Kgnu - How On Earth

Scratch & Sniff COVID Test (starts 1:00) CU Scientist Dan Larremore explains how a smell test app might offer an affordable COVID screening that's way more accurate than a temperature check.       Ice Age BONE Fire  (starts 6:00)  Archeologist John Hoffecker and local volunteers recreate a Paleolithic “campfire” that used bones as the primary fuel. Volunteers who helped with this project — Josh Steinsiek, Dustin Goodew of Arapahoe Meat Company, Outdoorspeople Lin and Henry Ballard, Amber O’Hearn and Siobhan Huggins. Engineer Sam Fuqua Host/Producer: Shelley Schlender Additional Contributions:  Edie Hill, Composer Executive Producer: Beth Bennett Listen to the show:

This week on How on Earth, Beth gives an update on the efficacy, safety, and availability of the mRNA vaccines for the corona virus. You hear from Drs Tony Fauci, Michael Diamond, and Roger Seheult. Host: Beth Bennett Producer: Beth Bennett Engineer: Sam Fuqua Executive Producer: Beth Bennett Listen to the show:

This week we review the hit movie “My Octopus Teacher,” the story about a man who goes diving in a kelp forest off the Western Cape of South Africa, and becomes acquainted with an octopus.   We review the movie with Roger Hanlon, a diving biologist, cephalopod expert and senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA.   We discuss the octopus' elaborate camouflage and complex behavior.  We'll get some answers to our octopus questions:   Do they dream?   Do they play?   Use tools?   Are octopuses a second form of intelligent life on earth? You can learn more about the South African sea forest at the Sea Change Project.  You can learn more about octopuses at Roger Hanlon's research. Host & Producer:   Jill Sjong Executive Producer:  Beth Bennett Engineer:   Sam Fuqua Listen to the show:

CU COVID TESTING UPDATE  (starts 1:00) We join CU Engineering Professor Cresten Mansfeldt as he and his students open a sewer manhole and do maintenance on their wastewater COVID early warning system.  We also get an update on COVID status at CU Boulder.     ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED FEVER & CLIMATE CHANGE (starts 11:15) Brown dog ticks that carry Rocky Mountain Spotted fever usually bite dogs.  But they prefer to bite people over dogs when temperature rise to 100 degrees.  UC-Davis scientist Laura Backus explains her new study and its implications in a time of climate change.   Host: Shelley Schlender Producer:Shelley Schlender Engineer:Sam Fuqua Additional contribution: Music from Lynn Patrick Executive Producer:Beth Bennett Listen to the show:

This week on How on Earth, Beth interviews author Judith Schwartz. In her new book, the Reindeer Chronicles, she takes the reader on a tour of some of the most wounded places on earth, and stories of how a passionate group of eco-restorers is leading the way to their revitalization. This optimistic book describes solutions to seemingly intractable problems that can restore local water, carbon, nutrient, and energy cycles. Host:Beth Bennett Producer:Beth Bennett Engineer:Sam Fuqua Additional contribution:Joel Parker Executive Producer:Beth Bennett Listen to the show:

In this week's show Beth talks to Dr. Dominik Nischwitz about his new book, It’s All in Your Mouth, to learn more about the relationship between our mouths and the rest of the body. Many European dentists have practiced holistic dentistry for decades. The practice is now becoming more common in the US. This idea is that many common chronic conditions—obesity, inflammation, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and cancer, among others—often have their origins in the mouth. And by treating the mouth, the body too can benefit. To learn more, you can follow the links above or check out Dr Dom's Instagram feed. Host: Beth Bennett Producer: Beth Bennett Engineer: Maeve Conran Additional Contributions: Joel Parker Executive Producer: Beth Bennett Listen to the Show:

CU-Boulder Sociologist Andrea Tilstra discusses how this decade's reduction of lifespan in the US  ties closely with two factors 1) easier access to painkillers and opioids, and 2) the obesity epidemic and the related health problems that come with it.  Tilstra also explains the quesitons a social scientist/demographer asks when examining the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVID-19 Boulder County local tracking of the pandemic, and the human factors to consider as people face the stresses of social distancing and trying to stay connected.   Producer and Host:   Shelley Schlender Engineer:   Maeve Conran Executive Producer:   Jill Sjong Additional Contributions:  Music from Lynn Patrick

How clean is "clean"?  How do you get clean, and how important is it...could it actually be advantageous to your skin and general health to not try to get too clean?  We talk with medical doctor and author Dr. James Hamblin about his new book "Clean:  The New Science Of Skin". Hosts: Chip Grandits, Joel Parker Executive Producer: Jill Sjong Show Producer and Engineer: Joel Parker Additional Contributions: Shelley Schlender Listen to the Show:

In Part Two of the Shale Revolution, we look at the environmental concerns associated with hydraulic fracturing, particularly the air quality along the Front Range.    We interview Detlev Helmig, an atmospheric scientist, who monitors the air quality along the front range.    We also discuss why well setbacks are such a contentious issue in Colorado. Producer and Host:   Jill Sjong Engineer:   Maeve Conran Executive Producer:   Jill Sjong Listen to the show:

This week on How on Earth, we look at the shale industry, which has transformed this country in ways we could not have imagined a decade ago.    How did this happen?   Where do experts think the fracking industry might be going?     In this two-part series, we consider why Wall Street and environmentalists are becoming strange new allies. We interview Paula Noonan from Colorado Watch, the platform for tracking Colorado Legislature.   We also listen to excerpts from Bethany McLean, author of Saudi America:   the Truth about Fracking and how it's Changing the World. Host/Producer:     Jill Sjong Engineer:   Maeve Conran Executive Producer:   Susan Moran Listen to the show:

In this final show in our four-part series on CU Boulder & COVID, we look at how CU Boulder Contact Tracing and CU data collection has revealed that the biggest spreader of COVID-19 on CU Boulder's campus is students "socializing" in risky ways, particularly in off-campus parties at sororities, fraternities and large student apartment buildings on "The Hill" near CU Boulder.  In contrast, attending in-person classes on CU is not a spreader of COVID-19, and neither are the residential halls.  This show features news from the CU Chancellor's office about a stronger call to reduce the spread, the leader of CU Contact Tracing Matthew McQueen, and Boulder County Spokesperson Chana Goussetis, explaining Boulder County Covid Data.   Producer:  Shelley Schlender Additional Contributions: Angele Sjong Engineer: Maeve Conran

PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES IN COVID-19 TESTS  (starts 1:00)  Beth Bennett reviews the years progress and challenges in COVID-19 Tests, including the latest tests at CU Boulder. CU UPDATE ON COVID-19 (starts 4:15) CU Media Relations spokesperson Candace Smith gives an update on the CU COVID-READY DASHBOARD including progress on getting the Sawyer Lab ultrafast test back in action at CU-Boulder. WASTEWATER TESTING AT CU DORMS (Starts 9:50)  CU Environmental Engineer Cresten Mansfeldt explains how and why CU Boulder is testing for evidence of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 with daily checks of wastewater coming from CU dorms. Producer:  Shelley Schlender Additional Contributions: Beth Bennett Engineer: Maeve Conran

Ultrafast COVID Test Update (starts 1:00)  Sara Sawyer's ultrafast COVID saliva test might be an option sometime soon for allowing visits inside senior care facilities. CU COVID-READY DASHBOARD (starts3:35) CU Media Relations spokesperson Candace Smith gives an update, and How on Earth's Beth Bennett shares comparisons with other university successes and failures at opening up. KEEPING INDOORS COVID-SAFE (Starts 9:25)  CU Aerosol Experts Shelly Miller & Jose Luis Jimenez have become world-renowned for their expertise in how to reduce the risk of aerosol transmission of COVID-19, plus how CU Boulder is working with them to increase the safety of in-person CU Classrooms from COVID-19 for more, see.  CU Boulder Covid Research Strategies Webinar Producer:  Shelley Schlender Additional Contributions: Angele Sjong, Beth Bennett Engineer: Maeve Conran  

CU Boulder has just opened up dorms and in-person classes.  The CU Boulder Covid Research Strategies Webinar presents innovative testing plans that include ultra-rapid tests from the Sara Sawyer Lab and an automated sewage sampling system from Creston Mansfeldt.  Both tests may speed early warning of Covid.  Both testing strategies are innovative and ambitious.  But funding and testing capacity allows only dormitory students to receive these tests.  Meanwhile, the 80% of of CU students live off-campus (not in the dorms) are not slated to receive these tests.  How does all this influence the ability of CU-Boulder to stay open?   Hosts:  Beth Bennett, Angele Sjong, Shelley Schlender Producer: Shelley Schlender Engineer: Maeve Conran  

Chronic pain is a debilitating condition for millions of people worldwide.   But what role does our brain play in processing pain?    Cognitive neuroscientists, using advanced imaging techniques, are gaining a better understanding of how our brain processes pain.   They can now measure and model brain systems linked to our pain and emotions.   This is shedding new light on interventions for people who suffer from chronic pain. In this How on Earth episode, Angele Sjong speaks with Tor Wager, an expert in the neuroscience of pain, and formerly a professor of psychology and neuroscience at CU Boulder.   Angele also speaks with Charlie Merrill, a Boulder-based physiotherapist who works with local athletes, many of whom suffer from chronic pain. Host:   Angele Sjong Executive Producer:   Susan Moran Engineer:   Maeve Conran Listen to the show:

This week How on Earth producer Beth Bennett spoke with Professor Jose Jimenez, a professor in the Chemistry Dept here at CU in Boulder. His research background for over two decades has focused on detecting and measuring aerosols. Recently he became involved in applying this expertise to the question of how the corona virus is transmitted. He and his team have developed a model that predicts the likelihood of transmission of the virus from an infected person to other people in an indoor space. Here are find links to the model, a webinar describing its development and use and his website. The interview starts at ~8 min. Executive Producer: Susan Moran Show Producer: Beth Bennett Additional Contributions: Joel Parker Engineer: Maeve Conran Listen to the Show:

Salmonella Biofilms -- Inside of Us.  (starts 4:06) Foodborne Salmonella infections MIGHT pave the way for arthritis, Parkinson’s disease and even Alzheimer's.  We talk with Aaron White, co-author of a new study documenting how a salmonella infection can "leak" out of the intestines and form velcro-like biofilms in body tissues.  These biofilms are made of curly-shaped, curli (scientific name) proteins on the surface of a Salmonella bacteria.  These curli proteins help the cells stick together.  They're hard for the body to scrub away, and they might contribute to a number of health problems.  (GO HERE for Extended Version TRANSCRIPT with links to related research) Headlines - WHY Covid causes loss of smell; Sensors from Louisville Vaisala on new Mars Explorer, Perseverance.   Host/Producer:  Shelley Schlender Additional Contributions: Beth Bennett Engineer: Maeve Conran Executive Producer: Susan Moran  

Five years ago today on July 14, 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft made the first reconnaissance of Pluto, collecting data that continue to be analyzed and provide surprises of this distant world.  On this 5th anniversary of the Pluto flyby, our guest is Dr. Carver Bierson, who is a planetary scientist at Arizona State University.  Carver has been involved with the New Horizons mission, and recently published a paper about Pluto based on data from the mission.  We talk with him about results in the paper titled: "Evidence for a Hot Start and Early Ocean Formation on Pluto" Host / Producer : Joel Parker Engineer: Maeve Conran Additional Contributions: Beth Bennett Listen to the show:

This week on How on Earth, Beth interviewed Scott Lehman of the University of Colorado here in Boulder. Dr Lehman collaborated with a team at NOAA, to develop a novel technique to identify the CO2 released by burning of fossil fuels, allowing its exact calibration in the global carbon budget. Due to technical difficulties, you can't hear Beth's questions in the audio, but Scott's responses are very clear. You can find more information at his website and read his recent paper published two weeks ago in PNAS. Host:Beth Bennett Producer: Beth Bennett Engineer: Maeve Conran Executive Producer:Joel Parker Listen to the show:

In this episode Angele Sjong interviews Tyler Lyson, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, about his team's extraordinary fossil discovery at the Corral Bluffs. When the asteroid destroyed most of life on earth 66 million years ago, including the dinosaurs, this cataclysmic event ended the Age of Reptiles and began the Age of Mammals.Paleontologists have long struggled to understand the first million years of the Age of Mammals, however.  What kinds of mammals survived this event?   When and how did mammals become big again?  When did mammals begin to diversify?  What was the plant life and climate like at this time?   The animal and plant fossils at Corral Bluffs shed light on this critical time period in earth's history that has been a mystery for so long. The Corral Bluffs have been featured on the PBS Nova show titled "Age of Mammals."   Nova show, "Rise of the Mammals". The Corral Bluffs' fossils are on exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science: DMNS Exhib