Author: Shelley Schlender

Aerogel as Clear As Glass:  (Starts 4:00)   Most aerogels “windows” are kind of foggy looking.  A CU-Boulder science team has created something better.  It’s a liquid made from recycled plant material, a liquid that hardens into a  gel that’s almost as light as air, almost as clear as glass, yet it can insulate against temperature changes.  This “gel” is flexible enough, you can wear it like a glove. And they’ve made it from a rather environmentally friendly source — it’s cellulose, created by microbes “digesting” the beer mash that gets left over after  making beer. 

New Science Standards for Colorado Public Schools (Starts 13:30):  CU Boulder Education Research expert Erin Furtak explains new, more hands-on and interactive way to learn science.  These will soon be part of Colorado Public Schools.  The new science standards will be the first update of Colorado Science Education Standards in well over a decade.  In addition to teachers using these standards, parents can, too.

Host, Producer, Engineer: Shelley Schlender
Contributions by: Beth Bennett
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:10 — 50.5MB)

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Junk Raft (starts 6:20) Marcus Eriksen discusses what can and cannot be done about the “plastic smog” of microscopic debris permeating the world’s ocean, from the state-sized floating islands of plastic in the Pacific, to the microscopic debris that sinks all the way down the the deepest parts of the Pacific, OR gets eaten and into the food chain.  Eriksen is author of the book Junk Raft, recounting his adventures when he sailed the Pacific from L.A. to Hawaii on a raft made of garbage to bring attention to the issue.

The Green Reaper (starts 19:10) Elizabeth Fournier, a mortician from Oregon, is known to some as “The Green Reaper.” She offers and advocates for natural burial services for those who want to extend their environmental ethos from life on into death.

Host/Producer/Engineer: Chip Grandits
Executive Producer:  Beth Bennett

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:28 — 50.6MB)

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Michael Pollan: How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence.  We speak with New York Times Bestselling science writer Michael Pollan about his new book that features LSD and magic mushrooms. Pollan will give a book talk in Denver this Thursday — at the Trinity Methodist Church.  On Friday, Pollan’s Boulder Booktalk will be at Boulder’s First Congregational Church.

Host/Engineer/Producer:  Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer:  Joel Parker

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:28 — 50.6MB)

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Roger the Fragrance Free Barber (Starts 3:25)   Artificial fragrances in shampoos, colognes, lotions. deodorant, laundry detergent and more nearly led Roger the Barber, to give up his profession, due to his chemical sensitivities.  Then he opened his own, fragrance free, shop.  He caters to clients who prefer a fragrance free environment . . . and educates people about what fragrance free means.

 

Shelly Miller – Clean Indoor Air – (Starts 10:35)  CU Boulder Professor Shelly Miller warns that ingredients in common consumer products sometimes add hazardous chemicals to indoor air.  Miller discusses CU Boulder’s Fragrant Free Initiative and the six classes of chemicals that can be hazardous, whether they’re fragrant or odorless, including fire retardants in clothes and furniture.

Host/Producer: Shelley Schlender
Engineer:Maeve Conran
Additional Contributions: Beth Bennett
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:40 — 24.4MB)

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