STEM ed accessibility (start time: 2:03): It’s challenging enough learning science, technology, engineering and math when you can clearly see the physical models or images of neurons on a screen.  So, imagine the hurdles faced by students who are blind or otherwise visually impaired? In this week’s show, host Susan Moran interviews two chemists who are working on making STEM education  more accessible to people with visual and other impairments, and on making learning more interactive for everyone.  Dr. Hoby Wedler is an organic chemist, a sensory expert, and a product development consultant based in Petaluma, Calif. Blind since birth, he works with many companies in the food and beverage industries.  And he founded and directed a nonprofit organization that for several years led chemistry camps for blind or visually impaired students. Dr. Brett Fiedler is a physical chemist with the University of Colorado Boulder’s PhET Interactive Simulations project. The team has been researching and designing new multimodal features for interactive science simulations.

Host & Show Producer: Susan Moran

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On this week’s show, Beth speaks with Dr Afton Hassett, psychologist and pain researcher about her book, Chronic Pain Reset: 30 Days of Activities, Practices, and Skills to Help You Thrive. Not just a guide for evaluating pain and its triggers, her book offers straightforward and often fun strategies to move past chronic pain. Dr. Hassett is Associate Professor and Director of Pain and Opioid Research in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan, and a principal investigator at the Chronic Pain & Fatigue Research Center there. Her book and research explore the key role that your brain plays in processing pain and how small, simple actions can make profound changes in how you experience chronic pain. Chronic Pain Reset is written for people with chronic pain and those who care for them.

Executive Producer: Susan Moran

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Climate Change & COP28 (start time: 1:30) A major global climate conference is taking place now in Dubai, amidst a year of record-breaking heat, wildfires, floods and more around the world.  COP28 is short for the 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The aim of the conference is to have nations address climate change by pledging to cut greenhouse gas emissions (and actually following through), investing more in clean energy, and having richer nations help fund climate-adaptation measures in developing countries and especially vulnerable communities. Our guests today are Dr. Alice Alpert, a senior scientist at Environmental Defense Fund who previously served on the U.S. delegation to some COP conferences; and science journalist Tom Yulsman, who directs the Center for Environmental Journalism at CU Boulder.

Hosts: Susan Moran, Joel Parker

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Soccer Headers and Brain Damage (starts 1:00) New research about long term effects of soccer heading — the practice of hitting a soccer ball with the head, indicates a brain damage risk, even without “official” concussions.

Teen Raptor Survey (starts 3:00) Naturalists Steve Jones and Elena Klaver lead the Boulder Teen Naturalists on a survey of wintering raptors.   Another event coming up, for bird lovers, is the Audubon Xmas Bird Count.

Gaia Theory for the 21st Century  (starts 11:30)   Martin Ogle explains Gaia Theory, Model and Metaphor for the 21st Century.  He’s presenting this Thursday at the Lafayette Public Library.

Host/Producer/Engineer: Shelley Schlender

In addition to recent news about possible therapies to restore lost sense of smell due to COVID, we do a deep dive into the How on Earth archives to bring you some still-relevant stories from past Thanksgiving episodes:

Host/Producer/Engineer: Joel Parker

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The Power of Poop (start time: 5:41)  This potent byproduct of our digestive system holds the promise of being a big part of the solution to several public health and environmental challenges of our time, such as drinking water scarcity and degraded cropland. In this week’s show, How On Earth’s Susan Moran interviews Dr. Bryn Nelson, a science writer and former microbiologist. His debut book, called Flush: The Remarkable Science of an Unlikely Treasure, recently appeared in paperback.

Host/Producer: Susan Moran

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Bird Feather Fossils  (starts 1:00)  give new evidence about what we know, and don’t know, about how flying feathers evolved.

Boulder Naturalist Steve Jones  talks about the movement to stop naming birds after people. (starts 2:30)

Host/Producer/Engineer: Shelley Schlender

In this Halloween episode, we talk with Dr. Adam Frank, an astrophysicst/astrobiologist at the University of Rochester, about his recent book: The Little Book of Aliens. We hear some of the stories and learn about the science of life “out there” – astrobiology – and the past, present, and future search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Host/Producer/Engineer: Joel Parker

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Over the Seawall (start time: 7:33): One of the key things that makes us human is our ability to problem-solve.  But often our engineered fixes backfire and even make the problem we’re trying to solve much worse. How On Earth host Susan Moran interviews journalist Stephen Robert Miller about how this applies to massive seawalls, re-engineered rivers, grandiose canals (such as the Central Arizona Project) and other technological fixes that have unintended consequences.  Miller’s debut book, due out next week, is called Over the Seawall: Tsunamis, Cyclones, Drought, and the Delusion of Controlling Nature (Island Press). Check out Stephen’s upcoming book talks: Nov. 2 at CU Boulder’s ATLAS 102, 7:00-8:30 p.m.; and Nov. 28 at  Boulder Book Store,  6:30 p.m.

Host/Producer: Susan Moran

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In this episode of How on Earth we hear the full interview Beth did with physician and author Gavin Frances.

CU Kite Fall Flying Expo (starts 1:00) CU Boulder collaborates with NASA and the kite/toy store Into the Wind to share a Kite Flying Expo about how kites can be used for atmospheric science study.

RECOVERY: The Lost Art of Convalescence. (starts 8:05) Author Gavin Frances emphasizes the importance of taking an active role in one’s recovery and outlines many paths one can take in doing so. It is an act that we engage in and that has the potential to transform our lives, if only we can find ways to learn its rhythms and invest our time, energy, and participation.

Executive Producer: Susan Moran

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