{"podcast":{"title":"EarthDate","slug":"earthdate-7713094","podcast_index_feed_id":7713094,"rss_url":"https://feeds.blubrry.com/feeds/3957418.xml","website_url":"http://blubrry.com/3957418/","image_url":"https://assets.blubrry.com/coverart/1400/3957418-201603.jpg","author":"Switch Energy Alliance","episode_count":300,"summary":"EarthDate is a short-format weekly audio program delivering concise, science-based stories about the Earth: its geology, environments, and the processes that shape our planet over deep time and today. Beginning in 2026, EarthDate is managed by Switch Energy Alliance and hosted by SEA's founder Dr. Scott W. Tinker. Together, we explore earth systems, natural resources, and their relevance to everyday life, with a focus on clear, accessible science education for broad audiences. EarthDate is written and directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Harry Lynch, and researched by Lynn Kistler. We search for captivating stories to remind listeners that science can enlighten, educate and entertain.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/earthdate-7713094"},"episode":{"title":"Singing Sand Dunes","slug":"singing-sand-dunes","published_at":"2026-05-15T14:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/earthdate-7713094/singing-sand-dunes","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/earthdate-7713094","url":"https://blubrry.com/3957418/153852835/singing-sand-dunes/","audio_url":"https://media.blubrry.com/3957418/content.blubrry.com/3957418/EarthDate_S14_E11.mp3","summary":"Did you know that sand dunes...can sing? Sand dunes form wherever there’s sand and steady wind to blow it into piles. Deserts cover 20 percent of Earth’s land surface and many have dunes. There are even sand dunes on other planets. Here on Earth, sand dunes sing in about three dozen known locations. This has baffled explorers since Marco Polo crossed China’s Gobi Desert in the thirteenth century and attributed the loud noises to spirits. And scientists still don’t understand it completely. But it has to do with the sand itself. In singing dunes, the sand crystals are well rounded and covered in a silica-water gel coating called desert glaze. When the sand is hot and very dry, and tumbles down the dune face, the crystals vibrate against one another. This produces tiny sound waves that synchronize with and amplify each other, growing into moans, whines or whistles that can be louder than a lawn mower. If the sand grains are a uniform size, the dune will produce a pure tone. If the grains are of different sizes, they’ll produce several notes to form a chord. Listen... (Fade out music and fade in about eight seconds of singing sand recording. Fade out.) In the U.S., White Sands National Monument has been singing for thousands of years, as documented by native peoples. When you visit, maybe they’ll sing for you.","meta_description":"Did you know that sand dunes...can sing? Sand dunes form wherever there’s sand and steady wind to blow it into piles. Deserts cover 20 percent of Earth’s…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":120,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/earthdate-7713094/episodes/singing-sand-dunes/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/earthdate-7713094/singing-sand-dunes.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}