The Poetry of Science: Recent Episodes
Sam Illingworth
Join Dr Sam Illingworth as he provides insight into new scientific research via the medium of poetry.
This episode explores new research, which has found that nearly half of 232 US health datasets were changed, mostly replacing 'gender' with 'sex', without logging or explanation.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Testament to the Agency of Man’ by Rickey Laurentiis here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that damming water in reservoirs from 1835 to 2011 shifted Earth's spin axis by over half a metre.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Toward the North Pole’ by Louis Gilmore here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that vampire bats can lick rabies vaccines off each other, spreading immunity through grooming.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Bats’ by Hussain Ahmed here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that even small amounts of lead in early childhood were linked to lower reading and maths scores all the way through school.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Lead in the Water’ by Jean Garrigue here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that oceans are getting greener near the poles and bluer in the subtropics.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Against Opulence’ by Kimiko Hahn here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which found that climate change and cheese quality are directly linked.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Personals’ by C.D. Wright here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which found that living within proximity to a golf course increases the risk of Parkinson’s disease.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘X Ray’ by Dannie Abse here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that removing fluoride from US water would cost $9.8 billion.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Brushing Teeth with My Sister after the Wake’ by Jim Daniels here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that beers brewed across the US contain 'forever chemicals' linked to health risks.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Lines on Ale’ by Edgar Allan Poe here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that democratic countries often appear greener because they offshore pollution to less democratic nations.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Love in a Time of Climate Change’ by Craig Santos Perez here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the richest 1% of people caused 20 times more warming than the global average since 1990.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘ted talk’ by Jenny Zhang here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that citizens in more democratic nations report greater wellbeing.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Democracy Poem #1’ by June Jordan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that a 50% drop in US childhood vaccination could cause 51 million measles cases in 5 years.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘A Mnemonic Device’ by Clare Pollard here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found a link between wildfires and mental health–related emergency department visits.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Ashes’ by Karin Gottshall here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that carrion crows can spontaneously detect geometric regularity - like right angles and symmetry - just like humans.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Crows in a Strong Wind’ by Cornelius Eady here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that US Bitcoin mining uses more electricity than Los Angeles, mostly from fossil fuels.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Air' by W.S. Merwin here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found a permanent global decline in terrestrial water storage, especially soil moisture.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read ‘Water Table’ by Eliza Griswold here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that insect brains might calculate the sun’s position using internal clocks and trigonometric circuits.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Insect’ by Annie Finch here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that which has found that matcha green tea reduces DNA damage and oxidative stress in bone marrow after gamma radiation exposure.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Green Tea’ by Dale Ritterbusch here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that decaying jellyfish blooms create hotspots for antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Moon Jellyfish’ by Jennifer Martelli here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which found war-related trauma changes DNA in Syrian refugee families, affecting children and grandchildren.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Origins of Violence’ by Jenny George here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that countries like the US and UK use more land for golf courses than for wind or solar energy.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Seaside Golf’ by John Betjeman here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that wildfire suppressants contain toxic metals.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Smothered Fires’ by Georgia Douglas Johnson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that Ancient Egyptian mummies still smell nice.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Egyptian Tomb of Emily Dickinson’ by Alexandria Peary here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that urban rat populations are increasing in most major cities - driven by climate warming and urbanisation.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Rats’ by Pierre Martory here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has investigated bacteria that can eat forever chemicals.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Triple Moments of Light and Industry’ by Brenda Hillman here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has investigated bacteria that can eat forever chemicals. If you want to find out more about the scientific study featured in this episode, or read any of the poems in full, then please visit the show notes at scipoetry.podbean.com.
This episode explores new research, which has investigated the key risks from Arctic permafrost thaw.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Undoing’ by Khadijah Queen here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that barn owls have evolved to camouflage themselves by moonlight.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Owl’ by Arthur Sze here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that sea surface temperatures and deeper water temperatures reached a new record high in 2024.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Sea Chews Things Up’ by Cleopatra Mathis here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found microplastic hotspots across the Southern Ocean.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'If the ocean had a mouth' by Marie-Elizabeth Mali here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which explores the emerging archaeological record of Mars.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Tea-Strainer’ by Joyelle McSweeney here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which explores the emerging archaeological record of Mars.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Here's Mars’ by William H. Dickey here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that air pollution in India is linked to millions of deaths.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Air Smelled Dirty’ by Marge Piercy here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has shown climate warming destabilises boreal forests.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Forest of Dead Trees’ by Mark Turbyfill here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found 1.5-million-year-old footprints of two different species of human ancestors at the same spot.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Footsteps’ by Fanny Howe here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that more snow could protect glaciers from melt – but only if we curb greenhouse gas emissions soon.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Eating the Glacier’ by Lauren Winchester here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that rainforest protection reduces the number of respiratory diseases.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Rainforest’ by Teresa Mei Chuc here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
https://linktr.ee/sam.illingworth
This episode explores new research, which has observed warm ocean water moving beneath the Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica, where it contributes to ice melting.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Ice' by Gail Mazur here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that bats use an acoustic cognitive map for navigation.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Bats' by Luke Hathaway here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that human actions cause insect colour change.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Insect’ by Annie Finch here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that tropical mammals react to changes in lunar light.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Moonlight’ by Paul Verlaine here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used the chemical fingerprints of zinc contained in meteorites to determine the origin of volatile elements on Earth.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Near-Earth Object’ by John Shoptaw here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that drier winter habitat impacts songbirds’ ability to survive migration.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Migration’ by Ira Sadoff here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that burying wood in the right environmental conditions can stop its decomposition and help curb carbon dioxide emissions.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Wood’ by Richard Brautigan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the long-range transport of dust enhances oceanic life.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Dust’ by Dorianne Laux here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that flowers use adjustable petal designs to attract pollinators.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Flowers’ by Wendy Videlock here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that excessive light pollution may increase risk of Alzheimer's.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read “Alzheimer’s” by William J. Harris here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has observed a pair of galaxies in the act of merging 12.8 billion years ago.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Universe’ by Steven Schnur here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that meteor showers shed light on where comets formed in the early solar system.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Meteorite’ by Randall Jarrell here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that underground acoustics amplify soil health.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘This Soil’ by Alice Corbin Henderson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that nature is at risk in the hunt for the perfect selfie.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Manifesto of the Lyric Selfie’ by Becca Klaver here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has studied how the rising earth in Antarctica will impact future sea level rise.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Way to Keep Going in Antarctica’ by Bernadette Mayer here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has investigated the iridescent evolution of birds.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Birdsong' by Joanie Mackowski here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that even 10 minutes of nature exposure is likely to yield benefits for adults with mental illness.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Wildlife Management III’ by James Galvin here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that unprecedented warming threatens earth’s lakes and their ecosystems.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Lake Cycle’ by Jessica Nelson North here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that painting roofs white is effective at cooling cities at scale.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Heat' by John Gould Fletcher here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that meteorite impact rate on Mars can help date planetary surfaces.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Meteorite’ by Randall Jarrell here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that dense, swirling winds help supermassive black holes grow.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Effects’ by Nick Laird here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that restored rat-free islands could support hundreds of thousands more breeding seabirds
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Baiting Bush Rats’ by Anthony Lawrence here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has identified the gene that enhances some of the properties of lavender.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Lavender' by Mary Enslow here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that mussels downstream of wastewater treatment plants contain radium.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Merrymakers in a Mussel Shell’ by Holly Corfield Carr here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used wobbling stars to find new exoplanets.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘In the Planetarium’ by James Doyle here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has investigated how heatwaves are affecting Arctic phytoplankton.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Invitation’ by Aimee Nezhukumatathil here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that heavy snowfall and rain may contribute to some earthquakes.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Snowfall' by Ravi Shankar here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that a magnetic field collapse may have triggered the emergence of animals on Earth.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Moon’s Magnetic Field Once Came from an Asteroid’ by Rebecca Morgan Frank here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that women and shepherds historically reduced wildfire risk in Central Italy.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Leaves’ by Ursula K. Le Guin here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that toxic chemicals from microplastics can be absorbed through skin.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Plastic: A Personal History’ by Elizabeth Bradfield here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that Africa’s flamingos are threatened by rising lake levels.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Flamingo Watching’ by Kay Ryan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that four in five bird species cannot tolerate intense human pressures.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Birds’ by Linda Pastan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that common water pollutants cause heart damage in fish.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Water Devil’ by Jamaal May here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that signs of life could be detectable in single ice grains that are emitted from extraterrestrial moons.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Ten Moons’ by Sasha Dugdale here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used ancient tree rings to reconstruct the climate records of North China.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Trees’ by Mark Haddon here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that fishing for oil and meat drives deepwater shark and ray decline.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Sharks at the New York Aquarium’ by Charles Martin here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that deforestation exacerbates the risk of malaria for the most vulnerable children.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Mosquito Music’ by Philip Gross here
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that cloud clustering causes more extreme rain.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Clouds' by Caroline Forché here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
X: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has looked to neutron stars to reduce nuclear waste.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Near the Desert Test Sites (Palm Desert, California)’ by Sherod Santos here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has detected the faint light of stellar corpses beside predator stars.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Stars’ by Marjorie Pickthall here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that climate change likely triggered pandemics in antiquity.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Return to Rome' by Stanley Moss here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found confirmation of an ancient lake on Mars.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Here’s Mars’ by William H. Dickey here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that Alpine glaciers will lose at least a third of their volume by 2050.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Exit Glacier’ by Peggy Shumaker here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has discovered an Earth-sized planet in ‘our solar backyard’.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'The Planet' by Josephine Jacobsen here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has revealed the mysterious missing component in the clouds of Venus.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Venus’ By D. Nurkse here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that particulate matter affects both the molecular functions and physical shape of lung cells.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'The Orange Alert' by Douglas Kearney here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that vulnerable populations face flood risk in most African countries.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Drought' by Tsitsi Ella Jaji here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has measured the distance to stars by their music.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Music of the Spheres' by Robert Morgan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has suggested that it’s time to declare a new epoch on the moon, the 'Lunar Anthropocene'.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Moon’ by Amy E. Sklansky here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has revealed distant galaxies, reshaping our understanding of the universe's evolution.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Lost in the Milky Way' by Linda Hogan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that particulate pollution from coal is associated with double the risk of mortality than from other sources.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Coal Deliveryman' by Ramón Cote Baraibar here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that bees cannot taste even lethal levels of pesticides.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Bees’ by Bruce MacKinnon here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that ocean acidification in the Mediterranean is already affecting the calcification of marine plankton.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘[Ocean which I pushed up]’ by Joshua Beckman here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has investigated how butterflies can help scientists to detect cancer.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Vision’ by Marjorie Pickthall here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has used Cold War spy satellite imagery to reveal Ancient Roman forts.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Searching for Satellites’ by Roberto Harrison here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that soil carried on sea freight is loaded with dangerous pests and diseases.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘This Soil’ by Alice Corbin Henderson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that wildfire smoke may linger in homes long after the initial blaze.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Smoke’ by Théophile Gautier here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
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This episode explores new research, which has found that our sense of smell changes the colours we see.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Smell Is the Last Memory to Go’ by Fatimah Asghar here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that reducing fishing gear could save whales with low impacts to California’s fishing industry.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Humpback’ by Robert Bernard Hass here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that jellyfish can learn from past experiences.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Moon Jellyfish’ by Jennifer Martelli here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that supermassive black holes alter galactic chemistry.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'The Black Hole’ by Michael Ryan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
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This episode explores new research, , which has investigated how climate change will affect decomposition.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'I know that all beneath the moon decays' by William Drummond of Hawthornden here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that air pollution has decreased across the US, but health burdens remain unequal among racial groups.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Hiking' by Abigail Wender here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that heatwaves are becoming more frequent and more deadly.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Heatwave’ by Ted Hughes here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that America’s wealthiest 10% is responsible for 40% of US greenhouse gas emissions.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read 'Vespers ["Once I believed in you..."]' by Louise Glück here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that mega-storms leave marks on Saturn’s atmosphere for centuries.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read 'Saturn' by Stefanie Marlis here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that Kordofan giraffes face local extinction if poaching continues.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘The Giraffe’ by Ronald Lee Perry here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that ancient pathogens emerging from melting ice and permafrost risk eroding ecosystems.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Yeast’ by Roddy Lumsden here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the Pacific slope of Peru is greening, and that this is not good news.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Prophecy’ by Jules Supervielle here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that ocean animals vacate areas both around and outside deep-sea mining operations.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Sea Floor’ by Edward Weismiller here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that human-made materials in nests can bring both risks and benefits for birds.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Nests in Elms’ by Michael Field here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that birds raise fewer young when spring arrives earlier in a warming world.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Spring’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that global reservoirs are becoming emptier.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘The Reservoir’ by Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that combustion from gas stoves can raise indoor levels of the toxic chemical benzene.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘In Praise of Old Stoves’ by Paul Petrie here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found evidence of the first prehistoric wind instruments.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Incantation to an Age of Stone’ by V R lang here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that night-time pollinators such as moths may visit just as many plants as bees.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Moths’ by Caleb Klaces here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that global flash droughts are expected to increase in a warming climate.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Dear Drought’ by Amy Beeder here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that current measures to protect grasslands in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are damaging the ecosystem and should be stopped.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘On the Plains’ by David Wagoner here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
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This episode explores new research, which has found that coastal lights trick coral reefs into spawning earlier than they should.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Night in Day’ by Joseph Stroud here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
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This episode explores new research, which has found that bird species body size may predict the rate of climate change.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Confession of a Bird Watcher’ by Chard Deniord here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that air pollution exposure is associated with an increased risk of irregular heartbeat.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Arrhythmia’ by Hailey Leithauser here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that water arsenic is linked to higher urinary arsenic totals among the US population.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Water Route’ by Barry Sternlieb here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that the diversity of present tree species is shaped by climate change in the last 21,000 years.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Native Trees’ by W.S. Merwin here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that light pollution may extend the mosquito biting season.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Mosquitos’ by Katherine Hauth here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
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This episode explores new research, which has found that jet lag’s harmful health impacts are caused by biological clock misalignment.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Reunion’ by Megan Fernandes here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that blind people sense their heartbeats better than sighted people.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘A Blind Woman’ by Ted Kooser here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
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This episode explores new research, which has looked at the long-term environmental impact of different methods to control Japanese knotweed.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Autumn’ by Sydney Lea here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that entire populations of Antarctic seabirds fail to breed due to extreme, climate-change-related snowstorms.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Sea Bird to the Wave’ by Padraic Colum here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com
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This episode explores new research, which has found that bees follow linear landmarks to find their way home.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Bees, so many bees’ by Anna Jackson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that long-term exposure to air pollution is tied to an increased risk of having a heart attack or dying from heart disease.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Heart Valve’ by Elizabeth Arnold here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that geckos can use their tongue to differentiate their own odour from that of other members of their species.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘A Lizard in Spanish Valley’ by Wendy Videlock here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that small perching birds, such as blue and great tits, avoid breeding in urban areas where there are many non-native trees.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Birds’ by Linda Pastan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has investigated the rapid behavioural responses of endangered tigers to major roads during COVID-19 lockdown.
Read this episode’s science poem here.Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘Tiger on the Shoulder’ by Janet McAdams here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that instead of using traditional fireworks, cleaner alternatives like drone and laser light shows should be used to prevent harm to wildlife, household pets, and the environment.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘State Fair Fireworks, Labor Day’ by Maryann Corbett here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that elephant extinction could have a major impact on atmospheric carbon levels.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Elephant’ by Dan Chiasson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that human-initiated wildfire smoke is responsible for around 20,000 premature deaths per year in the United States.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘SMOKE’ by Philip Levine here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that children near airports may be exposed to dangerous levels of lead.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Sparrow Trapped in the Airport’ by Averill Curdy here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that climate change threatens endangered marimo algae balls with extinction through deadly sunburn.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Hearsay Song' by John Yau here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that up to one a half million tonnes of carbon, soot, and other particles from combustion end up in deep-sea trenches every year.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Ocean of Earth' by Guillaume Apollinaire here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that hotter days brought about by climate change have been linked to an increased risk of shootings in the United States.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘My Mother Contemplating Her Gun’ by Nick Flynn here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that the microplastics in Auckland’s air is equal to 3 million plastic bottles every year.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Plastic Bag from Corner Store Laments the Self’ by Aliyah Cotton here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, in the Western United States, an increase in forest resilience is linked with a higher mortality risk for trees.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Eastern Forests’ by Charlie Smith here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that seagrass can reduce coastal erosion by up to 70% thanks to its root mats binding the sand.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Coast’ by Julia Randall here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that under the conditions, disease-resistant corals can help protect other corals that are more vulnerable to disease.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘People Are a Living Structure Like a Coral Reef’ by Heather Christle here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that thanks to conservation efforts reef manta rays are thriving off the Raja Ampat archipelago in Indonesia.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Night Dive’ by Peggy Shumaker here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that vines and climbing plants are more likely to infest smaller trees in Southeast Asian forests, with significant implications for global carbon storage and climate change.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Vine in Early Spring’ by Sara van Alstyne Allen here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that rhino horns have shrunk over the past century, likely due to hunting.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘A Rhinoceros and a Lion’ by Kaoru Maruyama here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that insects can contribute to atmospheric electricity.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Myths of Electricity: A Letter to Nikola Tesla’ by Kevin Meaux here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that 80 years after it sank, a World War 2 warship is still polluting the local ecosystem.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘After the Shipwreck’ by Alicia Ostriker here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has found that the Salton Sea is turning into toxic dust.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Salt to Make a Sea’ by Renée Ashley here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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This episode explores new research, which has improved the ability to predict fluctuations in the rotation of the Earth and with it the length of the day.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Days’ by Philip Larkin here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that planting hedges and flower strips in orchards helps to support wild bee communities, thereby improving pollination.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Bees’ by Bruce Mackinnon here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that five years after the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, one in four residents has PTSD.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Water Table’ by Eliza Griswold here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that bottlenose dolphins form the largest alliance network outside of humans.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Dolphins at Seven Weeks’ by Rachel Jamison Webster here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that a single introduction of wild rabbits triggered their invasion across Australia in the 1800s.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Rabbit’ by Stanley Vestal here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that climate change will likely lead to irreversible declines in freshwater storage in the Tibetan Plateau by the middle of this century, impacting the supply of freshwater for nearly two billion people.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Water Table’ by Eliza Griswold here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that tinnitus affects more than 740 million adults and is perceived as a major problem by more than 120 million people across the world.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Tinnitus’ by Henry M. Seiden here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that which has found that junk food advertising restrictions on Transport for London networks have prevented almost 100,000 obesity cases since 2019.
Read this episode’s science poem here. Read the scientific study that inspired it here. Read ‘The Sugar Thief’ by Ned Balbo here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast: Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that wood heating pollutes the air in mountain areas more than previously assumed.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Meeting the Mountains’ by Gary Snyder here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that after Hurricane Harvey, the residents of Houston were exposed to more chemical pollutants than normal.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Storm Is Over’ by Jason Guriel here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used underwater nuclear bomb detectors to reveal a rebound in the population of pygmy blue whales.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Environmental Awareness: The Right Whale’ by Claudia Emerson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the climate crisis is likely to deepen environmental injustice in urban areas.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Post-Construction’ by Kay Ryan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that ancient microbes may help us to find extraterrestrial life forms.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Colors of Ageing’ by Peter Boyle here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that dairy cows exposed to wildfire smoke produce less milk.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Cows’ by Frederick Bock here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that artificial light affects the seasonal rhythms of plants.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘In the Changing Light’ by Carter Revard here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found evidence of a beautiful songbird potentially becoming an invasive species in the UK.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Songbird' by John Brehm here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that e-cigarettes have led to more than 1 million young people (14-17) in the US becoming daily tobacco users.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Interstate Sonnet’ by Carl Marcum here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used 10 years of citizen science data to show that a variety of conservation approaches are needed to protect UK bumblebee species.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Apple Blossoms’ by Susan Kelly-DeWitt here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has investigated how an extra-terrestrial stone found on Earth provides clues about supernova events.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘We Astronomers’ by Rebecca Elson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that shipping poses a significant threat to the endangered whale shark.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Requiem Shark’ by Rad Smith here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that student debt can impair your cardiovascular health into middle age.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Debt’ by Paul Laurence Dunbar here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found links between red tides and dead zones off the west coast of Florida.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Fabliau of Florida’ by Wallace Stevens here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the absence of visual imagination can be detected by looking at how the pupils respond to light.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Mind’s Eye’ by David M. Graham here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that children differ dramatically from adults in their moral views on animals.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Animals That Die in Our Houses’ by Jane Shore here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that changing the ways in which fruit is gathered from palm trees could help to conserve Amazon peatland forests.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Palm Tree’ by Rabindranath Tagore here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that a globalised diet of ultra-processed foods is having a negative impact on both human and planetary health.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Strict Diet’ by James Crews here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that neighbourhood green space is tied to lower healthcare costs.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Green Pear Tree in September’ by Freya Manfred here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has created a colour catalogue to help find life on distant, frozen worlds.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence’ by Matthew Rohrer here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found a sharp decline in basking shark sightings in California.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Basking Shark’ by Norman MacCaig here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found unexpectedly high levels of hazardous chemicals in nail salons.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘You Mean You Don’t Weep at the Nail Salon?’ by Elizabeth Acevedo here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that almost all children have tobacco smoke toxicants on their hands, even in non-smoking homes.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Smoking’ by Ronald Wallace here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that old and ancient trees help to develop a forest's resilience.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Tree’ by Jane Hirshfield here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found evidence of nanoplastics falling like snow in the remote, high-altitude Alps.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Twilight in the Alps’ by Henry Van Dyke here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the safe planetary boundary for pollutants (including plastics) has been exceeded.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Value Added’ by Stephen Sandy here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that 370,000 Californians rely on drinking water that is polluted, with communities of colour disproportionally affected.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Water’ by Ralph Waldo Emerson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that violence is broadly felt by millions of Californians.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Parable in Praise of Violence’ by Tony Barnstone here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that head lice can help us to analyse the remains of our ancestors.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘What DNA Knows’ by Charlotte Pence here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the magnetic field generated by a tsunami can be detected before changes in sea level.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Great Tsunami’ by Michele Wolf here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that Earth’s past climate is recorded in clam shells.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Some Questions about the Storm’ by Hilda Raz here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that migratory birds have lighter-coloured feathers.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Migration’ by Ira Sadoff here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that a waterfall's sound and visual appearance can be used to track changes in its flow.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Waterfall’ by Mary Oliver here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has shown how the magnetisation of rocks can be used to find the impact sites of meteorites.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Santa Fe Trail’ by Barbara Guest here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the world's largest mass extinction may have begun with volcanic winter.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘For a Coming Extinction’ by W. S. Merwin here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has investigated how the communication styles of volunteers attempting to replicate life in deep space changed over time.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Space’ by William Burford here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the sounds of spring are changing, with dawn choruses across North America and Europe becoming quieter and less varied.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Dawn Chorus’ by Sasha Dugdale here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has investigated the different losses that young adults have suffered during COVID-19.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Are they Shadows’ by Samuel Daniel here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that ancient driftwood can be used to track 500 years of Arctic warming and changes to sea ice levels.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Driftwood’ by Ralph Cheever Dunning here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that dragonflies can migrate thousands of kilometres across the Indian Ocean, from India via the Maldives to Africa, and back again.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Fly, Dragonfly!’ by Joyce Sidman here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that a cosmic impact destroyed Tall el-Hammam, an ancient city in the Jordan Valley.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘On an Evening of Bright Meteors’ by Maurice Lesemann here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that ancient residents of Teotihuacán reshaped the landscape in a way that continues to influence modern construction in this part of Mexico.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Flower Song’ by Francisco Xavier Alarcón here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that global light pollution has increased by at least 49% over the last 25 years.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Light’ by C. K. Williams here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used synthetic storms and natural archives to reconstruct Atlantic hurricane frequency over the past couple of thousand years.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Storm’ by Tessa Sweazy Webb here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that rare earth elements are finding their way into Colorado water supplies, driven by changes in the climate.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Metals Metals’ by Russell Edson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that bird diversity is threatened by urbanisation.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘There Are Birds Here’ by Jamaal May here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the flight performance of bees is affected by temperature.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Bees were Better’ by Naomi Shihab Nye here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used machine learning to understand why extreme precipitation in the Midwestern United States is becoming more frequent.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Postscript from Mississippi’ by Rebecca Morgan Frank here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the rise and fall of sea levels influence the likelihood of volcanic eruptions.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Santorini’ by George Seferis here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that trees in Colorado subalpine forests are dying at increasing rates from warmer and drier summer conditions.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Spruces’ by Wilbert Snow here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that snakes can be used to potentially reveal radiation levels in the soil around Fukushima.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Snake’ by Katie Peterson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has developed a novel forensic tool for detecting the illegal trading of critically endangered cockatoos.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Cockatoo’ by Cid Corman here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that poachers have killed a third of Wisconsin wolves since they were removed from the Endangered Species List in late 2020.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘A Wolf’ by Jorge Luis Borges here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that wildfire changes songbird plumage and testosterone.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Baby Wren’s Voices’ by Thomas R. Smith here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that painted lady butterflies achieve the longest known insect migration from the Sahara Desert to Europe.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Painted Lady’ by Margaret Danner here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used millimetre-sized computers to reveal how one species of Pacific Island land snail has used the sun to escape extinction.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Snail’ by Langston Hughes here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has successfully revived tiny 24,000-year-old microorganisms buried under Siberian permafrost.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Librarian Decides on Cryonics’ by Judith Skillman here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that Californian wildfire smoke reached Europe in 2020, causing a strong cloudiness of the sun.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Smoke of Distant Fires’ by Eduardo Chirinos here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has nitrogen has turned sargassum (i.e. brown seaweed) into the world's largest harmful algal bloom.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Seaweeds’ by Sandra Mcpherson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that Greenland is becoming darker and warmer.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘You Could Never Take A Car to Greenland’ by Maggie Smith here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that lichen may take up to a century to fully recover from wildfire.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Springtime in the Rockies, Lichen’ by Lew Welch here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which re-considers what is happening to plastic waste in marine and sedimentary environments.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Deep Sea’ by Axton Clark here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that sponges leave trails on the sea floor in the Arctic deep sea.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Sponge’ by Joshua Mehigan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that a 4,000-year-old carved stone slab is Europe’s oldest known map.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Map’ by Biswamit Dwibedy here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that road salts and other human sources are threatening the world's freshwater supplies.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Salt to Make a Sea’ by Renée Ashley here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that sea level rise is killing trees along the Atlantic Coast, creating ‘ghost forests’ that are visible from space.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Another Grieving Forest’ by Alfred Kreymborg here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that sperm whales shared behaviours to outmanoeuvre 19th-century human hunters.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Invitation’ by Aimee Nezhukumatathil here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that sperm whales shared behaviours to outmanoeuvre 19th-century human hunters.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Whaler’ by W. S. Merwin here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has discovered plants buried deep beneath the ground, indicating that Greenland was once ice-free.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Over Greenland’ by Peter Campion here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has discovered sea slugs that can decapitate themselves and regrow their entire bodies.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Autotomy’ by Wisława Szymborska here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has read an unopened letter from Renaissance Europe – without breaking its seal or damaging it in any way.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Letters for the Dead’ by Philip Levine here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has discovered that the way a fish swims reveals a lot about its personality.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Fish’ by Many Ann Hoberman here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has discovered how whale song echoes can be used to map the ocean floor.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Whalesong’ by Sophie Stephenson-Wright here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has discovered that a large seashell found in the archives of a French museum is actually a musical instrument used around 18,000 years ago.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'The Sea Shell’ by Marin Sorescu here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has investigated how fungi navigate through the complex microscopic maze-like structures found in the soil.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Fungus on Fallen Alder at Lookout Creek’ by Ellen Bass here.
This episode explores new research, which has found a dramatic increase in microplastics in seagrass soil since the 1970s.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘In the Greenhouse’ by Eugenio Montale here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that satellite cameras coupled with machine learning can be used to detect and count African elephants in complex geographical landscapes.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Elephant Armageddon’ by Gerard Malanga here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that 5,700 lakes in the Northern Hemisphere may permanently lose ice cover this century because of global warming.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘River Snow’ by Mark van Doren here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has shown that the mangroves on the coasts of Oman disappeared about 6,000 years because of climate change.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Caribbean Marsh’ by Muna Lee here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the Moon controls the release of methane in the Arctic Ocean.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Low Tide’ by Edna St. Vincent Millay here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that that the recovery of beavers may have beneficial consequences for amphibians in surviving the effects of climate change.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘In the North Cascades’ by Dixie Partridge here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the chemical signals that are emitted by coral reefs provide an indicator of their relative health.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Sea Garden’ by Rosamond S. King here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that molecular fossils extracted from 635-million-year-old rocks aren't the earliest evidence of complex life on Earth, but are instead nothing more than common algae.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific studies that inspired it here and here.
Read ‘Hearsay Song’ by John Yau here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that fish carcasses are transporting toxic mercury pollution from the atmosphere to the bottom of the world's oceans.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Hall of Ocean Life’ by John Hollander here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode features an alternative format in which I talk to the poet Paul Pearson about his new poetry collection ‘Lunatic Engine’, which reflects on the science of Galileo, and our place in the Universe.
You can find out more about Lunatic Engine here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that global wind systems are responsible for mosses becoming one of our planet's most widely distributed plants.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Moss’ by Bruce Guernsey here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the wing length of the monarch butterfly has evolved in response to migration habits.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘of a butterfly in el barrio or a stranger in paradise’ by Jesús Papoleto Meléndez here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has shown how large tides may have driven the evolution of fish towards life on land.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Evolution’ by Linda Bierds here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
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Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used flour beetles to predict how different species will interact with each other following shifting habitats brought about by climate change.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Elegy for the Insects’ by Michael Benedikt here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found mysterious seafloor ‘crop circles’ off the north-west coast of Australia.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Circle’ by Pádraig Ó Tuama here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found 24 ‘superhabitable’ planets that may have conditions that are more suitable for life than here on Earth.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Another Planet’ by Dunya Mikhail here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that 'zombie fires' in the Arctic are likely to have strong consequences for the global climate.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Fire’ by Katie Ford here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used geochemical analysis to show that millions of wild birds were once sacrificed to Ancient Egyptian gods.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Audubon Becomes Obsessed with Birds’ by Andy Brown here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which shows how the ability for certain animals to navigate using the Earth’s magnetic field may be due to bacteria.
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Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘My Proteins’ by Jane Hirshfield here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used environmental DNA sampling to rediscover Brazilian frogs that were assumed to be extinct.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Tree Frogs’ by William Logan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that loggerhead sea turtles are able to detect hurricanes.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Swimming With A Hundred Year Old Snapping Turtle’ by Freya Manfred here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that flooding can be predicted using the same models that are used for mapping pandemics.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Flood’ by Janet McAdams here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that compensating farmers for providing habitats for wild bees will ultimately benefit all landowners.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Wild Bees’ by James K. Baxter here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that even during a solar minimum, our sun is still extremely active.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘To Summarize a Galaxy’ by beyza ozer here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that even during a solar minimum, our sun is still extremely active.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Sound of the Sun’ by George Bradley here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which proposes that long-lived trees (while living for several thousand years in some instances) are not actually immortal.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Cypress, Dateless’ by Dara Wier here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has shown how satellite imagery can be used to provide drought early warning systems in sub-Saharan Africa.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Drought’ by Gary Soto here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that better-managed road verges can help boost the effectiveness and conservation of pollinating insects.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Mower’ by Philip Larkin here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that microplastics significantly impact the development of the American lobster.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Lobster’ by Carl Rakosi here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that Alaskan beavers are potentially causing an acceleration of climate change due to their impact on permafrost in the region.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Beaver’ by Mary Howitt here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that artificial lights along coastlines are impacting those species that navigate by starlight.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Starlight at Sea’ by Katharine Lee Bates here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that increasing green space in cities could help to prevent premature deaths.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Trees of Riverdale Park’ by Karen Solie here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used radiocarbon dating techniques to unravel the mystery of Por-Bajin, a medieval ruin in the Russian republic of Tuva in Southern Siberia.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Ruins’ by Samuel Menashe here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that tiger snakes are excellent bioindicators for environmental pollution.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Pilot Snake’ by Mary Oliver here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has created a cloud atlas for extra-terrestrial planets.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Clouds’ by Constance Urdang here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that penguin poo produces very high levels of nitrous oxide (i.e. laughing gas).
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Magallenic Penguin’ by Pablo Neruda here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that moths play a vital role as pollinators, especially in the night-time.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Moths’ by Jennifer O'Grady here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that logging is partly responsible for worsening the recent Australian wildfires.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Wildfire Moon’ by Carol Muske-Dukes here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has investigated how salt deposits might be a potential solution for nuclear waste disposal.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Salt’ by by Huang Fan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that rising carbon dioxide levels may directly harm our ability to think.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Thought’ by Thomas Pfau here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has restored sight in blind mice by turning skin cells into light-sensing eye cells.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Mouse’ by Ted Kooser here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used the fallout from the Cold War nuclear bomb tests to reveal the true age of whale sharks.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Plague of Dead Sharks’ by Alan Dugan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used meteorites to determine that Mars did not form in a similar way to Earth and may have obtained its hydrogen from outside forces.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Mars’ by Patrick White here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has observed an exoplanet over 600 light years from Earth where it rains iron.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'From Another Planet’ by Mark Jarman here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used ancient clams to reveal how days were half an hour shorter 70 million years ago.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘An Autopsy of an Era’ by Mary Jo Bang here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has harnessed the problem-solving capabilities of a simple slime mould to trace the large-scale structure of the universe.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Universe: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’ by Tracy K. Smith here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has used jellyfish to help understand how sexual reproduction in animals may have evolved.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘A Jelly-Fish’ by Marianne Moore here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has combined genealogy and genetics to identify thousands of individuals in Québec whose remains lie in unmarked graves.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Mapping the Genome’ by Michael Symmons Roberts here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that the Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador has shown signs of possible flank instability.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘A Postcard from the Volcano’ by Wallace Stevens here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that a Himalayan glacier shows evidence of the start of the Industrial Revolution.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Snowmen’ by Agha Shadid Ali here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has investigated the sounds made by marine mammals in a changing Arctic environment.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Seals at High Island’ by Richard Murphy here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that marine heat waves are linked to an increase in the number of whales being caught in fishing gear.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Right Whale in Iowa’ by Debora Greger here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that male swamp sparrows are less intimidated by the songs of their ageing rivals.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Sparrow’ by Farnoosh Fathi here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that historical housing policies are responsible for a disproportionate exposure to dangerous climate impacts.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Color Blind (For Real)’ by Marc Livanos and Quincy Hull here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that nearly a decade after the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, wildlife populations are abundant in areas devoid of human life.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Chernobyl Year’ by Jehanne Dubrow here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research, which has found that climate change is affecting the timing of bird migration on a continental scale.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read the ‘The Birds’ by Linda Pastan here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has created a strain of the bacteria E. coli, that eats carbon dioxide for energy rather than organic compounds like sugars and fats.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read the ‘Wings’ by Miroslav Holub here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that simulated microgravity, such as that encountered in spaceflight, disrupts the functioning of the epithelial barrier (the lining of the gut).
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read the 'Astronaut of Waste’ by Joel Sloman here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that elevated levels of mercury in mountain lions may be caused by coastal fog.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘In the Fog’ by Giovanni Pascoli here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that rainfall patterns across the globe are likely changing due to a rapid warming of the Indo-Pacific region.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Clouds’ by Stephen Dobyns here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that the environmental impacts of Bitcoin mining might be lower than previously thought.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Miners’ by Wilfred Owen here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that metal pollution from agriculture and shipping poses an emerging threat to coral reefs.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Coral’ by Derek Walcott here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found a large number of microplastics in oysters and clams along the Oregon coast in the United States.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘What Makes a Pearl’ by Emily Rose Cole here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found how satellites can be used to map the effect that ship emissions have on cloud formation.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Oh Great O North Cloud’ by Allen Grossman here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that an ancient extinction event on Earth may have been caused (in part) by mercury poisoning from volcanic eruptions.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Quicksilver’ by Julie Suk here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that while much of the Earth's land surface remains relatively wild, it is threatened by anthropogenic fragmentation.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Human Habitat’ by Alison Hawthorne Deming here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found a strong correlation between the rate of deforestation and the transmission of malaria in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Rainforest’ by Teresa Mei Chuc here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that there has been a clear degradation in mountain permafrost across the central Alps over the past two decades, likely brought about by climate change.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Twilight in the Alps’ by Henry van Dyke Jr here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that heat stress from climate change has caused a dramatic decline across bird populations in the Mojave Desert in North America.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Death of the Bird’ by A. D. Hope here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide causes marsh plants to increase in bulk but decrease in size, resulting in dense networks of underground roots that can potentially protect these marshes against rising sea levels.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Marshlands’ by Emily Pauline Johnson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that spider silk and wood fibres can be combines to create materials that are incredibly strong and tough, and which are also biodegradable and do not do not damage the environment in the same way as plastics and many other synthetics.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Guide to Avian Architecture’ by Megan Synder-Camp here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that salamanders may be harnessing their regenerative capabilities to protect themselves against the negative effects of anthropogenic climate change.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Salamanders’ by Sandra McPherson here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found that global warming is causing snowfall to decline in the Northwest United States, which will have a dramatic impact on the freshwater supply across the region.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘A Patch of Old Snow’ by Robert Frost here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
What is distress tolerance? How does it affect us? And how can we help to foster it? In this episode new research which looks at how distress tolerance plays a crucial role in developing innovation and creativity in the workplace.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Door’ by Miroslav Holub here.
Find out how you can foster your own creativity here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new research which has found, for the first time, traces of the iron-60 isotope in Antarctic snow, the origins of which have been shown to come from the explosions of distant stars during supernova events.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Black Stars’ by Primo Levi here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
Methane is the second most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, accounting for about 20% of global emissions. Over the last decade there has been a significant increase in the amount of methane emitted into our atmosphere, and new research suggests that fracking is likely to be partly responsible for this increase. In this episode I explore this research and what it means for our environment.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Fracking, North Dakota’ by David Olsen here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
Between 2002 and 2017, 1,558 people across 50 countries were killed for defending their environments and lands; this is more than double the number of United Kingdom and Australian armed service people killed on active duty in war zones over the same period. In this episode I explore some of the research which aims to understand where this is happening and how it can be stopped.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Extinction’ by Jackie Kay here.
Find out more about Global Witness here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
Trees and plants use carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, removing it from the atmosphere. In this episode of the podcast I investigate how forest elephants help to make this process more efficient, and how their extinction will have negative effects on global warming.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Elephant Graveyard’ by Roy Marz here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
Recent research has shown that global warming might be responsible for an increase in fungal infections amongst humans. In this episode of the podcast I investigate the research behind these claims, and what it means for future climates.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘The Book of the Dead Man (Fungi)’ by Marvin Bell here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
Recent scientific research has found that radiation levels in parts of the central Pacific Ocean, where the United States conducted nuclear tests during the Cold War, are up to 1,000 times higher than in samples from areas affected by the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters. This episode explores what this means for the islanders.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Tell Them’ by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
Recent research has shown that shown that across Africa a higher percentage of mosquito bites than previously thought take place at times when people are not protected by nets and insecticide. This episode explores this research and what it means for the global battle against malaria.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Mosquito’ by Myronn Hardy here.
Read the study into the quality of mosquito bed nets in Kenya here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
Recent research has shown that mushrooms in colder climates tend to be darker than those in warmer environments. Join me for a poetic investigation into why this may be the case, and how this can help us to better understand the fungal kingdom.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Mushrooms’ by Mary Oliver here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
Recent research has shown how dung beetles use the sun, the wind, and even the stars to navigate. Join me for a poetic investigation into the internal compasses of these fascinating insects.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Dung Beetles Navigate by Starlight’ by Dr Sarah Watkinson here.
Buy Sarah’s chapbook here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode uncovers research which has has found an estimated 414 million pieces of human-made rubbish on Australia’s remote Cocos Islands.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘We are no longer interested in the sea’ by Michael Conley here.
Buy ‘A Change of Climate’ here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode explores new science which reveals how global warming may result in Siberia becoming more habitable during the 21st century.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read ‘Message to Siberia’ by Alexander Pushkin here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth
This episode features an investigation into the relationship between deep-sea fish and earthquakes in Japan.
Read this episode’s science poem here.
Read the scientific study that inspired it here.
Read 'Catalogue of Strange Fish' by Kate Potts here.
Music by Rufus Beckett.
Follow Sam on social media and send in any questions or comments for the podcast:
Email: sam.illingworth@gmail.com Twitter: @samillingworth