When we eat delicious Wisconsin cheese, what is the story our senses tell us? At the Center for Dairy Research at UW-Madison, dairy producers and researchers work together to create the experiences consumers look for when enjoying dairy products. Brandon Prochaska from the CDR joins PNM to discuss how research on how the way foods look, taste, and even sound, shapes quality and innovation in dairy – and how you can get involved.

 

Image: Arnold Gatilao from Oakland, CA, USA, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

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Harnessing the power of the atomic nucleus for peaceful purposes was one most of the most astonishing scientific and technological achievements of the past century. Yet, after a few decades of rapid growth in nuclear energy, reliance on this power source stalled due to safety concerns and higher costs.

As the world focuses on the need to reduce CO2 emissions, it is an appropriate time to take a fresh look at the role of nuclear power vs. wind, solar, hydro and other green technologies.

Patrick Sajbel hosts University of Wisconsin Professor emeritus Michael Corradini, a leader in nuclear engineering and engineering physics and co-author with MIT on the interdisciplinary study “The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World”.

Image credit: Copyright © 2018 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Cover art by Sara Ferry, Nuclear Science and Engineering, MIT.

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“What is morality?” might be the biggest unanswered question facing humanity, other than what caused the Big Bang to form the universe. You might think the answer is simple: what is right versus what is wrong. But morality is more than that. It varies significantly across generations, societies, cultures, and individuals. Could a moral or immoral act be considered both objective and subjective?

Tonight, our guest on the Perpetual Notion Machine, Russ Shafer-Landau, doesn’t think so, but he views morality from a philosophical point of view. He is a professor of philosophy at UW-Madison who studies metaethics, which focuses on questions about the status, rather than the content, of morality, or the meaning of moral judgment. In a conversation with PNM’s Dennis Shaffer, he also disagrees that a person’s emotions or feelings are part of moral behavior. But he does agree that there is such a thing as moral truth, something that has unwavering certainty. One example is genocide, where all societies, cultures, and individuals agree is abhorrent. Deciding what is morally true can be a challenge. But Russ believes in a possible universal, all-encompassing, morality, where everybody benefits and the common good prevails.

In early April, Russ appeared in a talk about this very subject on the Crossroads of Ideas lecture series presented by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). Here’s a link to Crossroads of Ideas: What is Morality, where you can view a video of the talk.

Providing more information on such a complicated topic like morality has been difficult, but here is one from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Image courtesy: Aprilia Muktirina via Wikiversity

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The bride walks down the aisle with the Canon in D, softly echoing her steps. The almost crescendo as Queen sings “Galileo” in Bohemian Rhapsody. The animated crescondos and vistas of Fantasia.

What do Canon in D, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Fantasia have in common? Classical music – musicians and composers! Today, we explore classical music, what is considered classical music, how it is changing, and how it has evolved.

On Perpetual Notion Machine, host Anita Nsubuga explores the science in the art with San Diego State University, associate professor of Music Theory, Andrew Aziz. We learn what classical music is as well as the science behind the instruments. We also discuss the growing movement of diversity and inclusion in the arts.

Stay Tuned!

 

Image courtesy of: Ri Butov (Ri_Ya) on Pixabay

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The coronavirus is a highly contagious and deadly disease that turned into a pandemic for us humans. Now, a highly contagious and deadly avian flu virus is devastating the chickens on poultry farms, and even infecting wild birds, such as Bald eagles. Tonight, the Perpetual Notion Machine welcomes Adel Talaat to talk about this avian flu outbreak. Adel is a microbiologist in pathobiological sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UW-Madison.

Of the highest pathogenic versions of avian flu, H5 and H7 seem to be the most deadly. This current flu outbreak seems to be a variant of H5N1, which is a strain that has been around since the early 2000’s. Like most flu viruses, and COVID-19, this avian flu infects the bird’s respiratory system. Since they don’t have the capacity to expel mucus, the birds often die within a day or two.

Adel says that humans can be infected by any type of avian flu, but so far, no one in the U.S. has been infected with this pathogenic strain. In cases of infection in the past, the symptoms in people have been mild. But Adel mentions that a coronavirus version of avian flu does exist, but has not mutated into a lethal variant.

Adel has been working on a vaccine for this avian flu variant. They are ready to start testing on infected and uninfected chickens, but they have to go through government channels different than the FDA for human vaccine trials and general distribution. It’s gonna take time.

For more information, check out the CDC Bird Flu website with links to resources, and for Wisconsin check out the DATCP Avian Influenza website.

Image Courtesy: Zoe Schaeffer via Unsplash

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A pristine Wisconsin lake can provide a reference to change in our ecosystems and an opportunity to reflect on ourselves. Author and naturalist John Bates returns to the Perpetual Notion Machine with host Patrick Sajbel to talk about our undeveloped lakes.

Bates shares his insights from a multi-year paddling journey to over a hundred wild lakes, leading up to his latest book “Wisconsin’s Wild Lakes, A Guide to the Last Undeveloped Natural Lakes”. He has spent over 30 years in study of the ecosystems of Northern Wisconsin, served on the Board of the Nature Conservancy, and worked & studied alongside organizations such as the Wisconsin DNR, US Forest Service and UW Center for Limnology.

This year’s UW-Madison Science Expeditions will held this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 8, 9, and 10. All around campus, there will be events of all kinds from tours, to presentations, to exhibits, to hands-on exploration stations, and almost everything will be in-person. So, tonight, the Perpetual Notion Machine welcomes Tom Zinnen as our guest to give a rundown on a few of the goings-on. Tom is an outreach assistant and biotechnology extension specialist at the Biotechnology Center.

One of the highlights this year is the annual Wonders of Physics show, created and performed by Clint Sprott. Saturday and Sunday will have two shows each day, at 1 pm and 4 pm. But events are being held in a variety of science fields, at the Primate Center, the Limnology Lab, the Geology Museum, the Washburn Observatory, and the School of Pharmacy. And there are hands-on exploration stations at Picnic Point, Health Sciences Learning Center, the Arboretum, and the Discovery Building. Plus, there are virtual events to see, including a couple via YouTube.

Tom says that these science expeditions are really an Open House on campus to let the general public know the value of science research to the community and society in general.

For more information about all the events and a map to all the locations, click this link to UW Science Expeditions.

Image Courtesy: Liz Jesse

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Tonight on Perpetual Notion Machine host Emily Morris talks with Sanjay Limaye. Sanjay is a Distinguished Scientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Space Science and Engineering Center who studies what is absorbing sunlight on our neighbor planet Venus. We discuss the possibility of life for extremophile bacteria in its clouds, what else we’re looking for in space, how Venus’s history relates to climate change, and what a couple of our favorite sci-fi authors would think about life on Venus.

Sanjary recently curated a series of articles for Astrobiology that all have to do with the potential for life on Venus. You can find all those fascinating papers here.

‘This was my favorite interview yet for PNM. I hope you enjoy it.’ – Emily

Photo by SIMON LEE on Unsplash.

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Coral reefs cover only 1% of the ocean, but they’re essential for healthy ocean ecosystems, and for protecting us on land from damage from the impact of waves. According to a review by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, reefs in the US provide an estimated 1.75 billion dollars in ecosystem services, including protection from storm surges, fisheries, and employment from recreational use. However, coral reefs across the world are under threat of damage to their skeletons by ocean water that’s becoming more acidic due to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Joining us on PNM to discuss some new findings on how corals build their skeletons is Dr. Pupa Gilbert, professor in the Department of Physics at UW-Madison. Her study on coral skeleton formation discussed in this interview is available at the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Gilbert and colleagues also have a new paper out this month proposing a model for the evolution of CaCO3 biomineralization across the animal tree of life. For further reading on other physics topics, Pupa also has a textbook “Physics in the arts”, which recently won a McGuffey Longevity award.

 

Image: Pupa Gilbert

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COVID-19 has required us to stay at home and not socialize with people in groups. This self-imposed isolation has lead to mental and emotional stress. But this has also lead to more eating and less exercise. So, tonight, the Perpetual Notion Machine looks into metabolism, the system of processing food for energy. Dale Schoeller, Emeritus Professor in nutrition sciences at UW-Madison, explains to PNM’er Dennis Shaffer that metabolism is a complex system that includes not only the digestive system, but also the endocrine systems, which controls and regulates the metabolic rate.

Of all the foods that we eat, metabolism breaks it down into three compounds that the cells in the body use for energy: fatty acids, glucose, and amino acids. But keep in mind, the energy used by the body goes not just for physical activity. There’s keeping the heart beating and blood flowing, breathing in and exhaling air, cognition for thought and learning, sensory ability, and a host of other functions. And also, another form of energy is heat to maintain a consistent body temperature.

Diet (what you eat) and exercise (physical activity) appear to be the best way of burning fat and losing weight. And perhaps the best measure of this is through the number of calories.

Also, metabolism can be affected by sleep. Dale was the lead author of a study that was published in February where the subjects were able to increase the amount of sleep by about an hour and half each night. And without any change in diet, they managed to reduce their food intake by an average of 270 calories a day. For more information on the study, check out this press release from UChicago.

And a webpage from the Cleveland Clinic has a nice explanation of metabolism.

Image Courtesy: zuzyusa from Pixabay

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