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A Holiday Fact Exchange!
Episode 811
Host Emily Kwong and editor Gisele Grayson exchange the gift of facts - in this quick hello from us to you, our wonderful listeners!
Published on 3 years ago
Climate Change Stresses Out These Chipmunks. Why Are Their Cousins So Chill?
Episode 810
Kwasi Wrensford describes the subjects of his research as "elfin": skittish little squirrel-cousins with angular faces, pointy ears and narrow, furry tails. He studies two species in particular: the …
Published on 3 years ago
Can COP 15 Save Our Planet's Biodiversity?
Episode 809
This week, the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) wrapped up in Montreal, Canada. Nations from around the world came together to establish a new set of goals to help preserve the planet's biodiversi…
Published on 3 years ago
Brain Scientists Are Tripping Out Over Psychedelics
Episode 808
Psychedelic drugs – like LSD, salvia, ayahuasca, Ibogaine, MDMA (AKA ecstasy), or psilocybin (AKA 'magic mushrooms' or 'shrooms') – are experiencing a resurgence of interest in their potential medica…
Published on 3 years ago
Confessions Of A Math Convert
Episode 807
Math is a complex, beautiful language that can help people understand the world. And sometimes math is hard! Science communicator Sadie Witkowski says the key to making math your friend is to foster …
Published on 3 years ago
Your Multivitamin Won't Save You
Episode 806
Dietary supplements — the vitamins, herbs and botanicals that you'll find in most grocery stores — are everywhere. More than half of U.S. adults over 20 take them, spending almost $50 billion on vita…
Published on 3 years ago
The Hope For Slowing Amazon Deforestation
Episode 805
Brazil's president-elect, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is renewing calls to protect the Amazon and rein in the deforestation. Climate scientists are encouraged but so far there aren't a lot of specific…
Published on 3 years ago
A Step Closer To Nuclear Fusion Energy
Episode 804
On Dec. 5 at 1 o'clock in the morning local time, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California used lasers to zap a tiny pellet of hydrogen fuel. The lasers hit their targe…
Published on 3 years ago
From Scientific Exile To Gene Editing Pioneer
Episode 803
Gene editing was a new idea in the mid-1970s. So when Harvard and MIT planned new research in recombinant DNA, alarm bells went off. "People were worried about a 'Frankengene,'" says Lydia Villa-Koma…
Published on 3 years ago
You Know That Gut Feeling You Have?...
Episode 802
TFW when you're so excited you get those butterflies in your stomach - or maybe when you see something icky, you feel ill. On today's show, producer Berly McCoy looks at this relationship between our…
Published on 3 years ago