Science Needs You!

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (0:02)
This is Twist, This Week in Science, Episode Number 1061, recorded on June 3rd, 2026 Science Needs You.
Hey everyone, I am Dr. Kiki, and tonight on the show, we are going to fill your head with rules, training, and liver navigating. But first, thanks to our amazing Patreon sponsors for their generous support of Twist. You can become a part of the Patreon community at patreon.com/thisweek in Science. Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer!
The proposal has been submitted. So many hours we thought it through. We understand it might not land. And although our aims were true. Yet, an itch won't let me rest, even though we tried our best to explain the idea, the methods, and evaluative schemes. It's possible our words won't screen. Did we mention diversity, or was it all American citizenry? We're blessed, I guess, not to study sex, but rather the homogeneity of science-ish-iness.
And what if we win an award? What will happen then?

**Blair** (1:24)
Will the money come through?

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (1:25)
Will the effort be allowed to pursue all the things that it wants to do? Or will this dream be pulled down the drain? We propose you listen to This Week in Science coming up next.

**Blair** (2:14)
Good science to you, Kiki.

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (2:17)
And a good science to you too, Blair, and everyone out there. Welcome to another episode of This Week in Science. We are back again to talk about all the cool sciencey things that happened in the last week. Did you have a good week, Blair?

**Blair** (2:33)
Oh yeah, how about you?

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (2:36)
Oh yeah.

**Blair** (2:37)
You know, just gotta ignore everything going on outside of your immediate life and family, and then it's all fine. It's all good.

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (2:44)
Yes.

**Blair** (2:45)
You can't look. Don't look out.

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (2:49)
Think local.

**Blair** (2:50)
Yeah.

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (2:50)
Just think local.

**Blair** (2:51)
Then it's fine.

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (2:53)
Then it's fine.

**Blair** (2:55)
Yeah. Unless you live in an area that was recently gerrymandered, then it's not fine if you're having a primary. But you know what? It's all good. We're going to move forward.
We're all going to exercise our civil rights.

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (3:10)
I hope everyone who wanted to was able to, has been able to exercise their civil rights. Oh boy, oh boy. What a time to be alive.
And the disclaimer for today was a little bit based on personal experience. And we'll get to that in just a moment with our science news. Oh, yeah.
I have stories. Oh yeah. About new rules that might have to do with government grants. And also bad food quality, bad gut sequencing, bower bird bonanzas, and an octopus mirror attack.

**Blair** (3:51)
What?
Kiki's animal corner. I know.

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (3:56)
I saw the stories.
I love the animals. What is in Blair's animal corner?

**Blair** (4:02)
I have Deet. It's always good to have around in certain areas, in certain times of the year.

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (4:07)
This time of year in the Northern Hemisphere? Very much so.

**Blair** (4:11)
Yeah. And then I have some wild pigs and I have pigeon navigation back in the chat.

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (4:18)
We love the pigeon navigation. But how many wild pigs is it?
What was it from Twitter? It was like 52 wild pigs or something.

**Blair** (4:27)
What's this? I don't know what that is.

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (4:31)
It was an old, old, enjoyable Twitter meme about wild pigs. Yes. So there was a certain number of wild pigs that became, what is it, the number that we needed to have.
But this all sounds very exciting. 30 to 50 wild boar. Yes. We all need 30 to 50

**Blair** (4:56)
Yes. Legitimate question for rural Americans. How do I kill 30 to 50 feral hogs that run into my yard? Yes.

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (5:05)
It began an entire conversation. Oh, I loved it. Yes. So anyway, wild pigs, feral hogs. One in the same.
But now it's time. Are we ready? We're going to jump into the show.

**Blair** (5:20)
Let's do it.

**Dr. Kiki Sanford** (5:21)
Without any more ado, I want to remind you that subscribing to The Twist Podcast is the best way for you to get twists in your ears every single week when we publish a podcast. Make sure you go to your favorite podcast source and look for This Week in Science and subscribe and get your friends to subscribe as well. Additionally, if you would like to watch in video or you like putting the video on and listening for your ears, whatever it is, we are on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch. We broadcast live weekly Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Pacific time-ish. Right around there. And you can go to our website, twist.org, to find out more information about every show, our show notes, links to stories, and links to our Patreon community and our Zazzle store. Ooh, all the things. Okay.