KGNU - How On Earth

Beyond Earth (start time 5:10) Many have dreamt of colonizing other planets. It’s been a staple of science fiction for decades. Most often, people imagine creating a colony of humans on Mars, where people would live on a cold, dry planet with a thin, unbreathable atmosphere. Mars, however, may not be the best destination for future … Continue reading "Beyond Earth: Our Path to a New Home in the Pl...

Regenerative Economics (starts 3:20) Natural Capitalism Solutions leader, Hunter Lovins, will share an economic argument for why now’s the time for cleaner energy.  Lovins, who lives near Niwot, Colorado, has presented this speech to government leaders and organizations throughout the world.  This is an excerpt from that speech.  Go here for extended version) Logicomix (starts 8:52) Can … Continue...

Max Boykoff – Global Climate Talks – Moving Ahead With or Without US –  (entire show) While the world has held climate talks for 22 years (This is COP – Conference of the Parties — 22) and the Kyoto Protocol talks about climate change have been held for 12 years, this year’s October’s climate talks in Paris mark the first … Continue reading "Max Boykoff – Global Climate Talks – Moving Ahead"

The Science of Suggestibility (start time: 5:00) Scientists are learning more and more about how our expectations and beliefs influence how our bodies, including our neurochemistry, respond to pain and disease. The researchers are discovering that we are very suggestible creatures. But we are not all equally suggestible. Some of us can cure serious ailments even … Continue reading "Suggestible You...

Multitudes of Microbes (start time: 3:38): You may find it unsettling to learn that our human cells make up only half of our bodies. The other half is a bunch of microbes (in the neighborhood of 40 trillion), all living and reproducing in, and on, our bodies. What’s more, these invisible machines could have a … Continue reading "I Contain Multitudes–Our Microbes, Ourselves"

This week’s pledge- drive show features a teaser introduction to Ed Yong’s new book I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life. We play segments from the interview that host Susan Moran recently had with Yong, a science writer for The Atlantic. There still may be a copy left, so call … Continue reading "Pledge Drive//Interview with Ed Yong"

Denver Permaculture Guild (starts 3:30) staff and board members explain the goal of permaculture and guild’s annual workshops program taking place this weekend.       Ron Rosedale, MD, Explains Autophagy (starts 17:50)   The Nobel Peace Prize in Medicine has just been awarded to Japanese Scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi  for his discoveries about a process inside our cells known as autophagy.  … Continu...

Rosetta [feature starts at 5:27] The Rosetta Space Mission has been in flight for ever 12 years and will be ending with a dramatic crash this Friday morning around 10:40 UT (4:40 am Mountain time) – it’s an event that will be watched and talked about by people around the world. Rosetta is run by the European … Continue reading "The Rosetta Mission"

This is an extended interview with Dale Bredesen, leader of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.  Bredesen has documented reversal of early Alzheimer’s in a small case study, largely through lifestyle interventions.  We spoke while he was at CU-Boulder for the 2016 Ancestral Health Symposium.   For the broadcast version and links to websites, … Continue reading "Alzheimer’s Reversal – Extende...

Alzheimer’s Reversal (starts 2:20) The Alzheimer’s Association calls Alzheimer’s “the only disease among the top 10 causes of death in America that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed.”  This gloomy outlook means many people avoid screening tests for dementia.  Now Dale Bredesen, a leading scientist from California’s Buck Institute for Research on Aging has … Continue reading "Alzheimer’s Re...

This week, an interview with Howard Jacob, PhD, principal investigator and executive vice president for genomic medicine at HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology (starts at 5’30”)describing the potential for personalized genomic sequencing and analysis in the identification of rare undiagnosed and misdiagnosed disease. A headline featuring research on how dogs process words mentioned a video of...

What are the qualities that make a good scientist? What are the qualities that make a good science fiction writer? Those skills do not necessarily overlap, but when they do, they not only can produce wonderful works of speculative fiction based on hard science, but they also can generate exciting new ideas for science research. Our … Continue reading "Gregory Benford – Science Fiction/Fact and Sta...

Methane Madness (start time: 2:20)  More than a decade ago, scientists noted that the area where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah meet, known as Four Corners, appeared to be emitting a curiously large amount of methane. In a new study, a team of scientists have traced the source: more than 250 gas wells, storage tanks, … Continue reading "Methane Emissions From Natural Gas"

Tackling Lead Contamination: Flint and Beyond (start time: 6:27) When you pour yourself a glass of water from the tap, do wonder whether it’s truly clean and safe? How would you know for sure? Flint, Mich., is a haunting example of how a breakdown in water-supply infrastructure, and political integrity, can result in lead contamination of a … Continue reading "Lessons From Flint’s Lead-In-Water Cr...

In headlines and 2 interviews with Zika researchers,Beth covers new material on this disturbing disease. CDC Chief of Virology, Dr Ann Power (start time 3’45”) and Dr Rushika Ferrara of CSU (start time 10’45”), describe aspects of the viral life cycle, including transmission, symptom variability, and promising avenues leading to potential treatments and preventions. For … Continue reading "Zika Up...

The Keeling Curve (starts 5:00) Friday, August 12th the Boulder Shambala Center hosts:  Living Beyond Hope And Fear:  Social Confidence And Climate Change.  One leader of the event is the daughter of scientist who created the Keeling Curve for tracking CO2.  Emily Takahashi talks about how the memory of her father’s work inspired her to do the symposium. Electric … Continue reading "The Keeling Cu...

In Colorado, a boom in methane development over the past few years has raised questions about whether the environmental impacts are outpacing scientists’ ability to measure them. Shelley Schlender and Daniel Glick discuss the current state of the science looking into fracking’s impacts.  Here is a compendium of scientific, medical, and media findings demonstrating risks and … Continue reading "Imp...

This week on How on Earth we speak with 2 notables. NY Times columnist Carl Zimmer describes his exploration of his genome sequence, yes all 3 billion bases! See the series he has produced detailing this journey at https://www.statnews.com/feature/game-of-genomes/season-one/. Then, local cell biologist Gia Voeltz studies how the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is formed. It is … Continue reading "Explo...

Sustainable Agriculture (starts 3:06): We couldn’t feed the planet without nitrogen, a vital nutrient for crops. But most soils don’t produce enough of it to feed anywhere near our 7 billion-plus humans on the planet. So, for nearly a century we’ve been applying synthetic fertilizer—mainly nitrogen and phosphorus — to grow crops for animals and people. But … Continue reading "Toward Sustainable Ag...

Quantum Dot Antibiotics (starts 1:00) This programmable antibiotic might keep pace with quickly evolving superbugs.  Unlike most drugs – it’s not derived from biological sources.  It’s a tiny version of the semiconductors in everything from TVs to iphones to solar panels.  This “antibiotic” is made of nanoparticles, known as quantum dots.  CU Biofrontiers scientists Prashant Nagpal and Anushree Ch...

Pollinators Matter (starts at 4:43): Now that backyard gardens are in full bloom it’s a good time to think about pollinators. Honeybees, butterflies, beetles and other pollinators depend on many flowering plants for nectar. And we depend on these pollinators for many foods we love in our diet, from almonds to apples to blueberries. Some of these pollinators, … Continue reading "Pollinators Matter...

David Sumpter’s new book is Soccermatics–Mathematical Adventures in the Beautiful Game.  It’s about how the mathematical patterns of how to win at soccer — and much much more — like how a math algorithm of how a slime mold seeks out food can help engineers design an efficient subway system.  The math that helps a … Continue reading "Soccermatics // Pledge Drive Show"

The Carbon Farming Solution – (Starts 2:13) Carbon Sequestration is the act of removing carbon from the air and putting it . . . somewhere else.  Kendra Krueger talks with author Eric Tunesmeier about his book, The Carbon Farming Solution, with surprising information such as how driving to a remote organic farm stand can cause … Continue reading "Carbon Farming // Light Pollution"

Beth interviews Dr Sarah Spaulding, of the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research here in Boulder. Sarah studies microscopic single celled algae, creatures that photosynthesize but aren’t plants. She discusses their ecological roles in numerous ecosystems as well as challenges in identifying them and her long term goals in studying these elusive but ubiquitous creatures. … Continue reading "Diat...

Cell Phones & Cancer  (Starts 1:00) A $25 million study reports cell phone radiation boosted brain cancer in rats . . . and rats exposed to radiation lived longer.  Frank Barnes, CU-Boulder Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, explains these paradoxical findings and implications for people.  (Related stories — 2011 Cell Phone Radiation and 2014 An Electric Silent Spring)...