This Week in Science – The Kickass Science Podcast · Dr. Kirsten Sanford Science Media

This One Is For the Fearless

·2 hr 17 min·5 clips

Jane Goodall dared to say chimps had emotions when science said they didn't—and changed everything.

This Week in Science episode 1032 opens with an extended tribute to primatologist Jane Goodall following her death. Goodall spent six decades documenting chimpanzee tool use, emotional states, and community kinship—concepts considered foreign to scientific dogma when she began fieldwork in Tanzania. Host Dr. Kiki and co-host Blair share personal reflections on Goodall's impact, including Blair's experience watching teenage volunteers become emotionally moved by Goodall's keynotes at Wildlife Conservation Network conferences. The discussion emphasizes how Goodall transformed scientific approaches to studying animal individuality and behavior. The main science segment covers analysis of Cassini spacecraft data from Saturn's moon Enceladus. Researchers published findings in Nature Astronomy identifying organic molecules in freshly ejected ice grains from Enceladus's subsurface ocean plumes. The spectral analysis revealed aliphatic compounds, heterocyclic structures, esters, alkenes, ethers, and tentatively nitrogen and oxygen-bearing compounds. The hosts debate whether this constitutes evidence for potential life or merely chemistry, with Justin arguing the findings represent chemical pathways that could support biochemistry. Dr. Kiki explains how Enceladus's interior is heated by tidal forces from Saturn's gravity, creating conditions for a liquid ocean beneath the ice crust despite the moon's cold surface. A fungal origins study introduces horizontal gene transfer as a new dating method, identifying 17 gene transfers between fungal lineages to establish relative ages. This analysis suggests fungi's common ancestor dates to 1.4-0.9 billion years ago, predating land plants' 470-million-year-old fossil record by potentially a billion years. The implications suggest fungi acted as "ecosystem engineers" on land, recycling nutrients and creating primitive soils before plants arrived. The hosts discuss how multicellular complexity evolved independently at least five times across life's major groups: animals, land plants, fungi, red algae, and brown algae. Blair presents camera trap evidence of a jaguar photographed both on mainland Brazil and on an island 2.48 kilometers away. This observation challenges the previously accepted maximum jaguar swimming distance of 200 meters and introduces an "aquatic cost scale" for modeling connectivity between land masses. The discussion explores how evolutionary pressures from habitat fragmentation may be driving rapid adaptation in jaguar populations. The conversation reflects on how scientific assumptions about animal capabilities often prove limited by observation scope rather than actual biological constraints. The show's tone balances reverence for Goodall's legacy with enthusiastic science communication and friendly debate among hosts. The hosts frequently challenge each other's interpretations while maintaining collaborative exploration of ideas. The episode targets science enthusiasts interested in astrobiology, evolutionary biology, and conservation. The content assumes basic scientific literacy while explaining technical concepts accessibly through conversational dialogue and analogies.

As heard by us

A tribute to Jane Goodall wrapped around curious, digressive science conversation.

Twists begins with a tribute to Jane Goodall and then drifts into more playful science material, including lizard snakes, swimming cats, and shocked crabs.

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Why you'd press play

Press play for a Jane Goodall tribute that turns into a lively microbiome debate.

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