Mosquitos and Smell, Fermentation, Model Rocket Launch. July 12, 2019, Part 2

Science Friday

Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Life Sciences, Wnyc, Science, Friday, Natural Sciences

4.4 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 July 2019

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you’ve ever tried brewing your own beer or raising your own sourdough, then you know that the process of fermentation isn't easy to get right. How do you control the growth of mold, yeast, or bacteria such that it creates a savory and delicious new flavor, and not a putrid mess on your kitchen counter? David Zilber is Director of Fermentation at the restaurant Noma, and he tells his fermentation secrets. The human scent is made up of a combination of 100 odor compounds. Other mammals such as guinea pigs also emit the same odor compounds—just in different blends. And even though human odor can also differ from person to person, mosquitoes can still distinguish the scent of a human from other mammals. We'll talk about how mosquitos have evolved to hunt for the prey of their choice. Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing. But before astronauts could take that one small step on the moon, they had to take off from Earth. On Tuesday, July 16, in commemoration of the 9:32 am launch of the Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 11 crew, model rocketeers from around the world will conduct a global launch event—by firing off thousands of rockets planet-wide. Plus, download the SciFri VoxPop app for iPhone or Android and contribute to the show all week long.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is Science Friday. I'm Irafledo. A bit later in the hour, we'll be talking with a world-class fermentation expert about experimenting in your home kitchen. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten fermented? How do they taste? Call us and tell us. Our number is 844-8255-844-Sy-Talk or tweet us at SciFri.
0:26.3	But first, did you know that the human scent is made up of a combination of a hundred different odor molecules?
0:33.5	Not only are they produced by a person, but some are from their microbiome.
0:39.3	These molecules aren't unique to humans.
0:42.3	Other mammals such as guinea pigs also release the same ones, just in different blends.
0:47.3	And even though human odor can also differ from person to person,
0:52.3	mosquitoes can still distinguish the scent of one human or a human
0:57.7	from other mammals. My next guest is going to tell us how mosquitoes have learned to sniff us out.
1:03.3	Dr. Carolyn Lindy McBride, an assistant professor at Princeton University. Welcome to Science Friday.
1:10.1	Thanks, Ira. It's so fun to be here.
1:11.6	That's nice to have you. We're all familiar with the mosquitoes that bite us every summer,
1:15.6	but how many types of mosquitoes are there out there?
1:19.6	Yeah, there are at least over 3,000 species. There are a lot of different types of mosquitoes out there.
1:24.6	And how many of them actually drink human blood?
1:28.3	Well, a lot of them will bite humans.
1:31.3	Yeah.
1:32.3	But what's really interesting to me is there are a few species that really specifically look for humans.
1:38.3	They really specialize in biting humans.
1:40.3	That's rare.
1:41.3	And your study looks at how mosquitoes differentiate between humans and guinea pigs.
1:49.2	What a combination.
1:54.2	That's right.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Science Friday and WNYC Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Science Friday and WNYC Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.