28 April, 2021 – Episode 822 – This Show is Totally Reasonable

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What is in the This Week in Science Podcast?

Mars Milestones, Whey To Go, Whale Speak, Malaria Success, Bacterial Biofilms, Anti-Stars?, COVID Update, Sponge Tracks, Fruit Fly Marathoners, Antibiotic Time Bomb, New Nomenclature, Drug-Finding Tool, Lost Identity, And Much More…

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The following program is unintended for audiences of any age
As it contains information presented as news and informed opinion by experts
But often is not…
Reasonable people are expected to understand the difference
between actual journalism, political propaganda, and paid sponsorship influence manipulation in all content…
Though it will be considered an unreasonable burden for the program to point out which is which.
Any medical advice, supplement testimonials or favorable product mentions
are at the sole discretion of the audience to regard as meaningful.
While some people may be called doctor
and even hold degrees of higher education relating to those titles,
always remember that they may not be “that kind” of doctor.
While others who may on occasion claim to be doctors clearly are not
…no matter what advice they offer
Or what advice you select to take,
they aren’t your doctor,
they don’t know you or your medical history,
and despite them looking into the camera
and you seeing their eyes on the screen…
The sense of connection you have is an illusionary product of the medium
As no actual eye contact has taken place.
Consume this media at your own risk as no legally described human or corporate entity is liable for the content…
how it might affect you or your loved ones is none of our concern…
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here’s ours…

Welcome everyone!
Audience members are encouraged to dance along to the intro music as we begin another episode of…
This Week in Science –
Coming Up Next…

Let’s start with the science news

Mars Milestones
NASA has met several mission milestones this past week involving Mars-copters and MOXIE.

Milking every last drop of milk
This story is whey out there.

Do you speak whale?
Your phone might soon! AI is helping to figure out: what are whales saying?

Malaria Success
A phase 2 trial of a new malaria vaccine in West Africa showed 74-77% effectiveness after one-year in preventing malaria infection in 450 children aged 5-17 months.

Beating microplastics with bacterial biofilms
Could bacteria save us from our plastic problem?

Anti-Stars?
Could stars of antimatter exist in the universe? Some physicists think so.

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Are you ready for a COVID Update?

COVID Update
Over one billion doses of COVID vaccines have been administered worldwide. But, even as more and more people are vaccinated, the numbers of doses delivered daily in the United States is declining, which means herd immunity will be reached more slowly. Even as more vaccine doses are being doled out, India is struggling with more than 350,000 new COVID cases per day, overwhelmed hospitals, supply shortages, and a rising death count. Some researchers believe the reported numbers to be undercounting the true impact, which is bound to reverberate around the world.

Masks Outside
The CDC has updated its mask guidance on wearing masks outdoors because data has shown that the likelihood of COVID transmission outdoors is extremely low. It does still happen however, so masks should be worn if social distancing is not possible.

Single Dose
New data out of England finds that after just one dose of the Pfizer vaccine people who became infected with COVID were between 38% to 49% less likely to pass it on to members of their household that unvaccinated individuals. Bottom line: vaccination reduces transmission. Even just one dose helps.

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It’s time for Blair’s Animal Corner!

Sponges on the move
Sponges are up to a lot more than we previously thought, scooting all over the sea floor!

Fruit flies: nature’s perfect model of endurance
Flies can fly long and without rest, leaving the rest of us in the dust, comparatively

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What does Justin have to say about science this week?

Antibiotic time bomb
Endangered chimps and biological bombs

What’s in a name? How science over names things…
simplifying gene nomenclature

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Let’s finish strong with science from Dr. Kiki!

Drug-Finding Tool
A new neurological tool has the potential to find drugs with fewer side-effects.

Lost Identity
Salk researchers showed that skin cells of Alzheimer’s patients reprogrammed to be brain cells are significantly different from cells of healthy people.

This Week in Science Questions!

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Check out this episode of TWIS from last April when we spoke with Valerie Trouet about how many things we can learn from tree rings.

Then there was also this one from 2011 – the week that we began to hear rumors of the Higgs Boson discovery from the LHC. It was a huge week for high energy physics.

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