Earth Day 2010 has just passed, and I'm sure we're all grateful we only have to care about the planet for one day out of the year. Even so, we tried to keep things a little green for this episode of scienceTASTIC. First, we cut back on resources by ditching one host. Then we moved on to the stories. Mike considers the ecological pros and cons of a new dam to be build in Brazil, Joe meets up with the inventor of the nPower PEG (Personal Energy Generator), a handy little device that will have you powering your mobile devices with your own kinetic energy, and we also encourage you to answer the White House's call to weigh in on what unsolved scientific challenges (including energy and environmental issues) the US government should tackle first. The rest of the stories aren't as earth-conscious, but we do try to conserve by at least making them shorter: dreaming about tasks to perform them better, improving your view with windows that are motion-tracking monitors, and a motorcycle helmet with a surprisingly low-tech rear-view system.

What we didn't get to: Mark doesn't respect our listeners enough to actually show up for this episode, but he still wants you to watch videos he found on the first images from NASA's new solar observer and GM's self-driving vehicle in action. Honestly, they're both rather cool. I'd check them out. 

(Links to the stories we cover are always available at sciencetastic.net.)

This episode of scienceTASTIC is so spirited all that's missing is some jazz hands. Mike dazzles us from the start with an ocean-exploring surfboard, Mark takes it to the next level with the news that Venus is (geologically) alive, and Joe adds a bit of panache that can only come from a new element with a terrible, terrible name. We also provide moxie, pep and pluck in the form of  China-built US railroads, near-death experiences caused by farts, and turning t-shirts into body armor. Thankfully those round out the show, because, frankly, I'm out of synonyms for "pizzazz."

What we didn't get to: the benefits of water on the moon, creepy Asian robots, and TVs with surround vision.

(Links to the stories we cover are always available at www.sciencetastic.net.)