Humans are weird compared to other animals in the way our hair is arranged. We have distinct patches like armpits, eyebrows, beards and pubes in a way that other animals do not. Have you ever wondered why? The Canada-based author Judy Wearing has, and she has written a fabulous book about called “Anxious and Hardy: The Evolution and Culture of Human Hair”. Tim and Syma talk, discovering we don’t really know whey we have pubic hair, but we do know why we have eyebrows, and you will be probably be amazed to learn why.

Here is the link to Judy's fantastic book

https://judywearing.com/anxiousandhairy/

Big animals evolve to be small on islands, while tiny ones get large. The dodo, for example, was a massive pigeon, while Sicily used to be home to miniature elephants. Why does this pattern emerge? Tim and Syma talk to Tim’s wife, Sonya Clegg, about her career exploring oceanic islands in search of odd birds in an attempt to explain why evolution works like this.

Tim and Syma talk to Isabel Smallegange who is interested in tiny little eight-legged animals called mites. Why would anyone study these things and what can they tell us about how the world works?Could they even have agency?These little animals are more fascinating than you might imagine, and Isabel does an amazing job in bringing their world to life.Isabel's Website: https://isabelsmallegange.com/If you are a business and would like to take advantage and leverage the power of the fast growing podcast ad stream market, and in particular sponsoring 'Science Of The Times', please drop us a line - streamingspirespodcasts@gmail.comAdvertising via podcasts is a cost efficient way of reaching a wider market.