Stories by Steve Mirsky

In this episode, journalist Chip Walter, author of Thumbs, Toes and Tears, takes us on a tour of the physical traits that are unique to humans, with special attention to crying, the subject of his article in the current issue of Scientific American MIND. The University of Cambridge's Gordon Smith discusses the alarming lack of any randomized, controlled trials to determine the efficacy of parachutes. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciammind.com; www.chipwalter.com; www.bmj.com.

Limbs and hands from the northeast to the southwest

In this episode, robotics writer Daniel Wilson talks about his book How To Survive A Robot Uprising: Tips On Defending Yourself Against The Coming Rebellion. Naturalist Kurt Auffenberg from the University of Florida talks about wrangling Komodo Dragons. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com/podcast; www.sciam.com/news; www.danielhwilson.com; www.robotuprising.com; www.sciamdigital.com; http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=1&articleID=9312A198-E7F2-99DF-31DA639D6C4BA567

In this episode, Michigan State University historian of science Kristie Macrakis discusses the use of radioactive isotopes in the cloak and dagger world of cold war espionage, and what it tells us about the polonium poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko. We'll also hear a Christmas poem dedicated to the graduate students and postdocs who burn the midnight oil even on Christmas Eve. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include blog.sciam.com; www.sciam.com/podcast; www.sciam.com/news

In this episode, Nobel Prize winner Harold Varmus talks about the challenges facing the U.S. in science and technology competitiveness and some possible plans of action, related to the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project. And the American Museum of Natural History's Jin Meng discusses a major new fossil find, a flying mammal some 130 million years old. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com/podcast; www.sciam.com/news; www.sciamdigital.com; www.hamiltonproject.org; www.amnh.org/science; www.nature.com.

In this episode, Leiden University bird song expert Hans Slabbekorrn notes the changes in bird vocalizations when they move from the forest to the city. And we wrap up our series on Scientific American magazine's "SA 50" citations with Ivo Menzinger, managing director of sustainability and emerging risk management for the reinsurance company Swiss Re. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com/podcast; www.sciam.com/news

A review of recent stories about the mind and some of the body

In this episode, MIT Communications Forum Director David Thorburn discusses the future of newspapers and news in light of new technology. Scientific American editor Steve Ashley talks about the magazine's "SA 50" picks in the areas of automobile and fuel technology advances. And we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com/podcast; web.mit.edu/comm-forum; web.mit.edu/comm-forum/forums.html

In this episode, Scientific American's "SA 50" research leader of the year, MIT's Angela Belcher, discusses her work using viruses and other organisms to help create nanoelectronics. Animal behaviorist and turkey expert Richard Buchholz brings us up to date on some turkey science. And we'll test your knowledge of some recent turkey science in the news and outer boroughs. Websites mentioned on this episode include http://home.olemiss.edu/~byrb; www.sciam.com/podcast

In this episode, Scientific American editor-in-chief John Rennie talks about the World Science Forum, held in New York City last week. Forum speaker Mike Roco, nanotechnology advisor to the National Science Foundation, shares some thoughts about our tiny tomorrow. Chemist Roald Hoffmann reads his own poetry and discusses the importance of fuzzy thinking in science. And we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include blog.sciam.com; www.sciam.com/podcast; www.hsm-us.com/wsf; www.roaldhoffmann.com

In this episode, Scientific American Mind executive editor Mariette Dichristina talks about a special section of the magazine devoted to the roles of gestures and facial expressions in communications. A panel discussion of government secrecy at the annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Journalists featured climate researcher James Hansen; we'll play some highlights from his comments regarding secrecy and science. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciammind.com; www.sciam.com/news; www.sciam.com/podcast; http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/

In this episode, journalist Larry Tye talks about his new book, SHOCK, written with electroshock patient Kitty Dukakis, wife of former governor and presidential candidate Michael Dukakis. Following Tye, Charles Welch, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital electroconvulsive therapy program, discusses the treatments knowns and unknowns. Then Scientific American editor Christine Soares shares some insights about an unusual stem cell research conference held last week in New York City. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.egrandslam.com; www.sciam.com/news; blog.sciam.com.

A whiff at the plate brings up a bouquet of possibilities

In this episode, evolutionary biologist Sean Carroll talks about his new book, "The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution." Even without fossils or comparative anatomy, vast amounts of evidence for evolution and its mechanisms exist in the genomes of the organisms alive today. Carroll discusses immortal genes, fossil genes and repetition in evolution, as well as environmental issues in light of evolutionary understanding. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.seanbcarroll.com; www.egrandslam.com; www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/babies; www.sciam.com/news; www.sciam.com/podcast

In this episode, journalist Robin Marantz Henig discusses a TV program airing on October 23 based in part on Pandora's Baby, the title of her book and Scientific American article about the early days of In Vitro Fertilization. JJ Mirsky talks about the technology of early radios. And we'll look at what happens when a company's name or url becomes detrimental overnight because of some coincidental association with another name. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include blog.sciam.com; www.sciamdigital.com; www.egrandslam.com; www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/babies

In this episode, journalist Philip Ross discusses his article in the October Scientific American, called "Viral Nanoelectronics," about wires, batteries and microchips constructed out of viruses. New Jersey Institute of Technology mathematics professor Bruce Bukiet talks about his probability estimates for the first round of major league baseball's playoffs and how he managed to miss all four series winners while still being correct in his calculations. Scientific American magazine news editor Philip Yam recounts how he boldly went to the Star Trek memorabilia auction last week in New York City. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com/news; blog.sciam.com; www.egrandslam.com; http://m.njit.edu/~bukiet/playoffs.htm

Court cases increasingly deal with complex science and technical issues. And the last time some judges were in a science classroom was before Watson and Crick published the structure of DNA (or at least before the beginning of the Human Genome Project). We'll talk about bringing judges up to science speed with Franklin Zweig and Robert Bell, the chief judge of the Court of Appeals of Maryland. Zweig is the president and Bell is chairman of the board of directors of the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource, an organization devoted to training judges in science (and the product of a Congressional mandate accompanying the Human Genome Project). Then, in the Ask A Scientist segment, the Wildlife Conservation Society's Paul Calle responds to a listener query about how some animals seemingly eat just about anything without any dire consequences. And we'll take a quick trip through a batch of other questions submitted by listeners. Websites related to this episode include www.einshac.org; www.wcs.org; www.sciam.com/news; blog.sciam.com.

A tale of two toilets

Last week, the National Academy of Sciences and other institutions released a report titled Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering. Maria Zuber, head of the department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was one of the members of the committee that prepared that report. We talk to her about the findings and recommendations of the committee. She also discusses her research mapping Mars, Mercury and the Moon. Scientific American reporter JR Minkel chats about his web article called That's Debatable: Six Debates at the Frontier of Science. Plus, we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.nap.edu; www.tinyurl.com/qa6bz; www.sciam.com/news; www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0005726E-214A-1514-A14A83414B7F013F

A major paleoanthropological fossil find was announced on September 20th. Donald Johanson is the director of the Institute of Human Origins and professor of human origins at Arizona State University, and is the discoverer of the famous Lucy fossil more than three decades ago. In this episode, he talks about the new finding and what it means for our understanding of human evolution. We also hear recent comments by John Hofmeister, the president of the Shell Oil Company, that might sound surprising coming from a person in his position. And we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com; www.sciamdigital.com; www.sciam.com/podcast

In this episode, MIT physicist Ernest Moniz discusses the future of nuclear energy and the article he co-authored in the September issue of Scientific American called The Nuclear Option. David Holmes of Manchester Metropolitan University talks about the reality of mouse food preferences and whether or not cheese is included. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com; http://web.mit.edu/nuclearpower; www.cheese.com; http://www.defensetech.org/archives/2006_09.html.

In this episode, MIT astrophysicist Paul Schechter offers some perspective on recent research about the universe's mysterious "dark matter." Journalist Karen Hopkin and host Steve Mirsky talk about the new daily Scientific American podcast, called "60-Second Science." And Scientific American magazine contributing editor Sarah Simpson shares some thoughts about the late Steve Irwin, the "Crocodile Hunter." Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com, www.sciam.com/podcast, www.sciam.com/news and Paul Schechter's home page, http://tinyurl.com/r9yg6.

A slow and steady--and exceptionally lengthy--life

In this episode, journalist Leslie Sabbagh discusses the teen brain, the subject of her cover story in the August/September issue of Scientific American Mind. Geologist Kip Hodges, the director of the Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration, answers a listener's question about the earth's fickle magnetic poles. Plus we'll test your knowledge about the status of Pluto and other science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.sciam.com and www.sciammind.com.