Quirks & Quarks: Episode October 4, 2008
From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the Quirks & Quarks series | 53:00
Canada's weekly national radio science program.
Oct 4 - Pond Scum Power
Pond scum doesn't have the greatest reputation. It's slimy, stinky and ugly. But a number of researchers are hoping to pull its reputation out of the swamp, by harnessing its potential as a bio-fuel crop. Micro-algae -- the microscopic plants that form pond scum -- have some pretty remarkable properties: they grow quickly, they don't need much in the way of farm land or fresh water and, most importantly, they can produce a high proportion of vegetable oil that can be easily transformed into biodiesel. Some researchers think micro-algae will be our great green hope, replacing fossil fuels in the future. But, despite its promise, there is a lot of challenging research that needs to be done before we start running our cars on pond scum power.
Plus - uncovering the African origins of HIV.
Quirks & Quarks: Episode October 25, 2008
From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the Quirks & Quarks series | 53:00
Canada's weekly national radio science program.
In Search of Time.
If you have some spare time, you might want to make time to listen to our feature this week on the concept of time. After all, it's about time we did it, since time waits for no one. And after all this time, you'd think that scientists would have a pretty good idea of what time actually is. But in fact, scientists and philosophers have been struggling for centuries to understand the true nature of time. We'll speak with a Canadian science writer who has taken the time to explore those ideas in a new book, called In Search of Time.
Plus - the electrifying secret life of scotch tape.
Quirks & Quarks: Episode November 22, 2008
From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the Quirks & Quarks series | 53:00
Canada's national weekly science program
It's Alive!
4 billion years ago, the world was a grim and lifeless place of unbreathable air, toxic water and bleak rock. But somewhere, somehow, a few simple molecules came together, and began to make copies of themselves. Life was born, and those first simple chemicals eventually transformed into the almost unimaginable complexity of our living world. In this week's feature documentary, we look at how life began on Earth - as scientists explore and begin to understand the first steps that transformed simple minerals, gases and water into teeming life.
Plus - resurrecting the woolly mammoth.
Bug Off!
From Big Picture Science | Part of the Big Picture Science series | 54:00
Humans have been battling viruses and bacteria since the beginning of time; stories from the frontier of epidemiology.
- Playing
- Bug Off!
- From
- Big Picture Science
What you can’t see … can make you sick. Humans have been battling viruses and bacteria since the beginning of time. The malaria parasite has been keeping deadly company with us for 500,000 years. King Tut had it and so did Julius Caesar. What’s keeping this bug going today?
Also, how disease almost halted the most ambitious engineering project in the world … how elite disease detectives puzzle out perplexing epidemics … And – could tiny bugs from spaaace, ace, ace be our ancestors?
Guests:
- Sonia Shah – Author of The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years
- Michael Conniff – Historian, director of Global Studies at San Jose State University, and author of Black Labor on a White Canal: Panama, 1904-1981 (Pitt Latin American Series)
- Mark Pendergrast – Author of Inside the Outbreaks: The Elite Medical Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service
- Robert Zubrin – President of the Mars Society
Water the Chances
From Big Picture Science | Part of the Big Picture Science series | 54:00
Getting the salt out: the most promising technologies for desalination… how astronauts filter “water-closet water” to drink… and, turning salt ponds back to wetlands.
- Playing
- Water the Chances
- From
- Big Picture Science
Water, water everywhere. But most of it is sea water - you can’t drink it. Discover the most promising technologies for desalination and why solar cells are key. Also, how astronauts filter “water-closet water” to drink it, and how to turn a salt pond back to a wetland.
Plus, from Roman aqueducts to modern-day pumps: a history of quenching human thirst. And, why NASA strives to “follow the water.”
Guests:
• Brian Fagan – Anthropologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, author of Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind
• John Bourgeois – Biologist and Executive Project Manager, South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project
• Michael Meyer – Lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program
• Farouk El-Baz – Geologist and Director of the Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University
• Michael Flynn – Principal investigator for NASA’s advanced life support branch, Ames Research Center