Kgnu - How On Earth

There’s a lot of attention right now on creating environmentally friendly technology, non-toxic and sustainable manufacturing, but as Dr. John Warner explains it, it all has to start with the chemistry. John Warner is a chemist, professor and co-founder of the Warner-Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry.   He speaks profoundly about learning methods from nature to create safer, more resilient and more elegant chemistry.  John was also the recipient of this year's Perkin Medal, one of the highest honors in the field of chemistry. Links: Warner-Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry John Warner at Bioneers Executive Producer: Jane Palmer and Kendra Krueger Producer: Kendra Krueger Engineer: Kendra Krueger Headlines: Beth Bennett, Jane Palmer Listen here:

Proof: The Science of Booze (starts at 8:09): Science journalist Adam Rogers, who claims to have taken a liking to single-malt whiskey when he reached drinking age, has immersed himself further into alcohol--particularly, the history and science of making booze, tasting it, and enjoying–or suffering—the effects of it. Booze is a big story: Indeed, making it was a key piece of the dawn of human civilization, as Rogers, who is articles editor at Wired magazine, shows in his inaugural book, called  Proof: The Science of Booze. Rogers talks with How On Earth host Susan Moran about fascinating fungi, sugar molecules and other key ingredients, as well as our human taste buds for alcohol. We have a couple of copies of Proof from our recent pledge drive, so call KGNU (303-449-4885) this week and pledge at least $60 to get your own copy. Rosetta's Rendezvous (start time: 17:40): How On Earth's own Joel Parker, whose "real" job as a planetary scientist is a director at the Southwest Research Institute, a collaborati

(4:00) Kendra talks with local organizers about the upcoming Front Range Bioneers conference             (11:20) Shelley talks with Tim Schoechle about his new position paper for the National Law and Policy Institute, Green Electricity or Green Money? Hosts: Shelley Schlender, Kendra Krueger Producer: Shelley Schlender Engineer: Shelley Schlender Executive Producers: Jane Palmer and Kendra Krueger

Gulp [starts at 4:25] Bestselling author, Mary Roach has been billed as American's funniest science writer.  In "Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal" she takes readers on a journey through the alimentary canal, extolling the marvels of spit on the beginning end, then moving on to the man who had a hole in his stomach that allowed a doctor to observe his digestion.  And . . . on.  Roach even interviews a prison inmate about “rectal smuggling” (including cell phones).  So get ready - here’s Shelley Schlender's conversation with Mary Roach, author of "Gulp". Hosts: Shelley Schlender, Beth Bennett Producer: Joel Parker Engineer: Shelley Schlender Executive Producers: Jane Palmer and Kendra Krueger Listen to the show:

Do Fathers Matter? (start time: 3:07) If you’re a father or a son or daughter – which pretty much covers everyone – this interview should hit home.  Science journalist Paul Raeburn’s latest book -- “Do Fathers Matter? What Science Is Telling Us About the Parent We’ve Overlooked” – explores  what seems like a no-brainer question. But the answers he discovers surprised even him. After last week's pledge drive teaser, we now offer the extended version of host Susan Moran's interview with Raeburn. Mercury in Waterways (start time: 15:20) Next time you take a sip of mountain spring water or catch a wild trout, you might be getting a bit more than you bargained for. Scientists have found mercury in Colorado waterways and in the fish that swim in them. And recent research shows that wildfires in recent years may have added to the problem.  How on Earth's Jane Palmer talked with Joe Ryan, an environmental engineering professor at the University of Colorado. Dr. Ryan also directs AirWaterGas, a project studying the

Do Fathers Matter? (start times: 9:55 and 20:58) Today's How on Earth show is part of the KGNU fall membership pledge drive. During this show we preview an upcoming feature of the book: "Do Fathers Matter? What Science Is Telling Us About the Parent We’ve Overlooked" by science journalist Paul Raeburn.  It may seem obvious that fathers matter. And of course, they do. But just how they are affected by parenthood, and how they in turn affect their kids, is not so obvious, as Raeburn shows.  He looks at the latest research in anthropology, animal behavior, neuroscience and genetics to uncover many surprises. Hosts: Joel Parker,  Susan Moran, Kendra Krueger, Shelley Schlender Producer and Engineer: Joel Parker Executive Producers: Jane Palmer and Kendra Krueger Listen to the show:

Vincent Horn and Buddhist Geeks (starts at 4:42): On October 16th the Buddhist Geek Conference comes to boulder.  Founder Vincent Horn speaks to us about how mindfulness, compassion and contemplative practice can be integrated into the technical world. http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/conference/ Future Earth (starts at 12:58): On our second feature, CSU Professor Dennis Ojima talks to Susan Moran about the Future Earth Initiative.  A lofty project which aims to connect scientists, policy makers and the business sector to design activities to tackle global environmental change at local and regional levels. Future Earth: http://www.futureearth.org/ Dennis Ojima: http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/ojima-lab/ Cosmic Ray Detector app: wipac.wisc.edu/learn Geodesic Dome Workshop: http://denverearthship.com/category/events/workshops/ Hosts: Beth Bennett and Susan Moran Producer: Kendra Krueger Engineer: Maeve Conran Additional contributions: Joel Parker Executive Producers: Jane Palmer and Kendra Krueger Listen to the s

Living Planet Report (starts at 5:50): The environmental organization World Wildlife Fund just released its science-based biennial Living Planet Report.  It doesn’t paint a rosy picture overall; WWF shows that, for instance, wildlife populations across the globe are roughly half the size they were 40 years ago.  And although rich countries show a 10 percent increase in biodiversity, lower-income countries are suffering a drop of nearly 60 percent. The report also ranks the ecological footprints of 152 nations, and warns that the world is living beyond its means. But there are bright spots in the report, too. Even in the absence of national legislation and international treaties, some cities in the U.S., including Boulder, and around the world are making progress toward sustainability and greenhouse gas reductions. Co-host Susan Moran interviews Keya Chatterjee, director of WWF’s renewable energy and footprint outreach program. Finding Exoplanet Water (starts at 18:15): For the first time, scientists have det

Facts and Faith (starts at 4:30): Two weeks ago Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, a professor of atmospheric science at Texas tech came to town to speak at Chautauqua.  As a scientist and a Christian, she advocates for illuminating the urgency and reality of climate change to conservative and religious audiences.  We had the opportunity to sit down and talk about the interconnection of faith and science and why so much tension exists between these two communities. Katharine Hayhoe Website: http://katharinehayhoe.com/ Talk at Chautauqua: http://ucarconnect.ucar.edu/multimedia/videos/climate-change-head-and-heart Craig Venter, Life at the Speed of Light  Macky Auditorium 7pm Monday Septermber 29th.  http://www.colorado.edu/macky/tags/craig-venter Executive Producer: Joel Parker Producer: Kendra Krueger Co-hosts: Beth Bennett, Kendra Krueger Engineer: Maeve Conran Additional Contributions: Shelley Schlender Listen to the show:

Testing the Water (Start time 3:30) What exactly is in our water—the stuff we drink, shower in and use to wash our vegetables? This is a question lots of Coloradans have started to ask in the last few years as oil and gas operations have ramped up in the state. Several communities have become very concerned how nearby drilling operations might be adversely affecting the quality of their water supply. We’ve seen the videos of people living near to fracking wells lighting their tap water, and we’ve heard the stories about the possible health impacts but how much of this is anti-fracking dramatization and how much is there really to be concerned about?  How much is energy development in Colorado affecting the water supply and how can we, that is Jane and Joe public, find out the vital statistics of our water quality? Co-host Jane Palmer discusses these questions with hydrologist Mark Williams from the University of Colorado. Williams is the co-founder of the Colorado Water and Energy Research Center (CWERC) and

The Meaning of Wilderness (starts 4:30): Fifty years ago last week, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Wilderness Act. It was then, and remains today, one of the most significant pieces of environmental legislation. It has protected millions of acres of land. And it established a legal definition of wilderness: “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” Today, many are questioning what conversation should look like hardly a square inch of land around the world is truly "untrammeled." Co-host Susan Moran discusses wilderness then and now with Dr. M. Sanjayan, a senior scientist at Conservation International. He was a correspondent on the  Showtime series on climate change, called Years of Living Dangerously. His next  TV series, which will air next February, is called Earth -- A New Wild. Dr. Sanjayan will speak this Friday at 4 pm MT at Americas Latino Eco Festival. (www.americaslatinoecofestival.org) Living Unde

Recent headlines  warn that Coronal Mass Ejections, better known as Solar Flares, could trigger a high-tech Armageddon, disabling power and communication on a global scale, for months.  Today we talk with Boulder scientists Dan Baker, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, and Doug Biesecker,  National Space Weather Prediction Center, about the risks from Solar Flares, what to worry about, and what is being done to protect us. In today's science show, we also feature upcoming talks on Science. * This Wednesday at 7 PM, How on Earth's Joel Parker will talk about Chasing Comets: The Rosetta Mission, at the Denver Science Museum. * This Friday at 7:30, Conservative Christian and Prominent Atmospheric Scientist, Katharine Hayhoe, will talk about, "Climate Change with Mind & Heart," at Boulder's Chautauqua Auditorium. Hosts: Shelley Schlender Producer: Shelley Schlender Engineer: Shelley Schlender Additional Contributors: Susan Moran, Jane Palmer Executive Producer: Joel Parker Listen to the show:

Sustainable Seafood: (start time 5:10) This is the fourth feature interview in The Ocean Is Us series, which explores how we in land-locked states are connected to the oceans and what’s at stake.  Today we discuss sustainable seafood, which to some critics is an oxymoron, given that some 90% of large fish already have been wiped from the sea. To discuss prospects for feeding 9.6 billion people by mid-century, the developments in wild-caught fisheries and aquaculture, and the role of retailers and consumers, we have two guests. John Hocevar is a marine biologist who directs the Oceans Campaign at Greenpeace. Carrie Brownstein develops standards to guide seafood purchasing for the Whole Foods markets throughout the United States, Canada, and the U.K. All features in The Ocean Is Us  series can be found here. Also, check out KGNU’s year-long series on Colorado water issues. It’s called Connecting the Drops. It’s at kgnu.org and yourwatercolorado.org. To learn more or become active in preserving our watershed an

Marine Sanctuaries (starts at 5:18) This is the third feature interview In the Ocean Is Us series, which explores how we in land-locked Colorado are connected to the oceans, why they matter so much to us all, and what’s at stake.  Today we discuss marine sanctuaries: the conservation science behind establishing them, and their ecological and economic benefits.  In June, President Obama announced his intention to make a vast area of the central Pacific Ocean off-limits to fishing, energy exploration and other activities. If the plans go through, they could create the marine sanctuary. It would double the swath of ocean that is fully protected globally.  Our guests today are devoted to marine conservation. Billy Causey works in the The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at NOAA – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He is Regional Director of the Southeast Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Region.  Vicki Nichols Goldstein is founder of the Colorado Ocean Coalition, a nonprofit based in B

Greenback Cuttthroat Trout (starts at 6:06)  Colorado has always been a state of nature lovers, which is why, in the era of our great great grandfathers, citizens even designated an official state fish. It’s the Greenback Cutthroat Trout that thrived in the mountain streams above Boulder and Denver. Colorado wildlife officials had long assumed that Greenback Cuttthroat Trout still live in our mountain streams. The problem is, they were wrong. Through a complex set of Sherlock Holmes investigations begun in recent years, scientists at CU-Boulder figured out a “fish switch" decades ago, meant Greenback Cutthroat Trout were missing from our streams, and possibly extinct. Since then, we have much better news about the fish that “almost” got away.  In this feature, How on Earth’s Shelley Schlender, speaks with CU-Boulder biologist, Jessica Metcalf. (To access photos of greenback cutthroat trout go to http://photography.colorado.edu/res/sites/news/ and type “cutthroat” in the search box.) Migraines (starts at 14:2

A Tough Summer Vacation (start time 10:52) It’s summer! And although the town feels empty of students for many around here, some researchers may be feeling a sad little void this week as summer internships tie up and interns leave town for a short break before beginning their normal school years. Three Boulder institutions run and coordinate comprehensive research internship programs that just finished on Friday of last week, ending with a bang: Colloquiums and poster sessions for the young scientists to show off their work. The three institutions are UCAR, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, NEON, the National Ecological Observatory Network, and UNAVCO. UNAVCO's internship program is geared towards bringing underrepresented populations into the Earth sciences. The program is called RESESS, and no, it’s really not a playful break like recess was in elementary school. RESESS stands for Research Experiences in Solid Earth Science for Students. And this internship is intense. Thanks to 2014 RES

We talk with Joel Parker about his Denver Science Museum presentation.  Joel is a project leader for one of the scientific instruments on board the Rosetta space mission.  We also discuss new findings about how improving the health of the human digestive tract, with the use of beneficial microbes, might improve mood disorders, including reducing the anxiety that's common with autism. Producer: Shelley Schlender Executive Producer: Joel Parker Listen to the show:

Summer is a time to celebrate our bursting gardens. But you may be wondering why your neighbor’s garden seems to be attracting all the butterflies, honeybees and hummingbirds, while yours seems to be attracting mostly aphids and raccoons. Our guest, Alison Peck, owner of Matrix Gardens in Boulder, talks with How On Earth host Susan Moran about how we make our gardens beautiful, biologically diverse, homes for native wildlife. She’s a landscape designer specializing in xeriscape, native plant and other earth-friendly landscapes. Some resources for gardening for wildlife: * Xeres Society’s pollinator resource guide. * Xeres Society’s book, Attracting Native Pollinators. * Bio-Integral Resource Center, Berkeley, Calif. * National Wildlife Federation’s “Garden for Wildlife” Program. Hosts: Susan Moran and Joel Parker Additional Contributions: Kendra Krueger Producer, Engineer, Executive Producer: Joel Parker Listen to the show:

Jim Pullen speaks with Dr. David Montgomery, Professor of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington about the landslide that buried Oso, Washington, in March 2014. Host: Kendra Krueger Producer: Jim Pullen Engineer: Maeve Conran Executive Producer: Joel Parker Listen to the show:

Endocrine Disruptors and Drinking Water (starts at 3:12) Today we continue our series called The Ocean is Us, which explores our  vital connection to the oceans. Alan Vajda, an environmental endocrinologist at the University of Colorado Denver, talks with How On Earth’s Susan Moran about a rare  success story: why fish in Boulder Creek are acting and looking more sexually normal. We also explore broader water-quality issues in Colorado and beyond, and the implications for human health. For more information on studies conducted by CU and USGS scientists on endocrine disruptors related to Boulder Creek, South Platte River and elsewhere, visit BASIN. Check our website for the previous interview in the “The Ocean is Us” series, on Teens4Oceans. And check out KGNU’s year-long series on Colorado water issues. It’s called Connecting the Drops. It’s at kgnu.org and yourwatercolorado.org. To learn more or become active in preserving our watershed and the oceans, go to Colorado Ocean Coalition. All features in The Oce