Episode 011: The Fungus with a Personal Chef / Are We Aliens?

06/10/24 • 55 min

Nick introduces us to the busy, relentless world of leafcutter ants, who spend their whole lives harvesting leaves from the forest to bring back to their nest and feed to the fungus that lives there. These tiny, six-legged personal chefs live to serve the fungus, which raises the question: Who's in charge? Then, Dave discusses the theory of "panspermia," which suggests that life on Earth might have started in outer space. Is it possible human beings are actually aliens?

Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/user/spooky-science-lab
Hosted by Nicholas Kaufmann and David Wellington
Edited by David Wellington
Additional voices by Jennifer Dikes and Alexa Antopol
Logo by Errick Nunnally
Theme song "Phantom Fun" by Jonathan Boyle
Connect with us on social media at Facebook, Bluesky, and Instagram, or email us at [email protected]!

Previous Episode

Episode 010: Inside a Venus Flytrap / The Tunguska Event

Nick shrinks Dave and drops him inside a Venus flytrap to explore what happens to the prey of this fascinating carnivorous plant. Don't worry, it's for science! Then, Dave looks into the infamous Tunguska Event of 1908, when a colossal explosion blasted the snowy Siberian landscape. The cause of the explosion has long been a mystery, but have scientists finally discovered the answer?

Next Episode

Episode 012: Wormnado / Where Are the Aliens?

In the final episode of Season 1, Nick tells the story of a massive herd of earthworms discovered in the shape of a perfect spiral on the ground--a "wormnado"--and examines what could have caused this seemingly impossible phenomenon. Does it have anything to do with a rare phase of the moon known as the "Worm Moon"? Then, Dave looks into the "Dark Forest Hypothesis," which tackles the question, if the universe is so infinitely large that it's statistically unlikely for humankind to be all alone, why haven't we seen any aliens yet?