Volcanoes. Trees. Drunk butterflies. Mars missions. Slug sex. Death. Beauty standards. Anxiety busters. Beer science. Bee drama. Take away a pocket full of science knowledge and charming, bizarre stories about what fuels these professional -ologists' obsessions. Humorist and science correspondent Alie Ward asks smart people stupid questions and the answers might change your life.
Smologies #43: CICADAS with Gene Kritsky
They are numerous. They are patient. They are COMING for the United States in droves this spring: They are cicadas. *The* Cicada guy Dr. Gene Kritsky joins to chat all about the annual cicadas you may see every summer vs. the periodical ones that cycle through the states in broods of giant numbers. Learn how they survive underground for decades, what they are doing down there, all about their lifecycle, why some cozy up underground for 17 years while others get moving 4 years quicker, plus get inspired to take a cicada safari, download Cicada Safari, and appreciate their songs, which can be as loud as an ambulance. By the end, you’ll want to don a bug costume and take a road trip to one of the 18 states expecting a periodical emergence this spring!
Dr. Gene Kritsky’s new cicada book A Tale of Two Broods: The 2024 Emergence of Periodical Cicada Broods XIII and XIX
Download the Cicada Safari app at the Apple Store or Google Play Store.
Check out Gene’s website
Also see CicadaMania.com, and follow them on Instagram
A donation was made to Mount Saint Joseph’s cicada research in the School of Behavioral and Natural Sciences
Full-length (*not* G-rated) Cicadology episode + tons of science links
More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!
Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month
OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, masks, totes!
Follow @Ologies on X and Instagram
Follow @AlieWard on X and Instagram
Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions, Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media and Steven Ray Morris
Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Kelly R. Dwyer, Emily White, & Erin Talbert
Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm