Mon, 19 July 2010 It's podcast sweeps week, so we're going to slip a few ratings-boosting plot points into this episode. Mark and guest star George Clooney introduce us to liquid armor, Mike's story about the perils of light pollution has a surprise twist ending, and Joe demonstrates fibers that hear and sing with the help of some half-naked fashion models. Other stories that are big with the 18-24 demographic include ancient species below the Great Barrier Reef, keeping steel rust-free with recycled cigarette butts, and malaria-proof mosquitos. How could you not tune in for all that? What we didn't get to: why Japan is surprisingly low-tech, a 15 million year old marsupial death pit, and teaching yourself synaesthesia. (Links to the stories we cover are always available at sciencetastic.net.) Bad news. We've just learned that there is no such thing as podcast ratings sweeps. Please don't tell our advertisers. Comments[0] |
Mon, 5 July 2010 What do Calvin Coolidge, Bill Withers and Geraldo Rivera have in common? Besides the fact that none of them have ever been in my kitchen (I wouldn't let Geraldo past the foyer), they share a birthday with America. In this scienceTASTIC we stick a sparkler in a cupcake and salute them all with the greatest gift we know to give - science news. Speaking of birthdays, Mark reveals that there's a genetic indicator in people that live to be 100. Mike (who himself recently celebrated his day of birth) reports that sharks use complex math concepts to hunt. And appropriate to the day, Joe explains how recent analysis has revealed an interesting edit Thomas Jefferson made in writing the Declaration of Independence. The parade of gifts continues as we track the health of Labrador Retrievers, discuss living spaceships, and share the first photo of an planet outside of our solar system. Homemade presents are always the best. What we didn't get to: nuclear explosions in space, harnessing the power of light to store quantum information, and predicting penalty kicks. (Links to the stories we cover are always available at sciencetastic.net.) Comments[0] |
