| May 21, 2013 |
Aging Color Vision
- Our eyes’ ability to detect color deteriorates with age, but our brains compensate.
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| May 20, 2013 |
Shark Siblicide
- Unborn baby sharks gobble up their brothers and sisters in the womb.
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| May 17, 2013 |
Podcast for 17 May 2013
- VISION SCIENCE - A camera modeled after the compound eyes of insects. How the brain compensates for worsening color vision as we age. And, could electrical simulation to the brain improve math performance? Also: Young people are still flocking to tanning booths, despite the risk of developing life-threatening melanoma.
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| May 13, 2013 |
Insect-Inspired Camera
- The compound eyes of insects have inspired the design of a new camera.
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| May 10, 2013 |
Podcast for 10 May 2013
- EYES, EARS & THE BRAIN - How short-term hearing loss protects the ears. The brain's number hotspot. And: could lasers wipe out cocaine addiction? Also: A nanosponge that soaks up toxins in the body.
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| May 6, 2013 |
Changing Hare Color
- Climate change could make snowshoe hare camouflage less protective.
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| May 2, 2013 |
Parasite-Inspired Adhesives
- A marine parasite has inspired new surgical adhesives.
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| April 30, 2013 |
Podcast for 19 April 2013
- GIANT SNAILS & ANCIENT TREES - Giant aliens attack Florida, unsticking geckos, the worlds within carnivorous plants, and mapless migrant monarchs.
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| April 23, 2013 |
Mapless Monarch Migration
- Monarch butterflies migrate from North to South America without a mental map.
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| April 22, 2013 |
Sound & Memory
- Playing soundwaves synchronized with a person's own deep sleep rhythms may improve short-term memory.
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| April 18, 2013 |
Sticky Geckos
- Researchers are learning what surfaces geckos stick to best.
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| April 17, 2013 |
Brainy Athletes
- Olympic-level athletes have some enhanced cognitive abilities.
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| April 16, 2013 |
Carnivorous Plant Food Webs
- Each carnivorous pitcher plant contains a unique food web, depending on what falls in.
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| April 12, 2013 |
Podcast for 12 April 2013
- ATHLETES & ROBOTS - Elite athletes are far from dumb jocks. A common ingredient in energy drinks could promote heart disease. Also: Robots that learn by watching us, and robots that can walk on sand.
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| April 9, 2013 |
Fairy Circles
- Mysterious “fairy circles” on African plains are caused by termites, which destroy patches of grass but help the surrounding grass thrive.
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| April 8, 2013 |
Reviving Extinct Species
- Using frozen DNA, researchers have created early-stage embryos of an extinct frog.
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| April 6, 2013 |
Podcast for 5 April 2013
- LESSONS FROM THE DEAD - Scientists attempt to bring back an extinct frog. Mummies showing signs of heart disease make researchers rethink assumptions about lifestyle and diet. The mysterious death zone within African "fairy circles" explained. Also: a miniature laboratory under the skin monitors blood chemistry.
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| April 3, 2013 |
Remote Blood Testing
- Researchers have developed an implantable blood testing sensor that can monitor blood glucose levels and chemotherapy drugs, among other things.
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| April 2, 2013 |
Down Syndrome Protein
- Deficiency in a key protein may strongly contribute to cognitive impairments in Down Syndrome.
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| April 1, 2013 |
Mummy Heart Disease
- Mummies from a variety of different cultures show signs of heart disease.
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| March 29, 2013 |
Podcast for 29 March 2013
- EARLY HEALTH - A molecule that could make it possible to jumpstart the newborn immune system. Why too many brain cells could be a bad thing. And, could humidity affect flu transmission? Also: The effects of sleep deprivation on your genes.
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Microbe Roundup
- Fighting disease involves maintaining the healthy populations of microbes that live inside us.
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| March 28, 2013 |
Fragile X Neurons
- Fragile X Syndrome, a leading genetic cause of intellectual impairments, may actually result from too much brain activity.
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| March 27, 2013 |
Humidity vs. The Flu
- Low humidity may increase the transmissibility of the influenza virus indoors.
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| March 22, 2013 |
Bird Roundup
- Cliff swallows are evolving rapidly in response to an urban environment.
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| March 19, 2013 |
Arctic Camels
- Camels seem perfectly suited to life in the desert, but they may have evolved those traits in the high Arctic.
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| March 18, 2013 |
Newborn Vaccines
- Researchers have identified a molecule that could help turn on newborn babies’ immune systems.
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| March 15, 2013 |
New Genetics Roundup
- Scientists discover shared genetic markers for five common psychiatric disorders.
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| March 13, 2013 |
Alcoholic Insects
- Fruit flies sometimes marinate their young in alcohol to protect them from parasitic wasps.
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| March 12, 2013 |
Immune System Passports
- Researchers have successfully copied a molecule that protects our bodies from our own immune systems.
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| March 11, 2013 |
Half-Asleep Seals
- Fur seals sleep with one half of their brain at a time.
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| March 5, 2013 |
Alcohol Origins
- Did our ability to digest alcohol first emerge at the dawn of civilization or millions of years earlier?
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| March 4, 2013 |
Printable Prosthetic Ears
- Scientists have reproduced a human ear using a 3-D printer.
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| February 27, 2013 |
Ancient Whales
- A newly discovered but long-extinct whale species may have eaten sharks.
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| February 21, 2013 |
Brain Sensor Tattoos
- Sensors the size of temporary tattoos could transform how brain signals are monitored.
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| February 20, 2013 |
Hard Labor
- Other people help human mothers through the emotional and physical aspects of the birth process, which help decrease the risks of childbirth. But apes have easy births, and prefer to go it alone.
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| February 17, 2013 |
Brain Sensor Tattoos – 2013 AAAS Annual Meeting Coverage
- Sensors the size of temporary tattoos could transform how brain signals are monitored.
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| February 16, 2013 |
Podcast for 16 February 2013
- 2013 AAAS ANNUAL MEETING, BOSTON, MA - Researchers are discussing how to treat psychological problems in chimpanzees, and why childbirth is such an ordeal in humans but not in apes. Also: scientific detectives have solved an art mystery. And researchers have unveiled ultrathin, wireless sensors that can monitor your brain activity.
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Hard Labor – 2013 AAAS Annual Meeting Coverage
- Other people help human mothers through the emotional and physical aspects of the birth process, which help decrease the risks of childbirth. But apes have easy births, and prefer to go it alone.
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| February 11, 2013 |
Podcast for 8 February 2013
- MICROBIAL LIFE - How antibiotic-resistant bacteria spread, tracing HIV back millions of years, and how life thrives among the storm clouds. Also, a listener's question about the common cold.
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Storm Cloud Life
- A world of bacterial life inhabits storm clouds high in the atmosphere.
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| February 8, 2013 |
Mood & Brainpower Roundup
- Mood can affect older adults’ performance on cognitive tests.
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| February 1, 2013 |
Cancer Stress Roundup
- Scientists are learning how stress can promote cancer.
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| January 31, 2013 |
Parkinson’s Test
- A salivary gland biopsy may finally make it possible to definitively diagnose Parkinson's Disease in living patients.
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| January 28, 2013 |
Cancer Decline
- Cancer deaths have declined significantly since 1991.
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| January 18, 2013 |
Sensitive Reptile Roundup
- Some dinosaurs may have used feathers to show off, much like some modern birds.
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| January 17, 2013 |
Podcast for 18 January 2013
- HEARING & SOUND - Why hyenas are anything but funny. Can animals dance to a beat? Using sound to save the whales. And physical fitness worsens hearing, but estrogen improves it. Encore presentation from May 22, 2009.
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| January 16, 2013 |
Plants Smell Danger
- A type of plant can sense mating chemicals from fruit flies, and builds up its defenses when it does.
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| January 15, 2013 |
Birdsong Bluster
- Female songbirds sometimes have a hard time separating truly worthy male crooners from the fly-by-night wannabees.
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| January 11, 2013 |
Big Brain Roundup
- Big brains are detrimental in some animal species.
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