Your Brain On (and off) Chronic Pain: Part I

chronic pain on the brain

Chronic pain science and treatments (start time: 4:27) In this week’s show host Susan Moran interviews two experts on the emerging neuroscience of and mind-body treatments for chronic pain, which is a leading cause of disability in the U.S. As many as one in five Americans suffer from chronic pain. The problem has cost the country more than $600 billion in treatments and lost work-time. Our guests today are at the forefront of research and clinical treatment of chronic pain. Dr. Yoni Ashar is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in the Department of Internal Medicine. Several years ago he led the Boulder Back Pain Study on a mind-body program called Pain Reprocessing Therapy.  Brad Fanestil, MD, is an internist and the director of the Center for Mind Body Medicine at Boulder Community Health. Stay tuned for details on a Part II discussion on mind-body medical treatments for chronic pain, anxiety and other ailments.
Relevant resources:
* New randomized back-pain study (led by Dr. Ashar) seeks subjects.
* The Way Out, by Alan Gordon
* Lecture by Dr. Fanestil on treating chronic pain with mind-body medicine
* Curable app for managing chronic pain

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Shelley Schlender
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Easter Candy Risks & Real Easter Daisies

We share news about upcoming science events, cancer-causing additives in Easter candy, and we hunt for Colorado’s native Easter Daisies.

By Jialiang Gao www.peace-on-earth.org

Tibetan Watershed in Danger (Starts 1:00)  Lobsang Yangtso speaks 11 AM Wednesday at CU Boulder about the crucial need to protect Tibet’s “Roof of the World” and its role in the world water supply.  Wednesday’s 11 AM Seminar is also on Zoom.

The Nuclear Legacy of Rocky Flats.  (Starts 3:52) Regis University conducts this symposium tonight with  keynote speaker Kris Iversen, author of Full Body Burden, Growing up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats.

From Environmental Working Group

Cancer Causing Additives in Easter Candy   (Starts 10:20) The Environmental Working Group  wants to ban Easter Candy ingredients that carry a cancer risk

C Stephen R. Jones

Boulder’s Native Easter Daisies  (Starts 15:20) We join Boulder Naturalists Steve Jones and Ruth Carol Cushman, as they hunt for a deep-rooted little flower called the Easter Daisy along Boulder’s geologic wonder known as the Six Mile Fold.

Host & Show Producer: Shelley Schlender
Engineer: Shannon Young
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

 

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How to Make STEM Better

Today on How on Earth, Beth speaks with William Penuel, faculty in the School of Education at CU Boulder, and part of the Renee Crown Wellness Institute. He designs and studies curriculum materials, assessments, and professional learning experiences for teachers in STEM education, especially in science. His work is beginning to focus more on cultivating compassion and dignity in schools and on promoting equitable collaboration in small group learning in STEM classrooms.
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennett
Additional Contributions: Joel Parker
Engineer: Shannon Young

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Water Reuse for the Arid West

Photo credit: WateReuse Colorado

Water Recycling for Climate Resilience (start time: 7:54) When you poured tap water into your coffee maker this morning, or flushed the toilet, you may not have been thinking about where that water came from, or where it flowed to next. Pegged to World Water Week, on this week’s How On Earth host Susan Moran interviews Austa Parker, PhD, an environmental engineer who is a consultant for the firm Brown and Caldwell on national water-reuse issues. She formerly worked for Denver Water and as an adjunct professor at CU Boulder. Our discussion focuses on direct potable reuse (DPR), the process of transforming treated wastewater, including human effluence, into drinking water. Climate change, intensifying droughts and population growth in the already parched U.S. West are pressuring states and cities to pursue DPR as a means of becoming more climate-resilient.
Resource links:
WateReuse Colorado
WateReuse Association (national)
Colorado’s regulations (passed in late 2022) on direct potable reuse

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker
Show Producer: Susan Moran
Engineer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
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Mankind Owes Its Success on Earth to Decimated Forests

On today’s show, Benita speaks with author John Perlin about his book, A Forest Journey: The Role of Trees in the Fate of Civilization. The book follows the rise and fall of human civilizations as they fuel their success and reap their downfall by using trees as a key resource.

Photo Credit: UC Santa Barbara and Patagonia Media

Published by Patagonia, Perlin revised this third edition of his environmental classic to include new scientific findings that further link the importance of trees in combating climate change and in creating life on Earth as we know it.

 

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producers Benita Lee and Shannon Young
Engineer Shannon Young

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A Less Stressful Life- in Seven Days?

On today’s show Beth talks with Dr Elissa Epel, about her book, The Stress Prescription,Seven Days to More Joy and Ease. As the director of UCSF’s Aging, Metabolism, and Emotion Center and associate director of its Center for Health and Community, she studies stress, aging, and obesity. Her book is quick and easy to read yet leaves you with so many applicable practices that can change your outlook and reduce the stress in your life while simultaneously giving you the basic science on the how and why of stress and the role of the techniques she espouses. And, an upcoming lecture on the CU Boulder campus on bioarcheology, March 15.
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producers Beth Bennett and Leilani Henry
Engineer Shannon Young

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AI or not AI, that is the question — ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Human World

A DALL-E generated image of this interview
A DALL-E generated image of this interview.

We talk with Dr. Casey Fiesler, Associate Professor of Information Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder about “generative AI,” particularly regarding ChatGPT and DALL-E, which are topics of recent news stories expressing excitement and concern.

We asked ChatGPT to write a description of what such an interview might be:

Dr. Casey Fiesler joins Joel Parker on the KGNU radio science show How on Earth to discuss generative AI and its recent breakthroughs, such as ChatGPT and DALL-E. Fiesler explains that these AI models use deep learning algorithms to generate new content, such as text or images, based on patterns found in existing data. She acknowledges the impressive capabilities of these models, such as DALL-E’s ability to create highly realistic images from textual prompts. However, Fiesler also raises concerns about the potential negative impacts of generative AI, including the perpetuation of biases found in training data or the creation of harmful fake content. Fiesler emphasizes the importance of responsible development and use of these technologies, as well as ongoing research into addressing these issues.

After you listen to the show, you can determine how accurate is that description.  And can you identify the three interview questions we asked that were generated by ChatGPT?

Host & Producer: Joel Parker
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Featured Music: “Reflection” – generative music by Brian Eno

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Colorado Environmental Film Festival

Stewart Udall and the Politics of Beauty

Colorado Environmental Film Festival is an annual event that takes place in Golden, at the American Mountaineering Center.  This year’s festival starts Thursday Feb 23, 2023 and goes through Sun, Feb 26, 2023.  Today, we talk with festival co-chair Dave Steinke and Environmental Filmmaker John DeGraff.  We feature the films, Stewart Udall and the Politics of Beauty, Reviving Rivers, The Issue with Tissue, and A Good Neighbor.

Host, Producer,Engineer: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

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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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