Kat Arney, author of Herding Hemingway’s Cats : Understanding How Our Genes Work joined us for a very lively discussion about genes–what is a “gene”, by the way?–and RNA and proteins and switches and epigenetics and everything else about our modern understanding of the mechanisms that make DNA work, how much of that understanding has changed in the last 30 years, and how to put that understanding together into a coherent mental model. Along the way we had much fun, heard interesting stories, and lost Jeff for awhile thanks to technical glitches.
Like “Read Science!” on Facebook to hear about upcoming programs, easy links to the archive, and news about RS! guests: https://www.facebook.com/ReadScience/
Kat Arney, author of Herding Hemingway’s Cats : Understanding How Our Genes Work joined us for a very lively discussion about genes–what is a “gene”, by the way?–and RNA and proteins and switches and epigenetics and everything else about our modern understanding of the mechanisms that make DNA work, how much of that understanding has changed in the last 30 years, and how to put that understanding together into a coherent mental model. Along the way we had much fun, heard interesting stories, and lost Jeff for awhile thanks to technical glitches.
Like “Read Science!” on Facebook to hear about upcoming programs, easy links to the archive, and news about RS! guests: https://www.facebook.com/ReadScience/
After we made today’s guest, Paul Knoepfler, author of GMO Sapiens: The Life-Changing Science of Designer Babies, explain what CRISPR is, what it can do, and what we might or might not want it to do right now to make genetically modified babies, we covered a lot of fascinating territory that included genetics, biotechnology, ethics, better-baby contests — and why these are all really important, timely things to be discussing.
After we made today’s guest, Paul Knoepfler, author of GMO Sapiens: The Life-Changing Science of Designer Babies, explain what CRISPR is, what it can do, and what we might or might not want it to do right now to make genetically modified babies, we covered a lot of fascinating territory that included genetics, biotechnology, ethics, better-baby contests — and why these are all really important, timely things to be discussing.
Roads! Bridges! Curbs! Guard rails! Speed humps! Stop signs, too! Infrastructure is everywhere, including the news lately, because American infrastructure is getting old and decrepit. Today’s guest was noted author about all things engineering, Henry Petroski. We talked about taking up the challenges of renewing our infrastructure, and his book on the same topic, The Road Taken : The History and Future of America’s Infrastructure.
If you want to know the answer to the question, “In what year were stop signs ruled illegal by courts in Illinois”, have a listen.
Roads! Bridges! Curbs! Guard rails! Speed humps! Stop signs, too! Infrastructure is everywhere, including the news lately, because American infrastructure is getting old and decrepit. Today’s guest was noted author about all things engineering, Henry Petroski. We talked about taking up the challenges of renewing our infrastructure, and his book on the same topic, The Road Taken : The History and Future of America’s Infrastructure.
If you want to know the answer to the question, “In what year were stop signs ruled illegal by courts in Illinois”, have a listen.
In this episode we discussed a comprehensive toolkit for wannabe, burgeoning, or seasons science bloggers was our topic, with guests Christie Wilcox, Bethany Brookshire, and Jason G. Goldman, editors of Science Blogging : The Essential Guide.
In this episode we discussed a comprehensive toolkit for wannabe, burgeoning, or seasons science bloggers was our topic, with guests Christie Wilcox, Bethany Brookshire, and Jason G. Goldman, editors of Science Blogging : The Essential Guide.
The world of charlatans, con-men, and impostors is murky and a bit scary, but Maria Konnikova is a helpful and fearless guide with her book, “The Confidence Game : Why We Fall for it Every Time”. She tells incredible, page-turning stories about the things con artists get away with, why we all have the potential to be duped, and whether there’s anything we can do about it.
One defensive tactic, of course, would be to watch our very lively discussion about the book with Maria. Our time was a bit short as we caught up with her during a very busy day of interviews, but we fit a lot into this program regardless.
The world of charlatans, con-men, and impostors is murky and a bit scary, but Maria Konnikova is a helpful and fearless guide with her book, “The Confidence Game : Why We Fall for it Every Time”. She tells incredible, page-turning stories about the things con artists get away with, why we all have the potential to be duped, and whether there’s anything we can do about it.
One defensive tactic, of course, would be to watch our very lively discussion about the book with Maria. Our time was a bit short as we caught up with her during a very busy day of interviews, but we fit a lot into this program regardless.
The Red Planet was on our mind today when we talked to Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN Mission Principal Investigator and author of “Science, Society, and the Search for Life in the Universe”; and James Green, Director of NASA’s Planetary Sciences Division, and consultant for Ridley Scott’s “The Martian”.
We talked about Mars, missions to Mars, “The Martian”, what it means to search for life in our Solar System and the universe, and the urge to explore in humans, along with how science can engage the interest of the non-scientist public.
The Red Planet was on our mind today when we talked to Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN Mission Principal Investigator and author of “Science, Society, and the Search for Life in the Universe”; and James Green, Director of NASA’s Planetary Sciences Division, and consultant for Ridley Scott’s “The Martian”.
We talked about Mars, missions to Mars, “The Martian”, what it means to search for life in our Solar System and the universe, and the urge to explore in humans, along with how science can engage the interest of the non-scientist public.
For this fast-paced and wide-ranging discussion our guest was Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes : The Legacy of Autism and the Furute of Neurodiversity.
The history of understanding — and misunderstanding — autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, reaching today’s comprehension of them as a “spectrum”, is over a century long, at times convoluted, and sometimes alarmingly cruel. During the 8 years that he worked on this book, Silberman collected a remarkable number of stories that he tells to remarkably good effect in this comprehensive book. We tried our best to sort our some of those while recounting our reactions to the book, and what we learned from reading it.
(In case you find yourself wondering, Jeff just got in from his work commute and was finishing up his snack, which evidently took a lot of chewing.)
For this fast-paced and wide-ranging discussion our guest was Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes : The Legacy of Autism and the Furute of Neurodiversity.
The history of understanding — and misunderstanding — autism and Asperger’s Syndrome, reaching today’s comprehension of them as a “spectrum”, is over a century long, at times convoluted, and sometimes alarmingly cruel. During the 8 years that he worked on this book, Silberman collected a remarkable number of stories that he tells to remarkably good effect in this comprehensive book. We tried our best to sort our some of those while recounting our reactions to the book, and what we learned from reading it.
Cynthia Barnett wrote that poet Conrad Aiken called rain “the syllables of water”. Today’s conversation was all about water and rain and all of the syllables we could fit into one tiny hour.
Our guests were Cynthia Barnett, author of Rain : A Natural and Cultural History, and Alok Jha, author of The Water Book : The Extraordinary Story of our Most Ordinary Substance. Do I even need to say by now that the discussion was wide ranging and filled with interesting facts and ideas?