Visual Biography Explores Love And Radium from NPR: Science Friday Podcast

The story of Marie and Pierre Curie is one of love, scientific partnership and one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century. Artist and author Lauren Redniss discusses her new book, Radioactive, an illustrated biography of the pair and a look at their complicated legacy. Listen to podcast.

Paul Offit On The Anti-Vaccine Movement from NPR Podcast Science Friday

In his new book, vaccine researcher Paul Offit contends that some parents' decisions not to vaccinate their kids are harming others. Offit discusses the anti-vaccine movement, and weighs in on a new report calling a 1998 study linking autism and vaccines an "elaborate fraud." Listen to the podcast.

Jonathon Keats: Virtual Words: Language on the Edge of Science and Technology

The Boston Globe recently wrote about the book: “Virtual Words,” by Jonathon Keats, who writes the Jargon Watch column in WIRED magazine. We might even be able to argue that his book is from at least a few minutes in the future — these are the jargon words that might become consumer-grade English. “Virtual Words” isn’t really a dictionary, but a collection of essays on new terms, and Keats makes no claim to be a lexicographer (although his author photo includes a very lexicographical bow tie). Instead, he refreshingly divides his book into six categories: Discovery, Innovation, Commentary, Promotion, Slang, and Neologism. Find that Boston Globe article here. From NPR's Talk of the Nation, Science Friday; "How Science and Technology Influence Language:" FLATOW: How do certain words catch on when other words don't? Mr. KEATS: It seems to me that the words that catch on are those that are probably least clever, that call least attention to themselves and that really kind of percolate from general usage, whereas the words that are particularly fun or funny, they may come into existence, and they may go viral, but they tend to die out almost as quickly as they came about. FLATOW: Do you have some favorite new words from this year? Mr. KEATS: Yes, I've been watching, as a result of my work in Wired, and one word that I really like right now is hygroelectricity, which is not hydroelectricity, it's spelled H-Y-G-R-O, and what it refers to is electricity that is taken from the humidity in the air, much as lightning is a lightening is a manifestation of this. And what I like about it is that it makes concrete in a word an idea that is very new and really right now is in the earliest prototyping stage in a laboratory. And it has, I think, great potential as an alternative energy source, and because there is a word, there is something that we can call it, we can start talking about it and promoting it, tweeting it, if you will, and I think that that can really be as important as the technology itself in terms of whether it catches on. Find that NPR webpage here.

Where Are The 'Hackers' Now? from NPR Podcast Science Friday

In his 1984 book, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, author Steven Levy profiled some of the personalities whose work brought PCs to the people, including Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Levy discusses his book, recently reissued, and hacker ethics in the Internet age.

Download the podcast here. See also: Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the Digital Age, The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness, In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives, On The Path



MIT's periodical, "Technology Review," recently said this about the anniversary edition of the book: "In Hackers, Captain Crunch shows up primarily as an adjunct to the nascent Apple computer company, where he was briefly employed to create a circuit board that, when connected to a phone, could enable an Apple II to reproduce his feats of phone hacking. Fearing legal entanglements, the board was never released, and Captain Crunch didn't last long at the fledgling company, but the "blue box" on which the board was based became the workhorse of the phone hacker "phreaking" community." See that TR article here. Pair the Hackers book with the movie, "Pirates of Silicon Valley." Note: "Hackers," starring Angelina Jolie and Jonny Lee Miller, is not as relevant.

When To Test For Prostate Cancer? from NPR Podcast Science Friday

Ads urge men of a certain age to get screened for prostate cancer. But is "test early, test often" the best approach? Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society and Mark Scholz, author of Invasion Of The Prostate Snatchers, discuss other approaches.

Download the podcast here. See also: The Decision: Your prostate biopsy shows cancer. Now what?: Medical insight, personal stories, and humor by a urologist who has been where you are now., Johns Hopkins Patients' Guide to Prostate Cancer (The Johns Hopkins Patients' Guide), Surviving Prostate Cancer Without Surgery, Prostate Cancer Survivors Speak Their Minds: Advice on Options, Treatments, and Aftereffects



In "There Will Be Blood Pricks: Diabetes has forced me to become a self-tracker, and I can't stand it", Hanna Rosin at the Slate.com writes about the book:

I gravitate toward medical stories such as the one told by Mark Scholz in his recent book Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers. The screening test for prostate cancer, by quantifying a certain cancer indicator in the blood, has caused thousands of men—my father among them—to have operations they probably did not need. The test was effective at detecting cancer, but it could not distinguish between the lethal kind and the benign kind that grows slowly over time and never does any harm. The test, it turns out, was answering only half the question. In the face of a frightening disease, numbers can be very soothing. But they sometimes obscure what you really need to know. Something like this is also happening with diabetes.

And at that, there comes to mind a pairing. The other day, we blogged about "Wrong." The book and author's main thesis is that you can't trust in these studies and metrics blindly; you have to move forward with skepticism. And of course, there's The Emperor of All Maladies, which fashions itself as "biography" of cancer.

The Man Who Turned Taxidermy Into An Art Form from NPR Podcast Talk of the Nation

In Kingdom Under Glass, author Jay Kirk tells the life story of Carl Akeley, the pioneering taxidermist and adventurer who once killed a leopard with his bare hands. Taxidermist David Schwendeman runs his family's 90-year-old studio and describes the techniques and hazards of modern taxidermy.

Download the podcast here.

Oliver Sacks Discusses Vision and 'The Mind's Eye' from NPR Podcast Science Friday

Normally the eyes and brain work together in a seamless, intricate system. But what happens when the brain can no longer make sense of visual information? Neurologist Oliver Sacks talks about his new book, The Mind's Eye, and what visual disorders reveal about how the brain processes sight.

Download the podcast here. See also: The Mind's Eye, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Edition, Migraine

Searching For Science In A Glass of Beer from NPR Podcast Science Friday

Yeast, hops, grain and water all need to combine with biology, chemistry and physics to make a great glass of beer. Charlie Bamforth, University of California, Davis professor of brewing science and author of the new book Beer Is Proof God Loves Us, offers a toast to honor the beverage.

Download the podcast here. See also: Beer Is Proof God Loves Us: Reaching for the Soul of Beer and Brewing, Beer: Tap into the Art and Science of Brewing, Beer Is Proof God Loves Us: Reaching for the Soul of Beer and Brewing, In Keeping with the Wolves, Grape vs. Grain

Oliver Sacks Discusses Vision and 'The Mind's Eye' from NPR: Science Friday Podcast

Normally the eyes and brain work together in a seamless, intricate system. But what happens when the brain can no longer make sense of visual information? Neurologist Oliver Sacks talks about his new book, The Mind's Eye, and what visual disorders reveal about how the brain processes sight.

View the webpage for this particular Science Friday show, here. See also: The Mind's Eye, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Revised and Expanded Edition, Migraine

'Yellow Dirt': The Legacy of Navajo Uranium Mines from NPR: Science Friday Podcast

In her book Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed, former Los Angeles Times reporter Judy Pasternak documents the toxic legacy of uranium mining in the Navajo lands of northeastern Arizona, where radioactive dust wound up in Navajo homes and drinking water.

Download the podcast here. High Country News had this to say about the book:

In 2006, the L.A. Times ran an exposé by reporter Judy Pasternak on the effects of uranium mining in the Navajo homeland. The articles had a remarkable impact, inspiring congressional hearings and Superfund cleanups. But Pasternak wasn't finished. Since then, she has crisscrossed the Navajo Reservation collecting miners' stories, dined with uranium industry bigwigs, and dug patiently through federal archives. The result is Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed, the first comprehensive telling of an ongoing tragedy.

Read the full story here. See also: Uranium, Mining and Hydrogeology, Yellowcake Towns (Mining the American West), The Navajo People and Uranium Mining, Uranium mining in the Southwest: Dealing with its half-life and its role in Leslie Marmon Silko's 'Ceremony'

From Bach To Beer Bottles, The Physics of Music from NPR: Science Friday Podcast

Why does a saxophone sound different from an oboe? How do tiny flutes produce such loud sounds? Dr. John Powell, author of How Music Works: The Science and Psychology of Beautiful Sounds explains musical acoustics and more.

Download the podcast here. See also: How To Train Your Dragon, How To Train Your Dragon

'Pot Book' Explores History And Science Of Marijuana from NPR Podcast Science Friday

Next month, voters in four states will consider whether to change laws regulating marijuana use. But how much is known about marijuana's effects on the body? Ira Flatow talks with psychiatrist Julie Holland, editor of a new collection of essays titled The Pot Book, about the plant.

Download the podcast here. Check out this Cannibus Culture blog post. See also: Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible, Grow Great Marijuana: An Uncomplicated Guide to Growing the World's Finest Cannabis, Marijuana Grower's Handbook: Your Complete Guide for Medical and Personal Marijuana Cultivation, Marijuana Cooking: Good Medicine Made Easy

Punk Rock Professor Talks Anarchy And Evolution from NPR: Science Friday Podcast

At the same time Greg Graffin was starting the legendary punk rock band Bad Religion, he was becoming fascinated by evolutionary biology. Both would become lifelong pursuits. He talks about the connection in his new book, Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science, and Bad Religion in a World Without God.

Download the podcast here. See also: Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?: A Professor and a Punk Rocker Discuss Science, Religion, Naturalism & Christianity, Punk Rock Dad: No Rules, Just Real Life, Cold As the Clay

Celebrating Carl Sagan And 'Cosmos' from NPR: Science Friday Podcast

The television series Cosmos, which first aired 30 years ago this week, made a celebrity of science communicator Carl Sagan. In this archival 1994 Science Friday interview, Sagan discusses his book The Pale Blue Dot and shares his thoughts on manned space exploration.

Download the rebroadcast and podcast of this old Sagan interview, here. See also: Cosmos, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence, The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God

The Calculus Around You from NPR: Science Friday Podcast

In her new book The Calculus Diaries, writer Jennifer Ouellette describes the development of calculus, from Archimedes to Newton, and shows how calculus is a part of everyday life -- from amusement park rides and Vegas craps tables, to dieting and figuring out gas mileage.

Listen to the Science Friday program here, or download it here (right click, save as).

What Are The Challenges Of 'Trailblazing Mars'? from NPR Podcast Science Friday

What grows best in Martian soil? How do you get oxygen out of thin air? Pat Duggins, author of Trailblazing Mars: NASA’s Next Giant Leap, talks about the questions NASA will face if it sends astronauts to the Red Planet and how to choose the right people for the job.

Download the podcast here. See also: Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the VoidPacking for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, How to Live on Mars: A Trusty Guidebook to Surviving and Thriving on the Red Planet

Mark Twain And Science: It's Complicated from NPR Podcast Science Friday

Did you know Mark Twain tried his hand at science fiction? In the book The Disappearing Spoon, author Sam Kean writes about Twain's prescient story "Sold to Satan." In the story, Satan’s problems stem, in part, from the fact that he is made entirely of the newly discovered radioactive element radium.

Listen to the podcast here, or download the file here.

Celebrating Carl Sagan And 'Cosmos' from NPR Podcast Science Friday

The television series Cosmos, which first aired 30 years ago this week, made a celebrity of science communicator Carl Sagan. In this archival 1994 Science Friday interview, Sagan discusses his book The Pale Blue Dot and shares his thoughts on manned space exploration.

Download the show here, it's an mp3 file.

Teaching Doctors To Be Better Listeners from NPR Podcast Science Friday

If doctors listen more carefully to patients' conversations about work and family life, they can pick up clues that lead to better treatment, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Author Dr. Alan Schwartz talks about training doctors to be better listeners.

Download the podcast here.

The Intelligence Of Crowds In 'The Perfect Swarm' from NPR: Science Friday Podcast

In his book The Perfect Swarm, Len Fisher talks about swarm intelligence -- where the collective ideas of a group add up to better solutions than any individual could have dreamed up, including an example of how UPS reorganized its driving routes using the logic of an ant colony.

Download the NPR Science Friday podcast here. Scientific American had this to say about the book:

Next time you get annoyed when you discover an army of ants marching through your kitchen pantry, think about this: these tiny insects could teach you how to make better decisions in your social, private and professional life. Sounds crazy? Not according to scientist and journalist Len Fisher. In his new book, The Perfect Swarm, he introduces us to the modern science of complexity—how intricate patterns grow out of simple rules. Research shows that such rules underlie the group behaviors of animals, such as bees and locusts, and Fisher explains how we can learn a thing or two from these basic laws. At the heart of the book lies swarm intelligence, a phenomenon that results when large groups of individuals—be they robots or guppies—behave in the same way, and their collective actions (presumably unbeknownst to the individuals) become intelligent. Ant colonies provide a good example, Fisher says. In search of food, individual ants initially roam an area at random. Yet those animals that happen to be on the fastest route to a food source will return to the nest first. The pheromones they lay down on their trail then allow other ants to use that same route. By the time the remaining pioneers return to the nest, more animals will have already laid down more pheromones on the fastest route, which quickly becomes the predominant one.

See also: Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software, The Essence Of Chaos (The Jessie and John Danz Lecture Series), Chaos: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions), Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: With Applications To Physics, Biology, Chemistry, And Engineering (Studies in Nonlinearity)