Over 99% of a human cell is made up of just five elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus. That same elemental mix exists, with minor variations, in every other living thing on Earth.
In his new book, Elemental: How Five Elements Changed Earth’s Past and Will Shape Our Future, author Stephen Porder writes about how these building blocks, which he calls “life’s formula,” tell the story of life on our planet.
It’s a story of adaptation, and also catastrophic change—from the time cyanobacteria started flooding the atmosphere with oxygen, to when a boom in land plants sucked enough carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to spark a period of extreme cooling and global glaciation.
Ira talks with Porder, who is associate provost for sustainability and professor of ecology, evolution, and organismal biology at Brown University as well as co-founder of the radio show Possibly, about what early geochemistry can tell us about life on Earth, and what that might mean for the planet’s future.
To stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters. Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.
Beavers, Pando Tree, $7 Violin. July 7, 2023. Part 1
Cloning for Conservation, Cubesats, Queer Ecology, Henry Petroski. June 30, 2023, Part 2
Hum Of The Universe, Cephalopod Event In Miami. June 30, 2023, Part 1
Social Media Chaos, Remembering Whale Song Scientist Roger Payne. June 23, 2023, Part 2
Cephalopod Week Salutes See-Thru Squid, Hyperbole In Science Publishing, Art and the Brain, Rover Competition. June 23, 2023, Part 1
Avian Flu, Curly Hair. June 16, 2023, Part 2
Science Books For Summer Reading. June 16, 2023, Part 1
Living Underwater For 100 Days, Refineries’ Excess Emissions, Owl Facts. June 9, 2023, Part 2
Wildfire Smoke, Jurassic Park Reflection, Mosquito DNA Editing. June 9, 2023, Part 1
Dwarf Tomatoes, Saguaro Cactus, Sonoran Desert. June 2, 2023, Part 2
Rewilding, Allergy Season, Sharing Science Rejections. June 2, 2023, Part 1
Zoonomia Genetics Project, Telomeres, Mutter Museum. May 26, 2023, Part 1
Experiencing Pain, Grief and the Cosmos, Ivory-Billed Controversy. May 26, 2023, Part 2
Weight and Health Myths, A Corvid Invasion. May 19, 2023, Part 1
The B Broadcast: Bees, Beans, Bears, and Butterflies. May 19, 2023, Part 2
Star Trek Science, Listening to Pando. May 12, 2023, Part 2
US COVID Health Emergency Ends. May 12, 2023, Part 1
Antibiotic Resistance, Space Launches and the Environment, Phage Therapy. May 5, 2023, Part 2
Why Rats Love Cities, Science Of Saliva And Taste. May 5, 2023, Part 1
Personifying AI, The Reading Brain, Environmental Sampling Via Bees. April 28, 2023, Part 2
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Marketplace Tech
Make Me Smart
The Indicator from Planet Money
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror