This Week in Science

2010-01-26T11:23:00.000-08:00

How-To Do Just About Anything...

In the show this week: More Neurons For Your Brain, Uranus is a Girl's Best Friend, How To Melt a Moon, Mental Time Travel Moves, How To Run Faster, The Dolphin Bat, Levitating Magnets and Dust-Bunnies, Minion Mailbag, and Much More!

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How to Make Neurons Behave...
... Raise them to act appropriately...
While scientists are currently able to turn stem cells into nerve cells, getting them to integrate into the brain is another story. However, a new study has moved science a step toward using stem cells to fight degenerative brain disease: nerve cells differentiated from embryonic stem cells and implanted into newborn mouse brains made appropriate neural connections.

Diamond Oceans?
Research into the melting point of diamonds shows that it behaves like water, with its solid form floating upon its liquid form. Liquid oceans of diamond may explain the unique magnetic poles of Uranus and Neptune.

How to Melt a Moon
Bombard it with space debris, according to scientists puzzling over why two similarly sized moons of Jupiter, Ganymede and Callisto, appear to have formed by melting and freezing, respectively. They concluded that though of similar size and location Ganymede was hit by 80 times more mass in the form of asteroids and comets, which caused it to melt.

Experiment:
Think back to what you were doing five years ago... now think about what you'll be doing five years from now. Did you lean backwards and then forwards? A study shows that people tend to lean back when thinking about the past, and forward while think about the future, leading to interesting questions about how we process time.

Book Club - The Canon by Natalie Angier. Discuss this book at twisbookclub.ning.com:

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How to Run Faster
Scientists researching the biological limits of running speeds previously assumed that we were at or near the physiological limit to our top speed. However, studies involving hopping have shown that we have not actually reached our full force-on-limb potential. They think our muscles can produce MORE force, raising our potential speed to greater than 40 mph.

Dolphins are More Batty than Previously Thought
Scientists looking at the specialized inner ear hair cells that enable echolocation in both dolphins and bats have found that the same mutations in the same gene are responsible for the trait in both species. This finding suggests that there might be only one way the mutations COULD occur to cause echolocation.

Better Fusion Through Levitation
Taking inspiration from our own planet, MIT scientists have created a magnetic plasma containment system by levitating a half-ton magnet inside an electromagnetic field. Currently, they are studying plasma dynamics, but the hope is that it will lead to the fusion reactor of the future.

Acoustic Levitation
Scientists have developed a new way to dust by shooting a standing wave of acoustic energy at dust particles. This overcomes the van der waals adhesive forces that bind the particles to a surface, levitating the dust, which can then blow away. This was developed to deal with the overwhelming presence of fine dust on the Moon and Mars, the only catch is you need an atmosphere to create sound waves. This technique might also be used to unstick geckos from walls, a common problem.

Minion Mailbag: Justin's Science Career advice!
Ignore the idea that what you study for initially will be your life's work. Justin predicts good science-y career potential in Microbiology and Computer Programming.

Some links from minion Ed Brydon related to HERVs: A research paper... Virology discussion about the research paper... NYTimes article that gets the science mostly right, one of the few press articles that does, and furthers the discussion.

Music this week was by Unbalanced Wheel, TMBG, Warp11, and The Gifted Apes. Buy it HERE.

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2010-01-19T10:56:00.000-08:00

Shake and Rattle Your Science

In the show this week: Haitian Earthquake Aftermath, Combo For Remedy, Rainbow of Planets, Eye Test For Brains, Smart Oil, Big Thinking Bacteria, Killer Whale Speciation?, And Much More!

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Haitian Earthquake Aftermath
Geologists warned the Haitian government that they were at extreme earthquake risk and should reinforce buildings such as hospitals but to no avail.

Certain groups are suggesting homeopathy kits be sent to the front line, which may hinder delivery of other treatments and supplies. This is serious because the biggest impediments to aid now are the logistics of delivery.

Tetanus vaccination rates in Haiti are only about 50% This is normally not much of an issue but in a situation where people have wounds, it becomes a problem and vaccination can prevent it from becoming an issue.

Consider donating/ offering support:

Doctors Without Borders Red Cross Oxfam

New Remedy
Taking BOTH calcium and vitamin D supplements will reduce risk of bone fractures regardless of age, sex or medical history.

Rainbow of Planets
In a far away solar system with a sun (HR8799) 1.5 times the mass of ours, scientists are using the wavelengths of light emitted from various chemicals to determine the composition of the planets, seeing if they are similar to our own. Specifically they are looking at the middle planet, which has a mass ten times that of Jupiter and a temperature of 800 degrees C.

An Eye Test for your Brain
Scientists have developed a new laser technique that will enable retinal/ brain cell death to be measured in real time, assuming that the condition of the retina is directly related to the condition of the visual area of the brain to which it is connected.

Book Club - The Canon by Natalie Angier. Discuss this book at twisbookclub.ning.com:

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Smart Oil
A droplet of oil consisting of hexyldecanoic acid put into a labyrinth was able to find the shortest possible path to the exit, apparently propelled forward by a difference in pH. This demonstrates a sort of primitive intelligence, and is promising for possible use in medicine delivery in the body.

Big Thinking
Bacteria Studies with the bacteria Asosperiliaspirlum brasilisense focused on the way an individual receptor can sense its environment and can be extrapolated to predict bacterial ability to perform complex decision making.

Killer Whales - Two species in one?
Scientist think there is a possibility that killer whales are splitting into two separate species: a larger mammal-eater and a smaller fish-sucker. The different diets possibly allow niche specialization and resultant body-shape differences in a similar manner to the widely adaptive Galapagos finch populations.

Other Stories:
Alligators breath like birds: what are the paleontological implications? ... Chimps and Humans: the Y chromosome is evolving faster than expected... Rosetta just did its gravity slingshot to rendezvous with a comet.

Music this week was by Unbalanced Wheel, TMBG, Warp11, and The Gifted Apes. Buy it HERE.

Check Out A Book By Justin Jackson:

2010-01-12T11:18:00.001-08:00

As the Universe Turns...

Yay! Ali is back!

In the show this week: A New Physics Theory Vindicates Justin, Do More Yoga, Being Sheeple, ADHD Discord, Barefoot Jogging, Green Slugs and Viral Me, Water Don't Burn, See Thru Fish, Save the Fish Save the Coral, and Much, Much More...

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A New Physics Theory?
Eric Verlinde may have given us a new way of looking at the universe and gravity: Maybe gravity is, in fact, an effect of information rather than a force itself! According to his theory, space and gravity are emergent through a holographic scenario. He published his calculations on archive.org, which means that they aren't yet peer reviewed. But, that doesn't mean it's not good food for thought.

New Years Resolution: Do More Yoga...
A study recently showed that regular yoga practice may actually live up to some of the claims of yogis. Yoga has been shown to lower levels of cytokine interleukin 6, an inflammatory protein, which might in turn decrease inflammation. This may provide a multitude of health benefits as we know inflammation plays a role in many diseases.

Vinegar Diet for Better Health...
Acetic Acid might be good for your health. Several studies suggest that it might help insulin control in diabetics and promote satiety.

What is Osteopenia?
NPR discovered that the company that produces a drug for osteopenia also designed the machine that scans for bone loss. The broad definition of osteopenia and the relationship between the drug company and the diagnosis equipment makes the necessity of the drug for this "disease" suspect.

Book Club - The Canon by Natalie Angier. Discuss this book at twisbookclub.ning.com:

The Neuroscience of ADHD...
Researchers are investigating what is going on inside the brains of kids with ADHD. They first showed them the letter V on a screen followed by a picture or an A followed by a sound. If you have a stimulus the frontal regions would tell the visual areas to pay attention and same with auditory. Kids with ADHD did not have the same brain processing in preparing for a stimulus. This is the first concrete electrical difference shown for kids with ADHD.

What Shoes to Wear Running: None...
A study shows that wearing running shoes is worse for your joints than running barefoot.

Slug or Plant?
The green sea slug, Elysia chlorotica, is the first plant animal combo. The slug feeds on algae, and in doing so also sucks up the algal photosynthesizing machinery, called chloroplasts. Then the slug stores the chloroplasts so that they still function. This allows the slug to go without feeding if it needs to because it can now get its energy from the sun.

8% of human genetic material comes from a virus...
... specifically, Bornaviruses, RNA viruses whose replication and transcription takes place in the nucleus. Some suspect this extra DNA may actually be a cause of some pyschiatric disorders. Bornaviruses infect only neurons and reside in the brain, but somehow became a part of our DNA.

Gardening Tip:
Lots of people know not to water their lawn at the midday because the sun can hit the water droplets and focus the light to burn the plant. When this common knowledge was put to the test, scientists found that hairier plants are more likely to burn. The hair holds water droplets off the leaf surface allowing them to act like a lens.

See Through Goldfish
In Japan you can now purchase see through goldfish where you can see the internal organs. See through frogs are already available.

Let's Save Fish
Marine Reserves are highly important for allowing coral reefs to recover. The whole ecosystem is essential for the health of the coral. The parrot fish eats seaweed, basically weeding the coral reef and giving it space to thrive. More evidence that you must look at an ecosystem perspective in dealing with conservation.

Be an Astronomer!
Amateur astronomers can collect data and observe epsilon aurigae.

Shout-outs to...

all the TWIS minions, but especially those of you who send us stories, have donated money, and who simply write us to keep us in line. You keep us going. You are the TWIS lifeblood. Thanks for everything.

Music this week was by Unbalanced Wheel, TMBG, Warp11, and The Gifted Apes. Buy it HERE.

Check Out A Book By Justin Jackson:

2009-12-29T13:16:00.000-08:00

Science is the Reason for the Season

In the show this week: the 2009 Best 11 Ideas in Science Countdown. We break it down so you don't have to.

A big thank you to Craig Messerman of Missoula, Montana for writing up our show notes!

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Top Ten Science Stories of 2009

Eleven: Climydia---New data every year. Copenhagen: Is carbon trading as good as real change? Antarctica is warming. Plankton affects ocean mixing and carbon storage. Boron isotopes stored in plankton show ocean pH and therefore CO2 levels back 2.1 My. CO2 has been quite stable until recently.

Ten: Computing power---Programmable quantum computer made with Beryllium. (At Yale? Wikipedia says Aluminum…) Instead of bits, quantum computers use Qubits, or quantum bits, with the quantum state of an atom working as a transistor.

Nine: Batteries---Viruses used to make (thin) rechargeable Li-ion batteries. Microbe batteries (Geobacter microbial fuel cells, via MIT). Carbon paper batteries and capacitors.

Eight: Origin of Life on Earth---Origin of RNA from primitive reactions. RNA may have been the first life code. Did comets seed Earth with life? Panspermia: interplanetary molecules of life spreading through the galaxy.

Seven: Environmental health---BPA still in news, leaching from plastics and affecting heart, reproduction genes. Behavior alteration in children from exposure to BPA. We used to play with radioactive isotopes in science kits, and swam in radioactive waters. Will we think of BPA the same way in the future?

Six: Clever creatures---Animal behavior research: Octopuses using tools (coconut shell); premeditated rock hurling from zoo chimps; Do crows deliberately drop walnuts in front of cars? We have always underestimated animal intelligence.

Five: Genetics and Stem Cells---First draft of Neanderthal genome, maize, cattle, casaba melons, pig, cucumber, horse, panda, common cold virus, potato famine pathogen, cancer. Price drop in sequencing genomes. Foreign gene in marmosets passed on to next generation; first transgenic primate. Curing color-blindness in monkeys. Stem cells turned into sperm and eggs, and live mice. Are custom sperm and egg cells around the corner? Treatment of macular degeneration.

Four: Epigenetics---the first epigenome sequenced. Identical twins have similar epigenome (tissue methylation signatures). (The epigenome turns our genes on and off in specific cells and responds to our environment, via Univ. of Utah). Mice pass learned behaviors on through changes in their epigenome. Is there a Lamarckian middle ground going here? (Justin would love that!)

Three: Exploring the Universe---International Year of Astronomy---So much learned this year such as: antimatter detected in lightning, many more exoplanets discovered, dark matter detected in a mine, perhaps, speed of our galaxy, heliospheric bubble with no tail (IBEX satellite, Justin right on this one, with a neutral atom ribbon, yes Kirsten), new images of Mercury, adjustments to the “standard candle.” LHC turned on without breaking,and set record of 1.18 TeV.

Two: Paleontology and Human Origins--- Ardipithicus ramadus finally published. Upright -walking 4.4 Myo primate ancestor. Characteristics of hominids and earlier primates. Ancestor of Australopithecus? Ida turns out to be a lemur’s uncle, not a monkey’s uncle. Oldest feathered dinosaur (150 My) discovered; venomous birds; whale ancestor that gave birth on land? Smallest carnivorous dino. Downsizing of dinosaur family tree by consolidating specimens.

One: Water!---Water on the moon! Shoot the moon! NASA is doing a lot with less money. Water further confirmed on Mars too. Earth’s water from comets? Fresh water is a limited commodity on Earth and will be a huge issue to all people in the future. Will we need to go get it from the Moon? Will global warming increase precipitation?

Shout-outs to...

Music this week was by Unbalanced Wheel, Trebetheric, My Poor Kevin, and The Gifted Apes.

Check Out A Book By Justin Jackson:

2009-12-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

Science is the Reason for the Season

IF someone would like to write some show notes for us, I will be more than happy to use them in place of the measly ones you see below.

In the show this week: Dark Matter Detected in a Dark Mine? Is Santa bad for our health? Or, is it the media? Getting Santa Drunk. It's TWISmas, not Halloween, but ghosts of mountains past are being explored! Cellphones remind us why we need science in this TWISmas time. And, much more...

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It's TWISmas time! And, if you remember from last week, we have a special giveaway thanks to Evolvems. We're giving away a special Evolvem plush toy this week to Justina and Angela for these great TWISmas tales...

Dashing through Kigoma
Dashing through Kigoma
Chasing after chimps
Trying to find a fecal sample
So I can gather it.

Collecting all my data
Each minute that tick tocks
Man it can be grueling
But science really rocks!

Oh grad student, grad student
Making science waves
Working on some new research
For this TWISmas day.

Grad student, grad student
Future science nerd
Making sure the messages
Of evolutionary biology are heard. YAY!

Darwin of TWISmas Past
I didn‘t want a lot for TWISmas,
There was just one thing I dreamed about,
I didn‘t care about the fossils
Or anything that science found –
I just wanted the red-bellied Claus
To slide my chimney at night
And turn me into a flying unicorn!
So I could join his deers in flight.

To my defense it can be said
That it was many years ago,
And nothing much was yet in my head.
But I had the desire to grow
Into a shiny flying unicorn!
And so I went to school to learn how
Only in the new light to be born
Into a scientist-to-be somehow.

And then the glorious star of education
Started shining like energy-save bulb.
I started following it with no vacation
For my hungry brain. I joined the club –
I followed Newton, Mendell and Einstein;
But still my dream lived on –
While all the knowledge was fine,
I wanted to be a unicorn!
But everyone would say
(Less and less patiently to a varying degree)
That there was no way!
But I needed the argument explained to me!
I was told that it was how people were created,
And nothing would ever change.
I thought that there were things to be debated,
But the bell rang TWISmas break.

And so I went home on the night before TWISmas,
Snuggled up in bed, and was fast asleep,
When I heard a whooshing sound, and sitting up
I saw the Grandfather Darwin from the deep
Of Christmas past. He explained
How species come to be and evolution works.
And I listened, my breath bated,
Waiting to find out if I could be a unicorn!
But Grandfather Darwin went on to tell
How every individual is born with slight variations,
And they survive more or less well.
Those that reproduce pass on their adaptations,
Which takes years and years and years.
And that is how species change and form.
The evidence is all around out there!
To survive you have to be strong
And to adapt to the conditions.
That is how useful traits remain:
Some have the predisposition
To become another‘s prey...

And so a new picture appeared
In my mind: species fell in their places
On the huge Earth family tree.

Grandpa Darwin vanished without traces.
I cuddled up and fell asleep,
Happy that it was all in my head.

Shout-outs to...
Patrick Ford, Tony Steele, Ed Martin, Doug Perry, Rob Maskrey, Rob McCabe, James Hulsey, Travis Hale, Stu Sotozaki-Leech, Brian Chance, Mark Sherman, Ed Dyer, Jeff Peterson, Louis Bookbinder, Logan Waterman, Shannan Mortimer, Dylan Combelick and Dale Fisher for sending in a story about movies of photons, Sherman Dorn, and Leif Andersen

All the best and many more this TWISmas season!!!

Music this week was by Unbalanced Wheel, Jonathan Coulton, TMBG, and The Gifted Apes.

Check Out A Book By Justin Jackson:

2009-12-15T12:46:00.000-08:00

TWiSmas Extendo-Rama!!!

And, Ali, our trusted intern, is on winter break. So, I apologize, but the show notes will be weak as a result. IF someone would like to write some show notes for us, I will be more than happy to use them in place of the measly ones you see below.

In the show this week you get more than you bargain for... and extra hour more!: Stem Cells Beat Sickle Cell, Breathing Space Gas, Eight-legged Coconut?, TWIS and Global Warming, One - Two - Six?, Stem Cell Grudge Match, Bacteria To Burn, Evolvem Giveaway, and Much, Much More...

Listen to it all Here!
Donate now:

Get your own Evolvems NOW:
10% discount until Dec. 25th by ordering at www.evolvems.com/twis. Tell your friends!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thank you to Daniel for the following notes summarizing our climate change segment:

Evidence for Global Climate Change:
1. Greenhouse effect is a natural effect that warms the planet. CO2 is a small percentage of atmosphere but has large effect due to longevity (50 year half-life).
Data Shows CO2 is increasing/ strongly correlated to fossil fuel use, emissions and deforestation
2. Carbon Isotopes data different forms of carbon/ links carbon dioxide over the past 150 years human carbon use
plant form has a different isotope
3. Carbon Dioxide level now higher than past 500-650 thousand years
past not due to humans but at slower rate
present rate is concerning
4. Several years in past decade highest on record last 15 years higher
media claims cooling trend: not true trend is still upward, media misnomer
Recent warming not due to solar activity because has been low
5. sea level has risen from 1.5 to 3 mm per year over past 100 years
6. 1 degree increase in temp over the past 100 years
7. public data is available unless under contractual obligation

Arguments:
1 planet is so big
rebuttal: livable planet very small portion, atmosphere is 50 miles breathable oxygen level ends about 16 miles up
2 volcanoes add a lot
rebuttal: myth volcanic activity is .02-.05 gigatons/year humans produce 8
particulate matter from volcano actually cools the area around them because it blocks the sun
3 There's more snowfall (more precipitation)
rebuttal: Climate change involves the melting of existing snow at ice caps, which does end up back in the atmosphere and therefore returns to the earth as snow/rain
4 Aren't the oceans going to increase their ability to retain carbon as water levels increase?
rebuttal: Saturation of water is dependent on the temperature;
Carbon doesn't precipitate out as ocean reaches capacity carbon is going to leak out
Sources:
Justin: peakoildesign.com
Kirsten: realclimate.org, globalresearch.ca

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It's TWISmas time! And, if you remember from last week, we have a special giveaway thanks to Evolvems. We're giving away a special Evolvem plush toy this week to Jason Quade for this amazing TWiSmas story... seriously, sit back and enjoy. Get your cookies and milk for this one...

A Visit From Kirk Cameron
'Twas the night before Twis-mas, when all through the lab,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a rat;
Post it notes hung by the monitor with care,
With hopes that my efforts would soon come to bear.

I drove home my car, while clearing my head,
My children were nestled all snug into bed,
Robo-wife in charging dock, I had a night cap,
And settled into bed for a long winter's nap-

When out in the garden there arose such a clamour,
The Mrs. warm-booted and asked, 'What's the matter?'
Ran to the window and I could have sworn,
There was a tiny sleigh pulled by unicorns.

Cell phone in my hand as I dialed Nine - One - One
I knew in a moment it must be Kirk Cameron.
Creationist tunes seemed to play from a band,
But they came from Ray Comfort, a banana in hand.

More rapid than the progress of science they came,
They whistled, and shouted, and call'd unicorns by name:
"Now! Young-Earth, now! Old-Earth, now! Ussher, and Malign,
"On! Blinders, on! Pseudo, on! On Intelligent-Design;

A shovel my wife produced, I asked, "Why?"
She said that weak arguments would soon pile high.
"Scientific proof they claim to come by,
When they meet with an obstacle, they point to the sky";

So up to the house-top Kirk Cameron he flew,
Propelled by hot air from the conclusions he drew.
As I put down my phone, and was turning around,
Down the chimney Mike Seaver came in with a bound:

A bundle of books was flung on his back,
And he look'd like a peddler just selling some crap:
His eyes - how they twinkled! His dimples how merry,
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;

A wink of his eye soon gave me to know
This mid-night visitor would not readily go.
He tip-toed across, like a man who is mad,
And proffered a book which he laid in my hand.

His Hollywood mouth gave me the Heeby-Jeebies,
The book that he gave was 'On the Origin of Species'
"Don't worry he said", with a sideways look,
"There's nothing to fear in my little book.

We've prefaced the thing with lies near to treason
Sometimes you have to circumvent reason.
We took out the worst parts that put holes in our theory.
A chapter ..... or four. They were rather dreary."

My hackles were up, but Violence wasn't the solution
The poor Man-Boy needed an education in evolution.
And I said:
"Tis true Darwin's book is of public domain,
To mar it with fairy tales, for that I say SHAME.

Individuals are variable, Variations are inheritable
Some offspring within a species are naturally perishable.
Survival and reproduction is for the apt and the strong,
And the history of the earth is very very long."

When I finished he pulled his fingers promptly from his ears,
First I thought he didn't listen, and then I saw the tears.
And it was at that moment that he had a choice,
He could embrace the science, do good with his voice.

Would his brain stay three-sizes-too-small that Twis-mas Eve
Or would he get excited, understand and believe?
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And ran out the window; it shattered, What a jerk!,
And laying his middle finger aside of his nose
He flipped me the bird, Ray Comfort was a-doze.

He sprung to his sleigh, children still in their beds,
His pony unicorns lost the cones from their heads.
But I heard him exclaim, ere they drove out of sight-
"Just because it's not true doesn't mean it's not right!"

We also want to thank Angela Heinz for sending in a TWiSmas submission... if you are looking to try and get yourself or a friend a little plush Evolvem for TWiSmas, we'll be giving away one more toy next week! Send us your TWISmas stories, songs, poems... anything fun, festive, and filled with evolution and the spirit of TWiSmas.

Shout-outs to...
Ed Dyer for all the stories he sent in... Ed is an intern (my story intern) even though he doesn't know it.
David (in North Wales), Minion Dale (Niles, MI), Steve Turrisi (Weston, Florida), Bobby (somewhere), TWIS minion Patrick (wants to let the TWiS minions know that they can edit Conservapedia), Rick Mellott, Michael Johnson, Susanne McGaugh (Durham, NC - suggests we take a look at horrible-science.co.uk for some kidlet TWiSmas gifts... might be more Halloweenish, but it's always fun to mix holidays), James Marshall (Swinburne University - has been working on a game portal for autistic kids called whizkidsgames.com).

Music this week was by Unbalanced Wheel, TMBG, and The Gifted Apes.

Check Out A Book By Justin Jackson:

2009-12-08T13:54:00.000-08:00

It's Almost TWiSmas...

And, Ali, our trusted intern, is studying for finals (Good luck, Ali! We hope you get some sleep this week.). So, I apologize, but the show notes will be weak as a result. IF someone would like to write some show notes for us, I will be more than happy to use them in place of the measly ones you see below.

In the show this week: Hopen and Copen, Pain in my... blood vessel?, Don't blame the cows, Twinkle Twinkle, Metal Clouds, A Contest and Presents!, Baggin' on the Boys, Implant Apps, Minion Mailbag, and Much More...

Listen to it all Here!
Donate now:

Get your own Evolvems NOW:
10% discount until Dec. 25th by ordering at www.evolvems.com/twis. Tell your friends!

Listener mail bag...
Ritchie from Manchester tells of his surreptitious CO2 experiment involving artificial cerebro-spinal fluid.
Dan relives his Mentos-soda shower.
Andrew gives us a graph to consider.

Shout-outs to...
Ed Dyer for all the stories he sent in... Antarctic refuges, metamorphosis master switch, and carbon and trees.
Chris Lauf sent in a story about the speech - music connection.
David Eckard made me sad with a story about butterflies in space.
Tony Steele - our TWIS 2009 album art artist - sent in a story about scientists accidentally discovering a perfect blue pigment.
Artyom had a story about the evolution / religion debate in Alexandria, Egypt.

Music this week was by Unbalanced Wheel, Little Tin Frog, and The Gifted Apes.

Check Out A Book By Justin Jackson:

2009-12-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

It's World Aids Day

Do we have a cure yet? No, and the numbers of cases keep increasing. Awareness is a crucial part of the battle.

In the show this week: Complexity Abounds, Oxygen Deprived Mole Rats, TWi The End of The World!, Lagging Brain Time, That Hearing Feeling, Once Again... Man Woman Differences, TWIS In Space, Minion Mailbag, and Much More...

Listen to it all Here!
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The Complexity of Life
Simple cells are more complex than previously thought: three extensive quantitative studies of the bacteria mycoplasma pneumoniae were published in the journal Science. By taking a look at one of the simplest bacterial cells, researchers are figuring out what things are absolutely required for life to work: the shared features, the bare essentials of life.

Blind! Naked!
Researchers have found that adult naked mole rat brains can sustain extreme oxygen deprivation. The mole rats live 6ft underground in colonies of up to 300 members where breathing can be a luxury. This low oxygen, high carbon dioxide environment would do irreversible brain damage in any other mammal. However, naked mole rats seem to have persistent neural characteristics that are associated with most other mammals only while in the womb.

The Oceans Cant Take it Any Longer...
...or can they? What is the carbon dioxide carrying capacity of our oceans? A Yale geophysicist has found that the time frame of the interannual variation in CO2 and temperature changes, which was five months 20 years ago, has now increased to fifteen months. He suggests that this is because the oceans are absorbing less carbon dioxide, strengthening the predictions that the pace of future climate change will quicken.

Between What We See and When We See It...
...there is a delay. Between eyeball capture and conscious recognition of the image there is time lost. If it was too long, our activities would have to be slower. However as it stands, this delay was measured to be around half a second, or 300-400 milliseconds.

Do You Hear What I Feel?
Researchers have found that feeling puffs of air against your skin can influence how you hear. Certain "Pa" sounds (the "plosive" sounds) are associated with puffs of air, and during the study whether puffs of air were present or not influenced whether people heard accurately. Mismatched puffs of air influenced people to hear the wrong sound. This worked even with air puffs on people's ANKLES.

Men and Women are Different
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study brain activation, researchers found that men and women respond differently to positive and negative stimuli. The differences indicate that women pay more attention to the emotional aspects of stimuli, while men process them in regards to the action that should follow. It also suggests that women may analyze positive stimuli in a broader social context.

TWIS in space
NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) is taking picture of the sun at right angles. In Feb of 2009 it captured a sunspot eruption, helping scientists understand that solar tsunamis are real, and consist of a giant wave of hot plasma and magnetism. This can help us gather information about the sun's lower atmosphere and help forecast space weather.

Saturn's Moon Titan
There are lakes on the moon's north pole, but not the south. Due to Saturn's eccentric orbital pattern, titan has tens of thousands of years of climate cycles, which may be similar to the climate effects of cycles on earth.

Intel Inside... Your Brain?
A computer chip company wants to implant sensing devices into the brain to give people the ability to use their computers using thoughts alone.

Listener mail bag
More skepticism about the car accident victim who was in a coma and is now supposedly communicating with the outside world.

Music this week was by Unbalanced Wheel, TMBG, Little Tin Frog, and The Gifted Apes.

Check Out A Book By Justin Jackson:

2009-11-24T10:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Anniversary, Origin!!!

Today is the anniversary of Charles Darwin's publication of "On the Origin of Species." It's rare that such a work of science or literature gets as much attention as this book has since its announcement. Just goes to show, you can't keep a good book down.

In the show this week: So much crazy science it was hard to file down the list of stories, but somehow we managed.

Listen to it all Here!
Donate now:

Your Brain is Like a Radio...
... that tunes you into the past and the present. How does your brain tell whats a memory and what is happening right now? Researchers have discovered the brain's mechanism for keeping your past and present straight by looking at frequency waves that are carried by the neurons. Gamma waves seem to be the information carrier, using lower frequencies for the past and higher frequencies for the present. Cells synchronize so they can tune in to what is going on and keep reality straight.

What is Scarier than Rampaging Robots? Rampaging Robot Vampires!
Will robots need lawyers? Robots are currently used for a multitude of purposes, which can only be expected to increase as we head into the future. This brings up the question of who we will sue if a robot hurts someone? What if robots are susceptible to being hacked, and are maliciously turned into spies or vandals? The robot industry is expected to exceed 5 billion dollars by 2015, and this problem is expected to grow.

Mutations are a Part of Life
Our cells have repair mechanisms to constantly monitor and fix mistakes, but how do they find that one little mutation among the many? A new theory involves the recognition of the specific electrical signature of DNA that the repair mechanisms tune into, suggesting that this is may be less of a random search than was previously thought. Experimental evidence shows that cancer causing mutations change the electrical signature of DNA in an identifiable way.

Finding the Origin of RNA and DNA
Researchers have reconstructed one of the earliest steps in the formation of RNA using warm water. Ancient molecules called cyclic nucleotides can fuse together in water to create polymers. This counteracts the idea that extreme temperature or acidic conditions are necessary for development of these molecules.

Biophotonic Communication
Evidence in this growing new field of research suggests that biological cells can communicate with each other through the exchange of photons: cells emit light that can somehow be picked up by other cells and cause them to synchronize. They showed that human cells could synchronize when they were separated in every way, except the ability to exchange photons. The suggested mechanism for this involves running the electron transport chain and the photosystem backwards to bump an electron up the chain to emit a photon of light.

Life as a Carrot
A Belgian man thought to be in a coma for the last twenty years is now able to communicate with some sort of system using his foot to type. He has been in a comatose state since a 1983 car accident, it was not until 2006 that doctors began to discover his mental capacities were still there.

Kiki Rants
Hackers broke into a university email server and published many years of correspondence between scientists about climate change research. The hackers claimed that this proved that climate science is a bunch of hogwash, however, these emails actually just show the scientific process at work. The scientific literature suggests that humans are responsible for the runaway greenhouse effect with 90% certainty.

The End of the World
Its not going to matter if we conserve or not: one scientist argues that the rising carbon dioxide conditions won't stabilize unless the global economy collapses or we meet energy demands by building one new nuclear power plant per day. He claims that energy conservation does not really save energy but instead spurs economic growth which in turn uses more energy. He also caluclates that we need to increase non-carbon releasing power sources at a rate of 2.1% per yer.

Also...
... Scientists looking at a massive star in the process of forming suggested that magnetism may be important for star formation. There are bacteria in your cigarettes. Researchers using human embryonic stem cells have created a complete epidermal skin layer. Lockheed-Martin is looking into sending humans to an asteroid. And, the LHC is back up and running.

TWIS Book Club is currently reading 1491 by Charles C. Mann-- scientific history of the Americas:

Check Out A Book By Justin Jackson:

2009-11-17T10:48:00.001-08:00

Did We Forget the Leonids???

Listen to it all Here!

Um, in a word, yes. We forgot to mention the current Leonid meteor shower. But, it's not over... you can stay up into the dark hours of the night tonight for more intense meteoric action. Check out the Fluxtimator to discover the best viewing times in your area.

Does Making Memories Involve Erasing Memories?
Usually experiences become memories by first passing through the hippocampus, but then they get moved out to other areas of the brain for long-term storage by a process called consolidation. After a certain period of time, the memory is no longer expressed in the hippocampus. No one knows how this happens. Researchers at the University of Toyama in Japan found that by stopping neurogenesis in the hippocampus memories of a fearful experience were maintained within the hippocampus long after they should have been removed. They also found that voluntary exercise increased the birthrate of neurons and stimulated the turnover and formation of new memories. SO EXERCISE!

Oh Rats!
Abandoned landmines have a general life expectancy of over 50 years. They are dangerous, difficult to disable, and the equipment required is expensive and big. Bart Weejens from Belguim formed an organization called Apopo, which trains rats to seek out land mines in places such as Mozambique, Angloa and the Congo. The rats don't get hurt in the process, they just go out and detect the location of the landmines. An area that take a full day using traditional methods only takes fifteen minutes for the rat.

Hackers Hacking Pacemakers
No one has reported being hacked yet, but manufacturers have started enabling pacemakers with wifi technology so that they can be monitored wirelessly, which poses a potential hacker target. Researchers are developing a system with ultrasound sensing capabilities to verify and sync with any incoming signals to get around the hacker threat.

Grow your Own Breast Implants
New implants developed in Australia: a method of growing a breasts with patients own tissue. They implant a chamber with fat tissue into the breast, and within eight months fat tissue grows and fills the chamber. The procedure could be used to regrow other organs in the future.

A Tale of Two Drugs
Why is it that some drugs work well together, and others don't? Researchers at Harvard Medical school looked at the interactions between the antibiotics Cipro and Tetracycline. Cipro blocks DNA replication forcing the bacteria into a stressed out state, which includes the over-production of ribosomes. Tetracycline blocks protein synthesis and inhibits the ribosome, and therefore, counteracts the effects of Cipro. It was believed that two drugs together are better than one, but obviously this is not always the case.

iCough: Digital Diagnosing
High tech programs that will diagnose by the sound of a cough, for an instant diagnosis. This could cut down on trips to doctors. One quarter of a second of a cough contains distinct sounds the could help doctors diagnose a problem cough over the phone.

Genie in a Needle Builds Muscle
Researchers injected a protein producing transgene into the thigh muscle of primates. This new gene therapy process stimulated muscle growth and increased strength for three months after the treatment. It is being developed as therapy for people with muscle disorders, but there is definite potential for misuse as an athletic enhancement.

Making a Better Electric Car?
If you Could Push a Button and Turn your Current vehicle into an Electric Vehicle, Would You? Engineers have turned a 2002 Scion XB into an electric car. Their project involves analyzing the needs of actual people, and creating cars suited to their particular needs. their goal is to create a system that will use the skeletal system of existing cars in order to make them electric.

Golden Gloves, Golden Ears, or Golden Pipes?
The "golden ear" is closer than it ever was before. Scientists have created mice with a "golden ear." They bred a strain of mice with hearing that gets worse gradually over time with a strain where it stays good, but then gets bad really fast. In a seemingly unexpected turn, the offspring of these two genetic lineages can hear really well into old age. Now we have a new kind of mouse that opens up a new clear window into the aging brain.

Right-handed Chimpanzees and Language.
A recent study suggests there maybe some evolutionary roots between hand gestures and language. The majority of chimps in the study showed right handed gestures in communicating, mostly with humans (they resort to hand gesturing to try to communicate). Humans generally favor the right hand as well. These hand gestures were interpreted as universal gestures, the same as humans might use. The fact that most language functions and the right-handed gestures are controlled by the left hemisphere may point to the behavioral origins of language.

Minion Mailbag
Gary Ritter -- "Cat Lady" has 126 cats, used to be normal and somehow got caught up in the cat life. Was is the Toxoplasma gondii?

Logan Waterman -- proposed a new award show to award "2012" the award for the worst science in a science based movie for the use of the phrase"mutating neutrinos".

TWIS Book Club is currently reading 1491 by Charles C. Mann-- scientific history of the Americas:

Check Out A Book By Justin Jackson:

2009-11-10T10:26:00.001-08:00

A Week of BIG News

Listen to it all Here!

Fermi finds antimatter...
The Fermi Space Telescope focused on Earth and spotted traces of antimatter in several lightning flashes emanating from two storms. Gamma rays and x-rays have been spotted previously, but never antimatter. This opens up a whole new question for scientists about the electromagnetic workings of lightning.

It's a novel nova!
First noticed in 2002, but classified as a Type 1a supernova, a white dwarf exploded with the light of billions of suns. Published in Science, research now reclassifies this dwarf as a .1a supernova, a type of supernova only theorized to exist a couple of years ago.

Genetics build a family tree for extinct island fox...
Using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from museum specimens, scientists pieced together the family tree of the Faulkland Island Fox, which went extinct over 140 years ago. Previously thought to have been introduced to the Faulkland Islands by humans, the evidence now suggests that it managed to get there itself over 70,000 years ago. And, that its island exile may have saved it from an extinction event during the late-Pleistocene.

Altruistic ants protect nestmates...
While ants can be quite vicious, when it comes to helping their nestmates they would risk their own lives. This study found that nestmates went out of their way to rescue a trapped ant, and that simple responses to chemical signatures can't explain all of their actions.

Virus surprises in the icy Antarctic...
In an icy lake in the Antarctic exists a thriving ecosystem, which ebbs and flows with the seasons. Surprisingly, the dynamics are tied to a varied population of DNA viruses, some never before known to scientists.

Uracil in the lab...
In the lab, NASA scientists stuck pyrimidine (a polycylic aromatic hydrocarbon, which has been detected all over the universe) in ice and exposed it to the harsh conditions of outer space. They found that it doesn't break down as easily when in ice as in open space. In fact, it combines with other compound and forms uracil (a nucleic acid found in RNA, and also considered a building block for life), which suggests a pathway of how uracil could have been created in outer space.

PreNatal Phonetics...
French babies cry differently than German babies. Scientists compared 30 French and 30 German newborns. They found that the French babies cry with a rising melody contour, while the German babies with a falling melody contour. This matches speech patterns in the respective languages suggesting that they learned the inflections while in the womb. It's interesting to note that the sense of hearing is the first sense developed.

Synthetic HIV solutions...
Synthetic molecules were created to target HIV and prostate cancer. In rats, synthetic antibody recruiting molecules, ARMH and ARMP, were used to bind antibodies (segments of protein present in the blood stream). The molecules act as a big flag indicating the cells with HIV or prostate cancer. Whereas the immune system normally ignores the infected or cancerous cells, the synthetic molecules instigate an immune attack.

Extreme Exposure to Food Advertisments...
Researchers at UC Davis analyzed food advertisements watched by children.
Out of 5724 commercials 1562 were food-related... overall, about 5 per hour. Junk food counted for more than 70% of the food-related ads. Children's networks had the highest percent, consisting mostly of ads for sugary cereals, sweets, and high fat foods. Saturday mornings had the most food-related ads with one every 8 minutes.

TWIS Book Club is currently reading 1491 by Charles C. Mann-- scientific history of the Americas:

Check Out A Book By Justin Jackson:

2009-11-03T11:30:00.000-08:00

Don't Toss Those Pumpkins!

Justin tells you why in this episode of TWIS. We also discussed a major advance in reproductive science; how tadpoles know danger; why your genes might be behind your bad driving record; a call to engineers to build a better teapot; how an ancient stellar blast is telling us about our universe; why there are going to be fewer dinosaurs; how the fish are reacting to oceanic changes; and more...

Two books for you this month:

A Book By Justin Jackson:
The TWIS Bookclub is reading:

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Let us know what you think and follow us on Twitter: @jacksonfly and @drkiki

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Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, They Might Be Giants, and The Gifted Apes.

Listen to it all here.

2009-10-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

They Want To Drink Your Blood!

Today's guest, Dr. Bill Schutt, is an expert in the area of sanguivores. (If you don't know what that means, just take a listen to the show.) As a hint, just take a look at your calendar... it soon will be Halloween, a holiday filled with all the things we find creepy. He gave us all sorts of insight into the truth and myths of these special creatures. You can learn more by reading his book, Dark Banquet...

If you like reading science-y books in general, head on over to the TWIS Bookclub to share books with others. We're getting ready to start a new book for the month of November!

We themed up for Halloween with many stories about brains (thank you Society for Neuroscience for your timely conference!) and other creepy things. Scientists are reporting multiple ways to renew sight in the blind. Robots are getting whiskers for the sense of touch. UC Davis researchers have discovered another chemical that makes us smell yummy to mosquitoes. We have neurons for harmony... musically that is. Nerve regeneration looks to be on its way. The bees might be making a comeback from CCD. The best dinosaur ever was a transformer. And, butterflies hear multiple frequencies with the ears in their wings. They might be listening to you right now.

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, They Might Be Giants, Melodysheep, and The Gifted Apes.

Listen to it all here.

Hey! Justin wrote a book. It's called 'Ome'.

Check it out:

Let us know what you think and follow us on Twitter: @jacksonfly and @drkiki

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There is also no better feeling than donating! We thank you for your support.

2009-10-20T13:02:00.000-07:00

Blowing Up the Science

On the show today, we talked with cognitive scientist, Dr. Mark Changizi, author of The Vision Revolution: How the Latest Research Overturns Everything We Thought We Knew About Human Vision.

Mark talked with us about his ideas on why we have belly buttons, why we can see the way we do, and about finding scientific ideas that work.

If you like reading science-y books, head on over to the TWIS Bookclub to share books with others.

Also on the show, we discussed how we live in a bubble tied up with an energetic ribbon, and how that understanding has turned astrophysics on its head. We also covered all the new planets noticed in the neighborhood, the start of an epigenetic library, why Justin is all for more rain, and bacteria live 40,000 lives in 21 years, and more...

It's Open Access Week! Learn more about open access here.

Congrats to http://www.starrycritters.com/ for recently being named to NASA's top stars...

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, They Might Be Giants, and The Gifted Apes.

Listen to it all here.

Hey! Justin wrote a book. It's called 'Ome'.

Check it out:

2009-10-13T12:58:00.000-07:00

Making All Sorts Of Links

We want to win a prize! Nominate TWIS for the annual Podcast Awards, and help us win an award! It's not a Nobel Prize, but hey, it's something.

On the show today, how you should juggle for brain health, why some people are naturally smarter than others, an unexpected spider, why dyslexia is different in China, news to make the fish happy, a tasty receptor first, blaming retroviruses for disease, this week in the end of the world, how scientists are making batteries ever smaller, a cancer DNA breakthrough, calculating ever bigger calculations, why the tick-tock of the biological clock has changed, and much, much more.

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, They Might Be Giants, and The Gifted Apes.

Listen to it all here.

Hey! Justin wrote a book. It's called 'Ome'.

Check it out:

2009-10-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

As Fickle As The Moon

This week was award week. Be sure to congratulate the winners of the Nobel and Ignobel Prizes. Their work forms the basis for our understanding of the universe, and some pretty darned good technological products to boot.

Nominate TWIS for the annual Podcast Awards, and help us win an award! It's not a Nobel Prize, but hey, it's something.

On the show today, we also discussed DARPA's mind-control projects, making people move in slow-motion, racing cars with sustainability built-in, the BOSS imaging project, new advancements in quantum stability, new glow-in-the-dark mushrooms, how posture can affect your perceptions, a new old human-ish fossil, and much more!

Don't forget to check out the LCROSS moon crashing!

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, They Might Be Giants, and The Gifted Apes.

Listen to it all here.

Hey! Justin wrote a book. It's called 'Ome'.

Check it out:

Let us know what you think and 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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2009-09-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

Happy To Drink Your Coffee

The one thing I kept looking forward to while away in Europe was a great big mug of coffee. The little espressos just don't fit the bill for some reason. Aside from that, the European vacation was filled with lots of old buildings and memorials to dead people. I found science in a French magazine, La Science et La Vie (Science and Life).

Today on the show we had a great time bouncing between subjects. We started with water on the moon and Mars. Then, moved on to the strange diet of Justin's Great tits, the ratchet of evolution, finding super-heavy elements, detecting dark matter and WIMPS, the link between creative and crazy, how to farm in the desert, and vaginal self-esteem.

We enjoyed a musical interlude thanks to Carl Sagan. And, would like to invite you all to enter the Year of Science Zine-a-thon Contest. That's right! Make a Zine for science and win a prize. Step right up...

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, They Might Be Giants, Jake Mann, and the Gifted Apes.

Listen to it all here.

This month the TWIS Bookclub is reading Ray Kurzweil's "The Singularity is Near". Check it out:

Follow us on Twitter to catch sporadic moments of brilliance in text: @jacksonfly and @drkiki

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2009-09-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

Live in Happiness...

Today's show seemed to center on the interconnectedness of everything. From evolution to brains to cities, it all seems to be linked.

We discussed new evidence of human evolution, mutations abounding in each of us, cities as brains and vice versa, neurons with feet, old brains don't have to shrink, lactase persistence, why some mice don't get fat, and magnetic monopoles in theory.

We also took a peek into the minion mailbag. Thanks to everyone for writing in.

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, William Grant Preston, and Prophets of the Machine.

Listen to it all here.

This month the TWIS Bookclub is reading Ray Kurzweil's "The Singularity is Near". Check it out:

What books are you reading this summer? Let us know and 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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2009-09-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

Music And Genius

This week's show brought us some new science-y songs by none other than They Might Be Giants, who have released an album called Here Comes Science, which is filled to the brim with fantastic, toe-tapping, hummable, sing-a-long-able songs... all about science! They have made me very happy.

We also had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, the Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. He was full of enthusiasm for science and our space-faring nation, but I'm not saying any more. You will have to hear it for yourself.

Stories covered on the show included: a new fertility method outsmarts mitochondrial disease in monkeys, people get too close for comfort for a reason, how sunspots drive two earthly reactions, fishy feelings embody more than just their bodies and could help robots dominate, and little mice are driven by natural selection.

Music on the show was by Unbalanced Wheel, They Might Be Giants, and The Gifted Apes.

Listen to it all here.

Next month the TWIS Bookclub is reading Ray Kurzweil's "The Singularity is Near". Check it out:

2009-08-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Are You Scientific Enough To Be President?

Dr. Richard Muller from UC Berkeley wants to make sure that you know your physics whether or not you want to be President... but, especially if you want to be President. We live in an increasingly technological world, and physics knowledge can help each and every one of us navigate it more effectively.

On to the show! The Venter Institute is messing with bacteria again. Tiny worms are dropping green bombs. Justin rants about health care misperceptions. Time move on because we observe it.

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

Listen to it all here.

Next month the TWIS Bookclub is reading Ray Kurzweil's "The Singularity is Near". Check it out:

2009-08-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

Philosopher Kings, Unite!

Today we had an interview for Justin... Dr. David Albert of Columbia University and a philosopher of science joined us for a discussion of uncertainty and the differences between philosophy and science. You would be surprised at the blurring going on in physics. I accidentally call Bohr Bose. Whoops.

Also, we covered stories on curing mice of multiple sclerosis, tracking cocaine, planets found going retrograde, decimation of the bees, and the world's smallest laser.

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

Listen to it all here.

Next week: Stay tuned for an interview with physicist Richard Muller, teacher and author of Physics for Future Presidents.

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

What books are you reading this summer? Let us know and follow us on Twitter: @jacksonfly and @drkiki

Tell your friends about us. There is no feeling better than sharing TWIS.

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2009-08-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

It's All Gone To The Birds

At least that's how it feels when there are so many stories about birds in the news... and, you know, I am ok with the birds taking over. It might be better than the robots.

This week we covered stories about the genetic diversity inside our brains, how difficult it is to wield biological control, a step forward in quantum computing, misery doesn't pay, weird hyperactive baby galaxies, how we came from the trees, all the smart birds and squirrels, animal diversity in the Himalayas, and how to give your cigarettes to science.

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

Listen to it all here.

Next week: Stay tuned for an interview with theoretical physicist David Albert.

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

2009-08-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

Where Is Justin?

That's what he wants to know. Where in his brain does his mind actually lie? Why does the brain have to reward him to do necessary behaviors like eating? Where is the fun in living with a Big Brother brain?

We also discuss: the massive power generated when you combine millions of jellyfish into one; Scanning the brains many states; Just how many alien civilizations might there be; Colonizing outer space; Why robots should have babysitters on the battlefield; How mosquito bites are helping medicine; and the best way to calculate where water on Earth came from.

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

Listen to it all here.

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

2009-07-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

This Is For You

This week on the show: Making mice in China. E. coli are competing with the robots for our jobs. Diamonds tell a tale of climate change. Justin wanders through the Galaxy Zoo. Some people might be programmed for placebos. Heroin in your potato chips?

Have you heard about the International Physics Olympiad?

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

Listen to it all here.

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

2009-07-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

This is What it Sounds Like When Moths Scream

On this week's show we got the straight talk on faster than light radio waves from Dr. Jon Singleton. He informed us that the recent hubbub was just that... much ado about nothing. But, that nothing was actually really cool. Take a gander during the second half of the show for all the interesting details on how to make people without graduate degrees in physics think that you have broken Einstein's laws of relativity.

In other news, we covered a tale of tiny legs, an interesting genetic conundrum, why moths make bats hungry, why ice should be public information, ancient dungballs tell ecological tales, and Justin talked about cats and Sufi wisdom.

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

Listen to it all here.

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

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