Bare Bones

Big Picture Science

You may not feel that your skeleton does very much. But without it you’d be a limp bag of protoplasm, unable to move. And while you may regard bones as rigid and inert, they are living tissue.

Bones are also time capsules, preserving much of your personal history. Find out how evolutionary biologists, forensic anthropologists, and even radiation scientists read them.

And why won’t your dog stop gnawing on that bone?

Guests:

• Brian Switek – Pen name of Riley Black, Author of “Skeleton Keys: the Secret Life of Bone.”
• Ann Ross – Forensic anthropologist at North Carolina State University. Her lab is the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
• Stanley Coren – Professor emeritus of psychology at the University of British Columbia, and author of many books about canine behavior including, “Why Does My Dog Act That Way?”
• Doug Brugge – Professor and chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices