Special Edition 4 – Terra Nova

Brian Switek joins Ryan, Patrick and Ben to play Odd Man Out with the premiere of Terra Nova. Physics, dinosaurs, Spielberg; oh my! Will the Paleopals pass on the new show? Or did the antics of a family in the Cretaceous win them over? Tune in to find out!

Hear more with Brian in our full length interview from Episode 59 – Psi-Fi and Switek!

Also be sure to check out Brian’s text review of the episode on the Smithsonian Magazine Blog (where he even embedded the trailer, our kind of guy!).

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Episode 105 – Malaria Mania

00:00:00 – Will having a few drinks prevent you from getting malaria, or make it more likely in the first place? The Paleopals discuss the pros and cons of boozing it up near infected mosquitoes.

00:20:26 – Fortunately the Paleopals live outside the range of malaria, thus their drinks are relatively risk free. Patrick expects condemnation from Ryan for his Kona but Ryan is too busy spilling La Roja from Jolly Pumpkin all over himself. Kelly shows up with another custom cocktail from Zach, this time called The Honey Rumple (milk, honey, rum; mix to taste).

00:26:34 – Johnny Depp has also developed a taste for rum as he returns to the world of Hunter S. Thompson in the trailer for The Rum Diary, as discussed in this week’s installment of Trailer Trash Talk!

00:39:27 – Even though the females are bringing the parasites the males are bringing the sperm to the next generation of the little buggers. But a new study has successfully eliminated the sperm without eliminating the male’s sex appeal. Cool? Yes. Labor intensive? Also yes. That’s why Kelly prefers the laser system that blasts female mosquitoes out of the sky! PEW PEW!

00:52:02 – PaleoPOWs are a lot like mosquitoes, they can really get under your skin if you let them. Ryan tries to clear up some Costa Rican iguana confusion from Randall H. Ryan knew them only as ctenosaurs (“comb-lizard”), which is probably a cooler name anyways. Patrick has an iTunes review from Hanna S. who thinks we’re “great for an average science nerd.” Hey! Who is she calling average?! And finally, Kelly deals with a pronunciation pet peeve brought to her by Avi M. Dear Avi, we promise to do better, try harder, speak more correcter, etc. starting tomorrow… probably.

Thanks for listening! Paleocave.com is our blog, it’s probably what you should read until we put out another show next week.

Music from this week’s show:

Mosquito Song – Queens of the Stone Age

Honey – The Hush Sound

In this Diary – The Ataris

I Just Had Sex – The Lonely Island

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Episode 104 – Shrouded in Darkness

00:00:00 – This week we talk to Abraham Padilla about his work studying the volcanoes of Iceland. We barely scratch the surface of this topic, but that’s probably a good thing because any deeper and we’d hit lava.

00:25:17 – Libations are an integral part of our podcast, thus we sup. Abe brings Ryan two types of tequila, one especially dark reposado and another a sensual triple distilled reposado. The bottle is supposed to be sensual (see for yourself), but your results may vary.

00:36:42 – Butch Cassidy rides down ole South America way for his final adventure as previewed in the trailer for Blackthorn.

00:48:48 – There was no electricity in the US Southwest for a bit last week. Some guy was working on it and it just plumb went out. Well this brings up quite a few issues about security, reliability, and energy production, which Charlie is on top of.

• Ryan also references SGU #317 when they talked about Sicilian time offsets due to grid fluctuations.
• And see our very own Episode 4 when we talked about the US needing an EMP-hardened smart grid.

01:08:46 – PaleoPOWs are a lot like volcanoes, hard to predict. Abe talks about how hard it is to find time to listen to podcasts. Charlie rejoices in two donations from Rebecca B. and Chuck Z. Thank you so much! Ryan has a new addition to the Brachiolope gallery from his old pal Jesse G. Thanks, Jesse! And finally, Kelly has an inspiring iTunes review left by the Frenzy of Tongs.

Thanks for listening! Check out our blog at Paleocave.com. You might just find a manifesto… sort of.

Music for this week’s show:

Between An Erupting Earth And An Exploding Sky – Los Campesinos!

The Milky Way Home – Sonny Landreth

That Much Further West - Lucero

The Grid - Daft Punk

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Episode 103 – A Million Little Pieces

00:00:00 – The Paleopals are joined with an old friend (similar yet distinct from a Paleopal) Jered Karr! Jered is a paleoentomologist at UCSC but he’s also one of the top contributors to The Paleobiology Database, which he’s here to tell us all about! What is it? How can it be used? How does he use it? And how long until I can put myself in there as a fossil?

00:21:21 – Even if they couldn’t wait to start Patrick and Jered are still expected to explain their drinks. Charlie sticks with a classic. And Ryan attempts an audio hi-jink that may or may not have worked to get him a Manhattan. You decide!

00:31:14 – But it’s up to the Paleopals to decide how they feel about this week’s trailer, which is Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. It’s another case of a bait-and-switch trailer, even though Ryan thinks this one should have been a bit more obvious. Will the guys go for satirical redneck antics? Or will they side with the douchey city-slickers?

00: 44:50 – The earth has a bit of junk in her orbit. Charlie explains the ins and outs of what goes in and out of our atmosphere. Basically everyone is making a mess and no one is willing to clean it up.

00:59:53 – PaleoPOWs are a lot like messes, no one wants to be at fault but there’s always someone to blame. This week Patrick fields a funding comment left on the website by Rusty. Ryan reads a lengthy e-mail about elephant seal behavior (as mocked in a recent show) sent in my John H. of Santa Cruz, CA! And Charlie ponders zebra mathematics in the absence of Ben for the benefit of Randall.

That’s all for this week, thanks for listening! Our intermittent musing can be found on the metaphorical cave wall that is our blog, the Paleocave.

Music this week provided by:

Dig (Future Evolution Remix) - Mudvayne

Manhattan – Kings of Leon

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Santa Esmeralda

Float On – Modest Mouse

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Episode 102 – With a Grain of Salt

00:00:00 – Mars just keeps better, this time because it’s a bit wetter. Charlie explains the science behind the discovery, especially how we were able to taste something on another planet.

00:16:43 – Patrick keeps his beverage dark and Cascadian, Charlie searches for a glass (why didn’t he just check our store?) and Ryan is feeling dark and stormy.

00:23:02 – Trailer Trash Talk is looking to take a nice country drive. But that’s not what Drive is about at all. Does the trailer live up to the poster? Does it even live up to the font? And what are driving gloves even for? Find out!

00:38:59 – Science is under threat! The threat of the ‘decline effect.’ Jonah Lehrer wrote about it and the Paleopals discuss his findings. Ironically, they find less significance in the decline effect, which kind of makes sense if you think about it…

• Check out the RadioLab episode also on this subject
• Plus one of Jonah Lehrer’s books Proust was a Neuroscientist

01:05:48 – PaleoPOWs are fortunately not subject to the decline effect. They just keep getting better! This week is no exception. Ryan has donations from Sarah B., a possibly forgotten Gaylen, and both (that’s right, both!) his parents. Thanks everyone! You’re keeping the lights on and the mics hot! Charlie gets more ethanol feedback (the story that just won’t die) from Midwesterner Jeff! And finally, Patrick has a lengthy e-mail from Jesse C. about radio and forensics. Just how the heck are those two related?! Tune in to find out!

Thanks for listening! Our blog has saltwater in it too, check it out at Paleocave.com!

Music from this week’s show:

Will There Be Enough Water? – The Dead Wate

Raise Your Glass – Autopilot Off

Drive – Matt Costa

It’s Coming Down – Cake

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