“A 4-Track Mind” - A neurologist issues a dare to a ragtime piano player and a famous conductor. When the two men face off in an fMRI machine, the challenge is so difficult that one man instantly gives up. But the other achieves a musical feat that ought to be impossible.

From the Radiolab podcast: Why do snails shoot tiny darts at each other?

In this episode, we consider a creature we often don’t think much about—the snail. And not just snails, but their sex lives. Which, as it turns out, is epic. There is persuasion and subterfuge, spaghetti penises and co-copulation. And this very surprising habit—erm kink—of making tiny arrows (actually!) and stabbing each other with them. Known as a “love dart,” these limestone daggers aren’t just a strange trick of nature—they have a deep evolutionary purpose.

Special thanks to Menno Schilthuizen and Aaron Chase.

EPISODE CREDITS:
Hosted by Molly Webster
Reported by Molly Webster
Produced by Mona Madgavkar, Annie McEwen, Molly Webster
Sound design contributed by Mona Madgavkar, Annie McEwen
Fact-checking by Diane A. Kelly
and edited by Alex Neason

EPISODE CITATIONS:

Videos -
A love dart being DARTED! (https://zpr.io/rYhLwXhaxQQP) – Molly has watched this video so many times

Articles -
Changes in the reproductive system of the snail Helix aspersa caused by mucus from the love dart. (https://zpr.io/xxjuCcTyiVJV) by Koene JM, Chase R. J Exp Biol.
The snail's love-dart delivers mucus to increase paternity. By Chase R, Blanchard KC. Proc Biol Sci.
A love-dart at the heart of sexual conflict in snails (https://zpr.io/X2ANHPaEg5sr) by Foote C
** This article has an image of eight different love darts, and it’s what Molly shows to Soren in the episode (this image is one of her favorite research finds!)

Books -
“Nature’s Nether Regions: What the Sex Lives of Bugs, Birds, and Beasts Tell Us About Evolution, Biodiversity, and Ourselves” (https://zpr.io/ktMvJbZciCdD) by evolutionary biologist Menno Schilthuizen.

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Photo illustration by Jared Bartman
Video by W. Harry Fortuna

From the Radiolab podcast: Are we ... glowing?

In the 1920s, a Russian biologist studying onion roots made a surprising discovery: underground, down in the darkness, it seemed like the cells inside the onion roots were making their own light.

The “onion root experiment” went on to become something of a cult classic in science, and eventually the biologically-made light was dubbed “biophotons.” In the ensuing century, biophoton discoveries moved from onion roots to bacteria, frog embryos and humans. Today, scientist Nirosha Murugan is on a career-defining journey to learn more about the light. As she and her colleagues study this mysterious phenomenon, they find themselves racing from question to question, wondering what gives off light, where it might be coming from, and what, if anything, it could tell us about life, disease, and even death.

EPISODE CREDITS:
Hosted by Molly Webster
Reported by Molly Webster
Produced by Sarah Qari
with help from Molly Webster
Fact-checking by Natalie Middleton

EPISODE CITATIONS:

Videos -
The “Life Flash” video! Note that fluorescent dye was added to the experiment, by the researchers, to enhance the zinc sparks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9tmOyrIlYM)

Articles -
The Onion Root Experiment (https://www.brmi.online/gurwitsch)

Enjoy this Wikipedia rabbit-hole about Fritz Albert Popp (https://zpr.io/nxJFcAMvZkBz)

Original Paper on zinc sparks (https://zpr.io/GfbazBqU3e3y) at the time of fertilization, a moment referred to as the “life flash”

Read more about the “death flash,” (https://zpr.io/TqG3mcCGYEgQ) and other end-of-life phenomenon, as reported by medical caregivers

Research from Nirosha’s lab on photon emissions (https://zpr.io/mtpbwSeY4iEp) and brain activity

Research from Nirosha’s lab on biophoton emission (https://zpr.io/3in9LSmzW6m5) and cancer diagnosis

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Photo illustration by Mikey Burton
Video by W. Harry Fortuna