The effect the mechanical revolution has had on farming is and continues to be enormous. From tractors to irrigation, our way of life would be not be the same without them. This podcast looks at just a few of the innovations that has changed the face of agriculture in the last century.

Over the past 50 years, thousands of satellites have been sent into space on missions to collect data about the Earth. Today, the ability to forecast weather, climate, and natural hazards depends critically on these satellite-based observations. At the request of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Research Council convened a committee to examine the scientific accomplishments that have resulted from space-based observations. This podcast takes a brief look at some of those accomplishments.

How can we know for certain when someone is up to no good? Most people will say, give them a lie detector test. But, is it truly the best, most reliable means? This weeks podcast reviews the reality of the lie detector test based on the conclusions of the report The Polygraph and Lie Detection.

Since its opening in 1959, the St. Lawrence Seaway has provided a route into the Great Lakes not only for trade, but also unfortunately for aquatic invasive species (AIS) that have had severe economic and environmental impacts on the region. This podcast looks at research and efforts underway to reduce their effects and further invasion.

Soil has a bad reputation as just dirt, but in actuality it is a veritable wild kingdom where you can find more life concentrated in the three inches below the surface than anywhere in the world above the soil. In week's podcast, we explore the importance of soil.

Education is no doubt important to the future of the United States, but can everyone benefit from the same type? This week's podcast looks at need for more studies for the less traveled paths of higher education.

Every year, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in the United States to improve the public understanding of engineering (NAE, 2002). Despite these efforts, educational research shows that K–12 teachers and students generally have a poor understanding of what engineers do. This podcast looks at the new NAE report addressing the need for better public understanding of engineering.

The federal government plays the predominant role in supporting research and development (R&D) and in establishing public policies that affect science and technology (S&T) in the United States. However, the federal government is no longer the sole focus of R&D funding and S&T policy making. State and local policy makers are unquestionably making more and more decisions that affect all of us on a daily basis. This podcast looks at the recent Convocation addressing these issues.

This podcast provides an overview to the 2004 report Science, Medicine, and Animals. This report explains the role that animals play in biomedical research and the ways in which scientists, governments, and citizens have tried to balance the experimental use of animals with a concern for all living creatures.

This podcast is based on the third book in a series evaluating underexploited African plant resources that could help broaden and secure Africa's food supply.