9 Minutes of Wonder

The huge size of the universe is unfathomably amazing, but so is the size of things way too small for us to see. I'll talk about some of these teensy, tiny things and hopefully inspire your sense of wonder in this nine-minute episode. A few resources: Butterfly scales = pixie dust Diatoms: tiny factories you can see from space (YouTube) Harnessing the superpowers of the most resilient life form on Earth The good that viruses do Discover more: the good viruses Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0

Wow, pink and purple skies! I hope you've had a chance to see it this week, or at least sometime in the past or future. Let's talk about these magnificent lights. A few resources: What causes the northern lights? Northern lights: what they are and how to see them 10 awesome aurora facts (from the Australian government) Fire in the sky: the southern lights in Indigenous oral traditions Hubble captures vivid auroras in Jupiter's atmosphere (NASA) Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0

You probably use a fork every day, yet you never think much about this multi-pronged utensil, do you? That may change after you hear this, and you might find yourself getting curious about other everyday things in your home as well. Why not? Everything has interesting stories, and connecting to things like forks helps us feel more connected to this complex and seemingly disjointed world.A few resources:How the simple fork almost tore apart the fabric of society (National Geographic) A history of Western eating utensils, from the scandalous fork to the incredible spork (Smithsonian) The rise of the fork (Slate) Origins of the common fork (Leite's Culinaria) Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0

Almost everyone loves hearing birds sing! Even if you rarely pay attention to the birds singing around you, you'd miss them if they stopped and might even feel more depressed. So start listening for the birds in your area, and listen here to learn some of the wonders of how and why they sing. A few resources: What is a songbird, exactly? 5 fascinating facts about birdsong The development of birdsong Which birds are the best mimics? Listening to birds sing really does soothe your brain. Here's why. American robin sound effect from Pixabay Crow sound clip from BBC Sound Effects, recordists: Nigel Tucker and David Tombs, 22 April 1988 Brown thrasher sound clip from Wikipedia (Creative Commons license) Blackbird sound clip from BBC Sound Effects, recordist: Eric Simms, 1 May 1961 Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0

Do you know any pigeon-haters, or pigeon-phobes? Pigeons are actually such interesting birds, and they mean us no harm at all. Bring some wonder into your next city or suburban outing, and maybe you'll see pigeons in a new light. (Not my best-quality audio, I'm afraid, but this will have to do because I've already recorded it twice!) A few resources: Are pigeons as smart as primates? You can count on it. The human relationship with pigeons: forgotten war heroes Humans domesticated pigeons, then abandoned them. Is it time for a reappraisal? Pigeon audio clip: BBC Sound Effects Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0

Even with the internet's endless magic, libraries remain fascinating and important places. Come to the library with me in this episode, where I'll share three reasons I love libraries and think everyone else should too! A few resources: World Book Day Joanina Library Great Library of Alexandria: New and improved The world's most extraordinary libraries 'A cultural masterpiece': the world's best new public libraries — in pictures Public libraries are not just about books. At their heart, they are about social equity. (The Guardian) Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0

Few natural phenomena are as magical and mysterious as bird migrations. I wish I had more than nine minutes, but I'll give you just a taste of why migrating birds are so cool. "Marshland Elegy" by Aldo Leopold (PDF from A Sand County Almanac, 1949) These 5 birds are all winners in the migrations Olympics (National Audubon Society) Bird migration is one of nature's great wonders. Here's how they do it. (National Geographic) Fabulous flights: 13 amazing facts about bird migration (BBC) How migrating birds use quantum effects to navigate (Scientific American) Audubon's Rowe Sanctuary's crane cam (livestream) Sandhill crane sound clip from the National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/sound/sounds-sandhill-crane.htm Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0

The world is so noisy! Even if we live in relatively quiet places, we are bombarded by noise thanks to all the pinging and dinging on our phones, the din of terrible news, demands from annoying coworkers...the list can seem endless. So let's focus on the more quiet side of life — quiet places we can visit or imagine. If quiet creeps you out, not to worry — this episode only lasts 9 minutes, and I talk through most it! A few resources: Lonely Planet: The Joy of Quiet Places In the Earth's quietest room, you can hear yourself blink (Smithsonian) Finding Minnesota: Orfield Laboratories (YouTube) One square inch: a sanctuary for silence at Olympic National Park The history of Postman's Park Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0

What comes to mind when you think about the upcoming year? What about the "upcoming" 10 million years? Big difference, obviously, not just in the amount of time but also in how we envision these time spans. In this episode, I share a few fun metaphors for deep time — ways of visualizing (and maybe understanding) the unimaginable. For more info: Carl Sagan — Cosmos — cosmic calendar Earth's entire history (visualized on a football field) A glass of whiskey could help you get your head around deep time Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0

It's National Poinsettia Day in the US! Make it a good one by learning more about these ubiquitous "flowers." Or listen after the fact to prepare for next year. A few resources: Poinsettias at Christmas 8 fun facts to know about poinsettias How to keep a poinsettia alive Cuetlaxochitl: a cultural history of the poinsettia The checkered history of the poinsettia’s namesake and the flower’s origins get new attention The complicated history of the poinsettia Joel Roberts Poinsett: Namesake of the poinsettia, enslaver, secret agent and perpetrator of the 'Trail of Tears' Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0

I can hardly begin to describe how cool this place was, in an industrial sort of way. I'll tell you about it here, but please visit the link to see what the place looks like. This is a fantastic engineering marvel, although in a way it's so simple — harnessing the sun to heat things up.By the way, I mention 3000 degrees, and that's Celsius. In degrees Fahrenheit it would be 5432 degrees.Burnt by the sun: Uzbekistan's spectacular solar furnace Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0

Visiting new places inspires wonder by giving us fresh perspectives on daily life (among other reasons). Join me for a few minutes in Tashkent and learn some things that may surprise you about this city that you probably don’t know much about. Uzbekistan’s secret underground - in pictures Uzbekistan Travel Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0

Even mundane things in your kitchen can inspire wonder — or at least be interesting — if you pay attention. If you've never wondered about the history of ketchup, or why it's called ketchup, or what ketchup was like in the olden days, now's your chance to wonder.Edit: I made a mistake when I talked about the "mystery" EZ Squirt ketchup. It apparently didn't have all those colors together. Rather, the mystery was which color you would get. That does make more sense! A few resources: 11 ketchup facts that go well with everything (Mental Floss) The fascinating medicinal origins of ketchup (Tasting Table) A bottle to beckon with (Heinz ad) Woman is shocked when she compares ingredients in American ketchup vs. Canadian ketchup (Yahoo! Life) Music: Jens East — Daybreak (ft. Henk) www.soundcloud.com/jenseastLicence: Creative Commons Attribution V4.0