Tiny Matters

Take a dive into the genes, microbes, molecules and other tiny things that have a big impact on our world with Tiny Matters. Join scientists Sam Jones and Deboki Chakravarti as they take apart complex and contentious topics in science and help rebuild your understanding. From deadly diseases to ancient sewers to forensic toxicology, Sam and Deboki embrace the awe and messiness of science and its place in the past, present, and future. Tiny Matters releases new episodes every Wednesday and is brought to you by the American Chemical Society, a non-profit scientific organization advancing chemistry and connecting the broader scientific community. Tiny Matters is produced by Multitude.

[BONUS] Pollen-food allergy syndrome and stepping on 116 snakes: Tiny Show and Tell Us #13

Frostbite: From Napoleonic era treatments to the first FDA approved frostbite drug

[BONUS] Xenobots and rethinking 'junk DNA': Tiny Show and Tell Us #12

In defense of plants: Pitfall traps, rancid aromas, and other wild pollination strategies with Matt Candeias

[BONUS] Why we experience altitude sickness and a chirality mystery: Tiny Show and Tell Us #11

Stories trapped in ancient teeth: Reconstructing megalodon’s diet and retracing the steps of woolly mammoths

[BONUS] Mice aging in reverse and using origami to understand how a tiny organism captures prey: Tiny Show and Tell Us #10

Ghosts and cyborgs: A specter skeptic and the promise (and perils) of biohybrid robots

[BONUS] Algae in the clouds and colossal galaxy walls: Tiny Show and Tell Us #9

Pesticides across history and learning from millions of years of plant-insect warfare

[BONUS] A shark’s ‘jelly-filled canals’ and deadly cyanide in clovers: Tiny Show and Tell Us #8

Vaping vs. smoking: What does decades of research tell us?

[BONUS] How the moon causes tides and ancient viruses lurking in your DNA: Tiny Show and Tell Us #7

Extinction: Rethinking the dodo's demise, and could a supervolcano threaten humanity's future?

[BONUS] We think your dog loves you and an intriguing molecule hitches a ride on space dust: Tiny Show and Tell Us #6

CTE: From ‘punch drunk’ to today, how this devastating disease is finally being taken seriously

[BONUS] Cleaning up brain junk while you sleep and new neurons from exercise: Tiny Show and Tell Us #5

Pig hearts in people: Xenotransplantation's long history, current promise, and the ethical use of people who are brain-dead in research

[BONUS] 1930s (inebriated) chemist poetry and a new organelle: Tiny Show and Tell Us #4

Could most of our food, medication, and clothing come from...bacteria?

[BONUS] A dark energy discovery and a thirsty hydrangea mystery: Tiny Show and Tell Us #3

Sewage and the Seine: From Mesopotamia messes and the 1858 Great Stink to today's flush toilets and fatbergs

[BONUS] The disappearance of 10,000 skeletons and get those eyes outside: Tiny Show and Tell Us #2

It’s sporty (science) summer: Cutting edge monitoring of sweat, and how decades of labiaplasty inspired a new bike saddle

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[BONUS] Parrotfish poop beaches and an altitude adaptation: Tiny Show and Tell Us #1

‘Beef snow,’ sludge, and seafood fraud: How NIST standardizes everything from $1,143 peanut butter to house dust to keep us safe

From volcanoes and Swiftquakes to buzzing bees: How scientists use sound to understand our environment

Long COVID: What we’re learning about pathogens and chronic illness goes beyond COVID-19

Mysteries in the museum: How textile conservators investigate and preserve historic clothing

The curable disease that kills someone every 20 seconds: Tuberculosis (ft. John Green)

Introducing 'Tiny show and tell us' (send us your stories!)

Arsenic, radium, and a locked room cyanide mystery: Poisons and the rise of forensic toxicology in early 1900s United States

IVF: The history, science and struggle that gave rise to a life-changing technology

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Who invented lawns? From Cretaceous grass to modern turf with That's Absurd Please Elaborate

What hibernating bears and 'couch potato' cavefish are teaching us about blood clots and fatty liver disease

Listener Q&A: Methanol poisoning, quantum entanglement, biomimicry, sea foam snakes, tiny discoveries in 2023, and more!

Let's talk about love: Is oxytocin really the 'love drug'? How do we stay in love? And how do our brains adapt to the deaths of people we love?

Did mating with Neanderthals make us morning people?: What ancient DNA tells us about the messiness of human evolution

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Cosmic clues, shrinking transistors, debunking a Salem witch trials theory, and more! Faves from the second year of Tiny Matters

He was never there, but his DNA was: The history and debate surrounding forensic DNA profiling

The rise and fall of a fake decongestant: What phenylephrine tells us about the history of the FDA

The opioid crisis: From pill mills to fentanyl. Are we now seeing glimmers of hope?

We don't deserve dogs: The science behind the human-canine relationship

The Salem witch trials LSD theory and the fascinating evolution of mummification in ancient Egypt

Asteroid Bennu, OSIRIS-REx, and the Apollo 11 moon microbe scare: The challenge of bringing samples home from space

It’s flu season: Why do we need a shot every year? And should we be worried about the new avian influenza strain?

Listener Q&A: Plastic-eating mushrooms, allergy-curing hookworms, the end of the universe, making a career in scicomm, and more!

Flavor is more than meets the taste buds: Health impacts, seltzer facts, and chocolate zucchini cake snacks

We’re not all in this together: How colonialist practices are shaping the impact of climate change

Mad cow, 'zombie deer disease' and the science and spread of prions

Combating misinformation in a crisis: Lessons from Deepwater Horizon

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Hurricane Katrina and the Ohio train derailment: Science, confusion, and human influence

A fungal pandemic is unlikely in humans. That’s not true for other species.

Could psychedelics transform mental healthcare?

Treating depression: Then versus now, and the SSRI debate

The future of electronics: How small can we go?

Are we alone in the universe?

Algae transformed Earth. Next stop: Mars?

Shipworms, sponges and snail venoms: The search for marine medicine

"The Last of Us" fungi Q&A with mycologist Giuliana Furci

Microplastics and PFAS (aka 'forever chemicals') are everywhere. What does that mean for our bodies and environment?

Detection dogs: Sniffing out explosives, invasive pythons and...disease?

Hank Green on dad emails, the business of scicomm, and the value of niche

The hunt for a rare microorganism

Tell us what YOU want to learn about in 2023!

False memories, a surprising Civil War corpse, weekly dino fossil discoveries, and more! Faves from the first year of Tiny Matters

Radiolab's Latif Nasser on his love of science history, storytelling, and Wikipedia rabbit holes

The Ig Nobel Prize: Levitating frogs, constipated scorpions, and other science that makes you laugh then think

Does the microbiome deserve so much hype?

Lava bombs, the northern lights, ancient skull surgeries, and more! It's a vacation show & tell

What does it mean to 'age'? And will science ever stop us from aging?

It's spooky season! Using science to unravel vampire myths and survive a zombie apocalypse

The rapid evolution of lactose intolerance (or, in fact, lactose tolerance)

Dreaming: Why we hallucinate while asleep (and do spiders do it too?)

Wastewater is helping us track disease outbreaks. Could it predict a future pandemic?

If the Milky Way could talk, what would it tell us?

Regenerating a limb (or brand new body)

Preservatives: From ancient methods to today's plastic-wrapped Twinkies

We’ve only eradicated one human infectious disease. Why?

Why you should care about sharks (and why Sharknado wasn't totally wrong)

Decades later, people are still dying from the 9/11 terrorist attacks

The deadly London smog that changed pollution regulation forever

Body farms: Anthropological research facilities are teaching us about life after death

What happened to Zika virus and the families affected?

Sugar: The addiction debate and an ancient mutation that’s killing us today

Bioterrorism: Weaponizing science has been around for centuries

What is a memory? And how is it stored?

Q&A with Tiny Matters hosts Sam Jones and Deboki Chakravarti

Typhoid fever didn't end with Typhoid Mary

Could probiotics save coral reefs?

Why don't we have an HIV vaccine?

Dinosaur fossils: Informing Jurassic Park, inspiring new tech, and helping us predict Earth's future

Welcome to Tiny Matters! A podcast about the small science underlying big things happening in our world.