Half of Wisdom: A Podcast of Prudent Questions Jess and Chris

Most mammals experience what scientists call knismesis, or light tickling, that creeping sensation that sticks around for a while after a bug crawls across your skin.  Humans and apes also experience a different type of tickling, called gargalesis, or heavy tickling, that causes them to squirm and laugh at the same time.  It’s an open question whether other animals experience anything like gargalesis, but they most likely don’t.
Here are some resources to learn more about ticklishness:
Harris, C.R. (1999).  The mystery of ticklish laughter.  American Scientist, 87, 344.  http://charris.ucsd.edu/articles/Harris_AS1999.pdfAlpha Paw.  Are Dogs Ticklish? The Amazing Answer!  https://www.alphapaw.com/blog/are-dogs-ticklish/Wag!  Can Dogs Be Ticklish?  https://wagwalking.com/sense/can-dogs-be-ticklishDog Tips.  Are Dogs Ticklish? Can You Tickle Your Dog? and Do They Even Like It?  https://www.dogtips.co.uk/are-dogs-ticklish/Our intro and outro music is DriftMaster by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Please follow us on Twitter at @PrudentQPodcast, and contact us at halfofwisdom@gmail.com.

Australia is full of animals that aren’t even a little bit like the animals that live in other places. A great example is the bare-nosed wombat, which, unlike any other animal, has feces shaped like cubes.
Here are some resources to learn more about wombats and other Australian animals:
Science.  How do wombats poop cubes? Scientists get to the bottom of the mystery.  https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/how-do-wombats-poop-cubes-scientists-get-bottom-mystery.Discover.  Why Do So Many Weird Animals Live in Australia?  https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/why-do-so-many-weird-animals-live-in-australia.Improbable Research.  The 29th First Annual Ig® Nobel Prize Ceremony.  https://www.improbable.com/2019-ceremony/.Yang, P.J. et al.  (2021).  Intestines of non-uniform stiffness mold the corners of wombat feces.  Soft Matter, 17(3), 475—488.  https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SM01230K.Our intro and outro music is DriftMaster by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Please follow us on Twitter at @PrudentQPodcast, and contact us at halfofwisdom@gmail.com.

For most people, the difference between a fruit and a vegetable is pretty clear: fruit is sweet, and vegetables aren’t. But it’s not really that simple. Some fruits, such as lemons and limes, are sour rather than sweet, and some people like to point out that some things we call vegetables, like tomatoes, are actually fruits, even though they’re not sweet.
Here are some resources to learn more about fruits and vegetables:
McGee, Harold (2004).  On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.  Simon & Schuster.Mauseth, James D. (2003).  Botany: an introduction to plant biology.  Jones and Bartlett Publishers.Rost, Thomas L.; Weier, T. Elliot; Weier, Thomas Elliot (1979).  Botany: a brief introduction to plant biology.  Wiley.Live Science.  What’s the Difference Between a Fruit and a Vegetable?  https://www.livescience.com/33991-difference-fruits-vegetables.htmlOur intro and outro music is DriftMaster by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Please follow us on Twitter at @PrudentQPodcast, and contact us at halfofwisdom@gmail.com.

Pretty much everyone knows about Paul Revere and his midnight ride through Massachusetts to warn people that British troops were coming. Less well-known is a similar incident a couple years later, when Sybil Ludington, the daughter of a colonel in the American militia, rode through Putnam County, New York, to alert the militia so they could try to defend Danbury, Connecticut.
Here are some resources to learn more about Sybil Ludington:
National Women’s History Museum.  Sybil Ludington.  https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sybil-ludington.Historic Patterson, New York.  Sybil Ludington.  https://www.historicpatterson.org/Exhibits/ExhSybilLudington.php.Paula D. Hunt.  “Sybil Ludington, the Female Paul Revere: The Making of a Revolutionary War Heroine.”  The New England Quarterly, vol. 88, no. 2, 2015, pp. 187–222.Our intro and outro music is DriftMaster by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Please follow us on Twitter at @PrudentQPodcast, and contact us at halfofwisdom@gmail.com.

If you ever need to keep something frozen when your freezer isn’t working, you might find yourself using dry ice, which is solid carbon dioxide. This material stays colder than water ice, and it doesn’t melt, so it creates a lot less mess.
Here are some resources to learn more about dry ice and carbon dioxide:
The Bumbling Biochemist.  Dry Ice, Sublimation.  https://thebumblingbiochemist.com/365-days-of-science/dry-ice-sublimation/.How Stuff Works.  How Does Dry Ice Work?  https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/science-questions/question264.htm.Universal Industrial Gases, Inc.  Interesting Facts and Information About Carbon Dioxide.  http://www.uigi.com/carbondioxide.html.Duane, H. D. Roller; Thilorier, M.  “Thilorier and the First Solidification of a ‘Permanent’ Gas (1835).”  Isis, vol. 43, no. 2, 1952, pp. 109–113.Our intro and outro music is DriftMaster by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Please follow us on Twitter at @PrudentQPodcast, and contact us at halfofwisdom@gmail.com.

There’s a persistent myth that Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb. Although he and his employees did develop some of the earliest commercially successful lightbulbs, he wasn’t actually the first to come up with the idea.
Here are some resources to learn more about Thomas Edison and the lightbulb:
Friedel, Robert & Israel, Paul (2010).  Edison's Electric Light: The Art of Invention.  The Johns Hopkins University Press.Houston, Edwin J. & Kennelly, A. E. (1896).  Electric Incandescent Lighting.  The W. J. Johnston Company.Live Science.  Who Invented the Light Bulb?  https://www.livescience.com/43424-who-invented-the-light-bulb.html#:~:text=Several%20months%20after%20the%201879,the%201880s%20and%20early%201900s.Our intro and outro music is DriftMaster by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Please follow us on Twitter at @PrudentQPodcast, and contact us at halfofwisdom@gmail.com.