Science Talk

In this episode, journalist Philip Ross discusses his article in the October Scientific American, called "Viral Nanoelectronics," about wires, batteries and microchips constructed out of viruses. New Jersey Institute of Technology mathematics professor Bruce Bukiet talks about his probability estimates for the first round of major league baseball's playoffs and how he managed to miss all four series winners while still being correct in his calculations. Scientific American magazine news editor Philip Yam recounts how he boldly went to the Star Trek memorabilia auction last week in New York City. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com/news; blog.sciam.com; www.egrandslam.com; http://m.njit.edu/~bukiet/playoffs.htm

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Court cases increasingly deal with complex science and technical issues. And the last time some judges were in a science classroom was before Watson and Crick published the structure of DNA (or at least before the beginning of the Human Genome Project). We'll talk about bringing judges up to science speed with Franklin Zweig and Robert Bell, the chief judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland. Zweig is the president and Bell is chairman of the board of directors of the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource, an organization devoted to training judges in science (and the product of a Congressional mandate accompanying the Human Genome Project). Then, in the Ask A Scientist segment, the Wildlife Conservation Society's Paul Calle responds to a listener query about how some animals seemingly eat just about anything without any dire consequences. And we'll take a quick trip through a batch of other questions submitted by listeners. Websites related to this episode include www.einshac.org; www.wcs.org; www.sciam.com/news; blog.sciam.com.

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Last week, the National Academy of Sciences and other institutions released a report titled Beyond Bias

and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in

Academic Science and Engineering. Maria Zuber,

head of the department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology, was one of the members of the committee that prepared that report. We talk to her about the findings and recommendations of the committee. She also discusses her research mapping Mars, Mercury and the Moon. Scientific

American reporter JR Minkel chats about his web article called That's Debatable: Six Debates at the Frontier of Science. Plus, we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.nap.edu; www.tinyurl.com/qa6bz; www.sciam.com/news; www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0005726E-214A-1514-A14A83414B7F013F

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A major paleoanthropological fossil find was announced on September 20th. Donald Johanson is the director of the Institute of Human Origins and professor of human origins at Arizona State University, and is the discoverer of the famous Lucy fossil more than three decades ago. In this episode, he talks about the new finding and what it means for our understanding of human evolution. We also hear recent comments by John Hofmeister, the president of the Shell Oil Company, that might sound surprising coming from a person in his position. And we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com; www.sciamdigital.com; www.sciam.com/podcast

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In this episode, MIT physicist Ernest Moniz discusses the future of nuclear energy and the article he co-authored in the September issue of Scientific American called The Nuclear Option. David Holmes of Manchester Metropolitan University talks about the reality of mouse food preferences and whether or not cheese is included. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com;

http://web.mit.edu/nuclearpower; www.cheese.com; http://www.defensetech.org/archives/2006_09.html.

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In this episode, MIT astrophysicist Paul Schechter offers some perspective on recent research about the universe's mysterious "dark matter." Journalist Karen Hopkin and host Steve Mirsky talk about the new daily Scientific American podcast, called "60-Second Science." And Scientific American magazine contributing editor Sarah Simpson shares some thoughts about the late Steve Irwin, the "Crocodile Hunter." Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com, www.sciam.com/podcast, www.sciam.com/news and Paul Schechter's home page, http://tinyurl.com/r9yg6.

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In this episode, journalist Leslie Sabbagh discusses the teen brain, the subject of her cover story in the August/September issue of Scientific American Mind. Geologist Kip Hodges, the director of the Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration, answers a listener's question about the earth's fickle magnetic poles. Plus we'll test your knowledge about the status of Pluto and other science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com and www.sciammind.com.

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In this episode, Scientific American editor-in-chief John Rennie talks about the September, single-topic issue of the magazine, the focus of which is Energy's Future: Beyond Carbon. He also explains the Emmy Award in his home. And University of East Anglia School of Medicine professor Christopher Cowley discusses his proposal of new requirements for medical school candidates. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include, www.sciam.com; www.sciamdigital.com; and Professor Cowley's article at http://tinyurl.com/nlkns

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In this episode, Scientific American editor George Musser explains recent research that could mean that the entire universe is 15 percent bigger and about two billion years older than previously thought. Plus, Pluto expert and MIT professor Richard Binzel, a member of the Planet Definition Committee of the International Astronomical Union, discusses the status of Pluto. And amateur astronomer and Plutophile Ari Mirsky shares his thoughts. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include blog.sciam.com, www.sciam.com and www.sciamdigital.com.

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In this episode, journalist Paul Raeburn talks about how the Environmental Protection Agency has been taking a long time, decades in fact, to figure out how to handle some potentially dangerous chemicals. And astronomer and geologist Peter Schultz talks about his chosen method of learning about the universe--smashing stuff. Websites mentioned on this podcast include www.paulraeburn.com.

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