KGNU - How On Earth

We explore a wide range of science topics today. Brains in Space (starts 1:00) Joel Parker explains how space travel may affect human brains         Climate Grief (starts 5:17) The United Nations warns that the changing climate will lead to increasing climate grief around the world.  Kritee, a senior scientist at the … Continue reading "Brains in Space // Climate Grief // Gold Lab Symposium"

This week on How on Earth, Beth speaks with Susan Allport, an award-winning writer who has written extensively on science. They talk about her book on omega 3 fats, The Queen of Fats, namely the touted omega-3 fatty acid. These essential fats can’t be synthesized by the human body and must be obtained from our … Continue reading "The Queen of Fats: Omega-3"

Climate-conscious, pollinator-friendly gardening (start time: 4:55; scroll down for audio file): This week’s episode of How On Earth features a discussion on how cities, neighborhoods, individual residents can plan their landscapes and gardens for a hotter and drier future here on the Front Range. Host Susan Moran interviews Dave Sutherland, a field naturalist formerly with … Continue reading "Cli...

Comedy+Climate Change: (start time: 5:50)  In this week’s show we look ahead to Earth Day by discussing the latest science about climate change, as reported in the recently released assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. And we explore the role that performing arts, especially comedy, can play in communicating, and processing emotions … Continue reading "Climate Chan...

We feature an interview with astronomer and author Dr. Emily Levesque about her book, The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers.  In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Levesque about the history and future of astronomy.  We hear about how astronomical observing at some of the premier telescopes in the world has changed over … Continue reading "The Last Stargazers, P...

We feature an interview with astronomer and author Dr. Emily Levesque about her book, The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers.  In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Levesque about how one becomes an astronomer and what a typical – and sometimes not so typical – night’s work is like at an observatory with highly … Continue reading "The Last Stargazers, Part 1"

Nature’s Songs and Cries (start time: 0:59) In this week’s show David George Haskell, a biologist at the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tenn., talks with How On Earth’s Susan Moran about his newly published book, Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity, and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction. The book is at … Continue reading "Sounds Wild and Broken"

On this week’s show  – part of the annual KGNU Spring Fund Drive – we play excerpts of an upcoming interview with astronomer and author Dr. Emily Levesque about her book, The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers. The book is a modern history of observational astronomy, and shares an inside look at the lives and … Continue reading "KGNU Fund Drive with The Last Sta...

In this week’s show Beth talks to author Annabel Streets. Her book 52 WAYS TO WALK, takes you week by week, through a smorgasbord of walks in silence, rain, mud, or wind, as well as sunshine, scents and birdsong. She explains exactly how our bodies and minds benefit from a wide mix of terrain and … Continue reading "Walking Doesn’t Have to Get Old"

We speak with Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, about the new study he has coauthored with Spencer Logan, a chief researcher at the center who alsoversees the Avalanche Accident database for the United States.    Their new study is available now.  It’s titled, Education and Experience Levels of People Involved in Avalanches … Continue reading "Avalanche Accidents...

Long COVID  (starts 1:00) National Jewish in Denver shares research about how COVID sometimes affects the powerhouses inside our cells, the mitochondria. Green Walls (starts 3:54) are a beautiful way to cover indoor and outdoor walls with living plants.  It’s a popular feature for ultra-modern buildings.  Researchers in England report that green walls on older, … Continue reading "Green Walls // D...

Heartbreak in Our  Bodies: (start time: 6:58) This week on How On Earth, host Susan Moran talks with science journalist Florence Williams about her newly published book, Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey, in which she goes on a quest to understand why, and how, the heartbreak she felt when her marriage fell apart was … Continue reading "The Science of Heartbreak"

This week on How on Earth, Beth talks to 2 climate scientists about their (very different) fields, and how climate change can play into local disasters, especially the recent fires that devastated the Front Range towns outside Boulder. Twila Moon is a glaciologist turned climate scientist who researches the effects of ice sheet melt on … Continue reading "Climate Change and Local Fires"

In this episode, we celebrate the show’s 30th Anniversary with Dave Atkins and Jeff Orrey, How on Earth’s original  hosts. We’ll play some excerpts from the pilot January 14, 1992 episode and update the science from a 2022 perspective.  Subjects range from Chinook winds and Colorado fires, finding exoplanets, the history of Hubble telescope, Halley’s … Continue reading "30th Anniversary Show"

2021 saw many remarkable science stories making it difficult to pick the top contenders. The How on Earth team struggled with these decisions but here they are! Executive Producer: Susan Moran Show Producer: Beth Bennett Additonal contributions by: Benita Lee, Joel Parker, Jill Sjong, Shelley Schlender Listen to the show:

Corona (Not Virus) News (starts 1:00)  Astrophysicist Joel Parker explains the probe that touched the sun’s corona. Green Recycling from Discarded Electronics (starts 3:59) Benita Lee talks with Penn State Scientist Amir Sheikhi about recycling neodymium. Defy Aging:  A Beginner’s Guide to the New Science of Longer Life and Better Health.  (starts 9:28)  Science Show … Continue reading "Defy Aging...

This week on How On Earth, we welcome Benita Lee who brought up the growing problem with fentanyl – a new street drug that’s killing many. Benita talks with DEA agent David Olesky about the scope of the problem and what the agency is doing to combat it. Beth talks with pharmacologist and policy maker … Continue reading "The Fentanyl Epidemic: Why It’s Growing and Some Solutions"

This week on How on Earth, Beth talks with Professor Fred Provenza, author of the book Nourishment: What Animals Can Teach Us about Rediscovering our Nutritional Wisdom. He returns to discuss his current venture into the utility of grazing animals in regenerating soil and reducing our carbon footprint. Yes, cows may actually reduce the rate … Continue reading "Can Cattle Reduce Climate Change?"

Green Building Handbook (starts 1:00) CU Boulder Engineering Professor Wil Srubar is the co-author of a new report highlighting innovative building materials that actually store more CO2 than the emissions from their manufacture, making these building materials what’s known as “carbon sinks” Wild Strawberry Flavor from Fungi (starts 3:29) Holger Zorn explains how and why … Continue reading "Wild S...

On today’s show, Beth talks with Dr John Jaquish about his novel method for treating osteoporosis, using ‘osteogenic’ loading. His method has been shown in clinical trials to build bone without drugs, and consequently without the serious side effects of these drugs. The loading method has been validated in using the classic DEXA screening method … Continue reading "Building Bones without Drugs"

Ever wonder what the world would be like without us humans? Professor Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce answer that question from a dog’s eye perspective in their book, A Dog’s World. In addition to speculating about the future of our canine friends without us, they provide a thorough and well-researched look at all aspects of … Continue reading "It’s A Dog’s World!"

Today marks the Day of the Dead in Mexico. It’s a time to welcome the spirits and memories of the dearly departed and to reflect on our own mortality. But in U.S. culture, this type of face-to-face reckoning with death itself is often taboo. Today we delve into one of those taboos: what to do … Continue reading "The Natural Funeral"

In this episode of How on Earth, Beth talks with Dr Amina Belkadi about her groundbreaking work developing the microscopic ‘rectennas’ (pictured here in a scanning EM photo) to harvest heat energy from their surroundings. This novel approach could revolutionize energy technology. Show Producer: Beth Bennett Additional contribution: Shelley Schlender Listen to the show:

On this week’s show journalist and author Michelle Nijhuis talks with How On Earth host Susan Moran about her recently published book, Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction. It’s a book of hope, history, and even humor. Special thanks to listeners who donated and received copies of the book. And thanks … Continue reading "Beloved Beasts // Fund Drive Show"

Boulder County Nature Association Naturalists Steve Jones and Scott Severs search for autumn spiders and other creatures among the tall prairie grasses at Boulder’s Sawhill Ponds. Executive Producer:  Beth Bennett Show Producer: Shelley Schlender