In this Spring Pledge Drive show, we talk with CU-Boulder professor and behavioral economist Peter McGraw about his new book, Solo: Building a Remarkable Life of your own. The book is also available through KGNU for listeners who give a donation to support this non-commercial, community radio station.
Executive Producer: Joel Parker Show Producer/Engineer: Shelley Schlender Hosts: Shelley Schlender/Susan Moran
Boulder native and wildlife photographer John Weller talks about his efforts to save The Ross Sea in Antarctica. The Ross Sea is the world’s largest Marine Protected Area. Weller’s photobooks and documentary films have been a big part of explaining why this area is special, and why protecting it is a crucial part of restoring health of all world oceans. This show also includes John Weller on a hike with Boulder Naturalist Steve Jones and the Boulder Audubon Teen Naturalists, and discussion about why recent CU-Bouldeer research about rising carbon dioxide, and how it increases ocean acidity warns of disaster ahead the small shrimp-like krill at the bottom of the food chain, as well as for whales, penguins . . . and people . . . at the food chain’s top.
Host/Producer: Shelley Schlender Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Ibogaine for Traumatic Brain Injury – The Science journal Nature has published a small case study about Special Forces veterans who suffer from traumatic brain injury . . . they report good results from one single dose of the illegal psychedelic Ibogaine . . . with careful supervision.
Ibogaine – Boulder Therapist Andrew Linares (Starts 7:00) shares his experiences working with special forces veterans who are taking Ibogaine at a clinic in Mexico, where it is a legal drug.
Lynx Habitat battle this Wednesday (starts 1:00) Denver’s US 10th District Court of Appeals will hear a case about U.S. Forest Service plans for environmental rollbacks in southern Colorado’s Rio Grande National Forest. They plan to log beetle-killed trees -which may disrupt old growth forest that the endangered lynx needs. Environmentalists are pushing for more study about the impact of these plans.
Soccer Headers and Brain Damage (starts 1:00) New research about long term effects of soccer heading — the practice of hitting a soccer ball with the head, indicates a brain damage risk, even without “official” concussions.
Gaia Theory for the 21st Century (starts 11:30) Martin Ogle explains Gaia Theory, Model and Metaphor for the 21st Century. He’s presenting this Thursday at the Lafayette Public Library.
Host/Producer/Engineer: Shelley Schlender Executive Producer: Susan Moran Contributors: Benita Lee
Fall bird migration is reaching its peak, with billions of birds traveling thousands of miles, mostly at night. We talk with Kyle Horton, director of Colorado State University’s AEROECO Lab, and a key member of BirdCast, which is a collaboration with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Kyle Horton shares the history of “weather radar” use in bird forecasting, plus refinements and algorithms, that fine tune the forecasts. We learn about BirdCast’s nationwide live migration maps, and bird migration forecasts for a city or a county, such as Boulder County Migration Forecasts. Additionally, we talk with AeroEcolab scientists Annika Abbott and Mikko Jimenez.
In the last 50 years, North American bird populations have dropped 30%. Light pollution draws many migrating birds to their death. The BirdCast Lights Out program encourages people and cities to turn out nonessential lights during key periods of bird migration in their areas.
AI for Police Worn Body Cameras (Starts 3:45) Body Cam AI uses artificial intelligence analysis for body cam transcripts. Can this new tech reduce excessive use of force and help restore public trust in policing? To learn more, we talk with Anthony Tassone, CEO of Truleo. Truleo is an AI system for analyzing body cam transcriptions. We also talk with City of Aurora Police Chief, Art Acedvdeo, who helped design this new tech, and is testing it out this year to evaluate its effectiveness in the field. And we talk with Anaya Robinson, Senior Policy Analyst for the ACLU of Colorado.
Master Hummingbird bander Steve Bouricius does workshops about hummingbirds. Today, Boulder Naturalists Scott Severs and Ruth Carol Cushman join Steve Bouricius to see the thousands of hummingbirds that visit his mountain cabin, and to talk about their lives and migration.
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett Show Producer: Shelley Schlender Engineer: Shannon Young
West Nile Virus and other Mosquito Borne Diseases (Starts 4:45) Colorado’s case count from West Nile Virus is starting to rise, with state health officials predicting a histoically high season ahead for West Nile Virus. How on Earth’s Panisara Jaijongkit explains the origins of mosquito borne diseases, how, even in Colorado, people have stories of tropical mosquito borne diseases, such as painful Dengue fever. She also explains how Colorado health experts track West Nile Virus and disease prevention.
Hosts: Beth Bennett, Joel Parker Producers: Panisara Jaijongkit, Shelley Schlender Engineer: Shannon Young Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Room Temperature Superconductors (starts 1:00) Backyard tinkerer, Joe Eck, maintains a popular website that explains the limitations of “Low Temperature” supeconductors that must be cooled by liquid helium to almost absolute zero. He describes the benefits that would come from “Room Temperature” superconductors, which he searches for with equipment that includes a table top kiln. Researchers at Rochester University have claimed success in creating a room temperature superconductor in their high-tech labs. Many scientists warn their method isn’t practical, IF it works at all.
“High Temperature” Superconductor Cables (starts 9:35) Danko Van der Laan, head of Boulder’s Advanced Conductor Technologies, gives a tour of his high-tech lab, where researchers test cables that superconduct when cooled to the “High Temperature” of liquid nitrogen.
Within the decade, this innovation may help lead to electric powered passenger jets and compact fusion reactors that produce much more power than the gigantic fusion reactors being tested today.
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett Show Producer: Shelley Schlender