Top Ten from 2021

2021 saw many remarkable science stories making it difficult to pick the top contenders. The How on Earth team struggled with these decisions but here they are!

Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additonal contributions by: Benita Lee, Joel Parker, Jill Sjong, Shelley Schlender

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The Fentanyl Epidemic: Why It’s Growing and Some Solutions

This week on How On Earth, we welcome Benita Lee who brought up the growing problem with fentanyl – a new street drug that’s killing many. Benita talks with DEA agent David Olesky about the scope of the problem and what the agency is doing to combat it. Beth talks with pharmacologist and policy maker Robert Valuck about how the drug affects the brain, causes death, and the protective effect of the blocking drug naloxone.
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contributions: Benita Lee

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Can Cattle Reduce Climate Change?

This week on How on Earth, Beth talks with Professor Fred Provenza, author of the book Nourishment: What Animals Can Teach Us about Rediscovering our Nutritional Wisdom. He returns to discuss his current venture into the utility of grazing animals in regenerating soil and reducing our carbon footprint. Yes, cows may actually reduce the rate of climate change.
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Producer: Beth Bennett

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Building Bones without Drugs

On today’s show, Beth talks with Dr John Jaquish about his novel method for treating osteoporosis, using ‘osteogenic’ loading. His method has been shown in clinical trials to build bone without drugs, and consequently without the serious side effects of these drugs. The loading method has been validated in using the classic DEXA screening method as well as blood markers such as NTX or CTX (which measure bone breakdown) and P1NP (which measures bone formation).
Show Producer: Beth Bennett

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It’s A Dog’s World!

Ever wonder what the world would be like without us humans? Professor Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce answer that question from a dog’s eye perspective in their book, A Dog’s World. In addition to speculating about the future of our canine friends without us, they provide a thorough and well-researched look at all aspects of dog biology.
Show Producer: Beth Bennett

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Microscopic ‘antennae’ use quantum mechanics to harvest heat energy

In this episode of How on Earth, Beth talks with Dr Amina Belkadi about her groundbreaking work developing the microscopic ‘rectennas’ (pictured here in a scanning EM photo) to harvest heat energy from their surroundings. This novel approach could revolutionize energy technology.
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional contribution: Shelley Schlender

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New Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease

On this week’s show Beth talks with Alzheimer’s Disease researcher Dale Bredesen. In his new book, The First Survivors of Alzheimer’s, he lets some of his patients speak. He also describes in detail his complex diagnostic and personalized therapeutic approaches.
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Producer: Beth Bennett

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Ready for RoundUp?

Today on how on earth, Beth talks to MIT scientist Stephanie Seneff about her book, Toxic Legacy. Dr Seneff takes us on a fast paced tour of the large range of toxicities produced by glyphosate. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the most commonly used weedkiller in the world. Nearly 300 million pounds of glyphosate-based herbicide are sprayed on farms—and food—every year. Although the herbicide is claimed
to be safe for humans, animals, and the environment, Seneff summarizes research showing otherwise.
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett

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A New Way to Measure Aging

This week on How on Earth, Beth talks with Professor Tom LaRocca, professor in the department of Health and Exercise Science at CSU in Fort Collins. His background is in molecular biology and physiology, but he is particularly interested in translational research (using laboratory science to develop practical applications or treatments that can help people). He is especially interested in the biology of healthspan, the period of life during which we are healthy and productive, and in research on ways to increase healthspan. He talks particularly about some of his recent work which has identified genetic marks of our biological age, as opposed to our chronological age or the number of years one has under their belt. You can see his website as well as the Healthy Aging website he and his colleagues maintain.
Executive Producer:
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
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Emerging World: A Road Map for a Better World

Today on How on Earth, Beth speaks with author Roger Briggs about his new book: Emerging World. Briggs explores the evolution of consciousness and shows that this is behind everything humans have done, are now doing, and are capable of in the future. By bringing together knowledge from paleoanthropology, cultural philosophy, cognitive psychology, and evolutionary theory, he makes the case that humanity is now on the verge of a major transformation, a monumental turning point in our story. Emerging World offers a new understanding of our crisis today and points the way to a bright future for humanity and life on our planet. You’ll also hear about new research into the surprising role that the microbiome plays in aging fruit flies. You can find out more about Roger’s ongoing project at his website.
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
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