Pluto Flyby (start time 1:00): Joel Parker discusses the New Horizons mission from the command center live!
Case of the Rickety Cossack (start time 25:00): Beth Bennett talks to Ian Tattersall about his new book, a fascinating précis of the study of human evolution and some startling new findings showing that our species is one of many hominids in which natural selection mixed and matched various characteristics and abilities.
Host: Beth Bennett Show Producer: Beth Bennett Board Engineer: Maeve Conran Executive Producer: Susan Moran Additional Contributions: Susan Moran
We talk with Dr Thomas Johnson about his long standing interest in aging and how he used a nearly microscopic worm to investigate this process. Recently, he has transitioned into using mice to identify genes influencing the aging process. Some of his findings have identified potential drugs to slow aging and keep us healthier as we live longer.
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Producer, Co-host: Beth Bennett
Engineer: Maeve Conran
Cohost: Susan Moran
Additional Contributions: Susan Moran, Beth Bennett
An educator and perfomer, Len Barron first developed a piece about Einsteina and Bohr as a one man show, but then decided to evolve the project by enlist the help of 8 grandmothers to tell the story with their own added pizazz. Not only was lively performance produced, but a process and experience was shared. This process was captured by documentary film maker Robin Truesdale in a film coming to the Dairy Center this weekend entitled A Beautiful Equation. Both Robin and Len have joined us today in the studio to tell us more about the film, the process, the scientists and the grandmothers.
4:30pm and 7:30pm Sunday May 31st at The Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, CO
We speak with Eugene Harris, Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Geology at Queensborough Community College – part of the City University of New York – about his new book, Ancestors in Our Genome. In this feature, we discussed the methods used by molecular anthropologists to determine human evolution from our primate ancestors and several fascinating examples of the application of these techniques, including a discussion of the rise of lactose digestion in northern Europeans.
Hosts: Joel Parker and Beth Bennett Producer and Engineer: Joel Parker Additional Contributions: Kendra Krueger Executive Producer: Kendra Krueger
We talk with astronomer Travis Metcalfe about finding the oldest known planetary system in the Galaxy, and what it means about the formation of planets, the possibilities of extraterrestrial life, and how does one actually find planets around other stars? Headlines include switches in the man-made biological organisms that could possibly be used for bioterrorism, and the finding that chronic malaria infection in migrant great reed warblers damages telomeres, shortening life in both the adult bird and its offspring.
Hosts: Joel Parker and Beth Bennett Producer: Beth Bennett Engineer Beth Bennett with help from Kendra Kruger Additional Contributions: Jane Palmer, Shelly Schlender Executive Producer: Kendra Krueger
Gulp [starts at 4:25] Bestselling author, Mary Roach has been billed as American’s funniest science writer. In “Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal” she takes readers on a journey through the alimentary canal, extolling the marvels of spit on the beginning end, then moving on to the man who had a hole in his stomach that allowed a doctor to observe his digestion. And . . . on. Roach even interviews a prison inmate about “rectal smuggling” (including cell phones). So get ready – here’s Shelley Schlender’s conversation with Mary Roach, author of “Gulp”.
Hosts: Shelley Schlender, Beth Bennett Producer: Joel Parker Engineer: Shelley Schlender Executive Producers: Jane Palmer and Kendra Krueger
Living Planet Report (starts at 5:50): The environmental organization World Wildlife Fund just released its science-based biennial Living Planet Report. It doesn’t paint a rosy picture overall; WWF shows that, for instance, wildlife populations across the globe are roughly half the size they were 40 years ago. And although rich countries show a 10 percent increase in biodiversity, lower-income countries are suffering a drop of nearly 60 percent. The report also ranks the ecological footprints of 152 nations, and warns that the world is living beyond its means. But there are bright spots in the report, too. Even in the absence of national legislation and international treaties, some cities in the U.S., including Boulder, and around the world are making progress toward sustainability and greenhouse gas reductions. Co-host Susan Moran interviews Keya Chatterjee, director of WWF’s renewable energy and footprint outreach program.
Finding Exoplanet Water (starts at 18:15): For the first time, scientists have detected water vapor on a cold exoplanet the size of Neptune. Previously, it had only been possible to measure the atmospheres of larger, Jupiter-sized exoplanets, but these findings from the Hubble and Spitzer Telescopes bring scientists a significant step closer to studying the atmosphere of Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars. Understanding the atmosphere of exoplanets may tell us more about their evolution and formation – Eliza Kempton, assistant professor of physics at Grinnell College in Iowa, explains in this report from Roland Pease of the BBC’s Science In Action.
Executive Producer: Joel Parker Producer: Ted Burnham Co-Hosts: Susan Moran, Ted Burnham Engineer: Ted Burnham Headlines: Beth Bennett, Jane Palmer
The Meaning of Wilderness (starts 4:30):Fifty years ago last week, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Wilderness Act. It was then, and remains today, one of the most significant pieces of environmental legislation. It has protected millions of acres of land. And it established a legal definition of wilderness: “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” Today, many are questioning what conversation should look like hardly a square inch of land around the world is truly “untrammeled.” Co-host Susan Moran discusses wilderness then and now with Dr. M. Sanjayan, a senior scientist at Conservation International. He was a correspondent on the Showtime series on climate change, called Years of Living Dangerously. His next TV series, which will air next February, is called Earth — A New Wild. Dr. Sanjayan will speak this Friday at 4 pm MT at Americas Latino Eco Festival. (www.americaslatinoecofestival.org)
Fabien Cousteau in the Aquarius underwater lab. Photo courtesy Kip Evans.
Living Underwater (starts 13:50):This segment continues our series, “The Ocean is Us,” exploring how we all, even in land-locked Colorado, are connected to the ocean, and what’s at stake. Co-host Susan Moran interviews Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the late oceanographic explorer who opened a window into the ocean for millions of people worldwide in the 1960s through his revolutionary scuba diving and underwater-living adventures. Fabien, an aquanaut, oceanographic explorer, and documentary filmmaker, discusses Mission 31, his recent 31-day underwater-living experiment (one day longer than Jacques-Yves’ expedition a half century ago).
All features in the “The Ocean Is Us” series can be found here. Also, checkout KGNU’s year-long series on Colorado water issues. It’s called Connecting the Drops. It’s at kgnu.org and yourwatercolorado.org. To learn more or become active in preserving our watershed and the oceans, go to Colorado Ocean Coalition.
Executive Producer: Joel Parker Producer: Ted Burnham Co-hosts: Susan Moran, Ted Burnham Engineer: Ted Burnham Additional Contributions: Jane Palmer, Beth Bennett
MSC-certified “Chilean sea bass” filets and other fish displayed at a Whole Foods market in Boulder, Colo. Photo courtesy Susan Moran
Sustainable Seafood: (start time 5:10) This is the fourth feature interview in The Ocean Is Us series, which explores how we in land-locked states are connected to the oceans and what’s at stake. Today we discuss sustainable seafood, which to some critics is an oxymoron, given that some 90% of large fish already have been wiped from the sea. To discuss prospects for feeding 9.6 billion people by mid-century, the developments in wild-caught fisheries and aquaculture, and the role of retailers and consumers, we have two guests. John Hocevar is a marine biologist who directs the Oceans Campaign at Greenpeace. Carrie Brownstein develops standards to guide seafood purchasing for the Whole Foods markets throughout the United States, Canada, and the U.K.
All features in The Ocean Is Us series can be found here. Also, checkout KGNU’s year-long series on Colorado water issues. It’s called Connecting the Drops. It’s at kgnu.org and yourwatercolorado.org. To learn more or become active in preserving our watershed and the oceans, go to Colorado Ocean Coalition.
Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker Producer: Susan Moran Engineer: Joel Parker Additional Contributors: Beth Bennett Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Marine Sanctuaries (starts at 5:18) This is the third feature interview In the Ocean Is Us series, which explores how we in land-locked Colorado are connected to the oceans, why they matter so much to us all, and what’s at stake. Today we discuss marine sanctuaries: the conservation science behind establishing them, and their ecological and economic benefits. In June, President Obama announced his intention to make a vast area of the central Pacific Ocean off-limits to fishing, energy exploration and other activities. If the plans go through, they could create the marine sanctuary. It would double the swath of ocean that is fully protected globally. Our guests today are devoted to marine conservation. Billy Causey works in the The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at NOAA – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He is Regional Director of the Southeast Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Region. Vicki Nichols Goldstein is founder of the Colorado Ocean Coalition, a nonprofit based in Boulder dedicated to connecting people living inland to ocean conservation efforts. Formerly she directed the marine advocacy organization Save Our Shores.
For more info on how you can get involved in nominating new sites for marine sanctuaries, visit the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. All features in The Ocean Is Us series can be found here.
Hosts: Susan Moran, Kendra Krueger Producer: Joel Parker Engineer: Maeve Conran Additional Contributions: Shelley Schlender, Beth Bennett Executive Producer: Joel Parker