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Hi all, We've missed you so! Give us an episode or two to get back into the swing of things but we have some solid "News to Us" and 2 kick ass stories! Let us know what you think by hitting us up on twitter @phunkmachine and @part_dinosaur or check out our website for all the episode details at podcastbraindump.com! 

Oh hi hello!  We start things off strong with Andrew throwing down some spider facts and Elyse talking Marmaduke and a huge freaking flower.  Then we dive into a new fossil amphibian, the lone star tick, and butterfly reproduction strategies.  Basically, it's a dump of Brain Dumps.  As always, the links to the articles talked about today will be up on podcastbraindump.com and if you have a 'news to you' email us at podcastbraindump@gmail.com.  Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe and we'll talk to all of you dumplings next week!  

Hello you magnificent creatures!  We've again taken a little hiatus but we're back and more dump-y than ever!  Andrew's News to him turned out to be phony so Elyse does two! The first News is a hat known as an amadou cap, which is made from a truly unique material.  We then go full National Treasure to talk about a copy of the Declaration of Independence found recently.  Instead of talking about this week's discoveries we sit down for story time with Elyse.  We travel back in time to meet O.C. Marsh and Edward Cope and discuss their feud.  This feud forever changed the public's relationship with dinosaurs.  It's also a pretty screwed up story.  We go off the rails a bit, but hopefully a story emerges.  As always the research for this episode will be up on podcastbraindump.com   Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe!  Also, as a reward for reading all the way to the end of the episode description, know that there is some exciting Brain Dump News that will (hopefully) drop in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned! 

Hi there!  We took a week off and because of it, Elyse turned into a time bomb of useless facts and we're passing the savings on to youuuuuuu!  Andrew starts off strong with a fact about Time Magazine during the OJ trial.  Then Elyse devolves into ramblings as she shares facts about vitamin D and the history of marketing the avocado.  After sharing a study that highlights potentially harmful chemicals in feminine products, we talk about a frog that was used as an early pregnancy test!  That all was just the news to us!  We then share two stories from the week.  One focusing on Tokamak Energies and the other sharing insight into the beautiful mummified nodosaur that was discovered in Alberta.  As always, all of the references will be up on podcastbraindump.com and don't forget to rate, review and subscribe!  You all are the absolute best!  Enjoy!

Our 'News to Us' starts with female dragonflies at the bar, and Elyse hearing about a crazy cool reptile for the first time (shoutout to the tuatara!) We then get to talk briefly about a find that was brought to a conference for physical anthropologists all about Homo naledi and their brain features.  Looking at some sassy tadpoles gave us some insight into cannibalism in the animal kingdom.  Then we went really into ( some might say too into) cannibalism in humans.  We touch on the plight of the vaquita and round out the episode by thanking all of you for your continued support!  As always check out the research on podcastbraindump.com.  Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe!

    Our discoveries go from bat flies, to trial by combat, to the history of chloroform then it's on to the news! We start with a newly discovered salt water clam known as a shipworm.  Then we cover a new, very teeny dinosaur and some exciting new research about naked mole rats!  We finish this episode talking about the city nature challenge and the LA March for Science.  Thanks everyone for listening and as always check out the stories at podcastbraindump.com and feel free to email us at podcastbraindump@gmail.com

Hi there everyone!  It's been a while and we missed you!  We also missed a ton of science news, so strap in for Elyse babbling for an hour!  But first we have some 'News to Us'.  Andrew shares the entomology of a well used phrase and Elyse talks about parasitic worms! Then we get down to business.  We talk rabbit fever, yellow fever, citizen science, new spiders and Cassini.  It's a lot and we might get a little loopy but we get through it.  Next week we'll be back to our regular scheduled programming.  Thank you all again for bearing with us.  As always, articles from this episode will be on podcastbraindump.com.

Elyse straight up lies by calling this a short episode.  First, we tackle a 'News for You' about Ceratopsian beaks.  Then we talk about the ever growing challenges in understanding mosquitos.  We touch on how they spread disease, what we're doing to overcome that, and what they're doing to overcome what we're doing...it's a cycle.  Thankfully, there is some exciting news coming out in the citizen science world.  Next we visit a very special fish that puts other venomous animals to shame!  Lastly we take a look at a tadpole, who's looking back at us, using its rear!  As always if you have any corrections or questions, hit us up on podcastbraindump@gmail.com Show notes and resources will be posted on podcastbraindump.com ENJOY and thank you for listening!

Andrew and Elyse take a deep dive into Spielberg's 1993 classic, Jurassic Park.  We discuss the animal's real life counterparts and analyze what paleontologists today are doing to try and learn more about these amazing animals.  We also peer into the types of science being done in the movie to see if there is any merit.  Everything is very much keeping a nostalgic eye on the movie.  Let us hit you right in the childhood.  Enjoy!

Our 'News to Us' starts with a sad incident at Zoo Knoxville this week that is still shrouded in mystery; hopefully we'll know more once more tests have been done.  Andrew then takes us on a fantastical journey to see how much Harry Potter is worth IN FANTASY MONEY!  Our first news story is all about shaking up the dinosaur phylogenetic tree so we take a deep dive into how taxonomy became a thing in the first place and how the earliest dinosaur species were classified.  Lastly we take a look at some very well intentioned wildflower seed packets from Cheerios.  Great intention, not so great execution.  It leads to a discussion about native vs. invasive plants, bees, wasps, and sport teams with the name Hornet.  We're also putting out a bonus episode this week all about the science of Jurassic Park so stay tuned!  All sources for this episode will be put on podcastbraindump.com and if you have any questions for the 'news for you' segment, hit us up on podcastbraindump@gmail.com  Thank you for listening and enjoy!

This week's episode is packed! Our news to us somehow ranges from diseased chimps to breakfast food.  Then we set our sights on CERN and the amazing experiment that hopes to understand gravity's effect on antimatter.  We also do some breaking down of vocabulary to figure out what exactly that means.  Once we say the words lasers about a thousand times we move on.  What we move on to is a beautiful and sad display of a female chimp as well as the upsetting rhino poaching event from a couple of weeks ago.  Sure, that's pretty depressing, but we end on a high note at least and talk about the fate of pluto and other non planet bodies.  Thank you everyone so much for listening, and if you want to show a little love our way don't forget to rate, review and subscribe!  As always hit us up on podcastbraindump@gmail.com for questions and visit podcastbraindump.com for all the articles related to this week's info.  See you next week!

Elyse looses her mind in this first installment of 'News for You'. She tries to figure out the origin of dogs; it shouldn't be hard, it probably isn't, but Elyse makes it super difficult.  Because of reasons.  If you are able to get through some very good dogs and dog relatives, you're rewarded with some amazing news about a potential gene therapy for patients with Sickle Cell Anemia.  This is only a case study but is potentially life saving stuff.  We then finish with a look at the Indian Ocean and comment on how a terrible tragedy (Malaysian Airlines flight 370) is the only reason we now know more about what's under the water there.  Thank you so much for listening and if you have any 'News for You' questions hit us up on podcastbraindump@gmail.com and as always find all of the resources for today's episode on podcastbraindump.com. See you next week!

Our 'News to Us' takes a look at the future with 3D printed houses and a look at the past with the origins of the word 'buccaneer'.  In our first news story, we compare a sleep deprived Andrew to two African elephants and see who fairs better without shut eye (hint: it is not Andrew).  Then we focus on the world of the woolly mammoth with a study looking at the problems that faced the woolly mammoths inhabiting Wrangler Island 4,000 years ago.  The last thing we discuss is the media frenzy that broke out over woolly mammoth de-extinction this week.  Elyse has some strong feelings about the topic and stay tuned for a supplemental later this month partly about de-extinction.  As always, all the resources for this weeks episode will be on podcastbraindump.com and shoot us an email with news, comments, or corrections at podcastbraindump@gmail.com Thanks everyone for listening!

Andrew opens with an amazing 'News to him' about a mysterious Oregon lake.  Elyse did what she does best, and talks poop. Namely, a poop phenomena (poopnomena?)  We then spend almost the entire episode on the TRAPPIST-1 system.  Exoplanets galore!  This new discovery opens up whole new questions.  Are we alone out there?  We go on some pretty epic tangents that opens up discussions on whole new episodes.  It gets weird, and we know that everyone is talking about this story, but it is as Thomas Zurbuchen said the 'gold rush' of exoplanet discovery and Brain Dump will be on the ground floor of it!  Any questions? comments? criticism?  Hit us up on twitter, or email us at podcastbraindump@gmail.com As always all the show notes will be up on podcastbraindump.com Thanks again for listening everyone!

We come to the exciting conclusion of our two parter on the Cambrian explosion!  The episode starts with Andrew shedding light on how WWI effected the U.S. and Elyse describes a con artist plant that fools dung beetles.  Then we go in depth on possible reasons the Cambrian Explosion came about in the first place.  I want to reiterate that these are just 6 possible ideas to how this amazing event happened and there are tons of others out there!  We also dive into the types of animals we start to see at the Cambrian Explosion and the implications to life on earth today.  As always check out podcastbraindump.com for references and email us at podcastbraindump@gmail.com with any suggestions.  Thank you all so much for listening and if you get a chance feel free to rate, review and subscribe, it goes a long way! 

     Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Today we talk laurel and geckos and then settle in for our longest episode yet.  The reason?  For explosions! More specifically the Cambrian Explosion.  This episode describes the billions of years leading up to the Cambrian.  We cover the formation of earth, first signs of life, an oxygen crisis and everything in between.  This is just a cursory glance at what happened on our planet, so we can understand the lead up to the Cambrian Explosion, which we'll be talking about next week.  This format is something new for us so if you have any comments hit us up on twitter, podcastbraindump@gmail.com, or leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts.  As always, the information shared from the episode will be linked at podcastbraindump.com Thanks to everyone out there for the support, we'll keep getting bigger and better.  Enjoy!

We missed you!! To celebrate we're coming back strong with a competitive 'News to Us' featuring a Hawaiian firehose and some brand new species of flies.  Next we take a look at a very special Cambrian fossil about 540 million years old that could give us insight into some early deuterostomes.  There is some anus talk (they make us who we are!) and Andrew does claim the recreation of the fossil reminds him of a testicle with a mouth.  Lastly we head to space to debate what oxygen is doing on the moon!  All articles referenced in this episode will be posted on podcastbraindump.com If you have questions, comments or suggestions shoot us an email at podcastbraindump@gmail.com and don't forget to tell a buddy about us, or rate, review and subscribe, or both!! Thank you all for your amazing support!

    We have a slightly shorter episode today due to some goings on at Casa de Brain Dump.  But this episode is full of fun facts about Churchill and venom (not together) and following the news to us, we dive deep into what it means to critically think.  The nature of science is brought up, and we discuss how science can be portrayed in the media.  We touch on how repeatable experiments holds the key to legitimate science and cite a study done by Mary Schweitzer that supports earlier interpretations of medullary bone.  This episode is a wee different from the others not just because of the length, but also because the content is much more editorial than previous episodes.  We ramble, we stump each other and ourselves, and we might be mildly incoherent and slightly preachy.  I hope you enjoy and keep an eye out later this week for a supplemental episode!  Hint, it'll be on a slice of time from earth's deep past.  Questions, comments, ramblings of your own?  Hit us up on podcastbraindump.com or podcastbraindump@gmail.com.  Don't forget to tell a buddy and rate, review and subscribe!  Thanks everyone for bearing with us this week; we are growing one hell of a community and we're grateful for the support!

On this week's 'news to us' we get really depressed about lemurs and we talk Titanic! Then we go back billions of years. Billions! To the start of complex life on earth as we know it.  Tiny organisms making bigger organisms, the universe is wild.  We then bring it a little closer to home by talking about some pretty sudsy viruses.  Viruses that are literally 5 times over than we originally believed.  Lastly, we talk about some pretty impressive trilobite eggs.  These trilobite eggs give us insight into how these animals reproduced.  If you like what you're hearing rate, review, subscribe and tell a buddy!  If you are interested in any of this week's topics, check out the website at podcastbraindump.com or shoot us an email at podcastbraindump@gmail.com.  Thanks everyone for listening!

This week's 'News to us' turned into a competition for who had the funnest facts; you decide: venom, nature toilets, or space mountains? Andrew starts off strong with information on Brazil's Snake Island and the infamous Golden lancehead (Bothrops insularis).  Elyse talks about a beautiful poop where you eat situation and the solar system's tallest mountains.  Our first news story is all about dinosaur eggs.  Specifically, the ones recently analyzed by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  This analysis leads to new understanding about how dinosaurs develop and potentially gives us insight into why we don't see non avian dinosaurs roaming today.  This week NASA released two new discovery missions that are slated to launch in 2021 and 2023.  Lucy and Psyche are attempting to understand our solar systems earliest years.  We go down some rabbit holes and commiserate on the nature of science funding.  We can't wait to see what 2017 has in store for science news and we'll be here every week covering all of it!  Links to all of the stories discussed on this episode are at podcastbraindump.com and feel free to email us at podcastbraindump@gmail.com with any comments, questions, or episode recommendations.  Thanks everyone for listening!