Stories by Steve Mirsky

In this episode, Scientific American editor-in-chief John Rennie talks about the September, single-topic issue of the magazine, the focus of which is Energy's Future: Beyond Carbon. He also explains the Emmy Award in his home. And University of East Anglia School of Medicine professor Christopher Cowley discusses his proposal of new requirements for medical school candidates. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include, www.sciam.com; www.sciamdigital.com; and Professor Cowley's article at http://tinyurl.com/nlkns

In this episode, Scientific American editor George Musser explains recent research that could mean that the entire universe is 15 percent bigger and about two billion years older than previously thought. Plus, Pluto expert and MIT professor Richard Binzel, a member of the Planet Definition Committee of the International Astronomical Union, discusses the status of Pluto. And amateur astronomer and Plutophile Ari Mirsky shares his thoughts. 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 and www.sciamdigital.com.

In this episode, journalist Paul Raeburn talks about how the Environmental Protection Agency has been taking a long time, decades in fact, to figure out how to handle some potentially dangerous chemicals. And astronomer and geologist Peter Schultz talks about his chosen method of learning about the universe--smashing stuff. Websites mentioned on this podcast include www.paulraeburn.com.

In this episode, Phil Ross talks about what scientists have learned is necessary to achieve expertise in virtually any field. Ross's article on the subject, The Expert Mind, is in the August issue of Scientific American. And Sheldon Schafer, who sports the title of Curator of the Solar System (a huge model of the solar system centered in Peoria, Illinois) discusses the Interplanetary Bicycle Ride, coming up on August 12 and 13. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this podcast include Spectrum.IEEE.org; www.lakeview-museum.org; and the Scientific American Digital Archive, www.sciamdigital.com.

Apparently, to paraphrase Gertrude Stein, when you come here, there's no here here

In this episode, geologist Kip Hodges discusses how climate and mountain evolution influence each other in the Himalayas, the subject of his article in the August issue of Scientific American. And former astronaut Dr. James Bagian, currently the director of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Patient Safety, talks about patient safety. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this podcast include the Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration, www.sese.asu.edu; the National Center for Patient Safety, www.patientsafety.gov; and the Scientific American Digital Archive, www.sciamdigital.com.

In this episode, former astronaut Dr. James Bagian, currently the director of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Patient Safety, talks about being in space and safety issues related to the shuttle. And Max Houck, director of the Forensic Science Initiative at West Virginia University and author of the July Scientific American article "CSI: Reality," talks about court challenges to fingerprint evidence. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this podcast include www.patientsafety.gov and the Scientific American Digital Archive, www.sciamdigital.com.

In this episode, Max Houck, director of the Forensic Science Initiative at West Virginia University and author of the July Scientific American article "CSI: Reality," talks about the effect the CSI shows have had in the real world and about real crime scene investigation versus what's portrayed on TV. And John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest, talks about the recent Coke/Pepsi espionage case and the realities of secret soda formulas in the age of high-tech chemistry labs. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this podcast include www.beverage-digest.com; www.publicknowledge.org/node/497; www.tinyurl.com/LGL6P; and the Scientific American Digital Archive, www.sciamdigital.com.

In this episode, we go to the research and development facility of Ben and Jerry's in Vermont, to talk about the science of ice cream. We'll talk to Derek Spors, ice cream scientician (a.k.a. "senior product developer-food technology") and Eric Fredette, group leader of flavor development. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Organizations and websites mentioned on this podcast include http://www.benjerry.com; the Scientific American Digital Archive, www.sciamdigital.com; and http://technology.physorg.com/news70817487.html.

Hawking interesting avians in the urban environment

In this episode, science writer Karen de Seve shares her adventures in the Bering Sea; journalist Dr. John Miller talks about a radiation health conference; and taxonomist and paleontologist Scott Thomson discusses the late Harriet the tortoise. Plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Organizations and websites mentioned on this podcast include the Liberty Science Center, www.lsc.org; Karen de Seve's blog, http://beringsea.blogspot.com; the American Statistical Association, www.amstat.org; Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet; and the Scientific American Digital Archive, www.sciamdigital.com.

In this episode, the special guest is renowned biologist and author Edward O. Wilson. First we'll hear clips from a talk he gave last week at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, in conjunction with the publication of his new book, Nature Revealed: Selected Writings 1949-2006. Then Scientific American podcast host Steve Mirsky talks to Wilson about a few specifics in biology and conservation. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Organizations and websites mentioned on this podcast include the American Museum of Natural History, www.amnh.org; and the Scientific American Digital Archive, www.sciamdigital.com.

In this episode, freelance reporter Beth Baldwin talks about some of the goings-on at the recent annual meeting of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution, entitled "Genomes, Evolution, and Bioinformatics." And Kate Wong, Scientific American's paleontology and anthropology expert, talks about recent findings in human evolution as well as a new, unusual dinosaur discovery. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Organizations and websites mentioned on this podcast include the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution, http://www.smbe.org; the conference page, http://www.smbe.org/geb; the Paleoanthropology Society, http://www.paleoanthro.org; the Scientific American blog, blog.sciam.com; the Scientific American Digital Archive, www.sciamdigital.com.

In this episode, Liz Johnson and Felicity Arengo from the American Museum of Natural History take Scientific American podcast host Steve Mirsky for a walk in the park--Central Park--to talk about the spring bird migration and the role that Central Park and other green spaces plays in the lives of birds and other animals. Author Marie Winn also talks about the park and the wildlife it supports. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Organizations and websites mentioned on this podcast include the American Museum of Natural History, www.amnh.org; the Central Park Conservancy, www.centralparknyc.org; the New York City Audubon Society, www.nycaudubon.org; the Linnean Society, www.linnean.org; Marie Winn, www.mariewinn.com; the Scientific American blog, blog.sciam.com; the Scientific American Digital Archive, www.sciamdigital.com.

The more things change, the more they're not the same

In this episode, Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, talks about legislation that will decide the future of "network neutrality." Net neutrality means that transmission rates to and from all websites are the same, rather than some websites being able to steer traffic their way through faster rates. Also, Tim Berners-Lee spoke at the 15th International World Wide Web Conference, which took place last week in Scotland. The inventor of the web talked about net neutrality and the semantic web, whereby computers will sync their info about us seamlessly, saving us the work. Plus, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg made a strong, pro-science speech last week, and we'll hear a highlight. Finally, we'll test your knowledge about some other recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this podcast include Center for Digital Democracy www.democraticmedia.org, Pro-net neutrality www.savetheinternet.com, Anti-net neutrality www.handsoff.org, World Wide Web conference www.www2006.org, Berners-Lee Scientific American article on the Semantic Web http://tinyurl.com/9w34, Mayor Bloomberg's pro-science speech http://tinyurl.com/lrvof, Scientific American http://blog.sciam.com, Scientific American website www.sciam.com.

In this episode, the guest is Eric Kandel, recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. Kandel discusses his research, his personal background and their intersection. He talks about what kinds of scientific investigation he finds most interesting and worthwhile and where he would concentrate if he were beginning his research career today. These and other subjects are also themes of his new book, In Search of Memory, and his article in the current issue (April/May) of Scientific American Mind, called The New Science of Mind. After the interview, we'll also test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.

In this episode, Scientific American editor Mark Alpert talks about his trip inside the Tevatron, the world's most powerful particle accelerator, at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and the future of the Tevatron, specifically for neutrino research. Scientific American senior writer Wayt Gibbs reports on the recent CHI2006 conference. CHI is for computer human interface, and the conference is the largest annual meeting of computer scientists who study and invent the ways that humans and computers talk to each other. Wayt interviewed Ed Cutrell, from Microsoft Research's Adaptive Systems Interaction Group, and reviews some of the subjects he came across at the meeting. Finally, computer scientist and chemist Ehud Shapiro talks about DNA computers and his article on the subject in the May issue of Scientific American. Plus, test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.

In this episode, Cambridge conservation scientist Andrew Balmford discusses the state of the world's birds; the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Rex Johnson talks about a new, strategic approach to conservation (both men were presenters at the recent conference "Conserving Birds in Human-Dominated Landscapes" at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City); and the Wildlife Conservation Society's Alan Rabinowitz describes his efforts to save the world's big cats. Plus, test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.

In this episode, Nobel Prize winning physicist Frank Wilczek talks about his new book, Fantastic Realities, as well as his research and the current and future state of physics. His wife, Betsy Devine, talks about taking the phone call from Stockholm informing Professor Wilczek that he had been awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in physics. Plus, test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.

Mixing drinks and culture is an art

In this episode, physicist William Zajc talks about how the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory is giving scientists a glimpse into what the universe was like in its first microseconds of existence; historian Joyce Chaplin discusses Benjamin Franklin the scientist and her book The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius; and Steve Mirsky talks about the recent "Teaching Evolution and the Nature of Science" conference in New York City, where he interviewed Jennifer Miller, biology teacher involved in the Dover intelligent design trial. Plus, test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.

In this episode, physicist and energy consultant Joseph Romm talks about the next generation of hybrid cars and his Scientific American article on that subject; biologist Matthew Cobb discusses a recently concluded science conference devoted to fruit fly maggots as models for genetics research; and journalist David Berreby talks about his book Us and Them: Understanding Your Tribal Mind. Plus, test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.

In this episode, the conclusion of a two-part interview with anthropologist Carel Van Schaik about intelligence in animals; astronomer Steven Squyres talks about the current state of the Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity; and cardiologist Arthur Klatsky rebuts a recent meta-study that claims that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption confers no cardiovascular health benefits. Plus, test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.