Geek Counterpoint Podcasts

PodcastDirectory / Science and Medicine / Science
PodcastDirectory / Regions / NA / USA

I attempt to provide background on science & technology issues that are poorly-covered (or not covered) by the mainstream media. Primary Format : Science Language : English Also Listed as: City : Unknown State/Province : CO Country : USA Region : NA User Tags: User Votes: RSS Feed Website People found this Podcast Searching for: View this Podcast on a Google Map. Podcast iTunes Link Text Only listing of Geek Counterpoint Podcasts Methings.com listings of Geek Counterpoint Podcasts If you like this podcast, you might also like:

View the full archive of Geek Counterpoint GC001 Why This Show In episode 1, I attempt to sum up why I'm producing this podcast, and just what I am hoping / attempting to accomplish with it. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC002 Has NASA Gone Hollywood? In episode 2, I tackle NASA's new exploration initiative. Is it a pragmatic program built on reuse of proven ideas and technologies, or a tired attempt to recapture past glories by going where we've already gone before? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC003 Lemmings, Irony, and Mindsets While the myth of lemmings taking mass suicidal plunges off cliffs was disproven years ago, it stubbornly persists in popular culture. Let's take a look at the history of the myth, the evidence disproving it, and what it has to teach us about the danger of "received wisdom." Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC004 Yes, But is it Science? A lot of terminology is flying around in the argument between supporters of evolution and "intelligent design." This episode looks at two main points in this discussion: what is science (i.e., the scientific method), and what is a scientific "theory"? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC005 The Halloween Show Presented as a fitting Halloween subject and in the interest of very briefly illustrating how evolutionary history has impacted the structure of the human brain. Family friendly, but a bit macabre -- definitely not for younger children's ears (not if they're prone to nightmares, at any rate). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC006 Covering All The Bases We're all familiar with base 10 numerals (i.e., 0 through 9) and how base 10 math is all that we ever use -- or is it? An episode about numerals, numeral systems, and how 4000 years of mathematical history plays out in our daily lives. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC007 Geek Speak and Computer Security (part 1) A recent survey has revealed that a significant number of personal computer users is so baffled by computer "geek" jargon that they don't take even simple security precautions in their computer usage. In this week's episode (and a bit more in next week's episode), I try to give everybody a basic grounding in jargon you'll run across in discussions of security threats to your computer usage. Also, please check out the geekcounterpoint.net web site -- I've drawn up a handy reference sheet ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC008 Geek Speak and Computer Security (part 2) Now that we've nailed down the jargon of computer security, let's look at some simple things you can do to protect yourself. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC009 Piltdown Man (Scientists Behaving Badly #1) "Piltdown Man" is the undisputed grand-daddy of scientific hoaxes, and a great lesson in the importance of critical thinking (even in the face of things pronounced "scientific"). The first in an occasional series of episodes grouped under the theme of "Scientists Behaving Badly." Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC010 Polynesian Navigation If my experience is any guide, the maritime history you learned in school may well have focused on various European nations, and their voyages of discovery. Many of us were taught that long-distance oceanic voyages had to wait for the compass to be invented, then imported into Europe from China. Unfortunately, this treatment of history leaves out the fact that Polynesian sailors were criss-crossing large areas of the Pacific ocean TWO THOUSAND YEARS before Columbus was born. Even more im ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC011 News Grab Bag #1 Updates to previous episodes, and some snippets of interesting science & technology news. Recorded with new (upgraded) gear, so it should sound better than previous episodes. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC012 Beagle2--Lost Or Found? The news is all over the internet -- the wreckage of Beagle 2 has been found on Mars. Or has it? Let's take a look at what's behind all the fuss, and see what's really going on. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC013 RFID and You Now that the commercial spend-fest that is a modern Christmas has passed, I thought it'd be a good time to discuss one of the more promising (as well as disturbing) commercial technologies now appearing on store shelves -- RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification). Maybe it's a godsend for commercial inventory control, maybe it's the biblical "Mark of the Beast..." In any case, this episode will give you a quick grounding in what RFID is, and how it can be used for both good and ill. Copious ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC014 The Fossil Record When push comes to shove, it's tough to make a fossil. Tougher still is gathering enough of them to put together a coherent story (the Earth is, after all, a big place). In this episode, I talk about fossilization and why there are "gaps" in the fossil record. Thanks to Daryl for suggesting this topic... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC015 The Hobbits of Flores Island In 2003 and 2004, a team of Australian and Indonesian anthropologists made some interesting discoveries in a cave on Indonesia's Flores island -- bones from small creatures, that may just prove to be cousins of humanity. Since these bones came from adults, but they apparently stood only about 3 feet tall, they were almost immediately christened "hobbits." These creatures seem to be more closely related to ancient hominids than to modern humans -- but were still alive 18,000 years ago, lon ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC016 Stardust: Return to Sender (part 1) On the 15th of January, a special package was delivered to a dry lake bed in Utah -- and nobody complained that it took 7 years to arrive and covered 3 billion miles in the meantime. This particular package cost $212M to produce, but its contents are (at least in scientific terms) priceless. This week's episode is a discussion of the Stardust mission, and its (political and technical) history. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC017 Stardust: Return to Sender (part 2) Last week, I gave you the story of where the Stardust mission came from -- technically, scientifically, and politically. With the background out of the way, we're ready to dive into the really good stuff. In this week's episode, we continue the Stardust story -- but focus now on Stardust's mission and science. The end result was a historic success -- the first successful return of cometary material to Earth. But the road that culminated in this success was anything but smooth. Tune in ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC018 Stem Cells Stem cells have been in the press for a while now -- but many media outlets seem to be covering them more for the excitement of controversy, than in any attempt to educate people. You know how it goes, a lot of heat but very little light... In this episode, I give you a quick working background on the various types of stem cells, where they come from, and which kinds come with ethical strings attached (and which really shouldn't). Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC019 Vision Problems The White House just released its proposed 2007 budget for NASA, and it seems the administration has an interesting perspective on both science and its own "Vision for Space Exploration" (VSE). While the Bush administration isn't reducing anything it's asking NASA to do as part of VSE, the White House is increasingly reluctant to actually provide money for any of it. As a result, since the space shuttle continues to overrun every "official" estimate ever made of its future costs, NASA's s ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GC020 Gone to the Dogs (Scientists Behaving Badly #2) Now that we've got a little background in stem cells (and if you don't know what I'm talking about, make sure you listen to episode 18), let's talk about recent news. This week's topic is South Korea's own Hwang Woo-Suk -- his meteoric rise to prominence, and his even faster fall from grace. The story has patriotism, vast sums of money, and international prestige on one hand; lies, arrogance, coercion, and scientific fraud on the other -- a modern greek tragedy all tidily packaged in one ma ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website