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Carbon Your Enthusiasm
Bond it to oxygen and it’s the scourge of climate change. But earthly life wouldn’t be possible without carbon, and maybe that’s true for alien life, too.
And carbon has other exciting forms: tiny diamonds may be evidence of a catastrophic comet impact 13,000 years ago. And, chalky carbonates may point to a once-habitable Mars.
So get cozy with carbon. Find out if you could swap it for silicon in DNA. Plus, the conundrum of calculating a carbon footprint.
... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
SETI: Now What?
Hello! Is anyone out there? As the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence marks its 50th anniversary, there’s been no contact as yet with alien beings. But SETI researchers maintain that we are not alone. Find out why in a SETI retrospective that looks at the past and future of the search.
We remember the first scientific SETI search… Carl Sagan… how the SETI Institute began… the WOW signal…and the 1993 NASA budget cuts.
We’ll also hear from crit ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Skeptic Check: Doomsday at the Movies
ENCORE Hollywood has a few ideas of how the world will end: killer asteroids … lethal pandemics … deadly ice-ages. These themes have all played out on the big screen. But, hey, they’re only movies, right?
We’ll separate the science from the fiction in doomsday movies. From the 2012 prophesy of the Mayans … to colliding worlds … to abrupt climate change, find out which among this crowd of cinematic scares are for real, and which aren’t worth the price of popcorn ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Do Computers Byte?
The march of computer technology continues. But as silicon chips and search engines become faster and more productive – can the same be said for us?
The creator of Wolfram Alpha describes how his new “computational knowledge engine” is changing – and improving – how we process information. Meanwhile, suffering from data and distraction burnout? Find out what extremes some folks take to stop their search engines.
Also, the Singularity sensation of humans merging wi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Skeptic Check: Mind Your Body
Popping a pill may help when you’re sick… but maybe not for the reasons you think. Sugar pills – placebos – cure illness better than prescription pills in as many as half of all cases in clinical trials … and the placebo effect is getting stronger.
Plus, the safety – or otherwise – of electromagnetic waves, and the “electro-sensitive” refugees who have built a camp to protect themselves from waves they say are causing pain. Is it all in their minds? ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Seth's Storage Locker
It’s always an adventure to go digging in Seth’s storage locker – who knows what we’ll find …
In this imposing pile of paraphernalia, tucked between boxes of socket wrenches and old 45s, we stumble upon the hunt for extrasolar planets, the evidence for water on moons of the solar system, theories of language, a controversial hypothesis for the peopling of the Americas, and a new dinosaur fossil.
Guests:
Steve Brusatte – Vertebrate paleontologist ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Extreme Geology
>p>We think of major geologic events as taking place a long time ago – but the Earth is just as active as it ever was. We’re a planet in motion. Discover why earthquakes might be increasing worldwide… descend into daring cave exploration… and take a trip to Hawaii where new volcanoes are gurgling up right now.
Plus – the supervolcano under Yellowstone Park… when might it erupt again?
Guests:
Robert Nadeau – Geologist, University ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Say What?
There’s no escape from the chattering classes – they talk, squawk, squeal and sing all around us. Every animal communicates in some form – it’s essential for survival. They’ve evolved to understand each other … but do we understand them?
Find out what’s coded in humpback whale song and whether human-cetacean dialogue is possible… how information theory reveals communication patterns within the animal kingdom… how plants call out to animals to protect them… an ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Aloha Astronomy
From Mauna Kea in Hawaii, the view of the cosmos is spectacular. Giant black holes, distant galaxies, and extrasolar planets have all been uncovered by the massive telescopes that perch on this volcanic cone.
We’ll sit in as astronomers use the Keck Telescope to peer at objects so far away, their light started out before Earth was born. We’ll also learn about an instrument now being planned that will dwarf even the massive glass eyes now in place.
Also, how Hawaiian tradition ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Skeptic Check: Waking the Dead
The undead, those mindless shambling specters from the grave, are enjoying a cultural (if not literal) resurgence, in films, books, and through strange, urban “zombie crawls.”
Discover the unearthly appeal of these reanimated beings and why playing dead may mirror the real social alienation of our digital lives. Also, how mathematicians use “zombie attacks” to model real disease epidemics, such as swine flu.
Plus – another case of life in suspension: the promise and ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Seeing Stars and Planets
It’s hot, too darn hot! And bright, too darn bright! But over-the-top photon flux doesn’t stop scientists from studying the sun. And solar eclipses are an ideal time for observing our favorite nuclear reactor. Discover what it was like to observe totality during the 2009 China solar eclipse.
Plus, how a star is born … the latest from the NASA Kepler mission to seek Earth-like planets … and, planet-hunter extraordinaire Mike Brown discovers the tenth planet: an icy body ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
That's Cosmic!
ENCORE What makes up the universe? Lots of tiny particles with strange names: bosons, leptons, quarks and neutrinos. But physicists think there are more members to be discovered in this particle zoo.
From strange particles to dark matter to vibrating strings, find out why you have to think small to understand the physics of the universe.
Plus, other cosmic connections: is SETI a religion?
Guests:
Murray Gell-Mann – Physics Nobel Laureate, ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
What Were You Thinking?
ENCORE Say what you mean. That’s difficult, if you don’t know what you’re thinking. But the neuromarketers do, and they’ll be happy to tell Madison Avenue what’s on your mind. Discover why this marketing strategy is wired for success.
Also, Steven Pinker on how language reveals private thoughts as well as why the big-brained Homo neanderthalensis couldn’t out-compete Homo sapiens. And, we tease your gray matter with the “Monty Hall Prob ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Earth: A Millennium Hence
Humans have not gone unnoticed on this planet. We’ve left our mark with technology, agriculture, architecture, and a growing carbon footprint. But where is this trajectory headed?
In the second of a two-part series: what we’ll lose and what will last in 1000 years or more.
Discover what the planet might look like to geologists of the far-off-future… the stubborn longevity of plastic and radioactive waste… human civilization in space… and postcards from the galacti ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Earth: A Century Hence
Listen now
Humans have not gone unnoticed on this planet. We’ve left our mark with technology, agriculture, architecture, and a growing carbon footprint. But where is this trajectory headed?
In the first of a two-part series: what will be lost and what will still be around 100 years from now? James Lovelock says a hotter planet will prompt mass migrations. And Cary Fowler urges us to save our seeds – the health of future farms may depend on it.
Plus, from antibiotics to ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Skeptic Check: Doomsday at the Movies
Hollywood has a few ideas of how the world will end: killer asteroids … lethal pandemics … deadly ice-ages. These themes have all played out on the big screen. But, hey, they’re only movies, right?
We’ll separate the science from the fiction in doomsday movies. From the 2012 prophesy of the Mayans … to colliding worlds … to abrupt climate change, find out which among this crowd of cinematic scares are for real, and which aren’t worth the price of popcorn.
G ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Grave Matters
We could choose not to pay income tax and suffer the consequences. But we can’t avoid death. The biological functions of all organisms eventually cease. But why should this be? Find out why animals die and meet one creature that is biologically immortal.
Plus, a trip to the Body Farm where decaying bodies help science…how we might cheat the Big Sleep with drugs… why Mexican cemeteries look like villages… and a doctor’s fight against one of the world’s deadliest dise ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
TXT MSG: Behavior
ENCORE From iPods to Google to Facebook – information swims at our fingertips and friends are just a txt msg away. Digital devices have re-defined what it means to be connected – but how else are they shaping behavior? Join us for the second of a two-part series on how the network is changing how we think and act.
Part II: Behavior: how computers compel us to interact with them… why your iPod may improve your health… why Facebook may leave you friendle ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
TXT MSG: Thought
ENCORE From iPods to Google to Facebook – information swims at our fingertips and friends are just a txt msg away. Digital devices have re-defined what it means to be connected – but how else are they shaping behavior? Join us for the first of a two-part series on how the network is changing how we think and act.
Part I: Thought: whether Google is making us stupid… how the Internet is curtailing creativity… and the future of a hyper-networked ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Rxs Get Personal
Medicine’s back.. and this time it’s personal. Get ready to have your genome read… your brain scanned… and undergo a chemical analysis so detailed, it’ll reveal the Twinkie you had for lunch. Everyone’s different, and reading those differences at the level of the gene may provide a more accurate profile of health and how to treat disease. But are you ready to know what’s wrong with you?
Discover the future of personalized medicine with biologist Craig Venter, as w ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Skeptic Check: Sheer Lunacy
Watch out, the moon is full… of intrigue. Our lovely satellite is blamed for all sorts of Earth-bound mischief – from robberies to shape-shifting to general nutty behavior. It’s also the setting for more than one loony tale. In this hour, as NASA spacecraft return to the moon, a look at the mythology it inspires.
Discover the true correlation between crime and a full moon… the 1835 reports of unicorns and man-bats living on moon… and, our favorite hair-raisin ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Humans in Space... ace... ace
ENCORE When the economy’s down, will humans still be going up – into space, that is? We investigate the future of human spaceflight at the International Astronautical Congress in Glasgow, Scotland and find out whether sending Homo sapiens to the Moon and Mars is still a good idea. Also, the chief of Virgin Galactic is happy to send you into space on a private flight – but it may max out your credit card.
Plus, an Apollo astronaut’s view from orbit ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
What Makes Us Human Part II: Adaptability
Are humans unique or do we just do some things a little better than other species? In the second of our two-part series – how our ability to adapt has shaped our evolution.
Find out how throwing a burger on the grill has transformed our species… the 1% genetic difference that separate us from chimps… why we’re poorly adapted and stressed out … and why human evolution is not only on the move, but picking up the pace.
Richard Wrangham – Biological anthrop ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
What Makes Us Human Part I: Others
Are humans unique or do we just do some things a little better than other species? In the first of our two-part series on the nature of humanity: how the influence of others has shaped our evolution.
Find out how baby talk gave root to human language and why social isolation can make us sick. Plus, the joke’s on us – new research says we’re not the only laughing species: meet your giggling gorilla cousins.
And, what a writer’s visit to a chimp retirement center reveale ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Bodies in Motion
Feel the need for speed? Well, you’ll need an extra helping of speed if you plan to leave the Earth and explore other parts of the solar system. On the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, and as part of our series for the International Year of Astronomy: what it’s like to travel in a rocket (why you won’t feel any motion), and NASA’s plans for returning to the moon.
Also, life in an accelerating universe and why a spacecraft’s quirky trajectory may mean that ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Robots Call the Shots
Dr. Robot, I presume? Your appendix may be removed by motor-driven, scalpel-wielding mechanical hands one day. Robots are debuting in the medical field… as well as on battlefields. And they’re increasingly making important decisions – on their own. But can we teach robots right from wrong? Find out why the onslaught of silicon intelligence has prompted a new field of robo-ethics.
Plus, robo-geologists: NASA’s vision for autonomous robots in space.
Guests:
... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Skeptic Check: Playing Doctor
A new herbal supplements is on the shelf, and it claims to improve memory. Should you take it? It’s not easy to sort through the firehose of health and nutrition advice that comes at us daily. Find out how to get healthy about health advice, plus hear the story of Bernarr Macfadden, the eccentric who kicked off America’s fitness craze; he believed that eating less was good for you, but he didn’t believe germ theory.
Plus, our Hollywood skeptic spills his guts and other ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Why We Do What We Shoo Be Do Be DoENCORE We see a man laughing and we smile in response. Our heart goes out to the sad-looking woman on the train. Humans are empathetic creatures – we feel what others feel, even the emotions of strangers. And it may be due to brain cells that researchers haveonly recently discovered: mirror neurons. Find out how these mimicking cells help us survive cocktail parties, keep society humming, and even give rise to the concept of self.
Also, are humans born with a moral code? And, i ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Seas the Moment
With more water than land on this planet, Earth is more aptly-named “Ocean” or “Water.” The oceans have been here for billions of years, and make all life possible. Yet, it’s taken less than a century for humans to deal some serious blows to the watery cradle of our existence. Discover how our oceans are changing and the worrisome increase in their acidity from the maker of the documentary film, A Sea Change
Also, hear how hope is bubbling up for ocean recovery from fa ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Genes That Fit
ENCORE Remember Mr. Potato Head? You changed his look by snapping in plastic mustaches, googly eyes and feet. Now imagine doing the same with a living cell: inserting the genes you want to create the organism you want. Welcome to the world of synthetic biology. It has potential to create new bio-fuels and life-saving drugs. It also ushers in a host of ethical and safety concerns. We examine both when we discuss this emerging science of mix and match genes.
Plus, does doing an ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Seth's GarageIt’s always a surprise to go digging in Seth’s garage – who knows what we’ll find! In this impressive heap of paraphernalia, tucked between boxes of old radio tubes and hydraulic jacks, we stumble upon the secrets to our galaxy’s central black hole… witness the dance of the PhD theses… uncover the genome of milk (while moo-ving boxes) and … hey? Who’s that crunching numbers in the corner? It’s astrophysicist Mario Livio addressing the mathematical mysteries of univers ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Reading Life's Tea Leaves April 20 2009
For nearly four billion years, life has been swimming and shuffling across our planet. But how can we deduce what it was like? You don’t need Sherlock Holmes to track the clues of life that came before – call on an anthropologist or biologist. From fossils to alien radio signals, find out how to interpret the clues that living organisms leave behind, and hear adventure stories in the evolution of life on Earth.
Also, the discovery of a dino-eating crocodile and the tale ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Skeptical Sunday: Is Ignorance Bliss? April 13 2009Europe is a country. Six justices sit on the Supreme Court. The Vietnamese attacked Pearl Harbor. If ignorance is bliss, this is one happy-go-lucky country. The average American's grasp of history, current events, and geography is so poor, according to one journalist, we've become a nation of dunces, seriously undermining our own future. Keeping ourselves in the dark.
Find out why "F" stands for American intellect and what's behind the national trend of dumbing down. Als ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Life of Brain April 6 2009
We should award frequent travel miles to your brain. After all, it’s evolved a long way from the days of guiding brachiation from tree-to-tree to become the three pounds of web-surfing, Sudoku-playing powerhouse it is today. But a suite of technologies may expand human brains further still.
From smart pills to nano-wires: discover the potential – and peril – of neuro-engineering to repair and enhance our cognitive function.
Also, how our brains got so big in the first ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Speaking Klingon March 30 2009
Ever try talking to an alien? In the movies, they always speak perfect English. But what if we really made contact? Could we just whip out a universal translator - or even a babelfish - to understand one another?
Let's say we do learn to communicate: what to say, what to say? We'll hear the protocol for just how to reply to ET. And, from Klingon to Esperanto: the recipe for creating a language from scratch.
Plus, get ready to babble with your Blackberry: how comp ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Skeptical Sunday: Take a Number March 23 2009 Pick a number, any number. Got it? Good. Is it a lucky or unlucky? Is it a code that gives you a clue to the future? A lot of people assign all sorts of magical significance to numbers. From Friday the 13th to lucky number 7 – we’ll find out whether the idea of digits of destiny addsup. Plus, 666 and 616: find out what famous figures these figures code for.
Learn the numbers that do have significance in math and nature: how a honey bee’s lineage is an example of the Fib ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: You've Been Slimed! March 16 2009Hollywood horror flicks have captivated us with alien blobs, but the slime slithering on our own planet is as beguiling. From microscopic machines to life on ocean floors, new research reveals how essential slime is to life on Earth, and possibly other worlds.
Discover the new materials made from hagfish slime… the social life of a slime mold… and the threat posed by the gray goo of self-replicating nanobots.
Plus, it’s been 50 years since it first oozed across the scr ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
Building Better BrainsENCORE Forgot your own birthday? Misplaced your Shih Tzu? Did you put the milk in your backpack and the iPod in the fridge? Age may bring wisdom but – alas – not a boost in RAM. But there’s hope – scientists are discovering that the brain is more malleable than thought. We’ll hear about the science of neuroplasticity and what you can do to slow that cerebellum slide. Ever been to a brain gym?
>p>Plus, why the brains of London cabbies are bigger tha ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: A Man, A Planet, A Tenal: Panama! March 2 2009While the Kepler spacecraft hunts for habitable planets outside our galaxy, we’ve let one of our own planets slip away! Find out why Pluto’s demotion to dwarf status created a public uproar as astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson reads us his hate mail. From third-graders!
Also, how we might find Earth-like planets… the possibility of life on Saturn’s moon Titan… and TED Prize winner Jill Tarter’s vision for finding E.T.
And, the man who made it all possible: 400 yea ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: It's the Science, Cupid! February 23 2009
Love make us feel warm and mushy, but the sweet sting of Cupid's arrow makes a compelling chemistry lesson, too. Research into animal mating and human courtship provides clues to an eternal mystery: what's the purpose of love?
Learn lessons from the family values of field mice, and affectionate same-sex penguin pairs. Plus: Darwin's take on speed dating, and the science of smooching.
Guests
Helen Fisher - Anthropologist, Rutgers University
... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Skeptical Sunday: Que Sera... No Sera? February 9 2009
We all want to peek into the future and find out what fate has in store: Will I get that raise? Is love around the corner? What’s the winning combo in Las Vegas? Some people claim the ability to see events before they occur. Find out how accurate their prognostications are.
Plus, how the job market drove the granddaddy of “I told you so” – Nostradamus – into the business of soothsaying.
Also, how the brain misfires to produce déjà vu. Also, h ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Feather Knows Best February 2 2009
Can animals think? Merely asking the question was once thought ridiculous. But studies that range from chimps to birds to sea creatures have prompted scientists to reassess the cognitive capabilities of our animal friends. These results challenge not only our idea of intelligence, but man’s unequivocal perch at the top.
Learn the secret communication between camouflaging cuttlefish… how the smarts of Alex the parrot turned “birdbrain” into a compliment ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Carbon Your Enthusiasm January 26 2009
Bond it to oxygen and it’s the scourge of climate change. But earthly life wouldn’t be possible without carbon, and maybe that’s true for alien life, too.
And carbon has other exciting forms: tiny diamonds may be evidence of a catastrophic comet impact 13,000 years ago. And, chalky carbonates may point to a once-habitable Mars.
So get cozy with carbon. Find out if you could swap it for silicon in DNA. Plus, the conundrum of calculating a carbon footpr ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: You Animal! January 19 2009
ENCORE Maybe Dr. Doolittle was on to something; animals are smarter than we think. Birds, apes, and dolphins are all clever problem solvers with a rich vocabularly and - in some cases - self-awareness. Find out what you can learn from our furry, finned and feathered friends. Also, why you are so much an animal yourself, all the way down to the bare bones.
Plus, enter the locked vaults that hold extinct and newly-discovered animal species. And why B-movie ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Scoping Out Astronomy January 12 2009
A loud radio hiss is coming from the cosmos. Is it the swan song of the first giant stars of the universe?
Find out from stargazers attending the American Astronomical Society meeting in California... the brightest flash in the universe illuminates how a galaxy grows up... a planet hunter closes in on Earth-size prey.
Also, find out how to spy on the universe from the comfort of your living room. Plus, the four-century-old history of the telescope... and Galileo didn't in ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Sex: From Beginning to End January 5 2009ENCORE We all know how sex begins: a dimly-lit room, a come-hither smile, and a surfeit of parasol-shaded cocktails. But long before all that, the gentle currents of the ancient sea floor set the mood. It was there, 570 million years ago, that two ropy sea creatures found each other and changed the course of evolution.Hear how sex began and where it's headed: if you think your love life is mechanical now, just wait until you're cozying up to titanium skin and the latest emotion software.Plu ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Nerds December 29 2008
ENCORE There are two kinds of people: those who are unstylish, socially inept, yet academically gifted, and those who tease them. Being a nerd is rough; it's no fun to sit alone in the cafeteria or be forced to dine on beach sandwiches. But revenge is sweet: the world depends more than ever on the witty and gifted to keep it technologically and scientifically turning. So who gets the last laugh? Just ask Bill Gates. Then again, have attitudes towards eggheads really m ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Science and Art: Worlds Apart? December 22 2008
ENCORE Leonardo da Vinci is considered a genius for combining art and science. But how usual is this for us mere mortals? Can science and art sucessfully inform each other?
We'll hear how the insights of French writer Marcel Proust anticipated modern neuroscience. Also, a debate over the evolutionary function of art. Does it have survival value? We meet a robot whose painting talents have garnered it a job in one of America's top museums. And, hear - or don't hea ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website
AWA: Skeptical Sunday: Ghost of a Chance December 15 2008
Half of all Americans believe in ghosts - despite any compelling evidence of their existence. Find out why we believe in what we can't see, and why loneliness may increase our chances of a poltergeist experience. Hear the tale of the Toys R Us ghost, and scope out the latest in haunted real estate.
Also, why our Hollywood skeptic is tired of wild ghost chases and Phil Plait speaks out on lapses in critical thinking. This week: vaccination and autism.
It' ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | |
