Science Talk

Latest Episodes:

Atul Gawande, Author of Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance Apr 18, 2007

Show notes

In this episode, surgeon, writer and MacArthur grantee Atul Gawandee talks about his new book Better, which focuses on performance as a science. Plus we'll test your knowledge about recent science in the news. Website mentioned on this episode include http://www.fi.edu/tfi/exhibits/bower/07/schedule.html and www.hbo.com/realsports. To vote for the Scientific American podcast in the podcast category of the Webby Awards, go to www.webbyawards.com.

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Catching Corrupted Photos; and Big Bird Brains Apr 11, 2007

Show notes

In this episode, animal behavior expert Bernd Heinrich discusses his article in the April issue of Scientific American on animal intelligence, and Adobe Systems scientists David Story and Martin Newell talk about methods in development to enable investigators to spot phonied-up digital images. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.

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Baseball Science Apr 04, 2007

Show notes

In this episode, former big league pitcher Dr. Dave Baldwin talks about his run-in with Ted Williams, his life in science, the physics of the gyroball versus the slider, and how he finally made it to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some baseball science. Websites mentioned on this episode include http://www.dartmouth.edu/~chance/chance_news/recent_news/chance_news_13.04.html; http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=3486; http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/42392

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Alcoholism and Genetics; and Why Aren't the Pioneer Spacecraft Where They Should Be? Mar 28, 2007

Show notes

In this episode, psychiatric geneticist Laura Jean Bierut talks about her article in the April Scientific American about the influence of genes on alcoholism. And Scientific American editor George Musser discusses the March 26th Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate at the American Museum of Natural History that dealt with the discrepency between the calculated and actual positions of the Pioneer spacecraft. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.

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Naturally Speaking: Finding Nature's Treasure Trove with the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition; and Natural Products Chemistry Mar 21, 2007

Show notes

In this episode, the J. Craig Venter Institute's senior computational biologist Douglas Rusch talks about the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition's genomic treasure hunt and the first batch of research results that just came out. We'll also talk about an analysis of pharmaceutical agents in the Journal of Natural Products that showed that the majority of approved agents in the last quarter century are still derived from natural products. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned include http://www.plos.org; http://collections.plos.org/plosbiology/gos-2007.php; http://pubs.acs.org/journals/jnprdf

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Made To Stick: Crafting Memorable Messages; and Cycling For Days On A Gallon Of Gas Mar 14, 2007

Show notes

In this episode, Stanford University's Chip Heath talks about his book Made To Stick, which discusses the secrets behind crafting messages and ideas that capture the imagination; and Nick Goddard discusses the experiment he did to find out how far he could bike on the energy equivalent to that in a gallon of gasoline. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned include www.madetostick.com; /www.transalt.org; www.betterworldclub.com

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Leave It To Beaver (To Return To New York City); and AccesScience '07, Communicating Science To Everyone Mar 07, 2007

Show notes

In this episode, the Wildlife Conservation Society's Stephen Sautner and John Delaney talk about the appearance of a beaver in New York City for the first time in 200 years and journalist and author Alan Weisman talks about our reaction to the event and other similar stories. Elaine McSherry, winner of the AccesScience '07 competition, explains why it's good to be explain science. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.

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Who Speaks For Science? Feb 28, 2007

Show notes

In this episode, Scientific American contributing editor Wayt Gibbs talks about a session at the recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science devoted to the question of scientific authority: who has it, how they got it and what the public should know about it. Plus we'll read listener mail, talk about the movie Something The Lord Made (which depicts the first heart surgeries) and test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.aaas.org; www.sciamdigital.com; www.sciam.com/news; www.hbo.com/films/stlm

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No Laughing Matter: Mo Rocca On Humor Theory; Report From the AAAS Conference Feb 21, 2007

Show notes

In this episode, TV essayist and radio host Mo Rocca talks about the science of comedy and vice versa; and journalist Corinna Wu reports on the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sirius.com; www.aaas.org; www.tinyurl.com/33x2ww

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My Unfunny Valentine: The Truth About Online Dating; and The Myelin Repair Foundation--A New Model For Outcome-Oriented Biomedical Research Feb 14, 2007

Show notes

In this episode, Scientific American Mind contributing editor Robert Epstein talks about the pitfalls and potential of online dating. And Myelin Repair Foundation founder Scott Johnson talks about how the foundation is accelerating the search for multiple sclerosis therapies, as well as serving as a model for a new kind of biomedical research approach. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com; www.sciammind.com; www.myelinrepair.org

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