The Science Pawdcast

Episode 32 Season 7: Pumpkins That Clean The Earth and Pets That Heal The Heart

• Jason and Kris Zackowski • Season 7 • Episode 32

Share episode

Send us a text

Ever wonder how a pumpkin could help clean a toxic field—and why your dog might boost your mood as much as a wedding ring? We unpack both, starting with fresh research from Kobe University that reveals how a small amino acid tag on major latex-like proteins pushes pollutants into plant sap. That single routing decision explains why some gourds move stubborn chemicals like PCBs all the way to their fruits, illuminating both the promise of phytoremediation and the risk if contaminated soils meet our dinner tables. We talk practical implications for agriculture too—how breeders and bioengineers could tune protein binding and secretion to create safer crops while using separate plots for soil cleanup.

Then we turn to the science of happiness with a study that estimates cats and dogs can elevate life satisfaction on par with being married or seeing friends often. The researchers used instrumental variables to tease causation, not just correlation, and the findings match what many of us feel: pets reduce loneliness, add structure, and get us moving. We dig into the nuance—pets offer deep comfort and presence, while people bring complex emotional and intellectual support—and why the best lives layer both.

If this mix of plant science, pet happiness, and real-world tips resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review so more curious listeners can find us.


Here is the link to all our socials and stuff!!!

Support the show

For Science, Empathy, and Cuteness!
Being Kind is a Superpower.

All our social links are here!

SPEAKER_01:

Hello, science enthusiasts. I'm Jason Zikkowski.

SPEAKER_02:

And I'm Chris Zikkowski.

SPEAKER_01:

We're the pet parents of Bunsen, Beaker, Bernoulli, and Ginger, the science animals on social media.

SPEAKER_02:

If you love science and you love pets, you've come to the right spot. So put on your safety glasses and hold on to your tail.

SPEAKER_01:

This is the Science Podcast. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Science Podcast. We hope you're happy and healthy out there. This is episode 32 of season seven. Chris, we didn't have an episode last week. What happened? What happened? We've had some pretty big bright developments in our family lately.

SPEAKER_02:

We got a new kitten named Bricks. That definitely impacted our ability to do the podcast because we were busy playing with the kitten and I was pretty much just taking care of the kitten.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So we're back on the plan. I think Bricks is in the room with you right now, just exploring and being a little kitten around.

SPEAKER_02:

He's playing with a zip tie that I found.

SPEAKER_01:

That's fun. All right, let's get to the show. In Science News, we're going to be talking about pollutant absorbing gourds. Now, we're not talking about gourd the person, like your stepdad is named Gord. We're talking about like pumpkins and squash and such. Halloween was only a couple weeks ago, so we're still on brand with that. And in pet science, a study came out that reached the conclusion that a cat or dog may improve your well-being as much as being married. So does that mean you can get rid of me because we have bricks now, Chris?

SPEAKER_02:

No. Being married to you definitely elevates my well-being.

SPEAKER_01:

Most days, I hope.

SPEAKER_02:

Every day, all day.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, let's get to it. There's no time like Science Time. This week in Science News, let's talk about how some plants in our world potentially have a secret weapon against pollutants. So this comes to us from researchers at Kobe University, and they found that there were these pollutant-absorbing gourds. As I said in the lead, these aren't people named gourd, they're members of the gourd family. Pumpkins, squash, zucchinis, melons, and cucumbers. And they all have the ability to absorb pollutants from the soil. They're stored in their edible parts, though. So that's the, I guess that's not so much the fun fact. That poses a potential risk to the people who might eat them. Now we're going to be talking about why and how they this happens, which I think is really interesting. That was outlined in the study.

SPEAKER_02:

I really like this story because these plants can be used for environmental cleanup, like phytoremediation for when there are heavy metals or contaminants in the soil. But the gourds are interesting because, unlike most plants, they accumulate high levels of the pollutants. And the pollutants are chemicals that actually don't easily break down. The scientists at Kobe University were intrigued by why this pollutant uptake occurs only in the gourd family, as well as why different varieties of gourds show different levels of pollutant buildup. So there's variation even within the gourd family.

SPEAKER_01:

So the reason why this happens, and their research, you could read this in plant physiology and biochemistry, is the pollutant binding proteins differ slightly between plant types. In high accumulating gourds, proteins are secured in SAP. And in low accumulating plants, proteins stay inside the cell. A small change in amino acid sequence acts as a molecular tag, telling the cell whether to retain the protein or export it in the SAP. Now, interestingly, researchers introduced the high acclimation protein into tobacco plants, and tobacco doesn't normally store pollutants, and these modified plants began exporting the protein into their sap. That confirmed that it was starting to tag. And only secreted proteins can move through the plant and re reach these edible parts. So this may start to explain why some plants accumulate plutons while others don't. Now, I one of the things I found interesting, I cut this kind of like the notes we did, Chris, is that gourds make sap. I didn't think that was a thing.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, that was interesting to me as well. I was just thinking sap from maple trees or other types of trees.

SPEAKER_01:

Mm-hmm. They have xylem sap. This is funny because I teach you taught science 10, right? Xylem and phloem. Yeah. So xylem and phloem, they allow waters and sugars, and simply put to move around a plant. And xylem has sap inside it. That's mostly water that moves through the xylem. And the phloem has sap. So that's sugars and the proteins. So when I think of sap, I think of like the sticky stuff that's on the outside of spruce trees, and you get it on your clothes and your hands, and it's gross. But all vascular plants do produce sap. An interesting fun fact there.

SPEAKER_02:

That was such a cool fun fact. But the study also has implications for agriculture. So a larger field. By the ability to understand the protein's rules, we could uh look at genetic modification of crops and potentially control pollutant uptake. Also, there could be the development of safer vegetables with minimal contamination inside of them. Scientists could alter the protein's ability to bind the pollutants, or it's secretion into plant sap to limit the transport of harmful chemicals.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's fascinating that these proteins, and they are they're called ML MLPs, not MLBs. The baseball's over, sadly, the blue jays lost. MLPs stand for map major latex like proteins. They help bind some really nasty pollutants like PCBs and hydrocarbons. Understanding more about how that happens, and obviously you don't want to eat a pumpkin if it's full of PCBs. That would be nasty. It's interesting how the xylem sap proteins suck up pollutants, but I think it's also interesting in the future about how you could mitigate people eating the pollutants if they snack on a gourd.

SPEAKER_02:

But it also has implications for green technology to take care of soil decontamination and then that ecological restoration that I talked about with at the beginning.

SPEAKER_01:

This is not the only pollutant-sucking up plant that's in the news. Uh, I was waffling on doing a whole episode or story on this weird fungi that's growing on the reactor in Chernobyl. I just don't know enough about it, but I do want to mention that is a type of radiotropism. So these fungi have evolved or they grow towards sources of radiation, ionizing radiation. And they're actually, yeah, they're growing on the side of the sarcophagus in Chernobyl. That's another plant or organism that's sucking up pollution. Cool.

SPEAKER_02:

That is super cool as well.

SPEAKER_01:

Sadly, I think this may be the more plants that's the more plants suck that suck up pollution and radiation. I think we're gonna be winding up with a plants versus zombies situation here pretty quick. All right, that's science news for this week. This week in pet science, let's talk about pets being as powerful as marriage or friendship. Now, this study comes from social indicators research. It was published back in March, and the long and short of it is that owning a cat or dog can improve your well-being as much as being married or having social contact regularly with friends and family. What do you think about that, Chris?

SPEAKER_02:

Jason, I think that owning a cat or a dog has definitely owning our cats and dogs has definitely improved my well-being because it's some something else to take care of and it's something that loves you unconditionally. And spending the last weekend and a few days, because we did have our Remembrance Day fall break with Bricks, bonding with him is time that I would not want to trade for anything. So, like he and I have been hanging out, and I've it's very calming, and he's just such a good boy, and then I hang out with the dogs and I feel the same way. I think it's really important, and I I really enjoyed this article, this research.

SPEAKER_01:

So the research estimated that having a cat or dog is equivalent to a$90,000 increase in your annual life satisfaction. It's tough to put a number on how satisfied you are with life. So it's a common economic measure to quantify happiness or well-being. And you and I, we don't, we're pretty simple, like we don't have expensive tastes. I think I've told you before, like, I am so happy to come home to the dogs. Like, I don't need anything else in my life. That has increased my life satisfaction exponentially. I have no want for any fancy car or anything like that. I'm just content. I'm very content. So I of course I love that you're my wife, but I do agree that cats and dogs can give you a massive boost to how happy you are. But we should probably talk about the study, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Mm-hmm. So the study, the scientists analyzed data from 2,500 British households that were actually participating in a different long-term social survey. And the analysis aimed to identify a causal relationship. So not just having a correlation between pet ownership and life satisfaction. So they applied a technique called the instrumental variables approach, which helps account for hidden factors that could bias their results. So it was interesting because this method introduced a third variable that's related to pet ownership.

SPEAKER_01:

But you So you are you happy because you're healthier? Are you truly happier because you have a pet? And then they also incorporated personality data to help control for natural, optimistic people or traits that might influence well-being, like those sunny, happy people that nothing ever gets them down. I don't know where I fall on that spectrum. Most things don't seem to bother me, but I don't think I walk around like a beam of sunshine.

SPEAKER_02:

So the context of the study looked at the science of pets and happiness. So the emotional and physical health benefits of dog ownership, like you said, increased exercise and reduced loneliness are already well documented in the studies. In fact, we've broken down other studies that have looked at that. However, science are still debating the overall impact of pet ownership on well-being, since they did see some variability with the results across the different studies.

SPEAKER_01:

The author of the study said she was surprised how large the well-being boost appeared in the data from the study. And on reflection, many people describe their pets as their friend or their family. So it makes sense that their presence would be valued as similar as a human friend or a human family member.

SPEAKER_02:

But there is a word of caution with that, Jason.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right. Yes, that's right.

SPEAKER_02:

Them as though they are identical to human friends or family. Because while pets can provide social and emotional support, they are not equivalent to having a relationship with another human. Both of these relationships with a pet and or with a human contribute to well-being, but they are very distinct. Pets provide companionship, comfort, and that non-judgmental presence, whereas humans they provide that complex emotional, intellectual, and social support that animals actually can't fully replicate.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, I love talking to you because I can have intellectual conversations about my day, and you can give me solutions. I can definitely talk to the dogs and now bricks about my day, but they're not going to offer me any solutions. They're just going to be really good listeners. Sometimes you need that, but you do need both in your life. So don't shun one for the other.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

Because we have three dogs and a cat, what's 90,000 times four? Is that why I'm just feeling a much more sunnier outlook? Is that why?

SPEAKER_02:

I think so.

SPEAKER_01:

Just about a half a million dollars more wealthy because of these pets. Maybe.

SPEAKER_00:

Maybe.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, that's pet science for this week.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, it is time for story time with me, Adam. We haven't done story time in a while. So What is this?

SPEAKER_01:

Have we traveled back in time? What is happening here?

SPEAKER_00:

If you don't know what story time is when we talk about stories that have happened, usually within the last one or two weeks, but it's been a lot longer than one or two weeks since I've been on the podcast last. So we're just gonna talk about some stories that have happened. Yeah, it's been a really long time since we've done story time. I guess I'll talk about my story. I have a story about moving in to Edmonton, like moving to Edmonton. So I moved away from home for school, and now I'm in Edmonton, which is a bigger city than where the family lives. So I moved there and I took ginger with me. Now, some people are okay with me taking ginger, and other people are not so okay with me taking ginger, but I have ginger, and Ben, my roommate, he has a cat. Her name is Took. You've probably seen Took on some videos. She's the cat with the black fur. And then Ben's partner, who moved in later, also has a cat named Poe. So we have three cats in a tiny apartment. We have Poe, Ginger, and Took. So I was really worried that all of these cats weren't gonna get along together very well. But all of the cats are super good. So they're getting along pretty good. There's a few little fights that happen, but they have fun. I think they're having fun. I hope they're having fun. But yeah, I was mainly worried about Took because she was she's she takes a little bit of time to get used to people. So I was worried that she was also gonna take a bit of time to get used to the other cats, which did happen, and I was a little worried that she would never get used to the other cats, but she did, and she likes them. And she plays with ginger, and ginger plays with Tuke, and then Took plays with Poe, and Ginger plays with Poe, and they all play with each other. And they like playing with these little with this little I have this little it's like a wand with string on it, and you play with them, and they're so cute. They're so cute. They're the cutest cats ever. Yep. I my story doesn't really have a point or anything like eventful that happened, other than moving away and moving in with three cats and four people in a tiny apartment, because Annalise is also with us. But yeah, three cats, and they're all getting along, which is very good. And Ginger's doing good. Ginger's doing well with the move, and she's happy, and Tuke is happy, and Poe is happy. Poe is a very purry guy. He purrs very loudly. He purrs very loudly when he sees something that you have that he wants, like cheese or milk. He really likes cheese and milk. And then also he meows very loudly. So if you don't pick him up when you're cooking, he'll just sit there and meow until you pick him up. But yeah, that's pretty much my story is moving in with uh with with Ben and Annalise and uh Ben's partner Shay, and all these cats getting along very well. Um, but yeah, uh Dad, do you have a story?

SPEAKER_01:

Let Chris tell the really big story that has taken social media by storm. My story is about just how good of a week uh Bernoulli has had. Like Beaker is the goodest girl, Bunsen is always a good dog, but this week Bernoulli has just been like the best dog ever since we've been working with Marla on building a course, a dog training course. We've been picking up tips and tricks from her as we built the course. And we've worked with Bernoulli on his recall. So his recall is so good when we're out on the walk. Um, and Beaker sometimes gets distracted and digs, which is fine. I just go collect her. Like her recall is not perfect, it's pretty good. And Bernoulli gets frustrated with her, so he goes and tries to find her. And Bernoulli has the spin move that he does, he starts spinning and it makes Beaker insane. Like she loses his her mind on him and he just keeps spinning faster because I think he makes it makes him happy or something that he's bugging her. But, anyways, Bernoulli has had a really good week. He's been a really good dog. He's still a little mischievous, he still steals things like pieces of paper and socks and things like that. But the big thing is how good he has been with our new animal that joined our family. But I'm not gonna spoil that because I think that's more of Chris's story to tell. And that's my story. Bernoulli's been a very good boy, but the other dogs have been good dogs too.

SPEAKER_00:

Sometimes we would have a special guest on Storytime, but we haven't done storytime in the longest time. So we do have a special guest this time as well. Annalise. Annalise, do you have a story?

SPEAKER_03:

Adam's laughing at me right now, but we have many of story when, especially moving to Edmonton and everything. One of the cutest stories for me is Ginger has become. I think she misses Chris. And so I've become Chris. Or even Jason too, because Ginger used to sleep with Jason a bunch, but now she'll come. If I'm laying flat on my back when I'm sleeping, she'll come and sleep on my back. And as much as I love her, it gets very uncomfortable. And then also with the new kitten Poe, he'll do the exact same thing. So I have two cats on me when I'm sleeping, and it's uncomfortable, but it's very cute, and I feel very loved, and it's awesome. So that's my story.

SPEAKER_00:

Annalise reminded me, I have a bit of a bonus story. All of the cats have found a very effective way of waking us up in the morning to be fed. So ginger will scratch the side of the bed, like right next to my head, and then Poe will jump onto Annalise and start purring. Toque is the only cat who doesn't really do anything to wake us up. She just sits there and hopes that she gets fed. And then Ginger, after all of that, will come and walk on our faces, like on top of our heads. And Ginger has taught Took how to beg for food. So Took before would get fed and then just do her thing. But Ginger tries to teach or like tries to trick us into giving her more food. And she's taught the other cats to do that too. So I'll feed the cats, and then Ben will maybe go out for a run in the morning and then come back. And Ginger and Took will go and pretend like they've never been fed before and start meowing at him. And so he'll be like, Oh, have the cats been fed? So now every morning we have to text our roommate's group chat every time we feed the cats, where it's like, oh, we fed the cats. And then at night, when we feed them again, we have to text them, oh, I've fed the cats. So then our roommates don't get tricked. So two little bonus stories. Mom has the big story, so I'll let her tell her story last. Mom, do you have a story?

SPEAKER_02:

I sure do. I am so fortunate to share the story of how we got the most amazing rescue kitten on the planet. We were looking for a new furry friend to join our family because, of course, Adam talked about taking ginger. And we weren't looking for a replacement cat. Absolutely not. But we were looking for a little fur, fur kitten to love, a new fur baby to love. And it had to be the perfect kitten or cat. We had looked in some of the pet stores in town. They have affiliations with the rescues and cat after cat was coming in. And Jason was like, This one's cute, this one's good, this one's good. What do you think of this one? And of course, I was like, No, it has to be the perfect cat, Jason. And we I saw on Facebook a posting for paws and claws, and they had some kittens that had just come into their care, and they said they would be ready to go at a certain time. And I put in an application. And we were so fortunate to meet Bricks early on a weeknight, and then I picked him up on Friday on November 7th. And it's just been such a whirlwind of delight having this little kitten who is the sweetest cat I think I've ever met. I am really bonded to him. He like sleeps on my chest and I carry him, I carry him around the entire house. And yeah, I just adorable. He is so adorable. I just can't say enough positive things about him. And of course, he is a tiny kitten, which we have never had a kitten before. Jason's, I don't know how to kitten. And I said, Me either. He's what? Yeah. So we're a little bit using Google and like what do we do? But we have ideas about how to keep them safe and watch him grow. And we're just so excited and grateful to have this opportunity to take care of bricks as a member of our family. And that's my story.

SPEAKER_01:

And that ties into Bernoulli being a good boy because he's been infatuated with bricks. He wants to hang out with bricks, he licks him gently, he follows him around. But as Chris said, Bricks is about the size of Bernoulli's nose. Yeah. So we have to be very careful, right? If Bernoulli paws at him, he could hurt bricks. So we're just we're always watching any interaction. Even though Bernoulli could never on purpose hurt bricks. It would be an accident.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. We want to mitigate any potential for accidents for sure.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So the cat pooped in here and it smells really bad. Alright, I think that's it for story time. Thank you so much for listening to my section of the podcast. It's a very special section of the podcast because we haven't done it in a while. I hope to see y'all again later, hopefully for another version of my section of the podcast.

SPEAKER_01:

Alright, bye-bye. That's it for this week's show. Thanks for coming back week after week to listen to the Science Podcast. And a shout out to all the top dogs. That's the top tier of our Patreon community, The Pop Pack. You can sign up in our show notes. Alright, Chris, let's hear those names that are part of the Top Dogs.

SPEAKER_02:

Amelia Fetting, Re Oda, Carol Haino, Jennifer Challen, Linnea Janet, Karen Cronister, Vicky Oteiro, Christy Walker, Sarah Brown, Wendy, Diane, Mason and Luke, Helen Chin, Elizabeth Bourgeois, Marianne McNally, Katherine Jordan, Shelly Smith, Laura Stephenson, Tracy Leinbaugh, Anne Uchida, Heather Burbach, Kelly, Tracy Halbert, Ben Rather, Debbie Anderson, Sandy Brimer, Mary Rader, Bianca Hyde, Andrew Lynn, Brenda Clark, Brianne Haas, Peggy McKeel, Holly Birch, Kathy Zirker, Susan Wagner, and Liz Button.

SPEAKER_01:

For science, empathy, and cuteness.