Category: Uncategorized

Where is Science Going in the Next 4 Years?

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 05: U.S. President Donald Trump and Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, hold a press briefing with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force on April 5, 2020 in Washington, DC. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a recommendation that all Americans should wear masks or cloth face coverings in public settings. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)
Today on How on Earth, Beth speaks with Dr Jon Samet, former dean of the Colorado School of Public Health and Professor of Epidemiology and Occupational and Environmental Health. Dr. Samet has served on and chaired numerous committees of the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, also chairing the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee of the U.S. EPA and the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee. He has an insider view on some of the implications of the newly elected administration for science.

Executive Producer: Shelley Schlender
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contributions: Shelley Schlender
Engineer: Jackie Sedler

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It’s All in Your Mouth: Exploring Holistic Dentistry

Holistic Dentistry
Holistic Dentistry
In this week’s show Beth talks to Dr. Dominik Nischwitz about his new book, It’s All in Your Mouth, to learn more about the relationship between our mouths and the rest of the body. Many European dentists have practiced holistic dentistry for decades. The practice is now becoming more common in the US. This idea is that many common chronic conditions—obesity, inflammation, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and cancer, among others—often have their origins in the mouth. And by treating the mouth, the body too can benefit. To learn more, you can follow the links above or check out Dr Dom’s Instagram feed.

Host: Beth Bennett
Producer: Beth Bennett
Engineer: Maeve Conran
Additional Contributions: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
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CoVid19 Update // Sleep and Your Immune System

man-in-bed-struggling-to-sleep-wd-noexp-620x400This week on How On Earth, we produced the entire show out of the studio, explaining one brief glitch. Beth gives a short update on the way the corona virus infects cells and how this entry point can affect people taking blood pressure medications. In our feature interview, Beth talks with Professor Mark Opp, who studies sleep in his lab at the University of Colorado here in Boulder (interview starts at about 10 minutes). He’s especially interested in the interaction between sleep and our immune systems. Not that long ago, people didn’t think there was any relationship between the two, but our understanding of both systems has evolved.

Host: Beth Bennett
Producer: Beth Bennett
Engineer: Maeve Conran
Additional contributions: Angele Sjong
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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Paternity Science

Paternity
Paternity
This week on How on Earth, Beth interviews Nara Milanich, author of Paternity: The Elusive Quest for the Father, and professor of history at Barnard College. For most of human history, paternity was uncertain while motherhood most definitely was not. But in the 1920s new scientific advances promised to solve the mystery of paternity. The stakes were high: fatherhood confers not only patrimony and legitimacy but also a name, nationality, and identity. We explore the new science of paternity, and some of the complexity of this issue. You can find out more about the book here.
Host: Beth Bennett
Producer: Beth Bennett
Engineer: Maeve Conran
Executive Producer: Joel Parker
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Email troubles (science [a] kgnu.org)

Today it came to our attention that our show email address, science@kgnu.org, was not reliably forwarding messages for the last month or so. We know of at least a few people who tried to contact us via that address and whose messages were swallowed up by the internet. To them—and to the ones we don’t yet know about—we are deeply sorry for the trouble you experienced!

The problem has been fixed, but unfortunately we cannot recover messages that failed to go through.

If you emailed us after June 13th, please resend your message ASAP—especially if it was a submission to our theme song contest! We had no idea we were missing out on your amazing music, and we very much want you to be considered in the contest. Though tonight is the official deadline, we will of course accept any submissions that were lost due to this email issue, provided they are resubmitted in a timely fashion.

Again, to all our listeners, we’re sorry for any anxiety or inconvenience we have caused. Thanks for bearing with us and, as always, thanks for listening!