KGNU - How On Earth

Yeast & Entropy  (starts 2:30) When yeast cells eat sugar and then give off ethanol, it helps us make yeast breads and beer.  But WHY would yeast work so hard to metabolize sugar, simply to spit out as ethanol?  This is a mystery that Matthias Heinemann is  trying to figure out. Heinemann is a professor of molecular systems biology at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.  His research published in Nature shows that yeast spits out ethanol to protect the yeast from “ metabolic overload.” Heinemann has figured out how to predict when this will happen, using the Gibbs Equation, ie through the perspective of conventional  biology. Heinemann seeks clues about metabolism by applying some scientific laws that are best known for explaining machines and engines. They’re the laws of thermodynamics.  (TRANSCRIPT HERE)

Host, Producer, Engineer: Shelley Schlender

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Air Pollution, Possible Solutions

Hosts: Susan Moran, Jason Plautz

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In the first feature (start time 1:00) KGNU’s Maeve Conran speaks with Antonia Malchik, author of A Walking Life.  This book  explores the relationship between walking and our humanity, how we have lost it through a century of car-centric design, how we can regain it and more.  This part of the interview, produced especially for How On Earth, focuses on the science behind what makes us able to walk.  For a pedestrian, walking is a simple as putting one foot in front of another, right?  Well from a scientific perspective, there’s quite a bit to it.

In the second feature (start time 13:10), Chip Grandits speaks with Dr. Detlev Helmig, Associate Research Professor at the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research.  He is one of several Boulder area climate scientists preparing for The MOSAIC expedition, the largest ever Central Arctic research expedition.  In September 2019 A German research icebreaker the Polarstern will head northeast from Tromsø, Norway where it will spend an entire year caught up in the shifting Arctic ice.  Dr. Helmig talks about the need to improve climate models of the poles, what motivates a such complex, expensive and dangerous expedition and what motivates scientists to take a 2 month stint on board the Polarstern trapped in the Arctic ice.

Host: Chip Grandits

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With graduation season is upon us, today’s edition of How on Earth is our annual “Graduation Special”. Our guests in the studio today are scientists who have or will soon receive their Ph.D. in a STEM-related field.  They talk about their thesis research, their grad school experiences, and what they have planned next.

Marcus Piquette – CU Boulder, Department of Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences

David Reens – CU Boulder, Department of Physics

Abigail Reens– CU Boulder, Department Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology

Host / Producer / Engineer : Joel Parker

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We speak with Larry Gold, founder of the Gold Lab Symposium that will take place at CU Boulder’s Muenzinger Auditorium this Friday and Saturday.  This year’s symposium will feature leading scientists discussing the double-edged swords of our modern treatments for cancer, immunity and autoimmunity.  To sign up or learn more, see Gold Lab Foundation.

Host,Producer,Engineer Shelley Schlender

Tackling Plastic Pollution (starts at 3:09):  It is, sadly, common for beachcombers around the world to see, along with clam shells and sand dollars, plastic bottles, bottle caps, cigaret filters and fish nets washed up on shore. According to estimates by World Economic Forum, our oceans will be populated by more pounds of plastic waste than fish by 2050. About a third of all plastic that is produced does not get properly collected; instead, much of it ends up floating in the ocean, or clogging the guts of innocent albatross, other birds and sea mammals. It could take 450 years, or forever, for plastic to completely biodegrade. Plastic waste just breaks down (photo-degrades) into tiny bits, causing harm to wildlife and, potentially, humans. How On Earth host Susan Moran and contributing host Jeff Burnside interview two guests who are working in different ways to assess the extent of the problem and its impacts, to educate people about it, and to effect positive change. Dr. Jenna Jambeck, an associate engineering professor at the University of Georgia, lead-authored a seminal paper in 2015 that estimated how much plastic waste is in the ocean. She will soon co-lead an all-female National Geographic expedition to study plastic pollution in India and Bangladesh.  Laura Parker is a staff writer at National Geographic magazine covering climate change and ocean environments. She won the Scripps Howard award for environmental reporting her June 2018 National Geographic cover article titled “Planet or Plastics?”

Hosts: Susan Moran, Jeff Burnside

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In this week’s show, Beth interviews Joshua Goldstein. He and co-author Steffan Qvist wrote eloquently about how nuclear energy can replace fossil fuels – a vital necessity in a rapidly warming world. A new generation of nuclear plants reduces waste and completely eliminates CO2. In Sweden, France and Ontario, these plants have allowed these countries to eliminate their reliance on fossil fuels and significantly reduce their carbon footprints.

Concussion Test (Starts 1:00)  David Howell is chief researcher at Children’s Hospital Colorado.  Howell says the century old Romberg Balance Test can help evaluate how long a child will need therapeutic intervention after a blow to the brain.

Pot & Pain Meds (Starts 7:00 )  Mark Twardowski is doctor in Grand Junction who does endoscopic procedures that include pain medications.  Twardowski has just published an analysis that shows his patients who use marijuana need more pain medication and sedation during a procedure, such as a colonoscopy, compared to patients who do not report having used marijuana.  GO HERE FOR INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

Chords and Codons (Starts )  Fulbright Scholar Colin Campbell is a scientist who specializes in spectroscopy.  He also composes songs that turn science data into music.  Today (April 16th) at 5:30, Campbell’s songs will be part of a performance at CU-Boulder’s Biofrontiers Institute in the Butcher Auditorium.

Hosts/Producer/Engineer: Shelley Schlender

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This special edition of How on Earth is produced in conjunction with the Conference on World Affairs.  Our guest a participants of the Conference: Dr. Michelle Thaller, assistant director of science at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.  Her path has taken her from Harvard to Georgia State University to Caltech to NASA. Dr. Thaller has studied hot stars, colliding stellar winds, binary star evolution, evolved stellar companions, and infrared astronomy.  She is one of the regular hosts of the Discovery Science Channel shows: “How the Universe Works” and “Space’s Deepest Secrets” and hosts the podcast “Orbital Path” on public radio.

Host / Producer / Engineer /  Executive Producer: Joel Parker

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