11 October, 2017 – Episode 640 – This Week in Science Podcast (TWIS)

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What Matter?, Dark Matter, Marsigrades?, Bacteria For Youth, Good Neighbors, Noise Problems, Corn Futures, Memory At Altitude, Turbo Charged Brain, Museum Storage Finds, Schizophrenic Blood Vessels?, Rings Around Haumea, Bees For Coal, And Much More…

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DISCLAIMER, DISCLAIMER, DISCLAIMER!!!
The modern world as we know it…
will end.
This is not a warning of terrible things to come…
Nor is it a call to action to repent,
throw caution to the wind,
or give up on long term goals…
The message,
the modern world as we know it will end…
Will not be followed up with an advertisement
urging you to purchase
a year’s supply of dehydrated foods,
or small coin semi precious metals to be used as future currency…
In fact, the modern world as we know it…
will just end…
as it has many,
many times in the past,
With a new,
more modern world in its place…
Because we always live in the most modern of worlds…
Shedding off old worlds of modernity
as easily as updating to the latest version of an operating system…
And to that process of increased knowledge and understanding…
To the patterns of progress and discovery…
To the clear eyed steady pace of science and technology…
There is no end of new insights in sight…
Only new beginnings…
And nothing could put this into more convincing context
Than This Week in Science…
Coming up next…

This Week in What Has Science Done for me Lately?!?
“I have gardened all of my adult life, but only lately, with the invention of the internet, have I come to use and appreciate science in the garden. I must understand how vegetation decays in order to have a working compost pile. When our trees, vegetables and flower plants are attacked by pests and diseases I research insects, caterpillars, viruses, fungi, and bacteria and try to use the most environmentally friendly solutions. Plants also need the proper amount of sunlight, water, the right pH and soil nutrients, all of which I test for. I must know the ways plants pollinate and who the pollinators are. To predict harvest times and adverse pressures, I keep track of growing-degree days. In processing the harvest I make sure I’m canning and freezing safely. The use of charts, graphs, and journals help me apply scientific methods. So, for the work of entomologists, soil scientists, botanists, chemists, computer scientists, biologists, and many others, including thousands of citizen scientists, I am most grateful. The beauty and wonder of a garden is a great romance, but it’s science that provides the answers to the most puzzling of nature’s marvels.
–(Stefanie Grote, Pennsylvania)”

What matter?
New analyses of the webbing between galaxies suggests that it might contain a significant amount of what is considered “missing” baryonic matter in the form of diffuse gas.

Dark Matter
There are more experiments on the table to find the elusive dark matter particle. Whether they will, is still unknown, and hotly debated.

Mars Vents
Did researchers just find evidence of hydrothermal vents on Mars, and if so, what does that mean?

Ageing well with microbiota
This is definitely a chicken/egg situation.

Like a good neighbor?
Good neighbors, known neighbors, or related neighbors could prolong your life, according to a new study, if you are a bird.

Noise pollution could be ghastly for gobies.
Male gobies purr to get their lady in the mood. So what happens when my speedboat drowns him out??

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Building a better world… with corn
Genetic modification of corn to add an essential amino acids could affect cattle ranching and our ability to feed the world.

Memory At Altitude
A nootropic drug called oxiracetam improved climbers memories possibly by increasing blood flow to cognitive regions of the brain.

Turbo Charged Brain
Transcranial stimulation that’s tuned to the user’s brainwaves boosts brain operation.

Museum storerooms across the country re-examined…
found a new species of Ichthyosaur.

Birds Of A Feather
Soot from bird feathers tells a tale of pollution through the Industrial era.

New mechanism for the development of schizophrenia?
Could it be in the blood vessels?

Ring Around Haumea
In a complete surprise, astronomers have detected a ring around dwarf planet Haumea.

Environmentalists tell coal miners to buzz off…
To bee keeping school! This program could give new skills to former coal workers, while paying homage to the region’s deep history.

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I'm the host of this little science show.