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Date |
Title/Podcast |
Description |
Length |
 |
October 22, 2008 |
"Multi-Faceted" |
A Northwestern University research team has developed a device made of tiny diamonds that could be used to deliver chemotheraphy drugs to places in a human body where cancerous tumors have been surgically removed. Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
October 22, 2008 |
"Collateral Damage" |
Pine bark beetles appear to be doing more than killing large swaths of forests in the Rocky Mountains. Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, suspect that their hunger for trees is also changing local weather and air quality. Check out this News Story. |
90 seconds |
 |
September 29, 2008 |
"Sugar Rush" |
Research teams from Virent Energy Systems and the University of Wisconsin at Madison have successfully converted sugar--potentially derived from agricultural waste and non-food plants--into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and a range of other valuable chemicals. Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
September 19, 2008 |
"Night Moves" |
A team of biologists has found the genes that allow plants to have growth bursts at night and allow them to compete when their leaves are shaded by other plants. Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
September 11, 2008 |
"Going, Going, Guam" |
Biologists have found that an invasive species of brown tree snake has had an impact on Guam's forests. This species of snake has been hunting the island's bird population to near extinction. Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
September 4, 2008 |
"Buggles" |
MIT mathematicians have now figured out exactly how hundreds of types of insect species are able to spend much of their time under water. When these insects submerge, their rough, water repellent coats trap air next to their bodies and form a small airpocket from which to breathe. Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
August 5, 2008 |
"Break Water" |
In a major leap that could transform solar power from a marginal energy source into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine. Until now, solar power has been a daytime-only energy source, because storing extra solar energy for later use is prohibitively expensive and grossly inefficient. MIT researchers have hit upon a simple, inexpensive, highly efficient process for storing solar energy. Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
July 29, 2008 |
"Deep Voices" |
Talking fish? New research shows that fish vocalize with hums and grunts. Long ago, fish evolved this ability before vertebrates first ventured out of the water. Check out this News Story
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90 seconds |
 |
July 15, 2008 |
"Degrees of Survival" |
Global warming is likely a greater threat to species living in the tropics than species from cooler climates because tropical species don't tolerate temperature increases as well. Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
June 26, 2008 |
"Fragrant Violation" |
Air pollution from power plants and automobiles is diminishing the fragrance of flowers and thereby inhibiting the ability of pollinating insects to follow scent trails to their source, a new University of Virginia study indicates. Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
June 20, 2008 |
"Frogantuan" |
A team of researchers, led by a Stony Brook University paleontologist, discovered the remains of what may be the largest frog ever to exist. The fossilized remains of this 16-inch, 10-pound ancient frog were found in Madagascar and link a group of frogs that lived 65-70 million years ago with frogs living today in South America. Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
May 12, 2008 |
Café Latte Batte |
At a time when bat populations are declining worldwide, a new University of Michigan study shows the bat's impact on ecological systems. The study reveals that bats exceed birds in their ability to devour coffee-eating insects on organic coffee farms. Want to learn more? Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
April 22, 2008 |
Gasoline Plant |
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst have made a breakthrough in the development of "green gasoline," a liquid identical to standard gasoline yet created from sustainable biomass sources like switchgrass and poplar trees. Want to learn more? Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
April 11, 2008 |
Tropical Hunch |
Using global databases and sophisticated computer models to analyze patterns of emerging diseases, scientists from four well-known institutions are able for the first time to plot, map and predict where future pandemics might originate. Want to learn more? Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
March 24, 2008 |
Flight Path |
A new study from the University of Montana Flight Laboratory regarding the evolution of flight suggests birds' wings evolved because birds were using their wings to run up steep surfaces in order to avoid predators. Eventually, their wings became strong enough for true flight. Want to learn more? Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
February 28, 2008 |
Systematic Search |
A team of international astronomers reported the discovery of a solar system nearly 5,000 light years away containing scaled-down versions of Jupiter and Saturn, suggesting that our galaxy could conceivably contain many star systems similar to our own. Want to learn more? Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
February 28, 2008 |
Eye Screen |
University of Washington engineers have for the first time, combined a flexible, biologically safe contact lens with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights. Want to learn more? Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
January 22, 2008 |
Loving Environment |
A study at Michigan State University shows that rising divorce rates have a negative impact on the environment due to increased levels of energy and utility consumption. Want to learn more? Check out this Press
Release from NSF. |
90 seconds |
 |
January 14, 2008 |
Got Mica? |
According to a new "soup and sandwich" hypothesis, Earth's first life may have formed inside a primordial soup that was sandwiched between the many layers of the mineral mica. Want to learn more? Check out this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
January 14, 2008 |
Evolution Revolution |
Countering a common theory that evolution in modern humans has slowed to a crawl or even stopped, a new study from the University of Wisonsin-Madison examines data from an international genomics project that describes the past 40,000 years as a time of supercharged evolutionary change. Want to know more? Read this Press
Release from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. |
90 seconds |
 |
January 14, 2008 |
Distant Whaletive |
A research team from Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy has discovered the missing link between whales and their four-footed ancestors. Want to learn more? Read this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
 |
July 12, 2007 |
Tropical Punch |
A study from an international team of scientists sheds some light on one of the biggest mysteries in climate science. What happens to the 8 billion tons of carbon emissions resulting from motor vehicles, factories, etc. each year? Earlier estimates indicated that forests in the northern regions were responsible for a good portion of the carbon uptake. New information from aircraft samples reveals those numbers to be much lower, but it appears that forests in the tropical regions are doing significantly more than expected to offset the industrial emissions. Not exactly a K.O. (or should we say CO) of global warming, but certainly one round for the tropics in this fight. Want to know more? Check out this Press
Release from Purdue University. |
90 seconds |
 |
June 7, 2007 |
Reef Savers |
The establishment of marine reserves is successful in protecting fish and other marine life from overfishing, but now research from the University of Exeter shows the benefit is even greater than that. The reserves could also help coral reefs to survive... because algae and seaweed, which are usually detrimental to coral, are controlled by grazing parrotfish. Kind of a reversal of roles in the marine world -- coral reefs, which have supported thousands of fish and other marine species for millions of years, are now getting a helping "hand" from fish. Want to learn more? Read this Press
Release. |
90 seconds |
