What can a disappearing village in Alaska, a heat-loving amoeba and “Weird Al” Yankovic’s newest honor tell us about science?

Radio Catskill’s resident science guy Joe Johnson explores all three.

On Alaska’s western coast, in the coastal village of Quinhagak, archaeologists have been excavating a dig site called Nunalleq since 2009, after local residents found artifacts washing out of thawing permafrost. The site includes sod houses dating back roughly 400 to 500 years — a rare look at Yupik culture before European contact.

Thousands of artifacts have been recovered, including ceremonial masks, oil lamps, cooking utensils, arrow points and darts believed to have been used in a game.

But the site itself is disappearing. Johnson says as much as 75% of Nunalleq may have been washed away by 2013. In 2025, remnants of Typhoon Halong flooded the site and displaced thousands of artifacts.

Then there’s Amoeba cascadensis, a newly discovered organism from a hot spring in California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park.

The amoeba can reproduce at 145 degrees Fahrenheit and remain mobile at 147 degrees — making it, according to Johnson, the hottest-surviving eukaryote known.

Scientists are interested in how it survives temperatures that can cause proteins and DNA to break down. The amoeba has genes associated with protein and DNA repair, potentially offering clues about how cells protect themselves under extreme conditions.

And finally, science meets pop culture.

The International Astronomical Union has officially named asteroid 14331 Al Yankovic after musician “Weird Al” Yankovic. The roughly mile-wide asteroid orbits in the main asteroid belt and takes 3.77 years to circle the Sun.

The honor recognizes Yankovic’s long history of science- and space-themed songs.