A Rare Reprieve for Texas Death Row Inmate Rodney Reed (0:33)

Guest: Griffin Hardy, Communications Manager for Sister Helen Prejean’s Ministry Against the Death Penalty

Rodney Reed had been scheduled for execution in Texas this week for the rape and murder of a Texas woman in 1996. But a nationwide campaign to save Reed’s life, that included Republican politicians and celebrities Kim Kardashian West and Rihanna, succeeded. On Friday night, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals suspended Reed’s death sentence indefinitely and ordered the court that originally tried Reed to consider new evidence in the case. This kind of last-minute reprieve is very unusual in Texas, which leads the nation in executions.

Ancient Origins of Modern Board Games (16:22)

Guest: Cameron Browne, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Maastricht University

Some of my favorite childhood memories are of playing a new board games as a family. My brother-in-law ran a board game rating website, so we tested lots of them. But long before you could look up a game online and see how many stars it got, people passed down games orally or wrote instructions that have long since been lost. In fact, the rules for some of your favorite games may date back centuries.

50th Anniversary of Apollo 12 (32:11)

Guest: Mike Joner, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University

You couldn’t miss the 50thanniversary celebrations of Apollo 11 over the summer. Everybody knows Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first to walk on the moon. You ever heard of Pete Conrad and Alan Bean? They landed on the moon just four months later. At this very moment 50 years ago, the crew of Apollo 12 was about to touch down on the lunar surface. So, we’re going to pay a little tribute to the men who were 3rdand 4thon the moon. 

The DC Sniper and Questions of Youth in the Justice System (51:10)

Guest: Marsha Levick, Chief Counsel and Founder of Juvenile Law Center

When a teenager commits murder, should he face the death penalty? Not according to the US Supreme Court, which, a decade ago, abolished the death penalty for offenders under 18. So, what should happen to that teenager? Is life in prison without the chance of a parole a reasonable sentence? Over the last several years the US Supreme Court has been steadily restricting that sentence for juvenile offenders, too. The latest case to come before the justices involves a particularly high-profile inmate –Lee Boyd Malvo, better known as one of the DC snipers who killed 10 people in a shooting spree back in 2002. Malvo was 17 at the time.  

The FIDO Project Gives Dogs A Voice (1:10:08)

Guest: Melody Jackson, Director, Center for BioInterface Research and Professor at Georgia Tech’s College of Computing

If you've never dreamed of talking to your dog, you're probably lying to yourself. Now, new technology is making that dream a reality. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are creating new tech that allows dogs to contact humans in case of emergencies their owners face (such as with a chronic illness, an injury, or even an allergic reaction) and speak in ways we can actually understand. For example, a new dog vest is one of several emerging technologies that is programmed with a few phrases that the dog initiates with a tap of their nose. "My owner needs your attention!” and “Please follow me!” are the working messages currently. However the project is still underway and they are excited to continue improving fido's speech.

A New Antiviral for Herpes Virus (1:22:49)

Guest: Alonzo Cook, PhD, former Professor of Chemical Engineering, BYU; Rex Cates, PhD, Retired Professor of Biology, BYU; Mike Alder, BYU Technology Transfer Office

Two-thirds of all the people on the planet are infected by the Herpes Simplex Virus 1 –that’s the one that causes periodic outbreaks of cold sores. It’s incredibly common and, as yet, without a cure or a vaccine. BYU researchers are developing a treatment that comes from a tropical succulent.