KGNU - How On Earth

By KGNU - How On EarthScience Social Sciences Natural Sciences

KGNU - How On Earth episodes

August 17, 2022 What’s New in Climate?
In this week’s How on Earth, we look at 3 aspects of climate change: its role in disease incidence and transmission; some effects of the new climate change legislation; and how ‘micro-forests’ can mitigate temperature and water loss. The latter comes from an interview with author Hannah Lewis and her book Mini-Forest Revolution, in which she describes the Miyawaki Method, a unique approach to reforestation devised by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki.
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producers: Beth Bennett & Benita Lee
Engineer: Shannon Young
Listen to the Show:
28 min
August 09, 2022 DNA Superconductors // Western Rewilding // What Your Food Ate
DNA Superconductors (Starts 1:00) Scientists are harnessing DNA to make electronic components at the nano-scale.
Western Rewilding Network (Starts 3:50) Researchers at Oregon State University are urging the U.S. to set aside 500,000 square kilometers for a Western Rewilding Network that would include wolves and beavers as part of ecosystem restoration. Their research appears today in the journal BioScience.
What Your Food Ate: How to Heal Our Land and Reclaim Our Health (Starts 9:05) KGNU News Director Shannon Young speaks with authors David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé for the science behind the time-honored adage that the roots of good health start on farms . . . and how modern agriculture needs to change to restore those roots.
Hosts: Joel Parker & Benita Lee
Producers: Shelley Schlender, Joel Parker & Benita Lee
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Feature contributors: Joel Parker, Benita Lee, Shannon Young
27 min
August 03, 2022 Alcohol, Brain Damage & Genetics
Colorado Cafe Sci (starts 1:00) happens monthly, in Denver.
cc Wikimedia
Alcohol and Alcoholism Recent News (starts 2:49) We look at recent science about alcohol consumption, including a study that indicates as little as 3 glasses of wine a week is associated with buildups of iron in the brain — a risk factor for brain disease, increased binge drinking among pregnant women, and a new study about genetic characteristics associated with alcoholism.
Beth Bennett Discusses the Biology of Alcoholism, Homeostasis and Allostasis (starts 5:35) Discussion includes a reference to the studies about yeast and entropy with Matthias Heinemann. Go here to listen to the entire extended interview (45 minutes long) and go here for an extended version transcript
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Shelley Schlender
Additional Contributions: Joel Parker & Benita Lee
27 min
July 26, 2022 Colorado River Basin Crisis
Lake Mead’s “bathtub ring” (July 2022)
Photo credit: Tom Yulsman
This week on How On Earth:
Colorado River Basin Crisis (start time: 5:31–scroll down for arrow)
The Colorado River is the life blood for about 40 million inhabitants. And it’s in dire straights. The river’s two reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are at historically low levels, due primarily to climate change and overuse. The water-supply crisis is affecting Colorado and six other states, as well as some 30 tribes, that rely on the Colorado River for water and electricity. Last month the federal government ordered the seven states to jointly come up with a plan to dramatically cut their consumption from the river. They have until mid-August to deliver–or they’ll face mandatory cuts. Host Susan Moran discusses with two guests the underlying causes of the water crisis, what’s at stake, and potential solutions. Jennifer Gimbel is a senior water policy scholar at the Colorado Water Center, located at Colorado State University. Formerly she was an undersecretary of the Department of Interior, and executive director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. Tom Yulsman is a science journalist focusing on climate change. He runs the ImaGeo visual blog for Discover magazine, and he is director of the Center for Environmental Journalism at CU Boulder.
Some relevant resources for more info and the basin’s water crisis:
* 2022 Science paper, What Will It Take To Stabilize the Colorado River?
* Fresh Water News (Water Education Colorado)
* The Water Desk
Show Host & Producer: Susan Moran
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Headline Contributors: Beth Bennett, Shelley Schlender
Listen to the show here:
27 min
July 19, 2022 Salmon Wars Part 2: Farm-Raised LAND Salmon
We continue our look at the new Expose, Salmon Wars, the Dark Underbelly of our Favorite Fish, by checking out an alternative – LAND-Based Farmed Salmon.
Chef Sheila Lucero – (starts 2:25) We TASTE land-based salmon, with Coloraado’s award-winning, national expert on sustainable fish and member of Seafood Watch BlueRibbon Task Force, Jax Fish House Chef, Sheila Lucero.
Land-Based Salmon: (starts 15:15) We ask Brandon Gottsacker, president of Superior Fresh aquaponics farm, about his BAP-Certified, salmon falm, the Scretting Fish Meal they feed their fish, and their leafy greens produce operation.
HostProducer: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

27 min
July 12, 2022 Salmon Wars: The Dark Underbelly of Our Favorite Fish – Part 1
Salmon Wars: A Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent and a former private investigator dive deep into the murky waters of the international salmon farming industry in this just-published expose.

HostProducer: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
27 min
July 06, 2022 All About Mars
This week on How on Earth, Beth speaks with author and planetary geologist Dr. Simon Morden. In his book, The Red Planet, he presents a tantalizing vision of our nearest neighbour, its dramatic history, and astonishing present.

Executive Producer: Beth Bennett
Show Producer: Beth Bennet
Additional Contributions: Joel Parker & Shelley Schlender
Listen to the Show:
29 min
June 28, 2022 Birds and Dopamine // Nature Wants Us To Fat
Birds and Dopamine (starts 1:00) If bird songs help a bird fall in love, does it get even better with a dose of dopamine?

Nature Wants us to be Fat (starts 13:56) CU-Medical School professor and researcher Richard Johnson discusses his latest book, Nature Wants Us to Be Fat. The Surprising Science Behind Why We Gain Weight and How We Can Prevent – and Reverse – It. GO HERE for extended version of this interview and transcript.

Hosts: Benita Lee & Shelley Schlender
Producer: Shelley Schlender and Benita Lee
Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Feature contributors: Benita Lee, Shelley Schlender, Alexis Kenyon
27 min
June 21, 2022 Summer Solstice Hike // On the Trail of a Hidden Hominoid
NCAR Burn site – left of the trail — photo by Steve Jones
Pre-dawn Summer Solstice Hike (Starts 1:00) We head out before 5:30 AM, to visit the NCAR Burn site, with Boulder Naturalists Steve Jones, Scott Severs and Ruth Carol Cushman

Hobbit Like Hominoids — Still Here? (Starts 12:06) Anthropologist Gregory Forth discusses his book, Between Ape and Human – On the Trail of a Hidden Hominoid, about an Indonesian Island that was home to Hobbit-sized, human-like creatures, and how it might STILL be home to these hobbit-like beings.

Hosts: Beth Bennett & Shelley Schlender
Producer: Shelley Schlender
Executive Producer: Joel Parker
Feature contributors: Shelley Schlender, Beth Bennett
27 min
June 14, 2022 Skin Cancer // Methane Leaks // Engineering Happiness // Black holes
Today’s show features headline news about new methods for detecting skin cancer and using “frequency comb” lasers to sniff out even the faintest traces of methane leaks. And then we have an encore presentation of How on Earth features about “Engineering Happiness” and a black holes.
Hosts: Joel Parker, Susan Moran, Beth Bartel
Producer: Joel Parker, Beth Bartel
Additional contributions: Shelley Schlender, Jim Pullen
Listen to the show:
27 min