Green Building Handbook (starts 1:00) CU Boulder Engineering Professor Wil Srubar is the co-author of a new report highlighting innovative building materials that actually store more CO2 than the emissions from their manufacture, making these building materials what’s known as “carbon sinks”
Wild Strawberry Flavor from Fungi (starts 3:29) Holger Zorn explains how and why his team of scientists have identified a fungus that provides a wild strawberry flavor to foods.
Wild Turkeys at Sandstone Ranch (starts 9:07) Naturalists Steve Jones, Ruth Carol Cushman and Scott Severs visit Longmont’s Sandstone Ranch to look for a . . . sometimes elusive . . . flock of wild turkeys.
Farewell to Animal Rights Activist Bernie Rollin (starts 12:44) CSU Philosopher, Vet Scientist and Animal Rights Activist Bernie Rollin died last week. We share excerpts from a past interview, plus a story about the friendship between a turkey and a dog, from his memoir, Putting the Horse Before Descartes
Hosts: Benita Lee, Stacie Johnson
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Shelley Schlender
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:42 — 24.6MB)
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I had the good fortune this morning to listen to the broadcast about the now late Ernie Rollin and his thoughts about the emotional lives of animals. Towards the end of the broadcast was his account of friendship between a Turkey and his pet dog which he viewed as evidence of the rich emotional life of animals.
It was interesting science and a heart warming story particularly apropos for Thanksgiving week.
This account reminded me of a Radio Lab broadcast a year or two ago dealing with some boaters who managed to overcome the fear of them held by a 50 ton whale tangled and immobilized by lobster trap cordage and gear.
As two of the boaters in diving gear approached the whale, the whale expressed its fear by slapping one of its flippers on the water. The divers caught on and backed off. But when they approached again, the whale lay still.
The divers swam all about the whale cutting away cordage. At one point one of the divers was just inches away from one of the whale’s eyes. The last of the cordage sank away, and the whale disappeared.
A few moments later it reappeared next one of the divers. Then it swam over to the other diver. Then it swam to the boat and around the boat without disturbing it or its occupants .
It is damn near impossible not to think the whale’s actions after being rescued were not the expression of emotion, something akin to, if not the same as, gratitude.
Sincerely,