Blue Streak Science Podcast

It just keeps getting better! The process of sorting through the week's science, reading up on it and then talking about it is the best part of doing the Blue Streak Science Podcast. And it's such a privilege to bring this to you, our wonderful audience. We hope you enjoy the show.

What The Hell Was That?

This recording comes to us courtesy of the YouTube channel "The Voice of Nature". Thank you! Please click the YouTube link to check out "The Voice of Nature" channel. 

Blue Streak Science News Roundup

These are summaries of our discussions on the podcast. For the full conversation please listen to this episode of the Blue Streak Science Podcast.

A Synthetic Metabolic Pathway That Fixes Carbon Dioxide Typically when we think about reducing atmospheric CO2 we look to reducing energy use or going toward non-polluting carbon neutral resources like solar, wind, or geothermal energy. What we don't often consider is utilizing plants to do the job.

The problem is that plants are really slow and inefficient at doing this, and aren't able to keep pace with humankind's capacity to foul up the atmosphere.

What if we could make plants more efficient, artificially?

An article from Phys.org this week discusses the recently published  paper in the journal Science by a German research team led by Tobias Erb at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology.

This paper demonstrates the feasibility of fixing CO2 using an artificial type of photosynthesis that the team developed.

DNA collected from seawater may solve mysteries about whale shark Imagine a little kid at a beach somewhere. She takes her bucket and fills it with water and then pours it through a sieve, or perhaps she swishes a small net through the water, catching any number of small invertebrates, small fish, just about anything.

Besides beginning a career as a marine biologist what she is doing is taken an inventory of the water that passed through her net. At this stage she has no way of knowing that her inventory is limited by the size of the holes in that net. However, when she grows up she'll have a much more powerful tool to learn about what's in our oceans.

DNA, in this case environmental DNA or eDNA

Seawater contains molecular evidence of the plants and animals that inhabit our oceans—tiny pieces of skin and scales, body waste, or any other cellular debris they slough off. Just like a crime scene, organisms can't but help leaving a trace of themselves behind.

When our future marine biologist sequences that eDNA she can figure out exactly what's living in a given volume of water, without ever having to see or locate the creature which kindly donated it.

In August 2007 an oil worker in the Persian Gulf saw something remarkable.

And our discussion begins.

Alex to Otto, 2016 was the year long hurricane season What starts with an "A" and ends with an "O", is from the tropics, made us nervous from June to December, and often left a big mess wherever he or she went?

Answer: The 2016 Hurricane Season

A mutated protein is responsible for the migration of lung cancer cells and metastasis Lung cancer. That's a truly scary thought. It should be. Because more often than not, a diagnosis is made after it has metastasized to other parts of the body. This makes lung cancer very difficult to eradicate and is a big reason why it's the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women in the United States.

According to a new study led by University of California San Francisco scientists, lung cancer's ability to spread is often because of the inactivation of a single protective protein within the tumor cells.

Brain stimulation guides people through an invisible maze You're stuck in a maze. You can't see the walls, or the floor. All you have to navigate is a device on your head stimulating your brain to tell you which way to go.

In an experiment at the University of Washington in Seattle, participants solved a maze puzzle guided only by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

The findings suggest that this type of brain prompt could be used to augment virtual reality experiences or help give people who are blind "visual" information about their surroundings.

Things are getting weird in the polar regions Extraordinarily warm temperatures continue in the Arctic — we're talking temperatures tens of degrees Fahrenheit above normal for this time of year in some locations. Arctic sea ice is responding as one would expect in this strangely warm late autumn

Antarctic sea ice on 19 November also represented a record low for this time of year, based on data from National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado.

Pub Quiz

Join us for twenty questions and a pint! Or is that twenty pints and a question? Who cares!

Shout-outs and Acknowledgments

Blue Streak Science Cafe' Join Nevena and JD on the Blue Streak Science Cafe'.

When you watch the cafe, you can try to guess how long JD has been awake before he turns on the camera. Make a game out of it. Fun for the entire family!

Please, no wagering.

This Blue Streak Science Podcast comes to you from Belgium, Australia, and the United States.

The atmosphere during COP22 was decidedly gloomy after the result of the US election. One would expect the mood to only get worse as the realization that the United States elected a President who considers climate change to be a worldwide conspiracy created by the Chinese, and promised to pull out of the Paris climate agreement. 

Our host Tom Di Liberto, who attended COP22 in Marrakech, informs us that there was a change of mood after the initial shock. Despair was soon replaced by an attitude of resistance and a resolve to fight this new threat to the world.

Join us for this discussion, and the rest of episode 47 of the Blue Streak Science Podcast!

What The Hell Was That? Blue Streak Science News Roundup

These are summaries of our discussions on the podcast. For the full conversation please listen to this episode of the Blue Streak Science Podcast.

Dinosaur-killing asteroid turned planet Earth inside-out From New Scientist on 17 November. An expedition to the Chicxulub Crater at the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico has drawn a new timeline of how the cataclysmic impact that probably killed the dinosaurs happened.

The article also explains how this impact may have carved out new niches in which life could flourish, even in the face of utter destruction.

An Unreliable Sink: how much longer can the Southern Ocean delay global warming? The waters of the world's oceans have been absorbing the excesses of humankind for many decades; from billions of tons of plastic pollution, chemical pollution, all the way to the CO2 exhalations of our civilization. Much of the heat generated by the burning of coal and other fossil fuels gets absorbed up by the oceans, too.

In the 16 November issue of the journal Nature is an article titled "How much longer can Antarctica's hostile ocean delay global warming?" This article takes a deep look at past and present research of the Southern Ocean to see if its waters will continue doing us the favor of moderating global warming, and will it continue doing so in the future.

Fiji Ants Are Plant Farmers I'm sure some of you have heard of different species of ant and termites that farm fungi. But now, for the first time ever researchers have observed and documented ants farming plants in a mutually beneficial relationship. From Phys.org on 21November, the ant – known as Philidris nagasau – grows and harvests fruit plants that grow on the branches of various trees.

Geneticists hope to unlock secrets of bats' complex song From Nature on 18 November. A project called Bat 1K was recently announced at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, California. Its organizers hope to learn how bats' learn their songs.

Yes, they sing, but most of the time their melodies are out of human hearing range. The researchers also want to learn about bats' ability to navigate in the dark through echolocation, and how their strong immune systems that can tolerate Ebola so well

US launches GOES-R weather satellite Again, from the journal Nature we have news of the launch of a satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The article was dated on 14 November and the launch was scheduled for Saturday 19 November, which was last Saturday.

I'm pleased to report that the launch was a resounding success.

What exactly did they put into orbit? Only the most scientifically capable weather satellite the United States has ever launched, that's what.

From 35,800 kilometres above the earth and nearly a tenth of the way to the moon — the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) is going to take pictures of weather and atmospheric phenomena as they roll across North America.

Worrying Traces of Resistant Bacteria Detected in Beijing Air Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

From The Science Explorer.com on 21 November. Polluted air in Beijing has now been identified as a possible means of transmission for antibiotic resistant bacteria. Researchers have shown that air samples from the city contain DNA from genes that make bacteria resistant to the most powerful antibiotics we currently possess.

Air pollutions itself kills many ten of thousands of people without the help of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Now we have these superbugs in the air, too? 

Watch some of the most endangered seals caught napping underwater From New Scientist on 17 November. Some of the most endangered seals in the world, Mediterranean Monk seals, have been caught on video snoozing underwater.

There were six separate observations of seals sleeping at sea from 2011 to 2016, across different Greek coastlines. In most cases, the seals were documented by speargun fishers who happened upon them at depths of approximately 7 meters or shallower.

Here's a terrific video of a sleeping monk seal that New Scientist has put up on YouTube.

Pub Quiz!

Today we introduced the newest contest in our gallery of games. It's Pub Quiz! Very simple. It's just science trivia, rapid fire. Grab a pint and join in the fun!

Shout-outs and Acknowledgments

Blue Streak Science Cafe' Still building the Patreon page. The official launch will be on Monday, 5 December. 

Just bought a video camera so that Blue Streak can bring you a visual element to science and nature. We're going to record short features on nature, wildlife and science.

For instance, in a few weeks we'll be filming elephant seals on the beach as the battle one another for rights to claim their harems. We'll be taking you along to the largest geothermal power generation field in the world. You can join us in our quest to find the California Condor, and more. These will be posted up on our YouTube channel.

Also, Blue Streak will also be going to Facebook Live, and YouTube Live. The Blue Streak Science Cafe' is already there, but we're working on doing this podcast LIVE in those venues, as video. Watch this space. 

On behalf of Ivy, Tom, Nevena, and Sophie, I'm JD Goodwin saying "follow the science".

Goodbye everyone!

The Blue Streak Science Podcast comes to you from North America, Great Britain, and Australia.

After the shocking events of last week it has become imperative that we stand together as strong, forceful defenders and champions for science.

Blue Streak Science is committed to being a powerful voice for science and scientists on the issues that have been threatened by recent events. Those issues include, but aren't limited to science policy, STEM education, climate research, women in science, basic science, biomedical research, research funding and more.

This is no time to retreat. Too much is at stake.

We can change this. We can put this to right.

We are with you.

What The Hell Was That? Blue Streak Science News Roundup

These are summaries of our discussions on the podcast. For the full conversation please listen to this episode of the Blue Streak Science Podcast.

DNA-based Zika vaccine showed protection from infection, brain damage and death We have some optimistic news regarding the Zika virus. Yes, it's still very much with us, but amazing progress is being made to shut it down.

New research published in the journal NPJ Vaccines shows how a synthetic DNA vaccine approach successfully protected against infection, brain damage and death caused by the mosquito-borne Zika virus in vivo.

Your birth year influences which flu strain you can catch From the esteemed journal Science, we learn that our birth year may influence which flu strain we catch as adults.

UK red squirrels are carrying leprosy and have been for decades It appears that our little furry friends in the park, the red squirrels of United Kingdom are carrying leprosy. This finding comes from a study of 110 dead red squirrels from around the UK and Ireland

The pathogen in question is Mycobacterium lepromatosis, and that's closely related to a virulent form of human leprosy endemic in Mexico and the Caribbean.

Dunkleosteus

The nasty eating habits of prehistory's meanest fish How can a creature named Dunkleosteus, nicknamed Dunk, be anything other than a complete nincompoop or a basketball star? Ivy Shih explains the nature of this fearsome beast with the not-so-fearsome name.

Giggling rats reveal the most ticklish part of our brains Who could resist a story about giggling rats? Neither could we.

"Who Says?"

Quote: "I've been thinking about the distorted view of science that prevails in our culture. I've been wondering about this, because our civilization is completely dependent on science and high technology, yet most of us are alienated from science."

• Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Ann Druyan
• David Baltimore
• Jocelyn Bell Burnell

If you know the answer then leave a voice mail with the Speakpipe widget on the right side of the page, or email us at [email protected]. Be sure to tell us your name!

Shout-outs and Acknowledgments

Blue Streak Science Cafe' Be sure to check out the Blue Streak Science Cafe' with JD Goodwin and Nevena Hristozova at 7:00AM Pacific every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

It's never too early to talk about science!

Learn to Podcast: Editing audio files by Australian Science Communicators - NSW On December 14th the Australian Science Communicators organisation are hosting an interactive course in audio editing in Sydney Australia, which is perfect for beginners who want to start a podcast but find the idea of editing audio a little intimidating. Also it's a great chance to meet fellow science communicators!

The course is led by Ian Woolf, independent producer and host of the weekly radio show and podcast Diffusion Science Radio, which has been running for 7 years. In one of his more recent episodes he interviews a researcher who was inspired by making bone out of stem cells by observing coral! You learn how to edit interview audio and uploading!

You can book tickets at: Learn to Podcast Event

This episode of Blue Streak Science Podcast comes to you from North America, Great Britain and Australia.

The war against science just got very real. But please don't despair. We now have a common mission and our goal is crystal clear. To be sure, this a major setback to science and portends some dark days ahead, but we will overcome this if we re-double our efforts to communicate science through this and every other available medium. We pledge to always be your podcast and your voice.

What The Hell Was That?

Have a listen to this week's WTHWT!

Blue Streak Science News Roundup

These are summaries of our discussions on the podcast. For the full conversation please listen to this episode of the Blue Streak Science Podcast.

Researchers Clear "Patient Zero" From AIDS Origin Story The man known as "patient zero" and long thought by many to have set in motion the HIV/AIDS epidemic in North America very likely had little to do with the spread of the virus, according to a new study published the journal Nature.

This study goes further and gives us a clearer picture on how HIV emerged in the United States and Canada.

Why Weather is Unlikely to Significantly Affect This Year's Election From the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang comes an article titled "Why weather is unlikely to significantly affect this year's election".

We are recording this episode on Tuesday, 8 November, Election Day in the United States. Yes, we're nervous.

Male Contraceptive Pill Works, But Side Effects Halt Trial A recent study on male birth control has made headlines, especially in social media, and for good reason.

The success rate for the contraceptive is 96%.

Unfortunately, the trial was cut short even though most of the participants were willing to go on with it.

World's Largest Marine Reserve Hailed As Diplomatic Breakthrough Last week we got news that the largest marine reserve in the world, protecting much of Antarctica's Ross Sea, has been created through an agreement signed by 24 nations and the European Union.

This is the first time in history that countries have come together for this type of agreement.

The Ross Sea is a deep Antarctic bay encompassing 1.55 million square kilometers and has been designated as a protected zone from commercial fishing and mineral exploitation.

This international agreement is scheduled to take effect in December of 2017.

Wildlife in Decline: Earth's Vertebrates Fall 58% In Past Four Decades Worldwide populations of fish, amphibians, mammals, and birds have plunged by 58% percent since 1970 as human activities overwhelm the environment, according to a World Wildlife Fund conservation group.

The index is predicted to continue falling to 67 percent by 2020 if current trends hold.

Bacteria Can't Get a Grip on Self-healing Slippery Surface In a report published in the journal Biomaterials, a team of scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University have demonstrated that an innovative, ultra-low adhesive coating prevented bacteria from attaching to surfaces treated with it, reducing bacterial adhesion by more than 98 percent in laboratory tests.

Game Segment

Today we played "What's My Phobia" and "False Positive".

Shout-outs and Acknowledgments

Blue Streak Science Cafe' Join us Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 7:00AM (Pacific).

This episode of Blue Streak Science Podcast comes to you from Santa Rosa, California; Cambridge, England; Sydney, Australia; and Marrakesh, Morocco.

In this installment of the Blue Streak Science Podcast we have expanded the Science Roundup from three to six topics. It's so much fun talking about the latest science that even the expanded version seems to end way too soon. How can one not like it? We talked about newly discovered antibiotic properties of Tasmanian Devil milk, and wondered aloud about who is the unfortunate person tasked with milking the little devils. A new technique has been developed in Japan to coax mouse stem cells, both embryonic and induced pluripotent, all the way through to oogenesis! More ominous news from Antarctica regarding the instability of unimaginably huge glaciers. And what podcast would be complete without a story about monkeys making knives, right? It's all here, and more!

What The Hell Was That?

Have a listen to this week's WTHWT! Walruses make some of the most varied sounds of any mammal. Some of the sounds are downright rude!

Blue Streak Science News Roundup

These are summaries of our discussions on the podcast. For the full conversation please listen to this episode of the Blue Streak Science Podcast.

Reconstitution in vitro of the entire cycle of the mouse female germ line For the first time ever, scientists have reprogrammed mouse embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells to become fully functional oocytes.

This paper was published in the 17 October issue of the journal Nature and describes this technique, the process of oogenesis, and may open an avenue for a similar technique using human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells.

Tasmanian devil milk fights superbugs From BBC Health. According to a Sydney University research team, Tasmanian devil milk apparently contains important peptides that appear to be able to kill hard-to-treat infections, including MRSA. It's believed the devils evolved this cocktail to help their young grow stronger.

In this post-antibiotic era the scientists are looking to make new treatments that mimic the peptides.

They've scanned the devils' genetic code to find and recreate the infection-fighting compounds, called cathelicidins.

West Antarctica glacier unstable From the Washington Post. There was an article that talks about a moment in history, 2014, when when two separate research papers said there was reason to think a frozen sector of West Antarctica, called the Amundsen Sea region, may have been destabilized.

Hurricane Matthew exposes civil war cannonballs From LiveScience.com. A day after Hurricane Matthew lashed the South Carolina coast with tidal surge, torrential rain, and high winds a resident walking along the east end of Folly Island found a pile of 16 corroded cannonballs resting on the sand.

ExoMars Schiaparelli lander likely lost Regarding the ExoMars mission landing vehicle, named Schiaparelli. Well, we have some good news and some bad news.

ExoMars Schiaparelli Lander

First the good news, it hit near the target zone!

The bad news, it hit the target zone like it was shot out of a cannon!

There is actually some good news for real.

From Scientific American, The ExoMars 2016 mission is in business despite the apparent failure of its lander to touch down softly on the Red Planet. The lander seems to have deployed its parachute too early and fired its thrusters for an insufficient amount of time as it streaked through the Martian atmosphere like a bat out of hell.

But in spite of the loss of the lander the the Trace Gas Orbiter is gearing up for spectacular science at Mars.

Monkeys making stone knives Another one from Scientific American, monkeys with knives!

Picture this. A monkey picks up a potato-sized rock in his little hands, raises it above his head and smashes it down with all his might on another stone embedded in the ground. As the monkey bashes away flakes fly off the rock he is wielding. They're sharp enough to cut meat or plant material.

The monkey does not pay much attention to the flakes, save to place one on the embedded rock and attempt to smash it, too. But he has unintentionally produced artifacts that look for all the world like stone tools found at some human archaeological sites.

Now a new study has examined the capuchin monkey-produced stone flakes and compared them to human-made artifacts, and it turns out that the chips meet criteria used to distinguish human tools from naturally broken rocks.

Name That Phobia!

Today we introduced another new game to the podcast. It's called "Name That Phobia". Don't be scared! Give it a try.

Shout-outs and Acknowledgments Blue Streak Science Cafe'

On Monday morning of Halloween we are rolling out the Blue Streak Science Cafe'! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7am Pacific time on the Smiletime live streaming platform as well as Facebook Live.

Hosting the show with me will be Nevena Hristozova broadcasting from Brussels. Belgium. 

We're gonna talk about the latest science news that crosses our desks. We'll talk about the Blue Streak Science Podcast, and play the "What The Hell Was That?" game

But here's the best part. YOU can join us live! Talk in the chat or dust off your webcam and join in with us.

James Young

James Young is a 25 year old biological scientist who lost his left arm and left leg following a horrific train accident.

James Young

Next year the Ministry of Defence will be doing trials on a technique called direct skeletal fixation, or osseointegration (OI). This procedure is the best and latest technology, and so the military are trialling it first in order to do the best for their service men and women. However, it's not available on the NHS.

OI is a modern procedure that would implant James' bones with titanium implants which would allow him to bolt on an artificial limb in seconds, with potentially zero discomfort once healed. This could provide him with the ability to bear weight directly through his skeleton and allow accurate control and placement of his foot by being linked firmly to his bones instead of clinging on his skin.

This is where you can help. James is not a member of the military, so he must raise the funds himself to get a shot at getting this surgery.

James has set of goal of £95,000 through a GoFundMe campaign. The Blue Streak Science online community has always been there for us, and we love you for it. We now ask that you share your generosity and contribute whatever you can to help James toward his goal of having near normal mobility and less pain.

YOU are the best!

Thank you!

This episode of Blue Streak Science Podcast comes to you from Santa Rosa, California; Cambridge, England; and Washington, D.C.

Black Widow Spider - Latrodectus mactans

It was one of those weeks in science; an embarrassment of riches. And talk about abundance, our universe may contain upwards of 2 trillion galaxies! You know, a trillion here, a trillion there and soon we're talking big numbers here. Okay, follow along with me. A virus that incorporates a gene from a spider. First, that's cool because it's a virus using the DNA of a complex organism. The gene happens to be a gene that codes for black widow venom. That's right. Black widow venom. Now this virus, a bacteriophage, uses that gene to poke holes in bacteria. Whoah! Then we talk about 5,000 to 19,000 year old human footprints, lots of 'em, in volcanic sediment. These footprints tell numerous stories about ancestors and it is just so fascinating. It's so easy to visualize them and imagine who they were, and what they were doing. 

What The Hell Was That?

We reveal the answer to last week's terrifying and disturbing sound. No, no listener or host got the correct answer, but some were close.

This week's sound is a good one. Sounds somewhat like me snoring while suffering from a bad cold, after eating lots of cabbage. Lovely.

Blue Streak Science News Roundup

These are summaries of our discussions on the podcast. For the full conversation please listen to this episode of the Blue Streak Science Podcast.

There are 10 times more galaxies in our universe than we'd estimated

Pretty galaxy. Seems there's loads of 'em.

Astronomers led by Christopher Conselice at the University of Nottingham converted "pencil beam" images of deep space into 3-dimensional maps, allowing them to calculate the density of galaxies in that volume.

Using mathematical models to infer yet to be observed galaxies they concluded that the universe contains at least 2 trillion galaxies

They combined data from many ground- and space-based telescopes to look at how the number of galaxies in a typical volume of the universe has changed over much of cosmic history.

Virus steals black widow poison gene to help it attack A type of virus that only infects bacteria, a bacteriophage, has apparently nicked the DNA of black widow spiders to attack bacteria. This virus is actually using the genes that code for the spider's venom! It is the first time we've seen a virus take genes from such a complex organism.

Treasure Trove of Ancient Human Footprints Found Near Volcano A massive set of more than 400 human footprints found by geologists is thought to date back to between 10,000 and 19,000 years ago.

It was previously thought that the footprints dated back as far as 120,000 years, and that they had been preserved by ash falling from the sky, following the eruption of a nearby volcano.

But the research team has now been able to date them more accurately after discovering that a muddy flow of debris and ash from the volcano's sides was responsible.

Says Who?!

Sophie answers correctly! The choices were Carl Sagan, Leonard Nimoy, Ray Bradbury, and Isaac Asimov.

Oh, you haven't heard the quote? Well, you're just going to have to listen to the podcast for that!

I'm a mean s.o.b., ain't I?

Shout-outs and Acknowledgments The Science Cafe'

Blue Streak Science has a new show! It's called Science Cafe' and our first show will be on Halloween.

The Cafe' opens every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7am (Pacific time) on the Smiletime live streaming platform as well as Facebook Live.

Hosting the show with JD will be Nevena Hristozova broadcasting from Brussels, Belgium.

We're gonna talk about the very latest science news, the Blue Streak Science Podcast and play the What The Hell Was That game, too.

The best part is that you can join in the fun with us. You can make sarcastic comments from the text chat on the side. But we will also bring you right into the show.

Don't miss it!

This episode of Blue Streak Science Podcast comes to you from Santa Rosa, California; Cambridge, England; Sydney, Australia, and Washington, D.C.

It has been a tumultuous week in American politics! Wow! But Blue Streak Science stays above the fray as we deliver the latest science to the world in our own special way.

We talked about birds in hurricanes and bat-shit crazy conspiracy theorists. Did you hear the one about the chimp who could read minds? We talked about new research that shows our close cousins to possess similar "theory of mind" as humans, including the ability to anticipate when someone is about to do the wrong thing. It involved a guy in a King Kong suit. You can't make this stuff up!

We also talked about Saturn's moon Dione and how it has an ocean. How many moons are there now with oceans? I lost count.

"If everybody had an ocean/Across the U. S. A./Then everybody'd be surfin'/Like Californi-a"

Put on your baggies and wax your board 'cause surf's up in the solar system!

What The Hell Was That?

Nobody got last week's sound because it was freakin' difficult. No, you'll never get. But you can try! Just have a listen.

All the hosts were very creeped-out by this week's sound. You're welcome for the nightmares it may cause.

Blue Streak Science News Roundup

These are summaries of our discussions on the podcast. For the full conversation please listen to this episode of the Blue Streak Science Podcast.

Hurricane Matthew The remnants of the storm still causing havoc and destruction in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As bad as that is Hurricane Matthew has also caused huge amounts of property damage in Florida. But the greatest tragedy is in Haiti where the death toll has already surpassed 1000 while disease and starvation in its aftermath threaten many more.

However, a hurricane's effects aren't limited to people. Radar observations of Hurricane Matthew showed that birds were traveling inside of the eye the storm.

There was also an article in the Huffington Post that talked about some conspiracy theories regarding hurricanes put forth extreme right commentators Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh.

Drudge suggested the government has a "monopoly on data" and is fudging its forecasts to make an "exaggerated point on climate."

Saturn's moon Dione may harbor an underground ocean So say researchers reporting online on 28 September in Geophysical Research Letters. This club of watery worlds in our solar system include Saturn's moon Enceladus, several moons of Jupiter and the dwarf planet Pluto as we reported last week.

Dione's ocean is about 100 kilometers below the surface and is about 65 kilometers deep. The researchers used measurements of Dione's gravity made by the venerable Cassini spacecraft.

Can great apes read minds? This study published in "Science" on 6 October. Over the decades we've learned that non-human apes possess many aspect of the "theory of mind". We are able to think about others' thoughts and emotions (except orange-haired apes, such as an American Presidential candidate). We form ideas about what beliefs and feelings are held in the minds of others – and recognize that they can be different from our own.But this common trait seems to drop off when it comes to non-human ape's understanding that someone else's belief may be false, and that's what this new research looks at.

New game! It's called "Says Who?"

Congratulations to host Tom Di Liberto for giving the correct answer on the inaugural "Says Who?" game! Well done.

This episode of Blue Streak Science Podcast comes to you from Santa Rosa, California; Sydney, Australia, and Washington, D.C.

No, none of the Blue Streak Science team received that phone call from Sweden. But the week isn't over yet!

In the meantime, we had another great episode talking about a new "3-parent" technique that circumvents inherited mitochondrial disease. We also discussed some ominous news from the Antarctic, as well as this year's Nobel Prize winners (so far).

Of course, what episode of the podcast would be complete without playing the "What The Hell Was That?" game and "False Positive"? That was rhetorical, by the way.

What The Hell Was That?

Another week and I've again stumped our panel of experts! This one was pretty difficult, and really weird, too.

And the answer is...what? You think I'm going to tell you here? Stop it. You're killin' me! No way! You have to listen to the podcast for that!

Blue Streak Science Roundup

Join us as we have a lively discussion on the science news of the week.

This week we talked about:

Mitochondria

World's first baby born with new 3-parent technique The team of John Zhang from the New Hope Fertility Center in New York traveled to Mexico City to assist a Jordanian couple who carry a rare mitochondrial mutation, Leigh Syndrome, which is a fatal disorder that affects the developing nervous system

Scientists may have solved a key riddle about Antarctica — and you're not going to like the answer A new study co-authored by Rob Deconto of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and David Pollard of Pennsylvania State University describes a new ice sheet model of Antarctica that predicts that the continent can melt and raise sea levels by nearly a meter, on its own, during this century.

Nobel Prize! Yoshinori Ohsumi, a biologist at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, won this year's Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his work uncovering how cells break down and recycle old materials — a process critical for keeping cells healthy.

False Positive, the science game with the disconcerting name!

Congratulations to both Sophie and Tom for also getting the correct answer! Amazingly, Ivy's weekly "stab in the dark" failed to find its target this week.

You think you have what it takes? Give it a try!

This episode of Blue Streak Science Podcast comes to you from Santa Rosa, California; Cambridge, England; Sydney, Australia, and Washington, D.C.

Today we welcome the newest member of the Blue Streak Science team, Tom Di Liberto! Yes, we now have our very own meteorologist and climate guru! Tom joins us with nearly a decade of research experience in climatology, meteorology, and oceanography. In 2013 he was named America's Scientist Idol at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Seriously, how cool is that?

Tom has been an invited speaker and/or writer at the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang, Climate Desk, 2014 Green Biz Forum and Verge conferences, NAS Science and Entertainment Exchange, Nerd Nite DC, and Thirst DC. To top it all off Tom is a writer for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's climate.gov ENSO and is the sole author of climate.gov's Event Tracker Blog. Wow!

What The Hell Was That?

Congratulations to our host Sophie for nailing the correct answer! Boo-yah! And that answer is...what? You think I'm going to tell you here? Stop it. You're killin' me! No way! You have to listen to the podcast for that!

Blue Streak Science News Roundup

Can Zuckerberg's $3 Billion Plan End All Disease?

On 22 September, from NBCNews.Com we have an article titled "Here's a Reality Check on Mark Zuckerberg's $3 Billion Plan to End Disease".

The article states that the couple have made big headlines with their "Chan Zuckerberg Initiative", and it seems to take issue with its goal of spending the aforementioned sum over the next 10 years "to cure, prevent, or manage all disease within our children's lifetime".

However, as Priscilla Chan stated, "That doesn't mean no one will ever get sick...but it means our children and their children should get sick a lot less.

Biological 'dark matter' molecule plays surprise role in heart failure

From the Science Blog on 21 September, scientists at UCLA have identified a molecule that looks like it may play key role in the development of heart failure. The molecule is called CHAER. They found that blocking this molecule in animal studies prevents them from developing heart failure.

However, the research is in early days. However, down the road future drugs that target CHAER or related pathways could be used for treating or preventing heart failure. The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Medicine.

More than 100 km of liquid water beneath Pluto's surface

More news from New Horizons, the planetary explorer that sailed by pluto in July of 2015. From the Universe Today on 23 September, new research indicates there could be a salty ocean on Pluto more than 100 kilometers thick.

This research looked at Sputnik Planum, a 900 kilometer wide basin. At least part of this basin looks like it was formed by an impact. The researchers examined the impact area and also looked at the dynamics between Pluto and its moon Charon.

They concluded that the rebound from this impact area rebounded and brought up denser material from below. It appears that water, which is denser than ice, welled up from below to even out the impact zone.

The researchers modeled different  scenarios that would best explain Sputnik Planum's observed size depth, while also producing a the type of crater observed. The best scenario is one of an ocean layer more than 100 kilometers thick, with a salinity of around 30 percent.

False Positive, the science game with the scary name!

Every week I tell our blue streak science team 4 science news items or facts.

Three of these items are true, but one is total crap.

Do you think you have what it takes?

Item 1. Research shows that riding roller coasters can help one pass kidney stones.

Item 2. The so-called 5-second rule has been confirmed to be valid, study shows.

Item 3. Five wild lionesses grow a mane and start acting like males.

Item 4. DNA reveals giraffes are 4 species--not one.

And the answer is? You'll have to listen to the podcast to find out! Better yet, subscribe so you don't miss any episodes.

Oh, and way to go, Sophie! That's two for two today.

What? You think it's easy? You think you can do any better? Not bloody likely!

Shout-outs and Acknowledgments

Blue Streak Science launching a live streaming video show! It's going to be hosted on Smiletime.com, and it's called Science Cafe'.

The best part is that I'm being joined from Brussels, Belgium by our wonderful live streaming host Nevena Hristozova!

We're going to do these Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

Bring your hot cup of coffee or your beverage of choice. After all, it's after 5pm somewhere, right?

We'll talk about the latest science and even play the What The Hell Was That Game.

So come join us in the chat on 3 October!

This episode of Blue Streak Science Podcast comes to you from Santa Rosa, California; Cambridge, England; Sydney, Australia, and Washington, D.C.

Opening Word

We're back! After an extended hiatus the Blue Streak Science Podcast has returned. We still have listener favorites the What The Hell Was That game and False Positive. But we've shelved the Blue Streak Science News and are hitching up the News Roundup! Sure, we're a little rusty, but we're itching (chafing?) to get back on the saddle and on down the trail. 

Yee-haw!

What The Hell Was That?

Today's science sound is a tough one. Do you think you have what it takes to identify it? Give it a try. Have a listen!

Blue Streak Science News Roundup

Eureka! I have found it! Or, Eurekalert! Where the hell is it? The news release service known as Eurekalert, was subject to "an aggressive attack" by hackers beginning on 9 september.

This site is administered by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS, the publishers of the top-tier journal "Science".

The hack wasn't discovered until 11 September and by then the damage had been done. User id's and passwords were compromised.

As a result of the hack, Eurekalert was taken offline on 11 September.

On 18 September in an offline notice Eurekalert said, "significant progress has been made toward a full recovery. The entire Eurekalert system environment has now been rebuilt, and we have subjected it to multiple rounds of cyber-security testing to ensure that it meets the highest standards of security."

As of Monday, 19 September the site was still down.

Scientists Watch as Bacteria Evolve Antibiotic Resistance From Science News on 8 September, scientists watch as bacteria evolve antibiotic resistance.

A giant petri dish coated with variable concentrations of antibiotics is allowing scientists to view e. Coli as they adjust to ever higher levels of antibiotics, reports microbiologist Michael Baym in the 9 September issue of Science.

The freakishly large petri dish was more than a meter long instead of a standard palm-sized dish. The researchers created a gradient of antibiotics on the plate with low concentrations at the edges, and increasing as you go toward the middle of the plate. They then put the e. Coli at each end of the plate, sat back, placed wagers and watched the race unfold before their eyes...over the next week and a half.

Arctic Summer Sea Ice Melts to Second Lower Level Every Recorded From New Scientist on 16 September we learn that, coming out of the planet's hottest August in recorded history, Arctic sea ice has melted to the second lowest level on record. This, despite a relatively cool summer up there – and the loss of ice may already be having ecological consequences.

Measurements taken by the Snow and Ice Data Center in the U.S. found that levels of Arctic sea ice tied 2007 for the second lowest on record. Again, this was with a relatively cool summer in the arctic.

With more typical warmer conditions, the Arctic could see very dramatic losses of ice in the coming years, the scientists warned.

False Positive, the science game with the scary name!

Ivy scores a whale of a victory! You think you know all about whales? Give it a try!

Announcements

We have a new live streaming show! It's called the Blue Streak Science Cafe', or just Science Cafe'.

It will be hosted on the Smiletime live streaming platform on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday mornings, 7AM to 8AM (PDT), beginning on 3 October.

The best part is that I'm being joined by a new host! Nevena Hristozova, a molecular biology graduate student from Sofia, Bulgaria, who is now studying in Brussels.

I can't wait to get that started!

But wait, there's more!

Next week we're welcoming a new host to this very podcast! That's all i'm gonna tell you about that! That's right, a cliff hanger.

You'll have to tune in next week to welcome our awesome new host.

This episode of Blue Streak Science Podcast comes to you from Santa Rosa, California; Cambridge, England; and Sydney, Australia.