43: Microplastics

The average person eats at least 50,000 microplastics a year, and inhales a similar amount. Microplastics have been found in every part of our digestive tract, and are deleterious to the liver and gut. There is good news, however: researchers at Penn State are working on eco-friendly and biodegradable substitutes. They're made from squid teeth.

Music by Solomon Krause-Imlach.

Hosts: 

Duncan Bell

Duncan is a science educator at Fizzics Education, an Australian organization that puts on science shows and workshops for kids. Coming from a social research background, Duncan joined the growing Fizzics team in 2018 to further his passion for all things science and currently co-hosts the FizzicsTWIST podcast. A physics fanatic, a chemistry casanova, and a biology buff, Duncan’s enthusiasm for science literally knows no bounds.

Avaneesh Narla

Avaneesh is currently a PhD student in Physics at the University of California San Diego. His work focuses on theoretical biophysics and quantitative biology, and includes fields such as fluid dynamics, computational neuroscience, theoretical ecology and bacteriophysiology.

Cameron Spencer

Cameron is a designer and web developer. He is the founder of Lab 43.