Tag: Joel Parker

Into The Unknown (Part 1)

Into The Unknown (starts at 7:57) What do we know about the universe, and how do we know we know it? Conversely, what do we know we don’t know, what don’t we know that we don’t know, and why not?

To help us unravel these age-old philosophical questions in the context of current science, our guest is Dr. Kelsey Johnson, who received her PhD in astrophysics from the University of Colorado.  Dr. Johnson is a Professor in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Virginia, and the former president of the American Astronomical Society. She is the founder of the Dark Skies, Bright Kids program, and wrote the children’s book Constellations for Kids. Her most recent book is Into The Unknown: The Quest to Understand the Mysteries of the Cosmos. In this episode, Dr. Johnson takes us into that unknown, and talks about what we know, what we might know, and what we might never know.

Host: Joel Parker
Show Producer/Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Additional contributions: Shelley Schlender, Mac Hebebrand, Lorraine Healy

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From Habitat Loss to Repairing Connectivity

Courtesy: Patagonia Works

Helping Wild Animals Roam (start time: 3:29) Wild animals, whether  buffalos or bats,  need space to move around–not just to survive, but to forage,  reproduce, migrate, and generally thrive as a species.  But it’s getting increasingly difficult for so many species to do this, thanks to humans breaking up their habitats to build roads, fences, housing developments, croplands, etc. Of course, climate change, pesticides, and other stressors compound the problem. In this week’s (fall fund drive) show, host Susan Moran interviews Hillary Rosner, a local environmental journalist and University of Colorado Boulder assistant teaching professor of journalism. Her debut book, called Roam: Wild Animals and the Race to Repair Our Fractured World (Patagonia Works), will be released next week. In her reporting, Hillary digs into some of the threats to wildlife here in the U.S. and elsewhere, as well as bold efforts by individual humans and communities to repair and connect landscapes enough to let many animal populations thrive. And in many cases, helping wildlife move also helps human communities become economically and socially stronger.

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Show & Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:30 — 62.9MB)

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Science Journalism with Miles O’Brien // Acetaminophen and Autism

This episode features Miles O’Brien, a science journalist who has been a correspondent for PBS News and CNN. He talks about his experience breaking in to science journalism, past and current science reporting, public and political views of science, the value of scientific research, and some particular stories including beavers, prostheses, and climate change research in Antarctica. This feature is an interview by KBUT‘s Toni Todd and shared with us via Rocky Mountain Community Radio.

And we also have a report on the recent government claims about autism and use of acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) during pregnancy, which is disputed by researchers and medical groups.   We provide the full transcript of the press conference held by SciLine of the American Association for the Advancement of Science with Brian Lee, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Drexel University.

Host: Joel Parker
Show Producer/Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Additional contributions: Shelley Schlender

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

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Climate Change, Astronomy, Canine Astronauts

Climate change. Astronomy.  A canine astronaut. They intersect in our guest, astronomer and author Dr. Jeff Bennett. Among other things, we focus on climate change and policy – present and future.

Dr. Bennett got his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Colorado, and he served two years as a Visiting Senior Scientist at NASA Headquarters, where he was the first scientist hired within a science division specifically to leverage science missions for education. As an author, Dr. Bennett has written college textbooks in astronomy, mathematics, statistics, and astrobiology, and a freely available, interactive digital textbook about Earth and Space Science for middle- and high-school students.  He also has written popular books that include a series for children about an intrepid astronaut dog named Max, who goes to the Moon, Mars and elsewhere.

A particular topic we plan to delve into today with Dr. Bennett is regarding his book titled: “A Global Warming Primer: Pathway to a Post-Global Warming Future”.  A current issue is the EPA’s proposal to rescind the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding. The comment period for the proposed rule change has been extended to September 22. Other issues include the Department of Energy’s recent report critical of climate change research (see rebuttals of the report by Dr. Bennett and others), and whether NASA will continue doing climate and other Earth-based science.

Host: Joel Parker
Show Producer/Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Susan Moran

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:09 — 35.9MB)

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The Vera Rubin Observatory

The history of astronomy has many stories of trying to understand our universe, and those stories are connected by a common thread: looking at the sky, whether with our eyes or with increasingly powerful telescopes.  The newest entry in this telescopic journey is the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Located in Chile, this observatory has an audacious goal: to repeatedly observe the entire sky visible from its location every few nights, with a project called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time.

To talk about the Vera Rubin observatory and its science goals, our guest today is Dr. Tony Tyson, Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Tyson’s research focuses on experimental physics and cosmology, and he is the Observatory’s Chief Scientist.

Host: Joel Parker
Show Producer/Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Additional Contributions: Beth Bennett

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April Foolish Science

Today is April Fools’ day, when jokes and pranks are played, sometimes among friends and family, sometimes on a more public scale.  But why is there such a day for culturally-accepted foolishness? To delve into the origins and history of April Fools’ Day, we talk with Dr. Angus Kress Gillespie, folklorist and professor of American studies at Rutgers University.

(Image credit: Zurijeta | Shutterstock.com)

You might find it shocking that scientists have a sense of humor, so we also talk with, Dr. Mike Lund from the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at the Infrared Processing & Analysis Center / CalTech about the tradition among Astronomers to write and even review  humorous research papers for April Fools’ day. These papers are often posted on the arXiv preprint server, and Dr. Lund, the author of several such papers, also is the editor of the Acta Prima Aprilia that shares some of those papers.

Producer and Host: Joel Parker
Additional contributions: Beth Bennett
Executive Producer: Joel Parker

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

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Science Stories from 2024

cc NOAA Science Graphic

 

We share the How on Earth team’s picks for of science stories of 2024:

    • Tom Cech Talks RNA (starts at 1:56)
    • Avian Flu (starts at 9:33)
    • Artificial Intelligence (starts at 13:13)
    • Colorado, the Quantum State (starts at 19:19)

Executive Producer: Shelley Schlender
Show Producer and Host: Joel Parker
Additional Contributions: Shelley Schlender, Beth Bennett

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

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Europa Clipper

image from NASA/JPL-Caltech

Today’s show features NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, which launched on October 14th, 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket, setting the spacecraft on its 10-year journey to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa.  Europa Clipper carries nine instruments to study this ocean world covered by an ice shell to determine if there are places in the watery depths below the surface that could support life.  The mission’s goals are to study ice shell, the sub-surface ocean, and the moon’s composition and geology.  Our guest is Dr. Bonnie Buratti, a Senior Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Deputy Project Scientist for the Europa Clipper mission.

Executive Producer: Shelley Schlender
Show Producer & Engineer: Joel Parker

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

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Science from The Moon

When people talk about going to the Moon, it is often in terms of establishing a station there, or finding water, or doing science about the Moon such as studying moon rocks.  But we can do interesting science from the Moon that can’t be done on Earth, which is our topic today with guest Dr. Jack Burns, Professor Emeritus in the University of Colorado Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences and Department of Physics.  We talk about doing radio astronomy with instruments on the Moon such as ROLSES, LuSEE-Night, and FarView.

Show Producer and Host: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Additional Contributions: Shelley Schlender, Beth Bennett

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

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Why Do Animals Talk?

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 Arik Kershenbaum, explores recent scientific discoveries in animal vocal communication in his new book Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication (Penguin Press). His exploration of wolves howling, dolphins whistling, gibbons warbling, and far more, poses more questions than answers about the natural world, including our place in it. In this week’s science show (listen here or download the podcast) host Susan Moran interviews Dr. Kershenbaum, a lecturer and fellow at Girton College, University of Cambridge, where he is a member of the Bioacoustics Research Group. Previously he wrote the book The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Show Producer/Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:18 — 36.1MB)

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