KGNU - How On Earth

When it comes to reducing greenhouses gases, every little bit helps, and that includes managing the greenhouse gases produced by how we grow our food.  Raising livestock and growing crops both generate greenhouse gases, and to gauge their impact, a new study takes the long range view.  The results were published in a paper: “Measuring and mitigating agricultural greenhouse gas production in the U.S. Great Plains, 1870-2000” in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  It analyzes 100 years of agricultural production, and it takes this look at farming close to home – it focuses on the bread basket of the United States – the Great Plains, which includes eastern Colorado.  Here to tell us more are scientists Myron Guttman (University of Colorado) and Bill Parton (Colorado State University) Hosts: Shelley Schlender, Kendra Krueger Producer and Engineer: Joel Parker Executive Producer: Susan Moran Headline contributions: Beth Bennett, Kendra Krueger, Joel Parker Listen to the show:

Using ATVs as “wolves” to move a herd of cattle Mooo-ving Cattle Near the Niobrara (starts 4:28) We talk with Steve Hicks, director of the USFW  Niobrara Wildlife Refuge complex near Valentine, Nebraska and join the Rocking Arrow Ranch on a cattle moo-oo-vve designed to help maintain the quality of wild grasslands   “Before” and “After” holistic grazing adopted on a Mexican pasture – courtesy the Savory Institute The Savory Institute (starts 10:05)  We talk with Boulder’s grazing think tank, The Savory Institute, founded by Allan Savory, about holistic grazing strategies that have the potential to restore grasslands that have been degraded through overgrazing . . . or undergrazing. Hosts: Shelley Schlender Producers: Shelley Schlender Executive Producer: Susan Moran Headline contributions: Daniel Strain, Beth Bennett Listen to the show:

Pluto Flyby  (start time 1:00): Joel Parker discusses the New Horizons mission from the command center live! Case of the Rickety Cossack (start time 25:00): Beth Bennett talks to Ian Tattersall about his new book,  a fascinating précis of the study of human evolution and some startling new findings showing that our species is one of many hominids in which natural selection mixed and matched various characteristics and abilities. Host: Beth Bennett Show Producer: Beth Bennett Board Engineer: Maeve Conran Executive Producer: Susan Moran Additional Contributions: Susan Moran Listen to the show here:

Real Food (start time 4:20): What we eat , and how we eat, is inextricably connected to our own health as well as the health of the planet.  Every decision we make—whether to bake a chocolate cake or buy it from Safeway or at a Farmer’s Market—is full of nuances and even contradictions. Megan Kimble is a writer who became obsessed with wondering how she could make a difference in the world by examining her eating habits. Her just-published book, called Unprocessed: My City-Dwelling Year of Reclaiming Real Food, is her personal journey into the scientific, public health, environmental and political issues related to food. Kimble will  speak tonight at the Boulder Book Store, at 7:30, and tomorrow night, July 30, at Tattered Cover in Denver, at 7:00 p.m. Palaeorhiza (from Papau New Guinea). Photo credit: USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab The Buzz About Bees (start time 13:49): Across the United States, buzzing pollinators are key to the growth of countless flowering plants. But many bee species are also disappearing nationwide, due to pesticide use, habitat loss, and other threats.  Dr. Sam Droege is a wildlife biologist who studies this vanishing world. He heads up the U.S. Geological Survey’s Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab. For several years he’s also led an effort to photograph bees — very, very close up.  Droege’s bee photos are the basis for a new book called “Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World.” Hosts: Susan Moran, Daniel Strain Producers: Susan Moran, Daniel Strain Executive Producer: Susan Moran Headline contributions: Daniel Strain Listen to the show here:

New Horizons Spacecraft Nearing Pluto (artist rendition) (Main Feature Start Time 6:00) We talk with CU students, former students and their advisor about how a student built science instrument called the Student Dust Counter managed to travel billions of miles on the New Horizons spacecraft, and what happens with its project to study space dust, now that it’s near Pluto. Hosts: Shelley Schlender, Kathy Frasier Producer: Shelley Schlender Engineer: Shelley Schlender Executive Producer: Susan Moran

Here is an extended excerpt with Dr. Gerald Pollack, University of Washington professor of Bioengineering. We talk about what barriers exist for scientists in today’s community and a new resource for research to be evaluated in a rigours and open minded format. Listen here!

How On Earth reporter Kendra Krueger caught up with Gerald Pollack, Bioengineering professor from the University of Washington to talk about the physical chemistry of water.  The science of water has a sordid past of controversy and dispute which continues today in our current scientific and layman communities.  Why is that? What is so strange about the properties of water?  Find out more in this weeks episode of How on Earth Pollack Laboratory Website Publications Hosts: Susan Moran, Kendra Krueger Producer: Kendra Krueger Engineer: Kendra Krueger Executive Producer: Susan Moran Headline contributions: Beth Bennett Listen here:  

Will we be able to reverse aging some day soon? We talk with Dr Thomas Johnson about his long standing interest in aging and how he used a nearly microscopic worm to investigate this process. Recently, he has transitioned into using mice to identify genes influencing the aging process. Some of his findings have identified potential drugs to slow aging and keep us healthier as we live longer. Executive Producer: Susan Moran Producer, Co-host: Beth Bennett Engineer: Maeve Conran Cohost: Susan Moran Additional Contributions: Susan Moran,  Beth Bennett Listen to the show:  

An educator and perfomer, Len Barron first developed a piece about Einsteina and Bohr as a one man show, but then decided to evolve the project by enlist the help of 8 grandmothers to tell the story with their own added pizazz.  Not only was lively performance produced, but a process and experience was shared.  This process was captured by documentary film maker Robin Truesdale in a film coming to the Dairy Center this weekend entitled A Beautiful Equation.  Both Robin and Len have joined us today in the studio to tell us more about the film, the process, the scientists and the grandmothers. 4:30pm and 7:30pm Sunday May 31st at The Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, CO More information at abeautifulequation.com and tickets available at thedairy.org Hosts: Beth Bennett, Kendra Krueger Producer: Kendra Krueger Engineer: Kendra Krueger Executive Producer: Susan Moran Headline contributions: Susan Moran, Shelley Schlender, Beth Bennett   Listen here:  

Robin male and fledgling chick. Photo courtesy Jon Erickson, Creative Commons Birds v. Cats (start time 4:35): Spring is in full bloom on Colorado’s Front Range. Robins and other birds wake us up before the crack of dawn with their choruses.  This is also a time when many chicks will hatch and then fledge — a time when they are most vulnerable to predators. The biggest single threat to birds is a favorite household pet – yes, cats. Actually, feral and pet cats alike.  Dr. Amanda Rodewald, an ecologist and director of conservation science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University, discusses with host Susan Moran the various threats to birds and their habitat, and how humans can be part of the solution. Spoiler alert: Keep Felix inside, at least during nesting season. For more info on how you can get involved, go to the American Bird Conservancy‘s Cats Indoors program. The Science of Humor (start time: 14:32): Have you ever laughed at something you know you shouldn’t have? Like when someone you know falls down the stairs? Dr. Peter McGraw discusses with How On Earth contributor Daniel Strain the roots of humor — why we find some things funny, and other things not. He’s a quantitative psychologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder where he heads up the Humor Research Laboratory, or HuRL. Yup, HuRL.  He’s also coauthor of the book The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny. And he will be speaking this Thursday, May 21, at The Science Lounge, a monthly event at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Hosts: Susan Moran, Daniel Strain Producer: Susan Moran Engineer: Beth Bennett Executive Producer: Susan Moran Headline contributions: Daniel Strain Listen to the show here: