Science for the People

This week, we’re looking at the ways that science and medicine impact specific communities. We’ll speak to biologist and science educator Danielle N. Lee about the state of science journalism at media sources that serve minority audiences. Microbiologist and public health researcher Rebecca Kreston explains why (and how) some diseases target specific groups. And Dr. Joe Henrich, Canada Research Chair in Culture, Cognition and Coevolution at the University of British Columbia, joins us to discuss his research showing how social science is drawing conclusions from a population of outliers in the Western world.

This week, we’re learning about ecology and biodiversity, and the preservation of endangered (and even extinct) species. We’re joined by Eric Dinerstein, Lead Scientist and Vice President for Conservation Science at the World Wildlife Fund, to discuss his new book The Kingdom of Rarities, about the challenges involved in studying rare and exotic animals. And we speak to Stuart Pimm, Doris Duke Chair of Conservation Ecology at Duke University, about his arguments against plans to revive extinct species.

This week we’re looking at science history, with two books about the passion and perseverance that drive the pursuit of scientific discovery. We’re joined by science writer Mark Anderson, to talk about his book The Day the World Discovered the Sun: An Extraordinary Story of Scientific Adventure and the Race to Track the Transit of Venus. And science writer Jessica Wapner returns to discuss her new book The Philadelphia Chromosome: A Mutant Gene and the Quest to Cure Cancer at the Genetic Level.

This week, we’re looking at some of the less savory effects of global trade and market economies. We’ll speak to Mark Harrison, Director of the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine and Professor of the History of Medicine at Oxford University, about his book Contagion: How Commerce Has Spread Disease. And we speak to Nora Szech, Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Bamberg, about her research into the ways that markets influence moral decisionmaking.

This week, we’re looking at the aging process, and how science and medicine are treating it as a problem to be solved. We’ll talk to Michael Rose, Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine about the evolution of aging   And we’ll speak to Alex Zhavoronkov, creator of the Aging Research Portfolio, and author of The Ageless Generation: How Advances in Biomedicine Will Transform the Global Economy.

This week, we’re discussing the function, evolution and complicated social norms attached to the human female breast. Guest host Rachelle Saunders talks to freelance health and science journalist Florence Williams, about her New York Times notable book  Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History. And researcher and blogger Scicurious returns to discuss the work of a French researcher who claims that wearing a bra can harm, rather than help, attempts to ward of the effects of gravity.

This week, we’re taking a closer look at the code that runs our computers, and permeates so much of our lives. Desiree Schell talks to Stephen Gold, Vice President of Watson Solutions at IBM Software Group, about new healthcare applications for cognitive computing technology. Guest host Rachelle Saunders talks to Sergei Maslov, a researcher in computational biology at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, to learn about the similarities between computer code and genetic information. And we’re joined by software professional Mark Bennett, to discuss his passion for programming, and coding as a career or as a hobby.

This week, we’re looking at birds, and what the study of their behavior and anatomy can tell us about ourselves. We’ll talk to Dr. John Marzluff, professor of Avian social ecology and demography at the University of Washington, about his book Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans. And we’ll speak to artist and illustrator Katrina van Grouw about The Unfeathered Bird, her book that looks at bird anatomy below the feathery surface.

This week, Skeptically Speaking looks to the stars that light up the night sky, and fuse hydrogen and helium into the elements that make life possible. Science writer Jennifer Ouellette examines the possible evidence of ancient supernovae in bacterial fossils. Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel explains the controversy surrounding the so-called black hole firewall paradox. And astronomer Pamela Gay of CosmoQuest discusses the impact of U.S. sequester budget cuts on her research and outreach.

This week, we’re looking at the explosive geology of volcanoes, and how they shape our world both physically and politically. We’ll speak to climate researcher Nicholas Klingaman, about his book The Year Without Summer: 1816 and the Volcano That Darkened the World and Changed History. And we’re joined by geologist Jacob Lowenstern, Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, about the massive volcano that drives the geologic activity of the Yellowstone Caldera.