How On Earth

We speak with Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, about the new study he has coauthored with Spencer Logan, a chief researcher at the center who alsoversees the Avalanche Accident database for the United States.    Their new study is available now.  It’s titled, Education and Experience Levels of People Involved in Avalanches during the 2019-2020 Colorado Avalanche Season.  It will be published soon, in greater detail, in The Avalanche Review.

For those looking for videos from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, here is the snowmobile accident posted at the CAIC Avalanche Information Center YouTube CHANNEL.   Weekly forecasts are also on this site.

Host/Producer:   Shelley Schlender
Music From:   Prince Avalanche and Snowfall by The Halo Benders
Executive producer:   Susan Moran

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:55 — 37.0MB)

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Long COVID  (starts 1:00) National Jewish in Denver shares research about how COVID sometimes affects the powerhouses inside our cells, the mitochondria.

Green Walls (starts 3:54) are a beautiful way to cover indoor and outdoor walls with living plants.  It’s a popular feature for ultra-modern buildings.  Researchers in England report that green walls on older, conventional buildings can reduce heating costs inside the building.

 

Drones at the Marshall Fire (starts 10:42) are helping local researchers from around the country collect field data about the recent wildfire disaster that destroyed 1,000 homes.  The scientists hope their findings will help the communities recover.  REGISTER HERE for the February 17th, 2 PM, virtual presentation of their findings.

Volunteering to Get COVID.  (starts 21:22) in the name of science has produced results that are varied and sometimes surprising.

Hosts:   Benita Lee & Stacie Johnson
Producers:    Benita Lee, Stacie Johnson and Shelley Schlender
Additional Contributions:   Beth Bennett, National Jewish Hospital
Executive producer:   Susan Moran

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:54 — 37.0MB)

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This week on How on Earth, Beth talks to 2 climate scientists about their (very different) fields, and how climate change can play into local disasters, especially the recent fires that devastated the Front Range towns outside Boulder. Twila Moon is a glaciologist turned climate scientist who researches the effects of ice sheet melt on climate. Her TED talk conveys this message clearly. Brian Buma is Associate Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of Colorado at Denver. He studies landscape ecology and is especially interested in natural disasters, like the recent Marshall fire. You can hear Shannon Young, KGNU’s station manager talk to Brian about his recent book here.
Executive Producer: Susan Moran
Show Producer: Beth Bennett

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:11 — 24.7MB)

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In this episode, we celebrate the show’s 30th Anniversary with Dave Atkins and Jeff Orrey, How on Earth’s original  hosts.

We’ll play some excerpts from the pilot January 14, 1992 episode and update the science from a 2022 perspective.  Subjects range from Chinook winds and Colorado fires, finding exoplanets, the history of Hubble telescope, Halley’s Comet and blood pressure.

Hosts:   Jill Sjong, Beth Bennett, Dave Atkins, Jeff Orrey
Producer:    Jill Sjong
Additional Contributions:   Joel Parker, Beth Bennett
Executive producer:   Beth Bennett

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

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Green Building Handbook (starts 1:00) CU Boulder Engineering Professor Wil Srubar is the co-author of a new report highlighting innovative building materials that actually store more CO2 than the emissions from their manufacture, making these building materials what’s known as “carbon sinks”

Wild Strawberry Flavor from Fungi (starts 3:29) Holger Zorn explains how and why his team of scientists have identified a fungus that provides a wild strawberry flavor to foods.

Wild Turkeys at Sandstone Ranch (starts 9:07) Naturalists Steve Jones, Ruth Carol Cushman and Scott Severs visit Longmont’s Sandstone Ranch to look for a . . . sometimes elusive . . .  flock of wild turkeys.

Farewell to Animal Rights Activist Bernie Rollin (starts 12:44) CSU Philosopher, Vet Scientist and Animal Rights Activist Bernie Rollin died last week.  We share excerpts from a past interview, plus a story about the friendship between a turkey and a dog, from his memoir, Putting the Horse Before Descartes

Hosts: Benita Lee, Stacie Johnson
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Shelley Schlender

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:42 — 24.6MB)

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