Who cares about flatworms? Guess what: you do. Planarian expert Dr. Oné Pagán shares his infectious enthusiasm for the teeny tiny ribbons of flesh that are helping scientists understand addiction, limb regeneration, stem cells, immortality and maybe aliens though probably not aliens. You’re about to be obsessed. We discuss where to find planarians, serendipitous science, taking risks in life, how these worms regrow themselves when they are cut into 279 pieces, marine flatworms, penis fencing, multipurpose mouth tubes, the Unabomber and more. Dr. Pagán is a gem of a human and you’re about to be smitten with flatworms. And him. Trust me.

Follow Dr. Oné Pagán at Twitter.com/baldscientist or check out his blog at baldscientist.wordpress.com

His book, “The First Brain”

A donation went to NoKidHungry.org

More links at alieward.com/ologies/planariology

Song at the end is: 9 Animal Phyla Song

Transcripts & bleeped episodes at: alieward.com/ologies-extras

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Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media & Steven Ray Morris

Theme song by Nick Thorburn

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Planariology (VERY COOL WORMS, I PROMISE) with Oné Pagán