Category: Episodes

Music on the Brain

Your Brain on Music (start time: 6:18): Most people love music, whether it’s opera music, jazz, rock-n-roll, gospel, nursery rhymes or another genre. Whether you’re a trained professional or someone who just likes to sing in the shower or listen to your favorite playlists, you’ve likely felt the power of music in shaping your thoughts, feelings and behavior. But how?
Many scientists have been researching how music affects the human brain, and how music can help treat many neurological and other disorders. Today, host Susan Moran interviews Indre  Viskontas, a cognitive neuroscientist and associate professor of psychology at the University of San Francisco. She’s also a classically trained opera singer and a director. Her 2019 book is How Music Can Make You Better.  And Dr. Viskontas also directs communications for the Sound Health Network, an initiative that promotes research and public awareness of the impact of music on health and well-being. She also hosts a podcast called Inquiring Minds.

Host, Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Shannon Young
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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Mountain Lions in Northern Colorado

Mountain lion, northern Colorado, http://www.wildnaturemedia.com

In this episode, Jill Sjong interviews Wild Nature Media‘s David Neils who has been studying mountain lions and other apex predators in Colorado’s wild lands for over 20 years using remote cameras.  They visit one of the front range’s best habitats for mountain lions, the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch, located near where the Big Thompson Canyon opens up west of Loveland. Sylvan Dale has put 70% of its land into a conservation easement.

We get answers to our mountain lion questions: what is predictable about them? What are our greatest misunderstandings about them?  What makes certain Colorado lands such an ideal habitat for them? In what ways are they remarkably different from other apex predators? How are their populations doing?  And what about the recent media coverage on mountain lions?

Listeners can learn more about mountain lions and other apex predators at Wild Nature Media, and sign up for presentations, workshops and nature hikes.

Host and Producer:  Jill Sjong
Executive Producer:  Beth Bennett

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:37 — 18.6MB)

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James Webb Space Telescope (Part 2)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope – JWST – was launched on December 25th, 2021.  We talked with scientists and engineers about JWST’s first year and some of the projects it is being used for.  In this second part of our JWST special, our guests and their projects are:

Check out Part 1 of this feature (2022 Dec 20)

Host & Producer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Featured Music: “Floating in Heaven” by Graham Gouldman and Brian May

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:00 — 37.1MB)

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Animal Creativity

This week on How on Earth, Beth speaks with Professor Carol Gigliotti about her new book, The Creative Lives of Animals. She provides a new perspective on animals as agents in their own lives, as valuable contributors to their world and ours, and as guides in understanding how creativity may contribute to conserving the natural world. Presenting a powerful argument for the importance of recognizing animals as individuals and as creators of a healthy, biodiverse world, this book offers insights into the creativity of animals.

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contributions: Susan Moran, Tom McKinnon, Joel Parker
Engineer: Shannon Young

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:26 — 17.8MB)

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New Alzheimer’s Drug . . . and Dale Bredesen Challenge

Cognitive Scores on New Drugs versus Bredesen Program (on right) source Apollo Health

Various experts share pros and cons about Lecanemab (starts 1:00) the newly approved drug for Alzheimer’s.

Dale Bredesen of Apollo HealthCo (starts 5:30) shares his criticisms of the new Alzheimer’s drug and gives recommendations for better ways to improve cognition.

Links to topics mentioned in this show:

American Alzheimer’s Association Statement urging Medicare and Medicaid pay the (estimated) $26,000 annual cost for Lecanemab, per person.

Olive Oil reduces Dementia Risk Harvard Study shows a 29% reduction in risk of dying from Dementia among people who consume a little olive oil every day, compared to people who don’t consume olive oil.

Aricept is  associated  with faster long-term memory decline  Aricept is often prescribed for improving cognition among people diagnosed with memory impairment.  A second study  reports that among people who take drugs like Aricept, “previous analysis of observational studies indicates such individuals experience greater rate of decline on cognitive testing than those not receiving such medications.”

Previous Science Show Interviews . . . about Dale Bredesen:  Alzheimer’s Reversal (The Health Hacker’s Group, APOE4.Info and Dale Bredesen’s book The End of Alzheimer’s ) New Treatments for Alzheimer’s (Dale Bredesen’s book, The First Survivors of Alzheimer’s)

Salmonella Biofilms (How non-human, Curli Amyloid Protein similar to the beta amylooid proteins created within our bodies, can enter the bloodstream from intestinal infections such as e-coli and salmonella)

Leprosy Tango  This skit is by a health expert on leprosy.  It includes the lyrics.

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Shelley Schlender
Additional Contributions: Stacie Johnson and Beth Bennett
Engineer: Shannon Young

 

 

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:55 — 37.0MB)

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Colorado’s Solid Power Car Battery (and other Breakthrough Batteries)

Colorado’s Solid Power Solid State electric car battery

Better Electric Car Batteries are a key to moving toward all-electric cars.  While the standard liquid lithium ion/graphite battery is making advancements, this week’s show focuses batteries that add new materials to the mix for batteries that could be safer, faster charging and longer range.  Featured are Colorado’s Solid Power solid state battery, the Sila Battery that includes silicon, and the new Nyobolt‘battery that uses the rare earth metal niobium.  Experts who provide explanations include Doug Campbell, Solid Power cofounder and former CEO, John Capodilupo, CoFounder of WHOOP! Fitness tracker (WHOOP is the first commercial product using a new  – in this case, Sila’s), industry analyst Mark Newman, plus a common sense look at batteries from Shelley’s neighbor Bill.

RELATED SHOW:  Recycling Lithium Ion Batteries

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Shelley Schlender
Engineer> Shannon Young

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:58 — 37.0MB)

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The Health of the US Public Health System

On today’s show, Beth speaks with Michael Stein, primary care physician and researcher, who has been writing about medicine and public health for decades. In Me Vs Us, he instigates a conversation about how we might change the current situation in which public health loses out to individual medicine and how public health nevertheless holds the solutions to our most concerning health crises, such as Covid-19 and obesity. In the end, Stein argues, we need to recover and sharpen our sense of health based on a reverent appreciation of both the health care and public health perspectives.

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contributions: Benita Lee and Shelley Schlender
Engineer Shannon Young

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:31 — 25.2MB)

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Top Science Stories for 2022

cc NOAA Science Graphic

We share the science team’s top science stories of 2022:

  • DART Asteroid Deflection (Starts 1:00)
  • mRNA Vaccine for RSV (starts 3:30)
  • Bumblebees Like to Play (starts 6:00)
  • Sexual Pleasure in Female Snakes (starts 8:30)
  • Alphafold Protein Folding  (starts 11:00)
  • CU Boulder Scientists Make Graphyne (starts 13:30)
  • Chatty Chatbots Can Backfire (starts 18:00)
  • Ancient DNA Indicates Greenland Was Tropical (starts 20:50)
  • James Webb Telescope (starts 23:00)

Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer: Shelley Schlender/Beth Bennett
Additional Contributions: Beth Bennett, Joel Parker, Benita Lee, Jill Sjong
Engineer: Shannon Young

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:50 — 36.9MB)

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James Webb Space Telescope (Part 1)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope – JWST – was launched one year ago on December 25th, 2021.  We talked with scientists and engineers about JWST’s first year and some of the projects it is being used for.  In this first part of our JWST special, our guests are:

Check out Part 2 of this feature (2023 Jan 31)

Host & Producer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Featured Music: “Floating in Heaven” by Graham Gouldman and Brian May

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:00 — 37.1MB)

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Looking for a Good Night’s Sleep?

In today’s show Beth talks with Aric Prather, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, where he co-directs the Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center. A licensed clinical psychologist, he has helped hundreds of patients improve their sleep. In his new book, The Sleep Prescription, Dr. Prather describes the solutions that he uses in the clinic to regain normal sleep. In our conversation, Dr. Prather shares the science behind the simple yet effective techniques that can restore one’s sleep.
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contribution: Shelley Schlender
Engineer: Shannon Young

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:08 — 23.0MB)

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