Tiny Matters

• [BONUS] Four armadillos in a trenchcoat and does pregnancy boost your sense of smell?: Tiny Show and Tell Us #15

  In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we cover a species of armadillo that, as it turns out, is actually four species. Then we discuss what researchers know about if pregnant people have a better sense of smell.We need your stories — they're what make these bonus episodes possible! Write in to [email protected] *or fill out this form* with your favorite science fact or science news story for a chance to be featured.A transcript and references for this episode can be found at acs.org/tinymatters.

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• 'A cage of ovulating females': The development and testing of the oral birth control pill

  The 1940s were a pivotal time for the world. In the United States, as men went to fight in World War II, women became essential additions to the US workforce. And when the war ended, many of those women wanted to continue working. But having more children than they wanted or could care for was a huge barrier to making that a reality. When the oral birth control pill became available in 1960, it was a massive deal because it gave women control over when and if they wanted to have children. Today the pill is widely accepted, comes in a number of formulations, and is considered so safe that now you can buy it over the counter. But setting the groundwork for what we have available today took time, and experimentation. The history of the pill was also shaped by racism in an era where discrimination was not just state-sanctioned, but backed by many scientific institutions. In this episode of Tiny Matters, we cover the science and development of the oral birth control pill and, importantly, the lack of ethics in its testing, particularly in the trials that began in Puerto Rico in 1955.Send us your science facts, news, or other stories for a chance to be featured on an upcoming Tiny Show and Tell Us bonus episode. And, while you're at it, subscribe to our newsletter!Links to the Tiny Show & Tell stories are here and here. All Tiny Matters transcripts and references are available here.

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• Submit a Tiny Show and Tell Us — first 40 people get a coffee mug!

  We’re always on the lookout for Tiny Show and Tell Us submissions and we thought, why not provide a little incentive? The first 40 listeners within the United States who send us their science facts or some cool news they’ve come across or even a fun science story from their childhood will be sent a Tiny Matters coffee mug with our original logo! You can submit at this link or email [email protected]. Ready, set, go!

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• [BONUS] A hedgehog doppelgänger and STEVE lighting up the sky: Tiny Show and Tell Us #14

  In this episode of Tiny Show and Tell Us, we cover an aurora-like phenomenon — STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) — and how citizen science led to its discovery and unforgettable name. Then we talk about convergent evolution in tenrecs, a fascinating family of animals endemic to Madagascar. Some look identical to hedgehogs, some are similar to opossums, and others look like moles. We need your stories — they're what make these bonus episodes possible! Write in to [email protected] *or fill out this form* with your favorite science fact or science news story for a chance to be featured in a future episode and win a Tiny Matters mug!A transcript and references for this episode can be found at acs.org/tinymatters.

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• Nearly 40 years after the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, wildlife is thriving

  On April 26, 1986, the Soviet Union’s Chornobyl Power Complex nuclear reactor 4 exploded, releasing a massive amount of highly radioactive material. People living near the power plant were forced to evacuate, and the area was deemed uninhabitable. But today, many animals — some the descendants of pets left behind — have made this region their home. In this episode, we chat with researchers who have spent a lot of time in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone studying the animals that live there, trying to understand how constant low levels of radiation impact their health. What they’re learning could inform plans to repopulate areas that suffered past nuclear disasters, including Fukushima, and help with the development of methods that protect astronauts from radioactivity in space. To support the care of the dogs at the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone: https://clean-futures-fund.myshopify.com/products/dogs-of-chernobyl-sticker-series-7-dog-collectionSend us your science stories/factoids/news for a chance to be featured on an upcoming Tiny Show and Tell Us bonus episode and to be entered to win a Tiny Matters coffee mug! And, while you're at it, subscribe to our newsletter at bit.ly/tinymattersnewsletter.Links to the Tiny Show & Tell stories are here and here. All Tiny Matters transcripts and references are available here.

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