SciShow Tangents

Shells

Episode Summary

From eggs to tacos to Ninja Turtles, some of the best things in life come in shells. So cozy on up inside the nearest conch as we regale you with tales of shells from all across the scientific spectrum!

Episode Notes

From eggs to tacos to Ninja Turtles, some of the best things in life come in shells. So cozy on up inside the nearest conch as we regale you with tales of shells from all across the scientific spectrum!

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[Trivia Question]

Golden ratio nautilus shells

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00004-018-0419-3

[Fact Off]

Batteries made from crab shells 

https://www.cell.com/matter/fulltext/S2590-2385(22)00414-3

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/09/220901135827.htm

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-future-of-renewable-energy-may-be-this-battery-made-from-crab-shells

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/cycle-life

https://www.acs.org/pressroom/presspacs/2023/march/crab-shells-could-help-power-the-next-generation-of-rechargeable-batteries.html

Microplastics and hermit crab shells

https://oceanographicmagazine.com/news/hermit-crab-behaviour-affected-by-microplastics/

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2020.0030

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32343937/

[Ask the Science Couch]

Mollusk shell development & secretion into spiral shapes

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-seashells-take-shape/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-are-seashells-created/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10126-005-6029-6

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0810311106

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/how-a-snails-shell-gets-its-twist

[Butt One More Thing]

Wood-boring bivalve that creates fecal chimneys

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12526-022-01306-z

https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/down-and-dirty-most-unusual-bivalve