SoT 249: Snail Tinder

Published: Dec. 11, 2016, 12:45 a.m.

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Hosts: Ed Brown, Penny Dumsday, Lucas Randall

00:00:51 Scientists have drilled into the impact site of the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. The core samples have revealed the impact caused a temporary mountain range the size of the Himalayas.

00:11:16 At a time when the coconut market is booming, the world\'s coconut trees could be facing extinction. And saving them presents a number of difficult challenges.

00:14:58 Researchers using NASA\'s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have determined that frozen beneath a particular region of Mars\'s surface lies about as much water as what\'s in Lake Superior, largest of the Great Lakes in North America.

00:19:56 Most snail shells coil on the right-hand side of the snail. But Jeremy the Snail is 1 in 100,000 - his shell coils to the left. For snails, it\'s hard to find love when you\'re a lefty.

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This episode contains archive material of astronaut John Glenn\'s historic first orbit around the Earth.

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