Unfold

Cockroaches for Dessert

Just when you thought Unfold was done for the season, we decided to bug you with one last episode. UC Davis boasts one of the largest insect collections in North America, so how could we not take you on a tour? The Bohart Museum of Entomology holds more than 7 million specimens, from the beautiful to the downright terrifying. Its entomologists have even helped homicide investigations, thanks to the bug scrapings left behind. You’ll hear about beautiful butterflies, jewel beetles, murder hornets and cuckoo wasps — as well as why we’re calling this episode “Cockroaches for Dessert.”

In this episode: 

Lynn Kimsey, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and director of Bohart Museum of Entomology

The Poet‘s Voice

Scholars who write about or analyze poetry read out loud usually do so in a subjective and impressionistic way. But UC Davis experts have empirically analyzed the complexities of these vocal performances, based on pitch patterns and speed, volume, pauses, repetition and other characteristics. Now researchers are analyzing the performances of 101 African American women poets. In this episode of Unfold, we discuss why they embarked on the project and what they’ve discovered.  

In this episode: 

Marit MacArthur, lecturer with the UC Davis University Writing Program and faculty affiliate with the Performance Studies Graduate Group

Howard Rambsy, professor of literature, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 

Science of Superheroes

In this episode of Unfold, we mix comic book superhero action and science. No better pairing, since many of the heroes and villains in comics started out as scientists or are connected to scientists. The things they create and the materials they use can tell us a lot about the real world too — everything from physics to engineering. We’ll talk with Ricardo Castro, who teaches engineering students to think outside the box and to contemplate the unlikely, but not always impossible, real-world applications of materials science based on the powers of superheroes.

In this episode: 

Ricardo Castro, associate dean of research and graduate studies, UC Davis Department of Materials Science and Engineering 

Gary S. May, UC Davis chancellor

Chonk the Axolotl: How Life Is Super Amazing

In this episode of Unfold, you’ll hear about Chonk, a pink, baby-faced axolotl who has become a bit of a superstar on Twitter. This fully aquatic salamander is helping developmental biologists understand neural crest cells. These cells help form our face, skin color and peripheral nervous system. Discovering more about these cells can help researchers understand congenital disorders and certain types of cancer.

In this episode: 

Crystal Rogers, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Cell Biology at the School of Veterinary Medicine

Murder, Suicide and the Macabre

We discuss a macabre trend from the 1700s in Germany in this special Halloween episode of Unfold. To avoid eternal damnation for the sin of committing suicide, a number of people began committing child murder so they could be forgiven by a priest before being executed. In this Unfold episode, we look at how imagined child murders can create a culture of actual killings. Warning: this subject matter might not be suitable for all audiences.

In this episode: 

Kathy Stuart, associate professor, UC Davis Department of History

*Was* She a Badass?

Nine thousand years ago, a woman was buried in the Andean mountains of Peru next to tools normally associated with big-game hunting. Before you think she was just a badass, UC Davis researchers found that many females in the early Americas were big-game hunters and we shouldn’t be so quick to project our own gender stereotypes and current cultural values on ancient societies. In this episode of Unfold, we dig a little deeper to learn more about this archaeological discovery. 

In this episode: 

Randy Haas, archaeologist and assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Anthropology 

Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, distinguished research professor emeritus, UC Davis Department of Anthropology

Glendon Parker, adjunct associate professor, UC Davis Department of Environmental Toxicology

Kim Senklip Harvey, indigenous theorist and cultural evolutionist with the Tsilhqot’in and Syilx nations

Nature Tells Its Story, Part 2: Caves and Really Old Water

California boasts hundreds of caves, many of them hidden in the Sierra Nevada foothills. These caves hold much more than beautiful icicle-like stalactites and stalagmites. Trapped inside the stalagmites are tiny droplets of fossilized precipitation from climates long ago. In “Nature Tells Its Story Part 2” of Unfold, UC Davis researchers discuss how these water droplets provide a “climate archive” that may help us predict future shifts in rain, snow and drought. 

 

In this episode: 

​Isabel Montañez, distinguished professor, UC Davis Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Barbara Wortham, doctoral student, UC Davis Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Nature Tells Its Story, Part 1: Fish Eyes and Ears

A fish can’t talk, but its eyes and ears can. Scientists have discovered that each layer of a fish’s lens reveals a different part of its life history, including what it’s eaten throughout its life. While you’ve probably never heard of fish otoliths, these ear bones tell us not only a fish’s age, but what rivers it has traveled. Understanding this could help wildlife managers know what habitats to protect to help imperiled species. In “Nature Tells Its Story Part 1,” Unfold looks at the eyes and ears of fish.   

 

In this episode: 

Miranda Bell Tilcock, assistant specialist researcher, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences 

Carson Jeffres, senior researcher and fish biologist, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences

Why is that Song Stuck in My Head?

Earworm, brainworm, whatever word you choose, it’s that song that gets stuck in your head. Research shows that more than 90% of us experience earworms. UC Davis researchers have found that they may play an important role in helping us form memories, not just for the song, but for life events. In this episode of Unfold, we examine music, memory and what earworms can teach us about how the brain works. 

In this episode:

Petr Janata professor, UC Davis Department of Psychology and Center for Mind and Brain 

Ben Kubit, postdoctoral researcher, UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain 

Unfold Season 3: Driven By Curiosity

Coming Sept. 28, Unfold brings you stories of awe, wonder and discovery as we explore how UC Davis researchers are driven by curiosity. Curiosity can lead to some of the greatest discoveries, like why songs get stuck in your head or what real-world engineering concepts you can learn from comic book superheroes. This season, we examine an archaeological discovery that raises new questions about the sexual division of labor in early hunter-gatherer societies. UC Davis researchers reveal what they found by peeling back the layers of a fish’s eye and by studying cute, pink, baby-faced axolotls. We have lots of surprising and curious stories to tell this season — even a spooky, dark and murderous one, just in time for Halloween.