The Pulse

Today’s show includes a few snapshots from physicians’ lives, a game of darts that results in a research effort, a quest to create the most delicious strawberry and a new spray to battle infections.

It’s a holiday weekend and chances are there will be drinking and fireworks––always a stellar combination. In America’s hospitals, a lot of new doctors fresh out of medical school are on the job–30,000 to be exact. Logic would tell us that this would be a terrible time to go to the hospital. But is that really the case?

With Pope Francis taking a stance on protecting the environment, will more churches become involved with climate change activism? Pope Francis made an explicit call for action to halt climate change in his encyclical, which was published earlier this summer. His words have the power and potential to unify and inspire billions of people around the world, but for some catholics, environmentalism has long been part of their faith.

David Fajgenbaum graduated from medical school with an intimate knowledge of illness. In his third year he was diagnosed with Castleman disease. It’s a very rare illness that attacks the immune system. Fajgenbaum first experienced flu-like symptoms, then his kidney and liver started to shut down. He was hospitalized for months, read his last rites. But after several rounds of chemo, he recovered, returned to medical school – and much more.

Hospitals are some of the cleanest places on Earth, but also the nastiest. Shiny linoleum floors, crisp white bed sheets and hand sanitizer stations every 20 feet up against a tide of leaking wounds, gastrointestinal tract disorders and hacking coughs. The spread of germs and infection is a huge challenge for medical facilities. Take MRSA, for instance, a deadly strain of bacteria often resistant to medications. But a new disinfectant is proving effective against MRSA and similar foes.

Beginner’s luck–the idea has been around forever. It even has it’s own wikipedia page. But does it really exist? After an argument in a bar, newly minted Drexel MDs Avir Mitra and Tom Schmicker decided to investigate this. The story involves house sparrows, slot machines, memories and more.

It’s the end of strawberry season in the northeast – a narrow window in the late spring that’s harvest time on local farms. With competition from mass producers in Florida and California that also have long growing seasons, small producers have to compete on other grounds. The most important being taste.

Dr. Lucy Rorke Adams entered medical school in 1953–one of five women in her class of 110. She has since had a long and illustrious career in neuropathology spanning over six decades. Today Lucy is 87 years old and just retired this week from her post of 50 years at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

The space race, even in its dullest moments, is pretty darn exciting. It’s a testing ground of ingenuity, physical strength, economic muscle, and political will…and the results are some of humanity’s highest highs and lowest lows. This week, we’ve dedicated the whole show to the topic of space and some of the challenges facing a new generation of galactic explorers.

Picture a spacecraft resembling a white baby grand piano with a huge satellite dish strapped to its hood traveling 31,000 miles an hour toward the edge of our solar system. It’s called New Horizons, and on July 14, 2015 it will fly past Pluto and its five moons, cameras blazing. Carolyn Beeler reports that researchers hope it will determine once and for all if Pluto is a planet or not.

We know space as a testing ground for technology like the New Horizons Space Mission, but we seldom think of it as a tool for social change. Turns out, NASA’s entry into the space race was partly driven by the Kennedy Administration’s push to integrate the aerospace industry. Author Richard Paul joins us to discuss this little known front in the Civil Rights battle.

Hollywood dines out regularly on space disaster films, and the 2013 hit “Gravity” was no exception. In it, a swarm of space debris threatens the lives of astronauts played by George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. As reporter Todd Bookman discovered, the problem isn’t quite as dramatic as the film makes it out to be, but there’s some truth behind the danger of “space junk.”

Space colonization is pretty much the cornerstone to any techno-futurist’s fantasy. Elon Musk’s recent pledge to put a million people on Mars by 2100 is a good example. But hold on a minute…colonizing requires reproduction, and one of the true mysteries of space is what happens when humans copulate in gravity dissimilar to that of Earth. Reporter Audrey Quinn takes us on that journey.

You can’t do a “space show” without space music, right? We’ created a playlist to get you thinking about the cosmos.

“Rocket scientist” has long been on America’s list of most esteemed jobs. Ever wonder how those folks get hired? Think you might have the right stuff? We talk to a former SpaceX talent recruiter about what it takes to become a player in the modern space race.

We humans have long wondered if we are alone in this universe, and, believe it or not, there’s an organization whose mission is to find our galactic neighbors. They’re called SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), and reporter Steven Jackson took a tour of their Silicon Valley HQ.

Today’s show is about moments. Life-changing moments, moments that offered new insights into age-old questions, and “a ha!” moments. If you’re a regular listener, you may have heard some of these stories before, but we think listening to them as a series of important moments casts them in a new, insightful light.

Scientific discoveries are often fueled by sudden insights—when the light bulb goes on in your head. Or in this case, a blue LED light bulb. In 2014, a group of researchers won a Nobel prize for developing blue LED lights, out it turns out the blue LED was much older. We return to the moment it was actually discovered.

That lightbulb going off in our heads, that’s been the recent focus of Drexel University psychology professor John Kounios. In his new book, he explores that “eureka moment” phenomenon. He joins us to discuss how and why we get sudden bursts of insight.

When Kounios talked about forcing “a ha” moments to happen in our brains, he mentioned factors like mood, sleep, and distance from a problem. But is there a way to hack our brain to make creative thinking happen…perhaps through brain stimulation? Pulse contributor Avir Mitra volunteers to have his brain hot-wired.

Sometimes asking simple questions is an effective way to achieve “a ha” moments, and this week we reflect on stories inspired by queries like: “‘Should scrubs be worn outside the hospital?’ ‘Why do we love round numbers?’ And, ‘What exactly is a doctor listening for when they place a stethoscope on your chest?'”

Also on this week’s show, we look at the moment a deadly overdose is reversed by the drug Narcan, the birth of a son that one couple will never forget, and a lovely musical moment caught in the strangest of places…a hospital lobby.

This week’s show is all about that crazy little thing called love—not to mention lust—and we’re breaking them down to their scientific elements.

Love is a shared universal experience. All around the world, people talk about it and sing about it. We write about love and watch movies about it. But, we don’t really understand why we feel love. Anthropologist Helen Fisher has been using MRI brain scans to unlock love’s secrets. She’s discovered that the reptilian core of the brain, linked with desire and craving, is activated when people fall in love. Carolyn Beeler goes to meet her.

We can’t explore Eros without touching on kissing. We wanted to find out why we kiss, and why we can’t help watching others make out. It’s something Hollywood has cashed in on over the decades—like in the iconic kissing scene from Casablanca. Pulse contributor Audrey Quinn uncovers the science behind smooching, and what it tells us about our human connections.

Without love and lust, our lives would effectively be without music. What would musicians sing about instead…the weather? Popular songs often reference our heartbeats in their lyrics, but some music takes it further, matching the speed of the rhythm to the pace of the heart. Pulse contributor Sharon Glassman explores that connection.

If you’re feeling lusty, a like-minded person could be just a click or a swipe away on a dating or hook-up app. But these easy connections have been blamed recently for a rise in sexually transmitted diseases. Dan Wohlfeiler is a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco who’s been working on STD prevention since the late 1980s. He shares how public health experts can get their safer sex message across in a world of constantly changing technology.

We also zoom in on the potential fallout from all these amorous adventures. HIV remains a major health concern. But a new protocol—Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis or “PrEP”—could help protect lovers from contracting the virus. It’s effective, but controversial. Elana Gordon meets a man on the front lines of this revolutionary development.

Philadelphia will soon be home to the country’s first sex toy vending machine. It’s called PinkBox, and the machine will sell condoms plus a range of other sexual playthings for the experimental couple or do-it-your-selfer. Todd Bookman goes to take a look.

We also make a trip to the zoo. It is, afterall, the place where many of us catch our first glimpses of the strange ritual that is mating. But not every species finds making love so easy. Giant pandas find it notoriously tough to procreate, and zoos around the globe go to extraordinary lengths to help get them in the mood. Brandie Smith, Associate Director for Animal Care Sciences at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo steps out of the giant panda enclosure, to share intimate details about how pandas do it.

And finally, we’re setting the mood for desire, by setting the table. There’s something very seductive about savoring a delicious meal with lover. And there’s something sexy about the food we indulge in. Remember the famous kitchen scene from the film 9½ Weeks, where Kim Basinger and Mickey Rouke raunchily deconstruct the contents of the refrigerator? Taunya English investigates the allure of aphrodisiacs and whether some foods have sexual superpowers.

Our first story takes us to the New Jersey shore, where the effects of Hurricane Sandy are still lingering. Public health officials say lead particles from destroyed homes that were churned up in the storm may pose a health risk. If inhaled or ingested, lead can cause developmental delays in children, miscarriages in pregnant women, and neurological problems in adults. Carolyn Beeler reports on efforts in eight counties in New Jersey that are testing residents for elevated blood lead.

Flibanserin, also known as “female Viagra” has landed smack in the middle of a women’s rights debate. Or, perhaps it’s more accurate to say that it was nudged into it. The pill is once again being reviewed by the FDA for approval right now, and we hear from Sheryl Kingsberg who treats women who have lost all sexual desire. Kingsberg is also a paid consultant for Sprout Pharmaceuticals which makes flibanserin, and maintains that this is a women’s right issue, not just a risk-benefits analysis.

Reporter Tood Bookman takes a look at a tough exam that has tested physicians for 100 years: the United States Medical Licensing Exam. It entails answering 1,100 questions spread over five days. Fail, and you cannot practice medicine in this country. Todd visited the group that comes up with those questions, the National Board of Medical Examiners, to find out how the exams have evolved over the past century.

We stick with the topic of standards and safety checks in medicine, but turn toward medical labs. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Ellen Gabler joins us to discuss her new investigative report on lab mistakes and oversight.

The Supreme Court’s decision on subsidies under the Affordable Care Act could affect millions of Americans, but as Elana Gordon reports, many are unaware that a decision is looming, and few states have prepared backup plans.

There may be an evolutionary reason that birth is a social affair for humans, and it could explain why women are surrounded with support during and after birth. Taunya English tells us about what fossils reveal about this issue, and visits with a new mom and her doula.

We also meet puppeteer Morgan FitzPatrick Andrews. He has long known that he would eventually lose his sight, but he’s never lost his creative vision. He is a theater-maker, puppeteer, punk musician and yoga instructor. He also has a rare congenital eye disease called Cone-Rod Dystrophy 5. In a new solo performance piece entitled “Cones,” Andrews challenges our ideas of vision loss. He told us about it for this week’s edition of our series “Patient Files.”

This week on The Pulse, we take a trip into the unknown. We explore things many people swear by but the science to support them isn’t quite there. Think cleanses, kombucha and brain booster drinks. Also, we’ll talk about once crazy-seeming science becoming mainstream and mainstream approaches getting questioned.

Our first story involves a deep dive into the world of alternative medicine and we’re talking really far out. Crystal healing. Steven Jackson takes us to a crystal healing shop to hear from owners and customers about the healing power of crystals and we also hear from an expert/skeptic to get a mainstream clinical opinion.

Leeches were once a go-to cure for pretty much everything, then became seen as completely crazy, and now they’ve reclaimed a place in modern medicine. Elana Gordon explores the leech’s role in medical history.

The cleanse craze isn’t going away and seems to be getting bigger and bigger. You can find hundreds of options online and all tend to avoid some or most foods for several weeks. Pulse Host Maiken Scott decides to try one out to see what all the fuss is about.

There are products out there claiming to make your brain more powerful and increase your focus, but do they really work? We talk to Bethany Brookshire, regular Pulse contributor and writer for Science News, to find out how we, as consumers, can separate fact from fiction in these types of health products.

Kombucha is a drink that claims to have magic powers. How has this ancient beverage turned into a modern fad?

Also on the show, could it be possible that mindfulness and meditation might have a negative impact on some of us? Miguel Farias, author of the new book “The Buddha Pill,” tells us about his research and the backlash he’s already receiving on the concept.

We start off this week’s show with an installment in our occasional series, “Pain in the Neck” where we talk about the annoying or strange things we experience as healthcare consumers. This edition is about something many of us can relate to: how we find out what happened during surgery. Turns out, there’s a system set up to fill us in with that update.. we just have to ask for it.

Elon Musk has been called a visionary and a mad man… and maybe he’s a little bit of both. A book out this week offers an intimate look at the complicated serial entrepreneur and author Ashlee Vance is in to tell us about it.

Are high deductibles changing how we shop for care and pushing the health system to fess up about how much things cost? Taunya English takes a look.

In our series Patient Files, your stories of illness, healing and coping, we hear from Jenny Laden who shares her story about losing her dad to HIV.

Also on the show, working to find a better way to boil water, diagnosing our digital difficulties in medicine and boxing to fight a serious, degenerative illness.

Remember the HAL 9000 from the sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey? Though it seemed like pure wild imagination that a computer could see things and recognize them (and in HAL’s case, harbor deep paranoia about what it saw), “computer vision” is a technology rapidly gaining traction. As part of our series “Bit By Bit: How data is shaping our health,” reporter Todd Bookman gets a sneak peak at a “smart” plate.

First responders arriving at the scene of a derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia Tuesday night encountered chaotic and terrifying scenes—passengers emerging battered and bloody from twisted wreckage and mangled bodies trapped under the train’s wreckage. Such horror often has a lasting impact on the mental health of first responders, fortunately the understanding of how to help them heal has grown quickly since the 9/11 terror attacks. We’re joined by a nationally known expert on the impact of traumatic experiences to discuss how to handle people when they’re in a fragile state of mind.

One of the big lessons of Superstorm Sandy was that man-made dunes can protect homes. After the storm, the state pushed to fill gaps in an existing dune system but homeowners continue to push back. Almost 400 owners of beachfront properties have not granted permission to the state, leaving a giant hole in beach fortifications in northern Ocean County, New Jersey. Reporter Carolyn Beeler visited one town where long-time hold-outs have capitulated, and another where they’re still standing their ground.

Did you see a lot of beards in your Facebook and Twitter feeds recently accompanied by a rather unpleasant suggestion that many beards have “poop” in them? Disgusting as it may be, this story makes a great case study for the life cycle of science reporting gone bad, and Bethany Brookshire of Science News joins us to explain why.

Cooking classes, community gardens, walking groups…these are typically the kind of wellness activities that mayors of towns and cities champion. They make for great photo opps, and perhaps they even make a town a little healthier. But making constituents talk about their own deaths…that’s another matter altogether. Elana Gordon brings us the story of Gloucester Township, New Jersey, where the mayor is steering the conversation to a place some aren’t comfortable with.

Also on the show, we head to the border of Pennsylvania and West Virginia in the pursuit of a strange-smelling bread that combines history and science in every bite, a Phillies talent scout discovers the color of his femur in the worst way possible, and we look back at a watershed moment for science teachers everywhere.

A group of students at Columbia University in New York are creating projects detailed in a series of 16th century French manuscripts called the “Book of Secrets.” It’s not a mason manual or a book about witchcraft, though, it’s actually a kind of recipe book for craftsmen of the Renaissance period. As they create everything from fake coral to hour-glass sand, the students are learning about history, art, science, and the “secrets” of a world we seldom reach out and try to touch. Host Maiken Scott joins them in the lab.

Undergrad engineers at the University of Pennsylvania are working on the next generation of artificial limbs—but they’re using some unorthodox “tools.” Specifically, they’re experimenting with different ways to control the insect’s legs after they’ve been amputated. Think voice commands and brain waves. It’s the type of technology shaping the next generation of human prostheses, and it’s giving students the chance to channel their inner Frankenstein. Todd Bookman reports.

What would life be like if coffee didn’t jumpstart our brains every morning? That’s what we tasked our “Lab Rat,” Zack Seward with looking into this week. He accepted the challenge with aplomb, giving up all caffeine for a work week, and reporting back on the effects. Couldn’t he just drink decaf all week? Turns out…no. We invited Reanimator Coffee’s head of roasting into our studio to tell us why and to administer a decaf taste test.

In this week’s installment of our series Patient Files, your stories of illness, healing and recovery, we hear from seven year old, Brian Sadowski about a very unusual medical experience for a kid his age—a tangle of abnormal blood vessels that ruptured in his brain, and Brian suffered a stroke while swimming one day. He tells us what the experience was like..

Also on this week’s show: Have you ever tried to find out how much a medical procedure is going to cost before actually getting it? That’s the question that guides our “PriceCheck” initiative. Reporter Elana Gordon has been tracking the progress of this listener-generated reporting project, and joins us for an update. Plus, a conversation with an FDA inspector on the work of keeping our food and medicines free of pathogens, and a story about a very special Eagle Scout whose connection to technology helped him connect to nature.

Every morning, countless masses of fitness buffs dutifully record their breakfast menu, their exercises, and other health metrics, in apps like My Fitness Pal. They’ve created detailed digital archives of what they eat, how they exercise, and even what they suffer from. But when this info is recorded digitally, the question remains: who else can see it? And who exactly has access to all that health information? For our series “Bit By Bit: How data is shaping our health,” Carolyn Beeler investigates.

The death toll from the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal last weekend continues to rise, and millions of people are without shelter. Rebuilding efforts for Kathmandu will have to get underway quickly, but what could be done to prevent similar devastation in future quakes? We are joined by geophysicist Ross Stein to discuss why earthquakes are becoming more and more deadly and what we can do about it.

If you drink tap water, you’re getting a daily dose of fluoride—that’s something public health officials consider one of their top achievements of the 20th century. But this past week, the federal government lowered its recommendations on how much fluoride should be in the water. Reporter Taunya English investigates why.

Think about a time when you had a bad interaction with a doctor. Maybe they seemed cold, distracted, not interested in what you had to say. Does that make them a jerk? Maybe, but consider that burnout is a big problem in medicine, as doctors repeatedly are confronted by the most bleak of human conditions. An experiment is underway at a Philadelphia medical school to inoculate students against this loss of empathy with the help of theater. Yep, theater. Elana Gordon explains.

There was a time in America when your cheese choices were pretty much limited to yellow and white…and they tasted about the same. But specialty stores kept the flame for variety in food alive. Among those gourmet establishments is Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where chef Julia Child was a loyal customer. These days the wonderfully stinky cheeses also attract scientists from Harvard and Tufts searching for answers. Reporter Alison Bruzek takes us below ground for some smelly research.

Also on this week’s show: a climate change educator trained by Al Gore explains how his job can be downright dangerous, the air pollution we unknowingly create in our homes when we clean them, the promise of local honey to help allergy sufferers, and the winner of our Philadelphia Science Festival Challenge is crowned.