The Limits of Public Health Law to Prevent Measles Outbreaks

Guest: Katherine Drabiak, Assistant Professor, College of Public Health, University of South Florida

2019 is shaping up to be a record for measles cases in the US since the disease was officially eradicated here 20 years ago. New York City’s mayor declared a public health emergency last week in Brooklyn where hundreds of measles cases have been reported. People who fail to get vaccinated in those neighborhoods could face a $1,000 fine. In another measles hotspot in upstate New York, public officials tried to ban unvaccinated kids from public places, but a judge put that on hold. Just how far can –or should –the government go for the sake of public health?

 

The Wild World of a Hollywood Stunt Driving

Guest: Jeremy Fry, Professional Stunt Driver

There’s a really cool car chase in the Black Panther movie where he’s riding on top of a car that’s being driven remotely by his sister Shuri back at her high-tech lab in Wakanda. So, there’s T’Challa crouched on the car’s roof flying through the streets of Seoul, South Korea and we can clearly see that the driver’s seat is empty. They come up on an intersection with cars blocking the way. Black Panther hangs off the side of the car, dragging his fingers on the ground to tip the car up on its side and swing it in a tight turn through the intersection. It’s a really cool shot. And that car really did have someone behind the wheel. His name is Jeremy Fry and he’s done stunt driving for lots of TV episodes you’ve seen plus big action films with famous car chase scenes including John Wick and Baby Driver.

 

Memorizing Sanskrit Enlarges Memory Parts of Brain

Guest: James Hartzell, Postdoctoral Researcher, Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, in Spain

For millennia, Hindu scholars have been memorizing and reciting sacred text in Sanskrit. But this isn’t just a few verses of scripture. Most of these texts are longer than the book of Genesis. The longest of them takes six hours to recite. It takes years of intensive study to become a Sanskrit pandit –as these scholars are called. And the payoff is more than spiritual. Their brains actually grow in ways that could prove helpful in preventing or treating diseases like Alzheimer’s.

 

Slang

Guest: Michael Adams, Provost Professor of English Language and Literature, Indiana University at Bloomington

I had to explain to my parents this week what “bae” means. No, not the ocean bay. B-A-E. It stands for “before anyone else.” My parents just rolled their eyes at me. If you’ve had a similar reaction when your kids call you “salty” or yell “YOLO,” this conversation’s for you.

 

Making the Most of Story Time

Guest: Tiffany Munzer, Pediatrician and Fellow Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, University of Michigan

Everything is going digital –including storybooks for kids. And they’re really cool, too, with sound effects embedded in the images on the screen you can activate with a touch of the finger. Is the interaction between a parent and child reading an electronic book as good –or better –than when they read one in print?

 

A Sleeping Mat for All Sizes and Situations

Guests: John Salmon, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, BYU; Spencer Rogers, BYU Technology Transfer Office

The thing about camping is that after the hiking and campfire and stargazing, you have to sleep on the ground with little help from that flimsy mat or air mattress that slowly leaks all night. BYU mechanical engineering professor John Salmon can relate. So he and his students have designed a better sleeping mat.