Unfortunately the first half of this write-up for episode 029 of scienceTASTIC is lacking a clever little theme that we're usually so proud of. I mean, Mark's claim that humans are nearing immortality, Mike getting rats hooked on junk food, and Joe's study about clean smells leading to more virtuous living really have nothing to do with each other. Right? Luckily after the break we turn green with bunny-based biofuels, gas-guzzling pets, and a more ecological font. So you have that. Which is nice.

What we didn't get to: why sleepyheads forget, the genetic genesis of speech, and whale wars.

Episode 028 of scienceTASTIC is the perfect marriage of good times and great science. Mark gets down on one knee to tell us about a talking piano, Mike vows to honor and obey new technology from the "Bridge Whisperer"*, and Joe shoves a fork-full of cake into the beak of birds that understand physics. Swing over to the gift table and you'll also find nuclear batteries, the new energy economy, and - appropriate today's theme - a newly-discovered ring around Saturn. Just by listening to this show you are saying "I do... want to hear awesome science stories."

What we didn't get to: candles in space and the psychology of the soccer flop.

*Popular Science, November 2009