Hello, brilliant thinkers! It’s been a while since our last chat, and with so many new faces joining us, it’s the perfect time to celebrate reaching two million subscribers. To mark this milestone, I’m here to tackle as many of your questions as possible. So, grab a coffee, settle in, and let’s dive into some fascinating discussions!
How are you all doing today? (Jameson Moore): First, is “how’re” a real word? Let’s chat about it in the comments. As for me, I’m doing great, thanks for asking!
Congrats on having 2 million subscribers! (Adarsh Kumar): Yes, we did it! A massive thank you to each of you who helped us reach this incredible milestone. It’s truly mind-blowing, and I’m incredibly grateful to all two million of you.
Which is your favorite video you’ve made and why? (Inés Laura Dawson): Picking a favorite video is like choosing a favorite child—tough! But if I had to choose, it would be the one featuring the stunning blue ice cave. It’s one of the most beautiful and fascinating places I’ve ever explored, despite its cold, wet, and rocky nature.
How did you get into video-making? Did you ever have doubts about how it would turn out? (Elaine Greywalker, Mitchell Davis): Here’s the story: I studied biology, did some research, and pursued a Ph.D. Along the way, I realized many people weren’t getting the chance to learn about the amazing world of science. While teaching biology, I started using videos from other creators, which inspired me to create my own platform to share science. It all began with a simple blog that grew in popularity, leading to an opportunity to make science videos. Despite initial doubts, I embraced the challenge, and with the help of a talented team, we’ve been having a blast ever since.
Do you write your own puns? (Luis Mijango): Absolutely!
What’s your favorite science podcast for kids? (@TumbleCast): Have you heard of Tumble Podcast? It’s fantastic!
Advice on relationships? (Ashraf Ansari): Love yourself first, and you’ll be better equipped to love others. Focus on what you can give rather than what you need, and cherish the present moment.
Will we ever see your wife as a guest on your show? (Force_Sensitive_Tree): (shrug)
If a chicken had lips, could it whistle? (Cameron Crielaard): Not quite like us. Whistling requires specific tongue movements and breath control, which birds don’t have. Instead, they use a unique organ called a syrinx to produce a variety of sounds.
Do you have any advice for others who would like to be science communicators? (Jeremy Klein): The key to effective science communication is storytelling. While science is often seen as a collection of facts, it’s really a way of understanding the world. Engage your audience emotionally to make them think deeply about the subject.
Any advice for science grad students? (Abdel Halloway): Prioritize your mental health alongside your academic pursuits. Remember, your worth isn’t tied to your scientific success. You belong in your field, even if you sometimes feel out of place.
Show us your baby! (Sa Sa4): Okay! He’s the best.
Light pollution please! (Nicole Rodriguez): Sure! (Or did you mean a video on it? Great idea!)
How did you decide you wanted to work in biology? (Luiz de Paula): There’s a saying that “all science is just applied physics,” but I believe biology is fundamental. Without it, there wouldn’t be physicists!
Many of you have been active in the comments, which is fantastic. Let’s address some of your thoughts:
Why didn’t you include the sky and ocean in your video about blue things? The sky and ocean are blue for different reasons than living organisms, which evolved to be blue.
What’s the difference between pigments and structural colors? (Victor Souza, Mjester12): Pigments are about molecular structure, while structural colors arise from physical shapes that affect light.
Carotenoids (Top Fertilizer): Eating too many carotenoids can turn your skin yellow or orange, a condition called carotenemia, but not pink.
Joshua Walters asked about purple people eaters. They eat regular people, not just purple ones, or they’d starve!
David Lazure commented on sex vs. gender. Biologists define sex by DNA and chromosomes, while gender involves societal roles.
HIV (Juan Kentoy): HIV targets T-cells, crucial for immune response.
Muscle memory/autoimmune diseases/neuroplasticity: These topics sparked ideas for future videos.
Water use (Feynstein 100): Scaling agriculture to feed more people is uncertain.
Burden of old age (Wan Ahmad Firas): Population growth is mainly due to longer lifespans, not birth rates.
Finally: Moon cheese (Ira Iguanadon): The moon isn’t made of cheese; it’s rock and dust.
Thank you for all your wonderful questions and comments. Keep exploring, stay curious, and let’s continue this journey together!
Choose a scientific topic that fascinates you and create a short video explaining it. Focus on storytelling to engage your audience emotionally. Share your video with classmates and discuss the different approaches each of you took in communicating your topic.
Listen to an episode of the Tumble Podcast or another science podcast of your choice. Organize a group discussion to analyze the episode’s content, presentation style, and effectiveness in communicating science to a younger audience. Reflect on how you might apply these techniques in your own science communication efforts.
Research the difference between pigments and structural colors. Conduct a simple experiment or demonstration to show how structural colors work, such as using a diffraction grating or a CD to create a rainbow effect. Present your findings to the class and discuss the implications of structural colors in nature and technology.
Write a blog post about a scientific concept or discovery that interests you. Use clear language and engaging storytelling to make the topic accessible to a general audience. Share your post with peers for feedback and discuss the challenges and rewards of writing about science for a non-specialist audience.
Organize a debate on a topic related to science and society, such as the role of science in addressing climate change or the ethical implications of genetic engineering. Prepare arguments for both sides and engage in a structured debate with classmates. Reflect on how effective communication can influence public opinion and policy.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the YouTube transcript:
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Hey smart people! It’s been a while since we did one of these, and there are a lot of new faces out there. To celebrate our two millionth subscriber, I’m here to answer two million of your questions. Grab a cup of coffee; we’re going to be here for a while. As always, you’ve been sending in a lot of comments and asking great questions.
**How are you all doing today?** (Jameson Moore): First off, is “how’re” a real word? Let’s discuss it in the comments. Secondly, I’m doing great, thanks for asking!
**Congrats on having 2 million subscribers!** (Adarsh Kumar): Yeah, that happened. Thank you! And thank you to the other 1,999,999 of you that helped us reach this milestone. It’s completely mind-boggling and awesome, and I feel very lucky, so seriously… thank you times 2 million.
**Which is your favorite video you’ve made and why?** (Inés Laura Dawson): Favorite video? For YouTube creators, our videos are like our children. Would a parent say they have a favorite child? No… but they might think it, because they secretly do have a favorite. I’ve posted over 200 videos, and my favorite one is probably the one featuring the blue ice cave. I would live in that ice cave if it wasn’t so cold and wet… and full of dangerous falling rocks. That cave is one of the most beautiful and interesting things I’ve ever seen.
**How did you get into video-making? Did you ever have doubts about how it would turn out?** (Elaine Greywalker, Mitchell Davis): I don’t think I’ve ever told this story on the channel before, and everyone keeps asking, so here goes. I got a degree in biology and did some research, then went back to get a Ph.D. While learning all this awesome science, I realized a lot of people out there weren’t. So when I taught biology in grad school, I started playing videos from various creators, which inspired me to make my own website to share awesome science with everyone. I wrote a motto at the top to remind people that it’s okay to be smart, and people started calling it that, so that’s how it happened. The blog got really popular, and I decided to become a better science writer. In the middle of it all, I got an email asking if I wanted to make some science videos. I said “sure, never done that before, why not?” and definitely don’t go back and watch my first videos. In the beginning, like everyone else, I just turned on the camera, tried to tell a good story, and worked to be a better writer, teacher, and creator every week. And five years later, thanks to the wonderful, creative people that help me research, write, animate, and produce these videos, we’re having a lot of fun.
**Do you write your own puns?** (Luis Mijango): Of course I do!
**What’s your favorite science podcast for kids?** (@TumbleCast): Excellent question! Have you heard of Tumble Podcast? It’s really good.
**Advice on relationships?** (Ashraf Ansari): If you love yourself when you’re not in a relationship, you’ll love a lot better when you are. Think about what you can give more than what you need. And don’t worry about it lasting forever; just focus on being happy right now.
**Will we ever see your wife as a guest on your show?** (Force_Sensitive_Tree): (shrug)
**If a chicken had lips, could it whistle?** (Cameron Crielaard): Not like we do, because whistling involves highly coordinated tongue movements and breath control, and birds’ tongues are quite different. Birds don’t need to whistle anyway, because they have a cool organ called a syrinx, which allows them to make all kinds of sounds.
**Do you have any advice for others who would like to be science communicators?** (Jeremy Klein): There’s a lot that goes into communicating science well, but the most important thing to remember is that while we like to think of science as a big pile of stuff to know, it’s really a way of looking at the world. People like stories more than data, and the best way to get someone to think about something is to make them feel something.
**Any advice for science grad students?** (Abdel Halloway): Take time for your mental health alongside all your hard work. Your value as a person is not tied to the success of your science. Remember, you might sometimes feel like you don’t belong, but you deserve to be there, and everyone else is just as anxious and confused as you are.
**Show us your baby!** (Sa Sa4): Okay! He’s the best.
**Light pollution please!** (Nicole Rodriguez): Okay! (Oh, did you mean do a video about it? Good idea!)
**How did you decide you wanted to work in biology?** (Luiz de Paula): I think I’ve answered this before, but there’s a saying that “all science is just applied physics.” However, I believe that without biology, there wouldn’t be physicists.
A few people have asked if there was a place they could send physical items to me and the show, and the answer is yes! Details are down in the description. You guys have also been really active in the YouTube comments on every video, which is great. So now, let’s read some of those comments from a few of our favorite recent videos, which you should go watch right now. I’ll wait.
First off, to address the most common comment I received: Yes, I’m aware that the sky and the ocean are blue, but I didn’t include them in the video because they didn’t evolve to be blue like living things did.
A couple of people wondered what makes pigments different from structural colors (Victor Souza, Mjester12): When we say molecules have structure, we’re really talking about different things. One describes how atoms are arranged, while the other refers to the physical shape of something.
**Carotenoids** (Top Fertilizer): If we eat too many carotenoids, can we turn pink? Well, no, not pink. But if you eat enough plant foods high in carotenoid pigments, you could develop a condition called carotenemia, where patches of your skin turn yellow or orange.
**Joshua Walters** had an excellent question about purple people eaters and what they eat. They clearly are purple and eat regular people, because if they only ate purple people, they’d starve.
**David Lazure** left a great comment about how I distinguished sex vs. gender in this video. When biologists discuss sex, we refer to combinations of DNA and chromosomes, while gender deals with societal expectations related to appearance and behavior.
**HIV** (Juan Kentoy): HIV actually attacks a different type of immune cell, T-cells, which help B cells attack germs.
**Muscle memory/autoimmune diseases/neuroplasticity**: This video gave you guys a lot of ideas for other videos.
**Water use** (Feynstein 100): There’s a lot of uncertainty about how much agriculture can be scaled up to feed more people.
**Burden of old age** (Wan Ahmad Firas): Birth rates are slowing in most of the world, and most population growth is due to people living longer.
**Finally: Moon cheese** (Ira Iguanadon): The moon is not made of cheese; it’s made of rock and covered in dust particles.
So, that’s around two million, yeah? Great! These were all wonderful comments and questions, and we appreciate all your support and curiosity. There’s a ton I didn’t have time to answer, but you can always find me out there on the internet. Thanks, and remember… Stay curious!
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Let me know if you need any further modifications!
Biology – The scientific study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, evolution, and distribution. – Biology helps us understand the complex interactions within ecosystems and the impact of human activities on biodiversity.
Science – A systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. – Science has enabled us to develop technologies that improve our quality of life and expand our understanding of the cosmos.
Communication – The process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior, crucial in scientific research for sharing findings and ideas. – Effective communication in science is essential for collaboration and the advancement of knowledge.
Pigments – Substances that provide color to plant and animal tissues and are involved in various biological processes, such as photosynthesis in plants. – Chlorophyll is a key pigment in plants that absorbs light energy for photosynthesis.
Carotenoids – A class of pigments found in plants and some other photosynthetic organisms, responsible for red, yellow, and orange hues, and play a role in photosynthesis and protection against photooxidative damage. – Carotenoids in carrots are not only responsible for their orange color but also contribute to human health by acting as antioxidants.
Immune – Relating to the immune system, the body’s defense mechanism against pathogens and foreign substances. – The immune response is a complex process involving various cells and proteins that work together to protect the body from infection.
Neuroplasticity – The ability of the nervous system to change its structure and function in response to experience or injury. – Neuroplasticity allows the brain to adapt to new learning experiences and recover from injuries.
Agriculture – The science, art, and practice of cultivating soil, growing crops, and raising animals for food, fiber, and other products. – Advances in agriculture have led to increased food production and sustainability through the use of biotechnology and improved farming techniques.
Population – A group of individuals of the same species living in a specific geographic area, capable of interbreeding and sharing genetic material. – Studying the population dynamics of endangered species is crucial for developing effective conservation strategies.
Storytelling – The use of narrative to convey scientific concepts and discoveries in an engaging and accessible manner. – Storytelling in science can make complex topics more relatable and inspire interest in scientific exploration.
