This Week in Science

2009-06-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

The Minions Are Smarter Than Us.

On the show: Digg'n Physics via Twitter, Dino Skinny, Bird Brain Insights, Fish Freakouts!, Tunguska Shuttle Hugs, Building Better Melons, Minion Mailbag, and The Question of the Month!

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

Also, this month the TWIS Bookclub is reading Michio Kaku's Physics of the Impossible. Check it out:

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, Warp11, The Amygdaloids, and The Gifted Apes.

Listen to it all here.

Follow us on Twitter: @jacksonfly and @drkiki

If you love us, tell your friends about us. There is nothing better than the feeling of sharing TWIS.

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Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-06-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

The World Is Smarter Than You

On today's show we talked about various and sundry ways that the world is a problem-solving machine. This place is amazing!

Plants have a sense of self, and trick predators; Social competition might have been good for our brains; Bacteria are great at planning ahead; Doctors are creating video games for lazy eyes; There's a new sunspot supercomputer; Your brain is quite handy; and birds make use of toxic chemical for migration.

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, Warp11, Monty Harper, and The Gifted Apes.

Listen to it all here.

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

Follow us on Twitter: @jacksonfly and @drkiki

If you love us, tell your friends about us. There is nothing better than the feeling of sharing TWIS.

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-06-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

Blame It On Your Genes

Last week we interviewed Dr. Greg Gibson, professor and author of "It Takes a Genome", about the interplay between our modern world and our ancient genes. It seems our many modern ills are a problem arising from genetic and technological success. We outgrew our genes.

Also on the show: Bisphenol Everywhere, even in the drink; Toxo Crashes Cars; Beware of Robo-Ferret; RoboGames Redux; Adventures in Popularity; Move Over Silicon!; Go Fly A Kite for power; and Betelguese is losing weight.

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, Jake Mann, and others... it was difficult.

Listen to it all here.

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

Follow us on Twitter: @jacksonfly and @drkiki

If you love us, tell your friends about us. There is nothing better than the feeling of sharing TWIS.

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-06-09T10:52:00.000-07:00

Don't You Know The Children Are Our future?

Teach them well, and let them lead the way...

But, how to get them interested in things not related to Hannah Montana???

We spoke with kids' science fiction and science writer, Douglas Richards, about his books and how he thinks kids can be successfully introduced to a life-long love of science. We recommend his books for your middle-grader for fun, educational summer reading:

We also talked about the inner ape in us all that comes out through laughter, dirty little gamma rays, how medicine is making us bankrupt, how bats keep themselves from going batty, and finding humans underwater.

We also were soundly corrected by minions Aaron, Karen, and Ian on our interpretation of statistics related to the rate of lying among scientists. Thanks for keeping us honest, and using your critical thinking skills!

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, The Amygdaloids, and Jake Mann.

Listen to it all here.

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

Follow us on Twitter: @jacksonfly and @drkiki

If you love us, tell your friends about us. There is nothing better than the feeling of sharing TWIS.

Help Get The Word Out!
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2009-06-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

Having Fun As Usual...

That's us at This Week in Science. We enjoy science and the way it gets the wheels of creativity turning. Don't you? Science shouldn't be reserved only for people in laboratories with degrees hanging on their walls (e.g. you don't have to do science or know everything about it to enjoy it).

If it's any indication of how much fun we had, this week we went all the way from marijuana to hunting for planets and everywhere in between. There was talk of waves in your brain, and monkeys mixed with jellyfish. We also talked about the glow of plankton, the future of data storage, scientists who lie, and using teeth to tell tales of ancient rhinos and human/neanderthal violence.

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, Warp11, and Monty Harper.

Listen to it all here.

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

Follow us on Twitter: @jacksonfly and @drkiki

You can still donate to KDVS and attribute the pledge to TWIS here. Even though the TWIS cd is no longer available, there are all sorts of amazing premiums to choose from.

Help Get The Word Out!
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2009-05-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

Lies... Damned Lies... And We Need Some Sleep

This week!

We interview science writer and communications expert, Sherry Seethaler, about her new book, Lies, Damned Lies, and Science. We talked with Sherry about what it takes to be critical of information in the media, tips, tricks, and things to watch out for, and her take on the fossilized media circus recently caused by a few paleontologists.

Also in the show, we covered the story of the tiny lemur-like fossil that has caused so much hub-bub; Bird finds birds creative at tool use; life abides... even asteroid bombardment; sex is all in your head; and both of us are lacking the brain pattern for sleep.

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, The Amygdaloids, Daniel Messer , and the Gifted Apes.

Listen to it all here.

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

Follow us on Twitter: @jacksonfly and @drkiki

You can still donate to KDVS and attribute the pledge to TWIS here. Even though the TWIS cd is no longer available, there are all sorts of amazing premiums to choose from.

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-05-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

What is the world coming to?

This week doom and gloom dominated the conversation with the coming end of the world and sneakiness in the scientific publishing industry. Then we moved on to ch-ch-ch-changes in the animal world, bad little bacteria, gecko eyesight, nano-sized blinky lights, Mercury and Messenger, the minion mailbag and 2012 predictions, and good little bacteria saving you from malaria.

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, The Amygdaloids, Jake Mann, and the Gifted Apes.

Listen to it all here.

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

You can still donate to KDVS and attribute the pledge to TWIS here. Even though the TWIS cd is no longer available, there are all sorts of amazing premiums to choose from.

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-05-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

A Little Drunken Walking

This week we interviewed Dr. Leonard Mlodinow, theoretical physicist, and author of The Drunkard's Walk, about science, Hollywood, and statistics.

Get yourself a copy of the TWIS Book Club book of the month:

The TWIS Bookclub will be chatting with Dr. Mlodinow live this Friday at 1pm Pacific Time / 4pm Eastern. Mark your calendars!

Also on the show, we talked about the future of remote control, making your blood crawl, nature versus nurture in birdsong, This Week in Science... History, and there's lithium in that there water.

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, George Hrab, Daniel Messer, and the Gifted Apes.

Listen to it all here.

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

You can still donate to KDVS and attribute the pledge to TWIS here. Even though the TWIS cd is no longer available, there are all sorts of amazing premiums to choose from.

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-04-28T15:13:00.000-07:00

Is it the Flu Pandemic?

Not yet, according to the information available. But, Justin and Kirsten did a good job of discussing the story of the week and trying to make it a little less exciting. Justin did rant a bit, but that's to be expected.

What else was brought up?

Well, Obama is still good for science. Stem cells have a little more freedom, but not much. Parasites might be good for you. And, it might not have been the asteroids fault.

Oh, yes, and we chatted a bit with author and string theorist, Dr. Michio Kaku, whose book 'Physics of the Impossible' is #10 on the New York Times paperback bestseller list.

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, Little Tin Frog, and the Flying Fish Sailors.

Listen to it all here.

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

You can still donate to KDVS and attribute the pledge to TWIS here.

And, get yourself a copy of the TWIS Book Club book of the month (we're going to interview Dr. Leonard Mlodinow next week!):

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-04-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

It's Fundraiser Week at KDVS!

And, Justin and I are excited to make the 2009 TWIS science music compilation cd available to everyone who donates to KDVS at either the $25 student or $40 non-student levels.

You can donate to KDVS and attribute the pledge to TWIS here.

Why should you donate? Justin reduced it pretty ridiculously in the show:

KDVS is required to raise $60,000 this week in order to maintain station for the year.

$60,000 sounds like a lot of money… in sales, whenever I came up against a large looking number the most important thing to do would be to put that number in perspective, to reduce it to something manageable… that’s why things are advertised as being so much money per month or by day as opposed to per year or in total…

Which means that the monthly listener expenditure to keep KDVS on the air is

$5,000 a month… not bad. If we held a fund raiser each month for $5000 it would be easier to reach the goal, but would make this a very annoying station to listen to… Still, in terms of reduction $5,000 is kind of a big number even if much less intimidating than the $60,000 figure.

Let’s try the daily figure…

$60,000 divided by 365 days, carry the one and wow!

less than $165 dollars a day! That’s more than a cup of coffee, but pretty darn cheap in terms of operating expenses… I doubt you could run a successful hot dog stand on $165 a day…

So $165 a day, but a lot can happen in a day, hour by hour each piece of equipment gets constant use, from chairs to headphones and microphones, from computers, control boards and industrial strength cd players to towers tubes and radio signal transformer thingies… a 24 hour station means 24 hour use…

So $165 divided by 24, round it to the nearest… under $6.88 cents per hour!

Below minimum wage for a station that believes the minimum is never enough, for a station that strives to give you only that which you can not get anywhere else packed into each and every minute… lets go to minutes…

11 ½ cents per minutes! is that all it takes to keep kdvs on the air?

Still, 11 ½ cents is a lot of money for any one of us to come up with… that’s why we reach out to the listener community once each year and ask you to help us out.

To invest in your very own radio station…

So in pledging today, think about how often you enjoy listening to KDVS and invest accordingly…

a $25 investment keeps KDVS on the air for 217 minutes! Over 3 ½ hours of programming put on the air by… you!

A $40 investment gets you well past 5 ½ hours of your favorite shows!

Even a $10 dollar pledge buys nearly an hour and a half of KDVS for the year!

Our goal today, for this show, this week in science… $2000 will be enough to keep our home station up and running for an amazing 290 hours! So we ask you to donate, to help keep freeform radio a reality…

If you want, you can also donate directly to TWIS! Just click the orange button to the left.

There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you. Buy something!!!

In the meantime, here are the stories that we covered this week in addition to asking for money: PCB's are bad for neural development, and researchers at UC Davis are figuring out why. Sentences are procedural. Red ice led researchers to discover a new form of life. And, beer goggles don't help with age.

We also spoke with Dr. Charles Langmuir from Harvard University about planetary evolution.

Listen to it all here.

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

And, get yourself a copy of the TWIS Book Club book of the month:

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-04-16T13:06:00.000-07:00

Two, Two, Two Shows in One Post

Alright, I've been busy, but that is no excuse to leave you all without links. So, I'll start with the most recent show and work backwards through time. (Yay! Mental time travel!)

This week's top story dealt with fertility and reproduction, and the possibility that females might not be stuck with a set number of eggs for their entire lives. Justin followed up with a tale of cloudy corneas made clear with stem cells. Then we moved on to life and its wily ways. Dating and meat became a conversation topic. The Hobbitses came back for a spell. Do baby sheep dream of androids? Viruses were tied to mass extinctions and evolution. And, we railed against the educational system with a little bit of data.

Listen to it all here.

The second week of April Dr. Kiki was off to Boulder, CO, and talked a bit about the Conference on World Affairs. Then World Robot Domination led the news. Justin talked about something in a completely different vein. Then it was all birds and beers. We moved on to teeth and pregnancy, new hearts, and Justin's got some nerve. Then viruses prove their usefulness. Titan is weirder than we thought. Jupiter's spot is shrinking. And, oops, Antarctica's glaciers are shrinking faster than previously thought.

Listen to it all here.

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

And, get yourself a copy of the TWIS Book Club book of the month:

To donate directly to TWIS just click the orange button to the left.

There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you. Buy something!!!

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-04-01T13:22:00.000-07:00

When is Negative A Good Thing?

Sometimes in science a negative result can be a positive. Negatives are quite helpful in focusing the experimental method on the right question. Justin makes a nice commentary in this week's disclaimer.

Hells bells, Kiki was into stem cells again. We talked about a cool study finding video games are good for vision. Then we revisited black holes by comparing a couple of stories on the same story in the news. Justin went on and on about squishy balls. Scientists do enjoy playing asteroids in real life. Tuberculosis has an achilles NAD. Due to the Texas State Board of Education Kiki went into evolution rants. We found out how daddy long-legs affect British birds. Paleontologists report a carnivorous dinosaur that breathed like a bird. And, we dug into the Minion Mailbag.

Music on this week's show is thanks to Unbalanced Wheel, Chuck Lee Bramlet, My Poor Kevin, and Obka.

Listen to it all here.

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

And, get yourself a copy of the TWIS Book Club book of the month:

2009-03-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

Brains and Things and Goings On

On this week's show: Is cold fusion making a come back? Are you only as smart as your genes? Errors are just a failing of attention. Scientists witness the birth of a black hole. Reasons Kiki shouldn't drink alcohol. Water can be explosive. Our brains are on the verge of chaos. Information overload might affect evolution. Mt. Redoubt goes boom... over and over and over again.

Music on this week's show is thanks to Unbalanced Wheel, Chuck Lee Bramlet, Trebetheric, and My Poor Kevin.

Listen to it all here.

Consider answering the question of the month in the TWIS forums!

And, get yourself a copy of the TWIS Book Club book of the month:

2009-03-17T15:48:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patty's Day!

With a little luck of the Irish we actually made it all the way through the show. Today we talked about potential purposes of prions. Justin brought up snakes in Greenland. Then the insects made a splash. Justin gave a pop-quiz, and made America feel dumb. Fermi Lab is catching up to the Higgs. Then we talked controversies like geocentrism and global warming. Check out Carl Zimmer's comments. Female robots are taking over the catwalk. Is dark matter keeping us together? Oh, and then there are the sand worms.

Here is the Question of the Month:

From Steve: Giant insects, such as Meganeura (a dragonfly with a more than 2 foot wing span) appeared around 300 million years ago. Allegedly insects could grow to these sizes due to the higher oxygen content of the atmosphere at that time (I've heard it was around 30%, instead of today's 21%). How did this increase in oxygen content happen, could it happen again – and (here's the scary bit) could anything bring about a decrease in oxygen content? Here I'm thinking crazy stuff like cutting down all the rainforests, polluting the oceans and other stuff no sane person would ever dream of doing to their own planet.

Answer it in our forums!

Music on this week's show is thanks to The National Pool, Film Extras, The Exhibits, and Phil Thompson.

Listen to it all here.

Next week, we will interview Dr. Charles Langmuir about his interesting ideas of planetary evolution.

If you'd like to donate directly to TWIS just click the orange button to the left.

There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you. Buy something!!!

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-03-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

Yay For Math Holidays!

This week marks International Pi Day. How are you celebrating?

We started out this week with a discussion of whether or not it's a good idea to turn a chicken into a dinosaur. Then it was all about ancient equestrian domestication and marriage terminology. We blamed the moon for global warming. Justin made a comment about religious brains that is certain to bring us hate-mail. Scientists build scaffolds for neural stem cells. We talked about new discoveries in outer space. Old ladies who nap should maybe go see the doctor, but stay optimistic about it all. The minions weighed in on spicy food. And, Justin will never be humble.

Music on this week's show is thanks to Unbalanced Wheel, The National Pool, Harvester, and Jake Mann.

Listen to it all here.

Next week, we will return with more science news...

If you'd like to donate directly to TWIS just click the orange button to the left.

There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you. Buy something!!!

Help Get The Word Out!
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2009-03-10T14:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Square Root Day!

This week's show landed on a very rare day... one that only occurs nine times each century. That's right 03/03/09 was square root day. We celebrated by offering a t-shirt to the first caller who could tell when to expect the next such special day. Yay for t-shirts and square roots!

The stories of the week began with a bunch of super big stem cell news. Reserchers imaged Alp-like mountains beneath Antarctic ice. Dirty nukes aren't really very dirty, and old nukes is good nukes? We covered the week in dead people: footprints, tools, and hair. NASA's looking at Mars again. Scientists think HIV is tricksy. People drink too much water, and the Chinese crashed into the moon. Minion Judy thinks we should all check out the California science education standards.

Listen to it all here.

Next week, we will return with more science news...

If you'd like to donate directly to TWIS just click the orange button to the left.

There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you. Buy something!!!

Help Get The Word Out!
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2009-02-25T13:13:00.000-08:00

Let's All Get Old Gracefully Kicking And Screaming

Science is getting closer and closer to solving those many pesky problems involved with aging. You know, like gray hair and sickness. For some reason all that health news dropped this week.

We talked about the 10 year debate that has been the MMR vaccine, and the recent related legal victory for the scientific method. Then we got into a recent flu vaccine discovery, and some talk of naked mole rats and gray hair. This Week in The End of The World made a good showing this week with lots of people making efforts to save humanity. Finally, we ended on a super-collider sized competition to find God and a giant gamma ray burst in space.

Music on this week's show is thanks to Johnny Brickhouse, The National Pool, Flying Fish Sailors, and The Four Eyes.

Listen to it all here.

Next week, we will return with more science news...

TWIS UPDATES!!!

1) Submission for the 2009 TWIS Science Music Compilation deadline is March 1st! Email kirsten at this week in science dot com with links or files or questions.

2) Submit your answer to the Question of the Month at the TWIS forums!

3) TWIS Book Club is reading 'Your Inner Fish' by Neil Shubin this month. Get your copy here:

If you'd like to donate directly to TWIS just click the orange button to the left.

There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you. Buy something!!!

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-02-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

All Mixed Up

On this week's program we talk about why the oceans are all mixed up, but the Neanderthals weren't. There's also a question of mixing up the genome to search for new life. Researchers want to teach the children well. Natural selection becomes unintuitive. We tell a space-age love story. Nanotechnology gets under your skin. It's the end of the world as we know it... and it's worse than we thought. I give Justin a health tip. And, we worry for a moment about hemorrhagic viruses on US soil.

Also, we announced the February Question of the Month...

From Trebetheric: "What is it about spices that people have evolved to like them? Is it just a fluke of their unique molecular structures (like some drugs)? Could the fact that they have been used to keep foods fresher allowed enough time for humans to evolve a taste for spice? Is there any advantage to them? This is something I think about every time I eat spicy foods."

Answer this question in the forums.

Music on this week's show is thanks to Anton Barbeau, Mike Garfield, My Robot Friend, and Jake Mann.

Listen to it all here.

Next week, we will return with more science news...

TWIS UPDATES!!!

1) TWIS Book Club is reading 'Your Inner Fish' by Neil Shubin this month. Get your copy here:

2) Don't forget to submit your answer to the Question of the Month at the TWIS forums!

3) I am accepting submission for the 2009 TWIS Science Music Compilation. Deadline is March 1st! Email kirsten at this week in science dot com with links or files or questions.

If you'd like to donate directly to TWIS just click the orange button to the left.

There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you. Buy something!!!

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-02-10T15:33:00.000-08:00

It's your birthday! You're gonna party!

If you're Darwin, you're gonna party!!

Well, since he's deceased, he can't really party. But, we can all party in his honor. Hats off to Darwin this Thursday, February 12th, for Darwin's 200th birthday!

Today we interviewed Dr. Sean B. Carroll, evolutionary biologist and author of 'Remarkable Creatures', about evolutionary theory and the many adventures of the biologists who have been driven to discover evermore about the world during the past 200 years.

Buy his book here:

Here's what we think you should know: The LHC has a timeline! Justin gives a Valentine's Day warning. We ponder what to feed the fish (You heard it here first!). Researchers find a giant python. Justin worries about testicular malignancies and marijuana. Florida should be worried. Floridian scientists are helping along World Robot Domination. Dogs give back to wolves. And, send your child to summer science camp (if you live in California).

Music on this week's show is thanks to Chuck Lee Bramlet, Chris Taylor, My Poor Kevin,and Anton Barbeau.

Listen to it all here.

Next week, we will return with more science news...

TWIS UPDATES!!!

1) I am accepting submission for the 2009 TWIS Science Music Compilation. Deadline is March 1st! Email kirsten at this week in science dot com with links or files or questions.

If you'd like to donate directly to TWIS just click the orange button to the left.

There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you. Buy something!!!

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-02-03T17:17:00.000-08:00

Minion Mailbag MADNESS!!!

Today we dipped into the minion mailbag to discuss the question of the month. We had some great answers from minions Steve, Thomas, and Andrew.

If you have scientific question that you think would be best answered by the minion community, ask it in our forums. It just might become our next question of the month!

O, btw, if you are interested in volcanic eruption threats around the ring of fire, check out this USGS site.

We also had some great fun discussing more about Daylight Saving Time, specifically related to Australia. Judging from the number of DST emails that have come from Aussies, I've come to the conclusion that Australians are obsessed with DST. Am I wrong?

The science this week was off the hook! We started with a story about a one-sided magnet in a mirror. Mice and humans are equally risky. Researchers are trying to make algae work harder. The US is full of wind... power. What do mine shafts have to teach us about the stratosphere? And, frogs are hopping in Columbia.

Music on this week's show is thanks to My Robot Friend, Jake Mann, William Grant Preston, and the Film Extras.

Listen to it all here.

Next week, we will return with more science news and your answers to the question of the month!

TWIS UPDATES!!!

1) I am accepting submission for the 2009 TWIS Science Music Compilation. Deadline is March 1st! Email kirsten at this week in science dot com with links or files or questions.

2) Our friend, Brian, over at the Skeptoid podcast is having a party for his 150th episode. If you like a good, skeptical party, you can find out more here.

3) Interact with Dr. Michael Stebbins over at the TWIS Bookclub. He's responding to forum comments regarding his book, Sex, Drugs, and DNA, for the rest of this week, and will be online for a chat this Friday afternoon (Time TBD).

If you'd like to donate directly to TWIS just click the orange button to the left.

There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you. Buy something!!!

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-01-27T17:59:00.000-08:00

Justin Had a Dream...

And, it was a doozy. All ideas on what part of his psyche was acting out are requested.

We talked with Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen today about his research into autism, and a new cartoon he's developed, The Transporters. The cartoon aims to help autistic children learn to recognize emotions, one of the skills that develops more slowly in children with this developmental disorder.

We also talked alot of science. I started with the end of the world: dead oceans and warming Antarctica. Justin followed with a story of recess. We agreed that we all need a bit more play time. Then black holes at the LHC made a scene. And, non-lethal weapons for police are certainly killing a lot of people. Evolution is everywhere you look, even in the lizards and Icelanders. Bacteria is good for trees on Superfund sites. Brown clouds come from the kitchen. There was some other stuff in there, but this is really all that matters.

Music on this week's show is thanks to My Robot Friend, Garrett Pierce, Unbalanced Wheel, and Drew Vics.

Listen to it all here.

Next week, we will return with more science news and your answers to the question of the month!

TWIS UPDATES!!!

1) I've got nothing this week.

Donate to KDVS here.

If you'd rather donate directly to TWIS just click the orange button to the left. There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you.

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-01-20T14:06:00.000-08:00

Such a Presidential Day

Today we inaugurate a new President of the United States. Let's hope that the speeches and fancy dinners and dancing elite make way to a term of peace and prosperity based on rational and critical thought.

On today's episode of TWIS we talked about the threat of life on Mars and the possibility that we live in a hologram. Also, we covered a potential life-saver, the tiny Hydra. Females seem to stand up to deprivation a bit better than the boys. There's a new way to remove lead from blood. And, fish are inextricably linked to the oceans.

Music on this week's show is thanks to The Used Rugs, Chris Taylor, Jake Mann, and Johnny Brickhouse.

Listen to it all here.

Next week, we once again attempt to interview autism expert, Simon Baron-Cohen.

TWIS UPDATES!!!

1) We are taking submissions for the 2009 TWIS science music compilation album! Send us your science-y and TWIS-themed songs (mp3, wav, or aiff formats), or your album art, and we'll see if they make the cut. Deadline is March 1st.

2) The January TWIS book club (twisbookclub.ning.com) book-of-the-month is Sex, Drugs, and DNA by Michael Stebbins.

Buy it here: Sex, Drugs and DNA: Science's Taboos Confronted

3) Got any ideas how we should celebrate our 10th anniversary this year? Our 200th podcast episode is also coming up. Share your ideas with us. We'd like to celebrate with you because you are an important part of what we do.

Donate to KDVS here.

If you'd rather donate directly to TWIS just click the orange button to the left. There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you.

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-01-13T15:51:00.000-08:00

The Short End of the Stick

This week's show is short! It's all my fault, and I'm sorry that we weren't able to bring you the entire hour that you have come to expect.

However, we did our best to get as much science into today's show as possible.

We started with some really cool chemistry research into the viability of the "RNA world hypothesis". Then it was all about defrosting prime beef and cloning. La Nina rears her pretty (?) head. Fruit flies prove it's hard to go back to where you came from. Mosquitoes sing some pretty love songs, and it might help to defeat them. Memristors become more and more viable. Scientists have fun, too. Tetris is good for more than time-wasting. And, we give props to the President.

Music on this week's show is thanks to My Robot Friend, and Chris Taylor.

Listen to it all here.

Next week, we interview autism expert, Simon Baron-Cohen. And, yes, he is Borat's cousin.

TWIS UPDATES!!!

1) We are taking submissions for the 2009 TWIS science music compilation album! Send us your science-y and TWIS-themed songs (mp3, wav, or aiff formats), or your album art, and we'll see if they make the cut. Deadline is March 1st.

2) The January TWIS book club (twisbookclub.ning.com) book-of-the-month is Sex, Drugs, and DNA by Michael Stebbins.

Buy it here: Sex, Drugs and DNA: Science's Taboos Confronted

3) Got any ideas how we should celebrate our 10th anniversary this year? Our 200th podcast episode is also coming up. Share your ideas with us. We'd like to celebrate with you because you are an important part of what we do.

4) We are inaugurating the TWIS minion question of the month. Each month we will highlight one minion question, and then throw it out there to the rest of you minions to answer.

This month's question is from J. Michael Pinc:

"My question for my fellow listeners is this; are there any natural geological mechanisms that actually release that carbon over geological time? I mean, generally speaking, oil/coal/natural gas are comparatively stable over time and most natural phenomena won't cause combustion. Over geological time, is the carbon usually sequestered in those fuels ever released back into the system or would it have been 'out of the game' if we hadn't found it so useful? And in what time frame (if any) would it take to deplete the free carbon in our biological ecosystem if there were no human (un)mediated release?"

So, get to it minions! Email us, or post your answer in the forums. We'll read the best answers on the show at the end of the month.

Donate to KDVS here.

If you'd rather donate directly to TWIS just click the orange button to the left. There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you.

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig

2009-01-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

Horrors!!! (and, science)

This week we talked with sci-fi horror author, Scott Sigler, about his newest thriller, Contagious. You can find information about it at scottsigler.com.

The stories we covered involved a Martian anniversary, little tiny cells in our eyes, new-fangled airport security measures, an alcoholic meta-study, and don't place your cancer-curing hopes on vitamins, consider grape seed instead (but not really).

Minion Marvin sent in this link regarding the 747-based anti-ballistic missile laser.

Music on this week's show is thanks to My Robot Friend, Flying Fish Sailors, and Test Pilots.

Listen to it all here.

TWIS UPDATES!!!

1) The January TWIS book club (twisbookclub.ning.com) book-of-the-month is Sex, Drugs, and DNA by Michael Stebbins.

Buy it here: Sex, Drugs and DNA: Science's Taboos Confronted

2) Got any ideas how we should celebrate our 10th anniversary this year? Our 200th podcast episode is also coming up. Share your ideas with us. We'd like to celebrate with you because you are an important part of what we do.

3) We are inaugurating the TWIS minion question of the month. Each month we will highlight one minion question, and then throw it out there to the rest of you minions to answer.

This month's question is from J. Michael Pinc:

"My question for my fellow listeners is this; are there any natural geological mechanisms that actually release that carbon over geological time? I mean, generally speaking, oil/coal/natural gas are comparatively stable over time and most natural phenomena won't cause combustion. Over geological time, is the carbon usually sequestered in those fuels ever released back into the system or would it have been 'out of the game' if we hadn't found it so useful? And in what time frame (if any) would it take to deplete the free carbon in our biological ecosystem if there were no human (un)mediated release?"

2008-12-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

Miss Twissella Predicts 2009

That's right, world renowned fortune teller, Miss Twissella, has made her scientific predictions for 2009, and chosen This Week in Science for her venue of unveiling.

Well, actually, there's no fortune teller. It's just Kirsten and Justin at it again, trying to predict where science will take us in the next year. It is only slightly more interesting than Miss Twissella would have been.

Listen in to hear about our ideas for stem cell research, genetic engineering, Moon and Mars exploration, and much, much more.

We also discussed a few science stories: Evidence of a mineral possibly indicative of life found in small deposits on Mars; Birds singing more songs and trickier lyrics are sexier to the girls; and, Orangutans trade favors more readily than other apes.

Also, we are inaugurating the TWIS minion question of the month. Each month we will highlight one minion question, and then throw it out there to the rest of you minions to answer.

This month's question is from J. Michael Pinc:

"My question for my fellow listeners is this; are there any natural geological mechanisms that actually release that carbon over geological time? I mean, generally speaking, oil/coal/natural gas are comparatively stable over time and most natural phenomena won't cause combustion. Over geological time, is the carbon usually sequestered in those fuels ever released back into the system or would it have been 'out of the game' if we hadn't found it so useful? And in what time frame (if any) would it take to deplete the free carbon in our biological ecosystem if there were no human (un)mediated release?"

So, get to it minions! Email us, or post your answer in the forums. We'll read the best answers on the show at the end of the month.

Music on this week's show is thanks to My Robot Friend, My Poor Kevin, Unbalanced Wheel, and The Exhibits.

Next week, we'll talk with our favorite sci-fi horror author, Scott Sigler.

Listen to it all here.

TWIS UPDATES!!!

1) The December TWIS book club meeting is coming quickly! Have you started reading yet? The TWIS book club (twisbookclub.ning.com) Book-of-the-month is Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku.

Buy it here: Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos

2) Got any ideas how we should celebrate our 10th anniversary this year? Our 200th podcast episode is also coming up. Share your ideas with us. We'd like to celebrate with you because you are an important part of what we do.

Donate to KDVS here.

If you'd rather donate directly to TWIS just click the orange button to the left. There's rather cool TWIS schwag over there too. Just look. Go ahead. We dare you.

Help Get The Word Out!
Listen to the Broadcast - Link to TWIS - Write an iTunes Review - Get a TWIS Sig