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SETI: Science and Skepticism Podcast by Seth Shostak

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AWA: Genes That Fit July 21 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
21 Monday,, July

Remember Mr. Potato Head? You changed his look by snapping in plastic mustaches, googly eyes and feet. Now imagine doing the same with a living cell: inserting the genes you want to create the organism you want. Welcome to the world of synthetic biology. It has potential to create new bio-fuels and life-saving drugs. It also ushers in a host of ethical and safety concerns. We examine both when we discuss this emerging science of mix and match genes. Plus, does doing an end run around Mother Nature challenge the essence of life itself? Guests: Jay Keasling - professor of chemical engineering and biological engineering at UC Berkeley and founder of Amyris Biotechnologies Jonathan Eisen - biologist at UC Davis Jim Thomas - researcher at ETC group in Ottawa, Canada Ed Regis - science writer and author of What Is Life: Investigating the Nature of Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology Michael Dosmann - curator of Living Collections at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

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t'.f:t'.ql. P4&=tr'w.k*.k*n.=D5^Q5=P4^B5 P4&=D1>s'.t*.ql.=B5 What does this mean? Listen to the show to find out! Guests: Terrence Deacon - Professor of anthropology and neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley Douglas Vakoch - Director of Interstellar Message Composition, SETI Institute Donald Boozer - Librarian, Coordinator of Cleveland Public Library's recent exhibit "Esperanto, Elvish, and Beyond...The World of Constructed Languages" Jim Glass - Director of the Spoken Language Systems Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Systems. Ask MIT's Jupiter about the weather!

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AWA: Sigh. It's Science June 30 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
30 Monday,, June

REPEAT Is the public interested in science? The signs aren't encouraging. The Hubble Telescope teeters on the edge of breakdown, and the public's response is lukewarm. Science coverage in the media continues to shrink like cheap cotton... and science superstars on TV or in the movies are as rare as lanthanum. As we consider why today's folk give science the big yawn, we'll talk to people whose job it is to bring lab findings to the public. Also, a new study traces to childhood our psychological aversion to science. Plus, Seth re-lives his childhood at the San Francisco Exploratorium. BONUS: sing along with Seth! Click here for the lyrics to "The Maunderer". Guests: Natalie Angier - New York Times reporter and author of The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science Charlie Petit - veteran science reporter and Head Tracker of the Knight Science Journalism Tracker Paul Bloom - Psychologist at Yale University Paul Doherty - Senior Scientist at the Exploratorium in San Francisco

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AWA: Skeptical Sunday: The Science of Indiana Jones June 23 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
23 Monday,, June

He looks great in a fedora - we'll give him that. But surviving a tumble over three 100-foot waterfalls or toughing out an atomic blast by climbing into a refrigerator? We love Indy, but his exploits seem to be over the top when it comes to elementary physics. From hovercrafts to the quartz crania of aliens; find out what scientific concepts in the latest bullwhip adventure are more than a little nutty. Plus, the real crystal skulls, and the man who discovered that two of the most famous are fakes. Also, an incentive to tackle that to-do list: the 2012 Mayan apocalypse. And, If I were Indy, our Hollywood Skeptic puts himself in the hero's boots. It's Skeptical Sunday, but don't take our word for it. Guests: Ian Freestone - Archaeologist at the University of Wales at Cardiff Matt Springer - Graduate Student at Texas A and M University and keeper of the website, www.builtonfacts.com Tom Rogers - Physics teacher at Southside High School in Greenville South Carolina, author of Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics and the founder of the web site of the same name Phil Plait - Astronomer,and keeper of the Bad Astronomy web site Jim Underdown - Executive Director, Center for Inquiry West in Los Angeles

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AWA: Get Your Boson June 16 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
16 Monday,, June

What happens when particles collide? The answer may tell us the dark secrets of the cosmos. At least, that's the hope for the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest particle accelerator. When it fires up this summer, colliding protons may produce the elusive Higgs Boson - the so-called God particle - and reveal the building blocks of the universe. We talk to the Director of CERN, home of this massive device, about what happens when they throw the big switch. Also, what if black holes happen? Find out how these weird gravity pits are created, and whether they're actually two-way streets that allow information to escape after all. Also, plans are already underway for the next particle accelerator, and playing with fire: a new fusion reactor in France. Guests: Robert Aymar - Director General of CERN in Geneva, Switzerland Barry Barish - Physicist Emeritus, California Institute of Technology and Director of the International Linear Collider Global Design Effort Norbert Holtkamp - Principle Deputy Director General of ITER and physicist at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory Simon Steel - Astronomer, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

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AWA: Building Better Brains June 9 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
09 Monday,, June

Forgot your own birthday? Misplaced your Shih Tzu? Did you put the milk in your backpack and the iPod in the fridge? Age may bring wisdom but - alas - not a boost in RAM. But there's hope - scientists are discovering that the brain is more malleable than thought. We'll hear about the science of neuroplasticity and what you can do to slow that cerebellum slide. Ever been to a brain gym? Plus, why the brains of London cabbies are bigger than those of your average commuter. Guests: Michael Merzenich - Professor Emeritus Neuroscientist, University of California, San Francisco Gordy Slack - Science journalist and author of The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything: Evolution, Intelligent Design, and a School Board in Dover, PA Sam Wang - Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Molecular Biology at Princeton University and the author of Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget how to Drive and other Puzzles of Everyday Life Lisa Schoonerman - Co-founder, VibrantBrains Jan Zivic - Co-founder, VibrantBrains

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AWA: Aging: Stop Right There! June 2 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
02 Monday,, June

REPEAT Imagine if aging were a disease like measles, one that could be cured. Some scientists think it's possible and that we'll eventually halt - or at least slow - the march of time and extend lifespans into the triple digits and beyond. 100 could become the new 40, and 1000 the new 500! But that's a lot of years of filling out tax forms and showing up for dental hygiene appointments. Do we really want to live that long? If so, we should tap into the secret of longevity from Ming, a 400-year-old clam. Also, the surprising story of how aviator Charles Lindbergh helped develop a medical device that prolonged lives - all in support of the Nazi cause. Guests: Aubrey de Grey - Biogerontologist and author of Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime Michael Rose - Ecologist and Evolutionary Biologist at the University of California - Irvine David M. Friedman - author of The Immortalists: Charles Lindbergh, Dr. Alexis Carrel and Their Daring Quest to Live Forever Al Wanamaker - Researcher at Bangor University's School of Ocean Sciences

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AWA: Robots on the Move May 26 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
26 Monday,, May

They can walk, roll, swim, and even dance to that funky music. Okay, so they're a little stiff on that one. But today's robots are not content to just sit and hum in a corner - they're movers and groovers, and not only on this planet. We'll go to the International Conference on Robotics and Automation and meet the latest in automatons - from aluminum chefs that whip up omelets to underwater machines that undulate like fish. Also, the robot challenge - building autonomous robots to scour the Red Planet. And, touchdown for the Phoenix Mars Lander. Guests: Gaurav Sukhatme - Co-director of Robotics Research Lab at the University of Southern California Basilio Noris - Researcher at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland Eric Sauser - Researcher at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland Matthew Zucker - Researcher at the Carnegie Melon Robotics Institute Brian Zenowich - Robotics Engineer at Barrett Technology Kyu-Jin Cho - Researcher at Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Paul Rybski - System Scientist in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Melon University Deborah Bass - Deputy Project Scientist, NASA's Phoenix Mars Scout Mission

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AWA: Skeptical Sunday: Is Ignorance Bliss? May 19 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
19 Monday,, May

Europe is a country. Six justices sit on the Supreme Court. The Vietnamese attacked Pearl Harbor. If ignorance is bliss, this is one happy-go-lucky country. The average American's grasp of history, current events, and geography is so poor, according to one journalist, we've become a nation of dunces, seriously undermining our own future. Find out why "F" stands for American intellect and what's behind the national trend of dumbing down. Also, the story of the brilliant Russian geneticist who paid the ultimate price during Stalin's Terror in the 1930s. Plus, Brains on Vacation assesses the doomsday threat of the Large Hadron Collider. And, hunting for ghosts in Hollywood. It's Skeptical Sunday... but don't take our word for it. Guests: Susan Jacoby - Author of The Age of American Unreason Peter Pringle - Journalist and author of The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov: The Story of Stalin's Persecution of One of the Greatest Scientists of the Twentieth Century Phil Plait - Astronomer and keeper of the website www.badastronomy.com James Underdown - Executive Director of the Center for Inquiry West in Los Angeles

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AWA: Here's an Idea! May 12 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
12 Monday,, May

Do you have some imagination? What about junk; got any of that? Thomas Edison said you need both to be an inventor. And Tom could speak with authority about switching on innovation's light bulb. Find out who today's inventors are and which devices will be changing the way we live. Also, why leave it to the pros? The Maker Faire proves that tinkering in the garage is alive, well, and guaranteed to impress the neighbors. Plus, from the Model T to Kitty Hawk: how 1908 changed the way we move. And, why the effort to build a better banana may drive the yellow fruit to extinction. Guests: Dan Koeppel - and author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World Jim Rasenberger - Author of America 1908: The Dawn of Flight, the Race to the Pole, The Invention of the Model T, and the Making of the Modern Nation Mike Haney - Executive Editor for Popular Science. The Invention Awards are in the June 2008 issue.

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AWA: Life's Stories May 5 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
05 Monday,, May

How did the first cells make the scene? Could there be critters on some newly discovered planets? And what happens if we ever encounter weird life? These may not be the sort of questions you hear being bandied about in your local coffee shop, but they were hot topics at the AbSciCon conference held recently in Santa Clara, California, and sponsored by the SETI Institute. AbSciCon stands for Astrobiology Science Conference, and Seth was there, talking to researchers about progress in puzzling out how life began on Earth, and where it might have gained a claw-hold elsewhere. Could there be certain parts of our Galaxy that are off-limits for life? Also, hear whether our universe has special properties that render it just dandy for life, and whether we should be looking for viruses on Mars. Guests: Diana Valencia - Planetary physicist at Harvard University Charley Lineweaver - Cosmologist at the Australian National University David Deamer - Research scientist at the University of California at Santa Cruz Baruch Blumberg - Scientist at the Fox Chase Cancer Institute, Nobel Prize winner, and Trustee at the SETI Institute Matthew Kenworthy - Astronomer at the University of Arizona Eric Korpela - Research scientist at the University of California, Berkeley Richard Muller - Physicist, University of California, Berkeley Kathryn Denning - Anthropologist at York University

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AWA: You Animal! April 28 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
28 Monday,, April

Maybe Dr. Doolittle was on to something; animals are smarter than we think. Birds, apes, and dolphins are all clever problem solvers with a rich vocabularly and - in some cases - self-awareness. Find out what you can learn from our furry, finned and feathered friends. Also, why you are so much an animal yourself, all the way down to the bare bones. Plus, enter the locked vaults that hold extinct and newly-discovered animal species. And why B-movie critters steal the show. A new species? This is a grey-faced sengi. Click here for another photo. Guests: Neil Shubin - Anatomist and Associate Dean at the University of Chicago, and author of Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body Galen Rathbun - Biologist, California Academy of Sciences Jack Dumbacher - Curator, Birds and Mammals, California Academy of Sciences Virginia Morell - Science writer. Her cover story Inside Animal Minds is in the March, 2008 issue of National Geographic Alex Kacelnik - Behavioral Ecologist at Oxford University Lori Marino - Behavioral Biologist at Emory University

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AWA: Sex: From Beginning to End April 21 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
21 Monday,, April

We all know how sex begins: a dimly-lit room, a come-hither smile, and a surfeit of parasol-shaded cocktails. But long before before all that, the gentle currents of the ancient sea floor set the mood. It was there, 570 million years ago, that two ropy sea creatures found each other and changed the course of evolution.Hear how sex began and where it's headed: if you think your love life is mechanical now, just wait until you're cozying up to titanium skin and the latest emotion software.Plus, everything you always wanted to know about modern sex research, but were afraid to ask.Guests: Mary Roach - Author of Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex David Levy - Artificial intelligence researcher and the author of Love and Sex with Robots Mary Droser - Professor of Earth Sciences, University of California, Riverside

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AWA: Ctrl-S April 14 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
14 Monday,, April

We all struggle with our memories. This is as true for society as a whole as it is for an individual. In some cases, the effort to preserve cultural history is also a race against time. We'll hear how a cave in Norway is helping keep our seed heritage on ice. And, can you speak Tofa? Magat Ke? As languages disappear faster than the rain forest, one group is working hard to keep native voices heard.Meanwhile, how do we back up our written and pictorial heritage, most of which is on (ultimately perishable) paper? Not to mention the torrent of info in the form of Internet bits. That's the challenge at the Library of Congress, where a new digital initiative is trying to keep our intellectual inheritance intact. And IBM may soon help out in storing it all, as they develop magnetic beads that could increase the amount of memory on a chip by hundreds of times.Guests: Cary Fowler - Executive Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust Stuart Parkin - Physicist at IBM's Almaden Research Center David Harrison - Director of Research for the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages and author of When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World's Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge William LeFurgy - Digital Initiative Project, Library of Congress

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AWA: Nerds April 7 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
07 Monday,, April

There are two kinds of people: those who are unstylish, socially inept, yet academically gifted, and those who tease them. Being a nerd is rough; it's no fun to sit alone in the cafeteria or be forced to dine on beach sandwiches. But revenge is sweet: the world depends more than ever on the witty and gifted to keep it technologically and scientifically turning. So who gets the last laugh? Just ask Bill Gates. Then again, have attitudes towards eggheads really matured? Just ask Al Gore.Hear why America has contempt for nerds, while other countries treat them as rock stars. Also, how to solve a Rubik's Cube in seconds, and a Geeksta Rap sing-along.Guests: David Anderegg - Author of Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them Jessica Fridrich - Electrical and computer engineer at Binghamton University in New York Sun Kwok - Physicist and astronomer at the University of Hong Kong Peter Hartlaub - Pop Culture Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle Christian Ternus - Sophomore at MIT Fred Hall - Space Physicist

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AWA: Skeptical Sunday: You Sure About That? March 31 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
31 Monday,, March

We all have something we feel certain about; the Sun will rise, the sky is blue and dried egg is hard to remove from shag carpet. You may feel strongly about these things - even swear by them; but that doesn't make them true, only that your neurochemistry is in high gear.We'll hear how chemicals in the brain conspire to produce certainty and why even death and taxes are not foregone conclusions. Also, Sam Harris on the biology of belief... Phil Plait on vacationing brains and our Hollywood skeptic raises an eye at sure-fire, tinseltown blockbusters.Guests: Phil Plait - Astronomer and keeper of the website www.badastronomy.com Sam Harris - Neuroscientist and author of The End of Faith Robert Burton - Neurologist and author of On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not James Underdown - Executive Director of the Center for Inquiry West in Los Angeles

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AWA: Order and Chaos Encore Presentation March 24 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
24 Monday,, March

Like your stomach subjected to repeated $1.99 buffets, the universe is ever-expanding. As it grows, it inexorably becomes more chaotic. We'll hear what drives this increase in entropy, and whether there can be meaning in a universe that will ultimately become no more than a dark soup of cold particles.Also, the surprising patterns of organization around us - find out why you behave with the mathematical logic of an atom and why you can't outwit the crowds at your favorite bar. Also, happy 300th birthday to Carl Linneaus. Without him, you and your neighbors wouldn't be in the members-only club Homo sapiens.Guests: David Quammen - award-winning science, nature, and travel writer. His article about botanist Carl Linneaus, "A Passion for Order," appears in the June 2007 issue of National Geographic magazine Lawrence Krauss - physicist and cosmologist, Case Western Reserve University Mark Buchanan - physicist and author of The Social Atom Alex Bentley - anthropologist at the University of Durham, U.K. Virginia Trimble - professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine

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AWA: Formula One: The Drake Equation March 17 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
17 Monday,, March

When it comes to contacting ET, SETI scientists do the math. They've been filling in values for the Drake Equation ever since 1961. That's when Frank Drake proposed his simple formula for estimating the number of communicating civilizations in the galaxy. It's one equation that everyone can understand.We'll talk about the current best estimates for the terms in Drake's famous formulation - from the number of Earth-size planets to the life expectancy of advanced civilizations. Also, with all this number crunching, why haven't we yet heard from ET?Guests: Frank Drake - Senior Scientist, SETI Institute Charley Lineweaver - Astrobiologist at the Australian National University Lori Marino - Behavioral Biologist at Emory University J. Richard Gott - Physicist at Princeton University Natalie Batalha - Professor of Physics and Astronomy, San Jose State University, and science team member, Kepler Mission

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AWA: Science and Art: Worlds Apart? March 10 2008

Seth Shostak Author: Seth Shostak
10 Monday,, March

Leonardo da Vinci is considered a genius for combining art and science. But how usual is this for us mere mortals? Can science and art sucessfully inform each other?We'll hear how the insights of French writer Marcel Proust anticipated modern neuroscience. Also, a debate over the evolutionary function of art. Does it have survival value? We meet a robot whose painting talents have garnered it a job in one of America's top museums. And, hear - or don't hear - why some of our relatives don't monkey around with music.Guests: Jonah Lehrer - science journalist, editor-at-large, Seed magazine and author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist David Sloan Wilson - evolutionary biologist at Binghamton University, and author of Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives Ellen Dissanayake - independent scholar and author of Art and Intimacy: How the Arts Began Leonel Moura - conceptual artist Find out more about RAP, including a picture, at the American Museum of Natural History website!Whip up some madeleines (click here for a recipe) and savor your own remembrance of things past.

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• Published: 2002
• LearnOutLoud.com Product ID: S007038

 Science  Astronomy

This Author: Seth Shostak

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