
Science Friday
Science Friday and WNYC Studios
Kategorien: Wissenschaft und Medizin
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Orcas Are Attacking Boats Near Spain. Scientists Don’t Know Why
This Thursday, the Supreme Court restricted the scope of the Clean Water Act pertaining to wetlands, in a 5-4 vote. This could affect the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to protect certain kinds of wetlands, which help reduce the impacts of flooding by absorbing water, and also act as natural filters that make drinking water cleaner. Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the court’s three liberal members in the dissent, writing that the decision will have, “significant repercussions for water quality and flood control throughout the United States.”
Plus, earlier this month, three orcas attacked a boat, leading to its sinking. This is the third time an incident like this has happened in the past three years, accompanied by a large rise of orcas attacking boats near the Strait of Gibraltar. Scientists are unsure of the cause. One theory is that these attacks could be a fad, led by juvenile orcas in the area, a documented behavior in this subpopulation of the dolphin family. They could also be a response to a potential bad encounter between boats and orcas in the area.
Science Friday’s Charles Bergquist talks with Sophie Bushwick, technology editor for Scientific American, about these and other stories from this week in science news, including a preview of a hot El Niño summer, an amateur astronomer who discovered a new supernova, and alleviating waste problems by using recycled diapers in concrete.
A Famous Sled Dog’s Genome Holds Evolutionary Surprises
Do you remember the story of Balto? In 1925, the town of Nome, Alaska, was facing a diphtheria outbreak. Balto was a sled dog and a very good boy who helped deliver life-saving medicine to the people in the town. Balto’s twisty tale has been told many times, including in a 1990s animated movie in which Kevin Bacon voiced the iconic dog.
But last month, scientists uncovered a new side of Balto. They sequenced his genes and discovered the sled dog wasn’t exactly who they expected. The study published in the journal Science, was part of a project called Zoonomia, which aims to better understand the evolution of mammals, including our own genome, by looking at the genes of other animals—from narwhals to aardvarks.
Guest host Flora Lichtman talks with Dr. Elinor Karlsson, associate professor in Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology at the UMass Chan Medical School and director of Vertebrate Genomics at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Dr. Katie Moon, post-doctoral researcher who led Balto’s study; and Dr. Beth Shapiro, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, who coauthored the new study on Balto and another paper which identified animals that are most likely to face extinction.
The Long And Short Of Telomere Activity
Telomeres are repeating short sequences of genetic code (in humans, TTAGGG) located on the ends of chromosomes. They act as a buffer during the cell replication process. Loops at the end of the telomere prevent chromosomes from getting inadvertently stuck together by DNA repair enzymes. Over the lifetime of the cell, the telomeres become shorter and shorter with each cell division. When they become too short, the cell dies. Telomere sequences weren’t thought to do much else—sort of like the plastic tip at the end of a shoelace.
Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers now argue that telomeres may actually encode for two short proteins. Normally, those proteins aren’t released into the cell. However, if the telomere is damaged—or as it gets shorter during repeated cell replication cycles—those signaling proteins may be able to leak out into the cell and affect other processes, perhaps altering nucleic acid metabolism and protein synthesis, or triggering cellular inflammation.
Jack Griffith, one of the authors of the report and the Kenan Distinguished Professor of microbiology and immunology at the UNC School of Medicine, joins SciFri’s Charles Bergquist to talk about the idea and what other secrets may lie inside the telomere.
Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum Takes Down Digital Resources
Robert Pendarvis gave his heart to Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum. Literally.
He has a rare condition called acromegaly, where his body makes too much growth hormone, which causes bones, cartilage and organs to keep growing. The condition affected his heart, so much so that a heart valve leaked. He had a heart transplant in 2020.
Pendarvis thought his original heart could tell an important story, and teach others about this rare condition, which is why he was determined to put it on display at the Mütter Museum.
The Mütter Museum is a Philadelphia institution, a medical museum that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to its rooms filled with anatomical specimens, models, and old medical instruments. The place is not for the squeamish. Display cases show skulls, abnormal skeletons, and a jar containing the bodies of stillborn conjoined twins.
Pendarvis thought it would be the perfect home for his heart — and more.
To read the rest, visit sciencefriday.com
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Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.
Vorherige Folgen
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987 - Zoonomia Genetics Project, Telomeres, Mutter Museum. May 26, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 26 May 2023 - 0h
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986 - Experiencing Pain, Grief and the Cosmos, Ivory-Billed Controversy. May 26, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 26 May 2023 - 0h
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985 - Weight and Health Myths, A Corvid Invasion. May 19, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 19 May 2023 - 0h
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984 - The B Broadcast: Bees, Beans, Bears, and Butterflies. May 19, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 19 May 2023 - 0h
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983 - Star Trek Science, Listening to Pando. May 12, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 12 May 2023 - 0h
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982 - US COVID Health Emergency Ends. May 12, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 12 May 2023 - 0h
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981 - Antibiotic Resistance, Space Launches and the Environment, Phage Therapy. May 5, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 05 May 2023 - 0h
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980 - Why Rats Love Cities, Science Of Saliva And Taste. May 5, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 05 May 2023 - 0h
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978 - Personifying AI, The Reading Brain, Environmental Sampling Via Bees. April 28, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 28 Apr 2023 - 0h
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977 - History And Science Of Chickens, Climate Activism, Pipeline Movie. April 28, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 28 Apr 2023 - 0h
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976 - Introducing Our New Podcast: Universe Of Art Sat, 22 Apr 2023 - 0h
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975 - Anesthesia 101, Carbon-Sequestering Poplars, Period Book. April 21, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 21 Apr 2023 - 0h
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974 - The Myth of the Alpha Wolf, Cherokee Nation Seed Banks, History of Gender Affirming Care. April 21, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 21 Apr 2023 - 0h
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973 - ‘Possibility Of Life’ Book, PFAS Sewage, ‘Smart’ Play. April 14, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 14 Apr 2023 - 0h
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972 - EV Proposal, Lactose Intolerance. April 14, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 14 Apr 2023 - 0h
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971 - Artemis II Astronauts, AI Research Pause, Terra Nil Video Game. April 7, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 07 Apr 2023 - 0h
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970 - Plants Make Sounds, Frog Science, COVID Vaccine Update. April 7, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 07 Apr 2023 - 0h
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969 - Mapping An Insect Brain, Climate Education, Audubon Name, Wastewater Methane. March 31, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 31 Mar 2023 - 0h
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968 - Early Spring, Mumps On The Rise, Gulf Of Maine, Supermassive Black Hole. March 31, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 31 Mar 2023 - 0h
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967 - New NASA Science Head, Climate and Fungus, Whiskey Fungus, Animal Testing Alternatives. March 24, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 24 Mar 2023 - 0h
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966 - March Mammal Madness, Underwater Volcano, Listening to Space. March 24th, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 24 Mar 2023 - 0h
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965 - Smart Toilet, Soft Robotics, Naked Mole Rats. March 17, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 17 Mar 2023 - 0h
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964 - Drugs Designed By AI, The Phosphorus Paradox, Regulating PFAS Chemicals. March 17, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 17 Mar 2023 - 0h
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963 - Tips And Tricks To Grow Your Garden In A Changing Climate. March 10, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 10 Mar 2023 - 0h
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962 - A New Controversial Black Hole Theory, Saving The Great Salt Lake. March 10, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 10 Mar 2023 - 0h
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961 - Science At The Oscars, Finding Shackleton’s “Endurance” Ship. March 3, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 03 Mar 2023 - 0h
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960 - Social Media’s ‘Chaos Machine,’ Whale Vocal Fry, Distant Galaxies. March 3, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 03 Mar 2023 - 0h
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959 - AI And Hip Hop, Self-Planting Seeds, Abortion Pill Facing Restrictions. Feb 24, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 24 Feb 2023 - 0h
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958 - “All That Breathes’ Film, Repatriating Native American Remains, Benjamin Banneker. Feb 24, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 24 Feb 2023 - 0h
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957 - Spy Balloons, Cost of Cancer Care, Seaweed, Chocolate Mouthfeel. Feb 17, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 17 Feb 2023 - 0h
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956 - Ohio Train Spill, Mushroom And Memory, Water Infrastructure. Feb 17, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 17 Feb 2023 - 0h
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955 - Rethinking Dementia Care. February 10, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 10 Feb 2023 - 0h
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954 - ChatGPT And The Future Of AI, Turkey Earthquakes. February 10, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 10 Feb 2023 - 0h
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953 - Climate Change Music, Industrial Animal Husbandry, Grief Book. Feb 3, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 03 Feb 2023 - 0h
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952 - Science Of ‘The Last Of Us’ Fungi, New U.S. Nuclear Power. Feb 3, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 03 Feb 2023 - 0h
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951 - Accessible Birding, Human Water Consumption, Road Salt Impacts, Terraformers Book. Jan 27, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 27 Jan 2023 - 0h
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950 - Art Crime Science, Long Covid Update, Earth's Slowing Core. Jan 27, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 27 Jan 2023 - 0h
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949 - Gas Stoves, Next Gen Vaccines, Printed Violins. January 20, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 20 Jan 2023 - 0h
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948 - Children’s Antibiotics Shortage, Bat Vocalizations, Life’s Biggest Questions. January 20, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 20 Jan 2023 - 0h
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947 - Tech To Watch, Pests. January 13, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 13 Jan 2023 - 0h
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946 - Lab-Grown Meat Progress, Early Human Migration Updates. January 13, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 13 Jan 2023 - 0h
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945 - Science Comedy, Shifting Rules For Abortion Pills. Jan 6, 2023, Part 1 Fri, 06 Jan 2023 - 0h
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944 - Redlining and Baltimore Trees, The Root Of A Gopher Mystery, Cold and the Nose, Glass Frogs. Jan 6, 2023, Part 2 Fri, 06 Jan 2023 - 0h
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943 - Astronaut Food, Nope Creature, Nature Soundscapes. Dec 30, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 30 Dec 2022 - 0h
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942 - Champagne Fizzics, Last Days of the Dinosaurs, Vole Girl. Dec 30, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 30 Dec 2022 - 0h
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941 - Glitter, Chestnuts, DNA Data Art, Mistletoe. Dec 23, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 23 Dec 2022 - 0h
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940 - Top Science Stories Of 2022, Beavers, Christmas Tree Care. Dec 23, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 23 Dec 2022 - 0h
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939 - Improving Care For Disabled Patients, Transistor Anniversary, Whale Strikes. December 16, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 16 Dec 2022 - 0h
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938 - Fusion Advance, Cancer Clinical Trial, Christmas Trees And Climate, Best Video Games. December 16, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 16 Dec 2022 - 0h
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937 - Medicinal Psychedelics Study, AI Art. December 9, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 09 Dec 2022 - 0h