Episode 268 | Mole Caliente

You're supposed to eat them not... do whatever you're doing.

00:00:00 - Studying volcanoes is hard because they're really hot and acidic and just generally sort of deadly to we frail humans. But what about robots? OK, also sort of deadly to robots, but a team is still using an autonomous boat to map out a volcanic lake in Costa Rica, and that's pretty neat. To see Abe's diagram of how volcanic arcs form, click here.

00:31: 35 - Volcanic lakes can bubble up carbon dioxide, as can carbonated beverages. Joe goes first with a Death Valley cola since volcanoes are also hot and deadly? Ryan risks injury and sickness by drinking some homemade fermented pineapple drink known as tepache. Click here to watch a video on how to make it yourself. You'll need some jars, lids, and stones too. Abe surprises Ryan with some Mezcal Matra in his continuing quest to try every type of distilled agave beverage that Mexico has to offer. Smooth and smokey.

00:50:52 - And now, an update on our show's mascot, the always weird but always interesting naked mole rat! A new study has shown that naked mole rats don't mind if you take away their oxygen. That's usually a deal breaker for most animals, but naked mole rats just switch to metabolizing fructose like a plant. When will the weirdness end? Probably never.

01:11:14 - PaleoPOWs are a lot like volcanos, they can go off without warning and you could end up in an Italian prison. Ryan goes first to thank Tom S. from the peak of good living for his recurring donation through Paypal. Thanks, Tom! Joe's up next with a thesis title for Patron Gretchen L. It takes some doing, but the boys figured it out: Implementation of Autonomous Subterranean Vehicles for Sonar Mapping of Naked Mole Rat (Heterocephalus glaber) Colonies in the Volcanic Soils of Ol Doinyo Lengai. Finally, Abe is excited about a new 5-star iTunes review from RachaelRidiculous, which is always a treat. To hear Ryan try to be serious, you can listen to his audio essay from the Out There podcast, The Reluctant Outdoorsman.

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Music for this week's show:
Steamboat - The Weeks
Death Valley Queen - Flogging Molly
Every Breath You Take - The Police

Image credit: Thomas Park, Ph.D. University of Illinois at Chicago