Spectacular Specimens
A podcast for curious kids (and adults) about a collection of spectacular specimens and the stories they can tell us about life on Earth. Join Brandi and Paige as they open drawers, cabinets, and freezers full of specimens (a.k.a: dead animals used for research) at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. In each episode, they’ll unlock exciting discoveries about one of our planet’s most remarkable creatures and learn how they can help us solve the mysteries of our living world. Spectacular Specimens is a production of KUOW, part of the NPR Network, in collaboration with the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Download the Spectacular Specimens Listen-Along Activity Book and complete a fun activity paired with each episode. Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to www.kuow.org/donate/spectacularspecimensnotes
Episodes
Inside every drawer, cabinet, and freezer at Seattle’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture lies a collection of spectacular specimens (...that’s right, dead animals used for research)!
Join hosts Brandi Fullwood and Paige Browning to unlock extraordinary tales: an ancient dinosaur crime scene, a fiercely cute wrestling sea otter, and a colony of flesh-eating beetles that strip animal bo...
ALERT: There’s a top secret crew cleaning up the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Meet nature’s tiniest janitors - dermestid beetles!
These incredible insects have the grossest (but coolest) job ever: they eat away all the flesh from animal specimens, leaving behind pristine bones for scientists to study. We're going through a maze of the museum to get a behind the scenes...
SWIMMING INTO THE RING! The cutest champion of the Pacific– THE SEA OTTER!!!
Don’t let those cute faces fool you. Sea otters are incredible marine wrestlers packing some serious muscle under all that fluff. Join us ringside to find out how these floating champions use their super strong jaws and secret-weapon fur to protect ocean ecosystems and dominate kelp forest arenas!
Ps...
BREAKING NEWS: An ancient mystery is embedded in the rocks of Montana!
What happened to Fly By the Triceratops? The Burke Museum’s dig team is hot on the trail of a prehistoric cold case. Join us as we sift through ancient rocks and uncover shocking new clues that could crack this 66-million-year-old mystery.
Psssst! Get in on the fun:
- ...
Every evening after sunset, their show begins. Acrobatics through the air. Dramatic vocals. Bug-eating. Bats - all 1400 species of them - have been the stars of the night time world for centuries. Join us as we peek behind the curtain of their nightly performance to find out some of bats’ most remarkable adaptations - from seeing with their ears to flying with their hands .
Psssst! Get in on the fun:
- G...
Tiny beaks, mighty battles! Hummingbirds have spent years transforming into glorious gladiators to defend their floral empires. From jagged, serrated beaks to lightning speed, the flock of experts at Seattle's Burke Museum break down the mystery of the best nectar defenders birds in the game.
Plus, we open up a specimen collection of 3-D printed hummingbird beaks and drawers full of… tongues???
Psssst! Get in on the fu...
Sensational! Shocking! City coyotes aren't urban legends--they are legends in the city! Paige and Brandi are getting the specimen (poop) scoop on these city slickers. The Burke Museum’s top coyote investigator is dishing the dirt, separating the scandalous rumors from cold, hard facts. Join us for a juicy, exclusive, behind-the-scenes specimen study. And... watch out for the paw-parazzi!
Psssst! Get in on the fun:
- <...
What do spiders and astronauts have in common? No... not freeze dried ice cream. Both spiders and astronauts boldly launch into the unknown! In the air above us, spiders use the air like a highway - floating around like astronauts in zero gravity.
When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, arachnid experts at the Burke Museum made incredible calculations about some super special spider species. Leap in to meet the tiny spider adventure...
Humans have visited space more often than the depths of the ocean. And that's because the deeper we go, the more dangerous the water pressure becomes for us. At about 1,000 feet, the pressure could crush us! But lurking 3,000 feet underwater, in the mysterious Twilight Zone, is the Baird's beaked whale, a torpedo-shaped giant with a bird like beak!
When one of these incredible creatures washes ashore in Washington, scientists at th...
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