Local Science/Nature Calendar (starts 1:00) We share news about the Marshall Mesa Trailhead Closure to eliminate burning underground coal, CSU Professor Mark Easter talks about the Blue Plate Book Launch, THIS THURSDAY at Boulder’s Patagonia Store, and a Hiking Song:Vocal Improvisation in the Wild, NEXT THURSDAY October 9th.
EIGHT-LEGGED WONDERS: The Surprising Lives of Spiders (starts 5:41) HowonEarth Hosts talk about spider phobias, and zoologist James O’Hanlon shares stories from his new book about peacock spiders, vegetarian spiders, spiders in outer space, and more.
Hosts: Esther Frost, Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer: Shelley Schlender
Engineer: Jackie Sedley
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:50 — 36.9MB)
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The Blue Plate in a Red-hot World (start time: 7:46) While adding cream to your morning cup of coffee, or digesting the hamburger that you grilled last night, you might not have been asking yourself, What’s the carbon footprint of these ingredients and meals? Understandable. Our guest today, ecologist 
In this week’s show Beth spoke with Marc Bekoff, well known and loved for his decades of research into animal behavior, emotion and cognition, about the new edition of his classic book, The Emotional Lives of Animals. Marc Bekoff is professor emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. For decades he has studied animal behavior, cognitive ethology (the study of animal minds), behavioral ecology, and written extensively on human-animal interactions and animal protection. He centers his work and writing around compassionate conservation, namely the principle of, “First do no harm” and the life of every individual matters because they are alive and have intrinsic value, not because of what they can do for us. We talked about the new edition of his classic book, 
When people talk about going to the Moon, it is often in terms of establishing a station there, or finding water, or doing science 
On this week’s show Beth speaks with Joe Swanson and Laura Backus to discuss some of the invasive weeds that are plaguing Boulder County. Joe is the County 
Animal Communication Science (start time: 2:57) Whether you own a dog or horse, or have listened to dolphins, wolves, chimpanzees or other wild animals, you’ve probably wondered what they’re saying when they communicate vocally – and why do they communicate the way they do? Our guest, zoologist 
In this fire prone season, we talk with experts about an ancient building technique that might reduce the chance that a building’s going to burn. Unfired, compressed earth blocks are a building material that involves clay, sand and lime. Our guests are architect-engineer 