Biopedia

How do you quantify how big a civilisation is? In the 1960s, Nikolai Semenovich Kardashev came up with a scale based on how much energy hypothetical civilisations can exploit- which has been modified by others to stretch all the way from multiverse levels of energy usage down to the fabric of spacetime itself. Let's return to astrobiology! Sources for this episode: Byrne, P. (2007), The Many Worlds of Hugh Everett. Scientific American 297(6): 98-105. Cirkovic, M. M. (2016), Kardashev's Classification at 50+: A Fine Vehicle with Room for Improvement. Serbian Astronomical Journal 1(15): 10.2298. Gray, R. H. (2020), The Extended Kardashev Scale. The Astronomical Journal 159: 228. Hooper, R., New Scientist (2009), Hugh Everett: The man who gave us the multiverse (online) (Accessed 10/09/2026). Raikar, S. P., Encyclopedia Britannica (2025), Kardashev scale (online) (Accessed 10/09/2026). Smith, J. (2022), Review and viability of a Dyson Swarm as a form of Dyson Sphere. Physica Script 97(12): 122001. Vidal, C., Fields, B. L., Sowinski, D. R., Elowitz, M., Bartlett, S., Terrile, R. J., Ellery, A., Bibas, D., Mastrogiovanni, A. M., Dobler, N., Singla, M., DeMarines, J., Fisher, T., Uno, Y., Turner, J. D., Sneed, E. L., Huggahalli, A., Li, M. G., Li, Z. (C.), Huston, M. and Saide, R. (2026), The Search for Technosignatures: A Review of Possibilities. arXiv: 2605.21093. Wright, J. T. (2020), Dyson Spheres. Serbian Astronomical Journal 200: 1-18. Zhang, A., Yang, J., Luo, Y. and Fen, S. (2023), Forecasting the progression of human civilization on the Kardashev Scale through 2060 with a machine learning approach. Nature Scientific Reports 13: 11305. Author unknown, Homo Deus Lab (date unknown), Galaxy Colonization: How Long Would It Take? (online) (Accessed 10/09/2026).

It's long overdue, but we're finally tackling photosynthesis on the podcast! In a process which divides into the light-dependent and light-independent reactions, autotrophs convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose, oxygen and energy. Sources for this episode: TBA

What is the record for the most generations that have been alive at the same time in a family? Let's introduce Augusta Pagel (1879-1989) to the stage. Before she died, she managed to become a great-great-great-great-grandmother! Sources for this episode: TBA

Following another request, today we examine whether it is possible for dolphins- using their ultrasonic communication- to detect human pregnancy. The answer might be more ambiguous than you think... Sources for this episode: TBA

Vince here- I've written a historical fiction book set in Constantinople in 1081! Well, kind of. The first draft of the manuscript is complete at about 59,000 words across 34 chapters. I am planning to to do a reading of the prologue as it currently stands on this feed, and after that prepare the book for publication as an eBook. So, what I am here to ask you is- is this something you would be interested in? Please let me know at the show's email address. I would love to hear your feedback.

A bit of a silly topic today. What is the average life expectancy of hobbits in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium? Along the way, we will learn something about current and historic human life expectancy. Sources for this episode: TBA Sound Effect by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/freesound_community-46691455/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=84943">freesound_community</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/sound-effects//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=84943">Pixabay</a>

As requested by listener GT, we are going to talk all about moles today! Join us for the evolutionary history of the Talpidae family, English prophecies about moles, how much a mole head is worth in 2026 money according to the 1533 Vermin Act, and a lot of Red List data. Sources for this episode: TBA

Last week we introduced some discussion on bee/pollinator declines. This week, we will discuss a perspective by Jaboury Ghazoul- a professor at ETH Zurich- who argued in a 2005 paper that labelling a pollinator decline crisis was, in fact, premature. Sources for this episode: TBA

Once again adapting a blog post into an episode, we are going to be examining a paper from 2016 which gives a potential new perspective on bee/pollinator declines. It argues that the contribution of non-bee pollinators to pollination services might be greater than we think. Sources for this episode: TBA

There is a number we use in genetics to represent how inbred a particular individual- e.g.: Charles II of Spain, Ptolemy XIII or Danaerys Targaryen- is. On today's episode, thanks to guidance from a blog post I found very helpful on the subject, we are going to take you through how this number is calculated for some simpler cases. Sources for this episode: TBA

The term phylogenetic tree often gets bandied about, but how exactly do you construct one? Using three exemplar snake species and the differences in amino acid sequences in a common protein, let's build one together and explore how the process works. Sources for this episode: TBA

We're going to be adapting an old Biopedia blog post today and examining how biofilms might be relevant in the generation of Alzheimer's. Sources for this episode: TBA

Happy seventh Darwin Day! Today on the podcast, we are going to examine the family tree of Charles Robert Darwin. Let's explore more than ten generations of Darwins, starting all the way back in the 16th century with William Darwin Sr. Sources for this episode: TBA

I have become a father! My firstborn daughter is here and is of course wonderful. However, the fact of her existence means that there may be some disruption to the podcast schedule. Thank you for your understanding!

As part of a triple feature with After Alexander and Autocrat, we will be discussing the olive tree today. Let's explore the biology and ecology of a tree species that is central to a myth covered on Autocrat, in a city which After Alexander explores the history of... Sources for this episode: TBA

Happy 2026! Or rather- 12,026. At least, according to one interpretation. It has been suggested that the Anno Domini/Common Era system of timekeeping has some limitations. So, Cesare Emiliani created a calendar in 1993 to combat these issues. Get ready to discuss a calendar which begins when human civilisations and farming did- at midnight, 1st January, 10,000 BCE. After that, we'll take you on a whistlestop and incomplete tour of what some of human history might look like represented in that calendar. Sources for this episode: Bevan, E. R. (1902), The House of Seleucus (Volume I). London: Methuen Publishing Ltd. Clayton, P. A. (2006), Chronicle of the Pharaohs. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd. Emiliani, C (1993), Calendar reform. Nature 366: 716. Emiliani, C. (1994), Calendar reform for the year 2000. Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union 75(19): 218. Goldsworthy, A. (2023), The Eagle and the Lion: Rome, Persia and an Unwinnable Conflict. London: Head of Zeus Ltd. Humprehys, C. J. and Waddington, W. G. (1983), Dating the Crucifixion. Nature 306: 743- 746. Kelly, J. N. D. (1996), Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Littlewood, I. (2002), The Rough Guide History of France. London: Rough Guides Ltd. Marks, A. and Tingay, G. (date unknown), Romans. London: Usborne Publishing. Matyszak, P. (2008), Chronicle of the Roman Republic. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd. Paludan, A. (1998), Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd. Scarre, C. (2012), Chronicle of the Roman Emperors. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd. Shepard, J. (ed.) (2019), The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c.500- 1492. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Warnes, D. (2009), Chronicle of the Russian Tsars. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd. Weir, A. (1996), Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Pimlico. Woolf, A. (2014), A Short History of the World. London: Arcturus Publishing Ltd. Author unknown (date unknown), Genealogy of the Emperors of Japan. Kunaicho: Japanese government webpage.

It goes without saying that the Red Planet is very different to our own world. For one thing, the day and year length of Mars differ from those experienced on Earth. So how would hypothetical colonists deal with this? On our last episode of 2025, let's discuss the Suran calendar- originating from a paper from the 1990s and dealing with this exact question. Sources for this episode: TBA

A silly question today- if you were to add together all of the X chromosomes of all of the people in the world, what would their total mass be? To answer this, we are going to have to estimate the mass of an X chromosome, examine how many cells are in a human body, and just how many people there are in the world... Sources for this episode: Bhartiya, A., Batey, D., Cipiccia, S., Shi, X., Rau, C., Botchway, S., Yusuf, M. and Robinson, I. K. (2021), X-ray Phytography Imaging of Human Chromosomes after Low-Dose Irradiation. Chromosome Research 29: 107-126. Ross, M. T., et al. (2005), The DNA sequence of the human X chromosome. Nature 434: 325-337. Sender, R., Fuchs, S. and Milo, R. (2016), Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body. PLoS Biology 14(8): e1002533. Tartaglia, N., Cordeiro, L., Howell, S., Wilson, R. and Janusz, J. (2010), The Spectrum of the Behavioural Phenotype in Boys and Adolescents 47,XXY (Klinefelter Syndrome). Pediatric Endocrinology Reviews 8(1): 151-159. Author unknown, Bionumbers (date unknown), Mass of X and Y chromosomes (online) (Accessed 14/12/2025). Author unknown, Worldometer, (date unknown), World Population Clock (online) (Accessed 14/12/2025). Author unknown, UNICEF (date unknown), How many children are there in the world? (online) (Accessed 14/12/2025).

Generation Beta is, according to futurist Mark McCrindle, just starting to appear in the world. So, today, let's examine the generations that have been given a label in societal consciousness since the Lost Generation all the way back in the late 1800s. Sources for this episode: TBA

Today, we are going to examine a paper studying the impact both age at first pregnancy and the interval between pregnancies has on the probability of various negative outcomes associated with childbirth. Sources for this episode: TBA