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What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?
Salty Water?, Aging Humans, Aging Bats, Sinking Seashells, Ancient Weed, Beewolf Business, Mantis Shrimp Armor, Mousey Peer Pressure, Interview w/ Dr. Jennifer Dunne, Venomous Medicine?, Robo-helper, Impossible Pterodactyls, LEGO Satellites?, And Much More…
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DISCLAIMER, DISCLAIMER, DISCLAIMER!!!
For all the certainty with which humanity sets its course
and seizes opportunities where it can…
We rarely contemplate our destination.
Allowing far too often…
For tendencies of mankind’s impulses to push us forward
Fulfilling the immediate needs
Of safety and security
Comfort and greed
The next steps taken by humanity
far too often are in reaction to where the last steps have left us standing
As if we have no destination in mind.
When seen from afar the course of humanity…
Often looks more like the drunken stagger of an infant
than the steady steps of a progressing society
And when we have no destination in mind…
We choose one by default.
And so…
This world of changing climate… is the destination we have chosen
Melting ice caps… is the destination we have chosen
RIsing sea waters… is the destination we have chosen
Flooded cities… is the destination we have chosen.
Death of the coral reefs,
the source of half the oxygen we breathe… is the destination
Agricultural drought and the ensuing famine… is the destination
Extreme weather events, of all sorts, affecting everywhere…
is the destination we have chosen by not choosing
And as we stagger off the right foot, and catch ourselves with the left…
We might turn this drunken stumble of a society in a direction of our own choosing…
One that sets a course with a destination in mind…
One that will ultimately lead us all to
This Week in Science
Coming Up Next…
First up, some science news!
Salty Water?
Thanks to Hubble, we now think there is salty water under the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa increasing the likelihood that its hidden oceans may contain life.
Aging Humans
A study in Aging Cell looked at the question of whether human cells follow the same program for aging throughout life, and discovered that at least in neuron and muscle cells, they switch away from maintenance around age 60.
Aging Bats
Turns out that many species of bats are strangely long-lived for their small sizes. A new study didcovered that at the point in life when genes for health are getting turned off in most species, these bats are turning them up.
Sea shells by the sea shore
Climate change is affecting sea levels, and our access to ancient archaeological sites.
Origins of cannabis cultivation
The weed goes way back.
And, now it’s time for Blair’s Animal Corner!… with Blair!
How did the beewolf keep their food from going bad?
Hint – it’s not a vacuum sealer from QVC!
Mantis shrimp at it again! This time with space age armor.
OK, should we just send them into space instead? They seem well equipped…
Peer pressure at its finest
The science of… You like cumin? OK, so do I!
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This Week in What Has Science Done for me Lately?!?
Let us know what science has done for you lately by leaving us a message on our Facebook page!
Let’s continue with some more science news…
Interview w/ Dr. Jennifer Dunne, Professor and Vice President for Science at the Santa Fe Institute. Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Pacific Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology Lab. Editor at Ecology Letters and the Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution, Oxford University Press.
And, finally, Some Quick Science News Stories To End The Show
Venomous Medicine?
Compounds discovered in scorpion venom show promise as potent antibacterial agents.
Robo-helper
A new algorithm might make robots better at sharing space with humans.
Impossible pterodactyls
They flew how?
Satellites are one part lyft, another part Lego.
This “ride sharing” and interlocking satellite method could change the way we go to space!
I'm the host of this little science show. 
