Circadian rhythm pt. 2: Beyond human

Brains On! Science podcast for kids

American Public Media

Kids & Family, Education For Kids

4.4 • 13.5K Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2018

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Circadian rhythms keep our bodies on schedule. But what about the rest of the animal and plant world? Turns out, most living things run on similar cycles. In this episode we take a look at why some animals hibernate. There’s also an interview with a plant. Wait, what?!? You read that right: A PLANT!!! All that and a trip back to pre-history, to see how staying up late might have helped mammals survive all those dinosaurs. Three-word hint: nocturnal bottleneck hypothesis.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Before we get started with the show, we have a special announcement for our listeners in the Boston area.
0:05.0	Brainson is coming to Boston for a live show.
0:08.6	And this live show is all about robots.
0:11.3	It's on Sunday, April 15th, and we're going to be there as part of the Cambridge Science Festival.
0:16.0	If you want to learn more about the event and buy tickets, head to brainson.org.
0:20.7	Hope to see you there!
0:22.7	You're listening to Brainson, where we're serious about being curious.
0:26.2	Brainson is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
0:33.2	A couple episodes ago, we talked about circadian rhythm, the near 24-hour cycle on which our bodies run.
0:40.2	Light from the sun or other sources gives us cues to go about our day.
0:44.2	Wake up in the morning, eat, take on complex problems, even exercise.
0:49.2	As darkness sets in, we get cues to do things like produce more of a hormone called melatonin,
0:54.2	which causes us to sleep.
0:56.2	And the great conductor of our circadian rhythm, the Supra-Ciasmatic Nucleus.
1:01.2	Supra-Ciasmatic Nucleus!
1:06.2	You can think of this group of neurons as the conductor of circadian rhythm directing bodily functions to speed up or slow down.
1:13.2	Today, we're going to look at another side of circadian rhythm.
1:18.2	Light, as it turns out, plays an important role to all sorts of living things.
1:24.2	You're listening to Brainson for American Public Media. I'm Molly Bloom.
1:29.2	And I'm Anna Carrader.
1:31.2	Anna Cucco hosted the first part of this special, so it only makes sense that she's back again today, where...
1:35.2	It's all about the ticks and talks of herself.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from American Public Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of American Public Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.