous influence on the evolution of life on Earth. Learn how plants altered ancient climates, triggered the evolution of reptiles and mammals (amniotes), provide us with important medicines, and just make us feel better. | |||
| 25. Why I don't fear GMOs, but embrace them. | 04 mai 2021 | 01:01:12 | |
Despite the fact that GMOs are helping us solve problems in agriculture, medicine, and stopping the spread of diseases, there's a lot of negative propaganda against GMOs, I explain why they are safe and part of the solution to our problems. | |||