In this episode, Yackety Science reports on the recent glut of space telescopes. The team discusses cutting edge science from the 2026 Ig Nobel Awards–everything from the mechanics of kissing to the milking of cockroaches. In his chemical minute, Matt prescribes manganese as the cure for managing manhood misery. And finally, for the second installment of Ourobookos, the Yackety Science Book Club, Matt and Brian consider all of the apocalyptic bounces, rips, and crunches described in Katie Mack’s The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking).

Got a question, comment, or correction? Yack right back at us at YacketyScience@gmail.com. And please follow us on Spotify, Instagram (@yacketysciene), Facebook (Yackety Science), and YouTube (@YacketyScience).

Episode Art: Photo composite by Brian Cross using elements from Anne-Lise Reinsfelt, Sophie Hugon, and Glueball.

Theme music: “Funky Machine” (ID874) by Lobo Loco (Accessedthrough FreeMusicArchive.org.; CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Production help provided by Scott Gregory.

Yackety Science is recorded at the studios of Public Radio Tulsa,Kendall Hall, University of Tulsa, and at the Center for Creativity at Tulsa Community College.

Links:

Space Telescopes

● Roman Space Telescope: ⁠https://science.nasa.gov/mission/roman-space-telescope/⁠ ARRAKIHS: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/ESA_adopts_galactic_archaeology_mission_Arrakihs

2026 Ignobel Awards

● Cockroach Milk: ⁠https://daily.jstor.org/got-cockroach-milk/⁠

● Building a Better Urinal: https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/4/pgaf087/8098745?login=true

● Biomechanics of Kissing: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513825001370?via%3Dihub

NIST’s Atomic Clock

● https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/time-realization/cesium-fountain-atomic-clocks

Ourobookos, A Yackety Science Book Club

Book Selection: The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack

“. . . a mind-bending tour through five of the cosmos’s possible finales: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (the one that could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce. Guiding us through cutting-edge science and major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, The End of Everything is a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of all that we know.”

In this episode of Yackety Science, we delve into dodgy French raccoon lore, count up the cost of measles misinformation, and check in on the latest, fastest and most explosive developments at the 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games. We travel up the Congo River in search of pretty primates, and reflect on the shiniest of all elements. And finally, we talk giant squids and lone wolves with Gaelle Beau of the Natural History Museum of LeHavre, France.

Got a question, comment, or correction? Yack right back at us at YacketyScience@gmail.com. And please follow us on Spotify, Instagram (@yacketysciene), Facebook (Yackety Science), and YouTube (@YacketyScience).

Episode Art: Photo by Frankfurt Zoological Society. Modified by Brian Cross.

Theme music: “Funky Machine” (ID874) by Lobo Loco (Accessed through FreeMusicArchive.org.; CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Production help provided by Scott Gregory.

Our guest this episode is Gaelle Beau, zoological and botanical collections manager at the Natural History Museum of Le Havre, France.

Yackety Science is recorded at the studios of Public Radio Tulsa, Kendall Hall, University of Tulsa, and at the Center for Creativity at Tulsa Community College.

Links:

European Raccoons

• The controversial story of the North American raccoons wreaking havoc in Germany by Matthew Ponsford (BBC; 16 August 2026)

2nd World Humanoid Robot Games

• Faster, higher, funnier: what we learned from China’s robot games by Robert Booth (The Guardian; Aug. 29, 2026)

Measles Outbreaks and Vaccinations

• U.S. Measles Tracker

• The Executive Order on Childhood Vaccine Recommendations: What’s in It, What It Means, and What Comes Next

  
  

New Colobus Monkey

• Likweli: A remarkable new species of Colobus monkey from the Lomami National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. Hart JA, Amboko JD, Arenson JL, Horton ER, Coates KF, et al. (2026) Likweli: A remarkable new species of Colobus monkey from the Lomami National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. PLOS ONE 21(7): e0349857.

• Mysterious orange-lipped monkey discovered deep in the Congo rainforest is a new species. (Science; 15 Jul 2026) by Yejin Lhee.

  
  

The Natural History Museum of LeHavre

• Natural History Museum of LeHavre

• Naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur

Ourobookos, A Yackety Science Book Club

Next Book Selection: The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack

“. . . a mind-bending tour through five of the cosmos’s possible finales: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (the one that could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce. Guiding us through cutting-edge science and major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, The End of Everything is a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of all that we know.”

In this offering of Yackety Science, Uncle Doctor Traveling Matt reports on his excursion to the Land of Ice and Fire. What is the difference between Pāhoehoe and ‘A‘ā lava? How do you predict the next eruption and thus avoid being dispatched by Pāhoehoe and ‘A‘ā? How do glaciers (and ice skaters) actually move? What creature showed up in Iceland for the first time in 2025? How do you pronounce the word narwhal? How long can Matt talk about Vanadium batteries? Find out the answers to all of these Icelandic questions and more on the latest episode of Yackety Science.

Got a question, comment, or correction? Yack right back at us at YacketyScience@gmail.com. And please follow us on Spotify, Instagram (@yacketysciene), Facebook (Yackety Science), and YouTube (@YacketyScience).

Episode Art: Photo by Matt Smith. Modified by Brian Cross.

Theme music: “Funky Machine” (ID874) by Lobo Loco (Accessed through FreeMusicArchive.org.; CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Production help provided by Scott Gregory.

Yackety Science is recorded at the studios of Public Radio Tulsa, Kendall Hall, University of Tulsa, and at the Center for Creativity at Tulsa Community College.

Links:

Geology of Iceland

• Natural Science Institute of Iceland (https://www.natt.is/en/geology)

Predicting Volcanic Eruptions:

• FJiaxuan Li et al. Minute-scale dynamics of recurrent dike intrusions in Iceland with fiber-optic geodesy. Science 388,1189-1193(2025). DOI:10.1126/science.adu0225

Moskítófluga (Mosquitoes in Iceland):

• The Arctic’s growing mosquito problem. Sciencen392,235-235(2026). DOI:10.1126/science.aeh9505

Marine Heat Waves and Their Effects

• Karl Michael Werner et al. Major heat wave in the North Atlantic had widespread and lasting impacts on marine life. Sci. Adv.12 ,eadt7125(2026). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adt7125

  
  

Ourobookos, A Yackety Science Book Club

Next Book Selection:

The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack

“. . . a mind-bending tour through five of the cosmos’s possible finales: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (the one that could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce. Guiding us through cutting-edge science and major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, The End of Everything is a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of all that we know.”

In this episode of Yackety Science, screwworm maggots wriggle and bore their way back into the U.S. Embryo editing takes a giant leap forward. Matt comes out as a Titanium fanboy. And Brian visits with Mo O’Leary of the Tulsa Zoo about chimp politics, bullfrog bartering, and of course, the size of Bonzo’s balls.

Got a question, comment, or correction? Yack right back at us at YacketyScience@gmail.com. And please follow us on Spotify, Instagram (@yacketysciene), Facebook (Yackety Science), and YouTube (@YacketyScience).

Episode Art: Image by B. Cross.

Theme music: “Funky Machine” (ID874) by Lobo Loco (Accessed through FreeMusicArchive.org.; CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Production help provided by Scott Gregory.

Yackety Science is recorded at the studios of Public Radio Tulsa, Kendall Hall, University of Tulsa, and at the Center for Creativity at Tulsa Community College.

Links:

Screwworm Redux:

• Find out more about screwworm biology and the current status of the U.S. outbreak, go to Screwworm.gov.

Gene Editing:

• Efficient base editing and development in human embryos without chromosomal alterations. Jerabek et al. 2026 (bioRXiv Preprint)

Guest: Maureen “Mo” O’Leary of the Tulsa Zoo

Mo O’leary is one of the most experienced primate keepers anywhere in the world. She has worked with Chimpanzees at the Tulsa Zoo for over 30 years.

For more information about the Captive Primate Safety Act, click here.

Ourobookos, A Yackety Science Book Club

Next Book Selection: The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack

“. . . a mind-bending tour through five of the cosmos’s possible finales: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (the one that could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce. Guiding us through cutting-edge science and major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, The End of Everything is a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of all that we know.”

Screwworm Redux:

Gene Editing:

In this episode of Yackety Science, the team takes on the domesticating effects of abundant trash, and they dig deeper into ice cores, climate science, and the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. Matt continues his pun-filled rampage across the periodic table with a look at scandium. And finally, Brian scans the brain (metaphorically speaking) of Dr. Evan White to find out more about his work at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research.

Got a question, comment, or correction? Yack right back at us at YacketyScience@gmail.com. And please follow us on Spotify, Instagram (@yacketysciene), Facebook (Yackety Science), and YouTube (@YacketyScience).

Episode Art: Image by B. Cross with raccoon taxidermy by Black Moth.

Theme music: “Funky Machine” (ID874) by Lobo Loco (Accessedthrough FreeMusicArchive.org.; CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Production help provided by Scott Gregory.

Yackety Science is recorded at the studios of Public Radio Tulsa,Kendall Hall, University of Tulsa, and at the Center for Creativity at Tulsa Community College.

Links:

●Beyond EPICA: Ancient ice core could help explain mysterious shift in Earth’s ice ages by Elise Cutts (Science 7 May 2026)

● Trash Panda Domestication: Apostolov et al. 2025. Tracking domestication signals across populations of North American raccoons (Procyon lotor) via citizen science-driven image repositories. Front Zool. 22(1):28.

The Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR)

Dr. Evan White

“Dr. White’s laboratory aims to establish and advance neuroscientific understanding of cultural factors that are protective against poor mental health among American Indians utilizing a strength-based framework. A focus of this research is implementing multi-modal neuroscience and psychophysiology with a particular emphasis in electroencephalography/event-related potentials. . .”

Click here to find out more about participating in a neuroscience study at LIBR.

Ourobookos, A Yackety Science Book Club

Next Book Selection:

The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack

“. . . a mind-bending tour through five of the cosmos’s possible finales: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (the one that could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce. Guiding us through cutting-edge science and major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, The End of Everything is a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of all that we know.”

In this episode of Yackety Science, mangrove rivulus fish take a long strange trip and find their inner chill. Ribozymes lead the way back to life’s very beginning. And in the U.S., bad public policy chases away more good science. In the chemical minute, Matt mixes up a chalky mojito and talks calcium. And in Ourobookos, the team wraps up their own very strange trip through the past, present and future of TB.

Got a question, comment, or correction? Yack right back at us at YacketyScience@gmail.com. And please follow us on Spotify, Instagram (@yacketysciene), Facebook (Yackety Science), and YouTube (@YacketyScience).

Episode Art: Modified from “Mangrove Killifish (Kryptolebias marmoratus)” by Jean-Paul Cicéron (PD)

Theme music: “Funky Machine” (ID874) by Lobo Loco (Accessed through FreeMusicArchive.org.; CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Production help provided by Scott Gregory.

Yackety Science is recorded at the studios of Public Radio Tulsa, Kendall Hall, University of Tulsa, and at the Center for Creativity at Tulsa Community College.

Links:

Fish Tripping on Shrooms:

Forsyth D, Faraone N, Lamarre SG and Currie S (2026) The magic of mushrooms: psilocybin influences behavior in the mangrove rivulus fish, Kryptolebias marmoratus. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 20:1767175.

Ribozymes:

Edoardo Gianni et al. A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand. Science 391,1022-1028(2026). DOI:10.1126/science.adt2760

1. Shirley Meng and Sodium Batteries:
3. Pushed by Trump policies, top U.S. battery scientist is moving to Singapore by Jeffrey Mervis (Science; May 1, 2026)

Ourobookos, A Yackety Science Book Club

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

“Tuberculosis has been entwined with hu­manity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it. In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John be­came fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequi­ties that allow this curable, preventable infec­tious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year.

In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.”

Next Book Selection:

The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack

“. . . a mind-bending tour through five of the cosmos’s possible finales: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (the one that could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce. Guiding us through cutting-edge science and major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, The End of Everything is a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of all that we know.”

In this episode, Brian braves the icy north winds to see half amillion cranes on the Platte River. Matt gets pig semen in his eye and comes away cancer free. Simian civil war breaks out among the chimpanzees of Uganda. And in Ourobookos, the war against TB finds both a bacterial villain and a questionable cure.

Got a question, comment, or correction? Yack right back at us at YacketyScience@gmail.com. And please follow us on Spotify, Instagram(@yacketysciene), Facebook (Yackety Science), and YouTube (@YacketyScience).

Episode Art: Modified from Crane Photo by Brian Cross.

Theme music: “Funky Machine” (ID874) by Lobo Loco (Accessedthrough FreeMusicArchive.org.; CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Production help provided by Scott Gregory.

Yackety Science is recorded at the studios of Public Radio Tulsa,Kendall Hall, University of Tulsa, and at the Center for Creativity at TulsaCommunity College.

Links:

Sandhill Crane Migration and Rowe Sanctuary:

●Information about Rowe Sanctuary

●All About Birds: Sandhill Cranes

Pig Semen and Cancer:

● Jiansong Zhao et al. Harnessing semen-derived exosomesfor noninvasive fundus drug delivery: A paradigm for exosome-based ocular fundus therapeutics. Sci. Adv.12,eadw7275(2026).

● Scientists turn pig semen extract into eye drops that kill cancer in mice by Darren Incorvaia, Fierce Biostech Mar27, 2026

Chimp Wars:

●Civil war among wild chimpanzees by James Brooks. Science392,146-147(2026).

Ourobookos, A Yackety Science Book Club

Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green

“Tuberculosis has been entwined with hu­manity for millennia.Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it. In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John be­came fast friends with Henry, aboy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequi­ties that allow this curable, preventable infec­tious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year. In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.”

In this episode, Team Yack returns to the far side of the moon along with the Artemis II astronauts. (Cue the Pink Floyd! Balloons and Jubilation!) We admire the versatility of the octopus’s kinky arm-penis-nose and report on Matt’s special box of emotional support particles. Argon, the laziest of all elements, makes a half-hearted, but punny, appearance in the chemical minute. And we cough dramatically into our hankies and collapse on the settee for a discussion of John Green’s Everything is Tuberculosis.

Got a question, comment, or correction? Yack right back at us at YacketyScience@gmail.com. And please follow us on Spotify, Instagram (@yacketysciene), and Facebook (Yackety Science).

Episode Art: Modified from Earthset photo taken by NASA’s Artemis II astronauts.

Theme music: “Funky Machine” (ID874) by Lobo Loco (Accessed through FreeMusicArchive.org.; CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Production help provided by Scott Gregory.

Yackety Science is recorded at the studios of Public Radio Tulsa, Kendall Hall, University of Tulsa, and at the Center for Creativity at Tulsa Community College.

Links

The Moon and Artemis II:

• Information about Artemis II from NASA
• Osiris Rex Photo of the Moon (2017)

Cephalopod Sex:

• To mate or predate? Octopuses use the same system for sensing food or a mate, which has implications for speciation. Science (April 2, 2026)
• A sensory system for mating in octopus by Pablo Villar et al. (Science 392(6793):96-101).
  

Anti-protons:

• Geneva’s CERN hails delicate test on transporting antimatter as a scientific success by Jamey Keaten (AP; March 24, 2026)
  

Ourobookos, A Yackety Science Book Club Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
“Tuberculosis has been entwined with hu­manity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it. In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John be­came fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequi­ties that allow this curable, preventable infec­tious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year. In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.”