14 November 2008
Science Podcast: Multi-Planet System; Nitrogen Fixing in the Oceans; Evolution of Childhood [Listen to MP3] 
Pictures of three planets orbiting a star 130 light years away; cyanobacteria that lack genes for oxygen-evolving photosynthesis but do fix nitrogen; when did we evolve such a long childhood compared to other species; and more. (35 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
7 November 2008
Science Podcast: Genes and Social Behavior; Switching Memories On and Off; Genetics and Mental Disorders [Listen to MP3]
Identifying and understanding how genes influence social behavior and vice versa; a protein that helps short-term memories become long-term ones; genetic links to mental disorders from microdeletions in chromosome 17; and more. (34 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
31 October 2008
Science Podcast: Virus Protection in Insects; Academic Freedom in China; Your Letters to Science [Listen to MP3]
The Wolbachia bacterium protects insects from virus-induced death; thirty years of expanded academic freedom in China; reading from your Letters to Science; and more. (24 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
24 October 2008
Science Podcast: Physical Warmth Promotes Interpersonal Warmth; Measuring Pulsing Stars; Science and the Presidential Election [Listen to MP3]
Experiencing physical warmth increases feelings of interpersonal warmth without the person's awareness; oscillations in stars hotter than the Sun; where the presidential candidates stand on scientific issues; and more. (32 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
17 October 2008
Science Podcast: Obesity Linked to Dopamine Signaling; Volcanic Sparks forming Organic Molecules; Careers in Synthetic Biology [Listen to MP3]
People may overeat to compensate for a hypofunctioning dorsal striatum; recreating Stanley Miller's volcanic spark discharge experiment; synthesizing a career in synthetic biology; and more. (35 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
10 October 2008
Science Podcast: Digital Embryo; Single-Species Ecosystem; Clinical Trials Gridlock [Listen to MP3]
Mapping the movement of all cells during early vertebrate development; a bacterium has every genetic component necessary for a single-species ecosystem; the growing complexity, poor management, and intense regulation of clinical trials; and more. (35 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
3 October 2008
Science Podcast: Illusory Pattern Perception; Bluefin Tuna Movements; High-Calorie Rations [Listen to MP3]
Lacking control motivates people to see patterns where there are none; understanding natal homing and other movements of Atlantic bluefin tuna; relieving malnutrition with high-calorie, high-nutrition rations; and more. (27 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
26 September 2008
Science Podcast: Earth's Oldest Rocks; Science Policy in the U.S. Election; Visualization Challenge [Listen to MP3]
Rocks dated back to 4.28 billion years ago formed right after the Earth cooled; answers from the U.S. presidential candidates on science policy; winners of the International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge; and more. (32 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
19 September 2008
Science Podcast: Traces of the Inner Solar System; Trust in the Web; Survey of Yale Science Graduates [Listen to MP3]
Particles from a Kuiper Belt comet appear to have come from the inner solar system; social trust networks for science; surveying Yale's class of 1991 molecular biophysics and biochemistry program; and more. (32 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
12 September 2008
Science Podcast: Damage Control for the Heart; Imaging Transient Events; Radiocarbon Dating of Recent Phenomena [Listen to MP3]
Limiting the extent of cardiac damage with an enzyme; using dynamic transmission electron tomography to image transient events at 15-nanosecond intervals; dating human tissues through carbon-14 generated by above-ground nuclear tests; and more. (42 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
5 September 2008
Science Podcast: Organizing Memory; Sea Level Rise; Criminal Psychopathy [Listen to MP3]
Self-generating neuronal sequences in rats are specific to their subsequent behavioral choices; up to 2.0 meters of sea level rise from melting ice predicted by 2100; scanning the brains of criminals to look for the neural basis of psychopathy; and more. (35 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
29 August 2008
Science Podcast: Molecular Marker for Neurological Status; Flowers Attract and Repel; Early Amazonian Urbanisms [Listen to MP3]
Amyloid-beta levels in the brain correlate with neurological status in the injured human brain; flowers use scents and toxins to maximize their reproductive potential; pre-Columbian urbanism in the Amazon; and more. (41 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
22 August 2008
Science Podcast: Developing Antibiotics; Predicting Decisions; U.S. Climate Change Model [Listen to MP3]
Developing antibiotics that do not kill bacteria; using automatic mental associations to predict conscious choice; an important climate change model is hamstrung by budget woes; and more. (35 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
15 August 2008
Science Podcast: Ancient Cave Paintings; T Cell-Based Immunotherapy; Modeling Aerosols [Listen to MP3]
Scientists question the age of images considered the world's oldest art; using the body's immune system to fight cancer; accounting for aerosols in climate modeling; and more. (28 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
8 August 2008
Science Podcast: Science in Muslim Countries; Brain Signature of Borderline Personality Disorder; Geoscience Careers [Listen to MP3]
An editorial on science in Muslim countries; analyzing the rupture and repair of cooperation in borderline personality disorder; careers in geoscience are rock solid; and more. (29 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
1 August 2008
Science Podcast: Artificial Photosynthesis; Molecular Basis of Pain; and China's Environmental Challenges [Listen to MP3]
An abundant water-splitting catalyst for artificial photosynthesis; the signaling pathway for mechanical, cold, and inflammatory pain; China's rapid growth and subsequent environmental challenges; and more. (35 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
25 July 2008
Science Podcast: Next Steps for HIV Vaccine; Trends in HIV/AIDS Research; Congressional Earmarks [Listen to MP3]
The way forward for a HIV vaccine after the failed STEP trial; following the money for HIV/AIDS research and treatment; the first congressional earmarks for funding science centers have stood the test of time; your Letters to Science; and more. (40 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
18 July 2008
Science Podcast: Pathogenic Fungi; Resistance Genes; Multi-Drug Resistant Bacteria [Listen to MP3]
The challenges to treating diverse pathogenic fungi; resistance genes to antibiotics develop in natural environments; multi-drug resistant bacteria; curbing tuberculosis in Tomsk, Russia; and more. (30 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
11 July 2008
Science Podcast: Autism's Genetic Links; Interacting with Mass Media; Bipolar Disorder in Children [Listen to MP3]
Evidence that autism has a genetic component; interactions between scientists and journalists smoother than anecdotal evidence suggests; increasing rates of bipolar disorder diagnoses in children; and more. (37 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
4 July 2008
Science Podcast: Seeking to Understand Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; Returning to Mercury; Preserving Iraqi Antiquities [Listen to MP3]
The serotonin system may play a role in one of the leading causes of death in infants; the first flyby of Mercury in 33 years with eventual orbit planned for MESSENGER spacecraft; surprisingly good news for Iraqi antiquities; and more. (49 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
27 June 2008
Science Podcast: Evolutionary History of Birds; Plants on the Move; Your Letters to Science [Listen to MP3]
Using phylogenomics, scientists create a new family tree for birds; plant species' optimum elevation shifts upward; your Letters to Science; and more. (33 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
20 June 2008
Science Podcast: Flagellum "Clutch"; Judging Fuel Efficiency; Analyzing China's Earthquake [Listen to MP3]
A molecular "clutch" disables flagella when bacteria form biofilms; misjudging fuel efficiency by misunderstanding miles-per-gallon ratios; analyzing China's recent earthquake; and more. (32 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
13 June 2008
Science Podcast: Ancient Date Seed; Seeing the Rainforest from the Canopy; Tree Resilience via Seed Dispersal; Preserving Rainforest Biodiversity [Listen to MP3]
The genetics and growth of a date seed about 2000 years old; so you want to be a tropical forest ecologist; trees are less vulnerable to deforestation if animals spread their seeds; taking biodiversity into account amid deforestation; and more. (37 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
6 June 2008
Science Podcast: Climate-Driven Effects on Marine Life; Student-Veterans in Science; Predicting Cocaine Addiction; Insights into Indus Civilization [Listen to MP3]
Addressing the affect of climate change on marine life; veterans returning to school to study science; high impulsivity predicts the switch to compulsive cocaine taking in rats; insights about the Indus civilization, which dwarfed ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations in both land area and population; and more. (38 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
30 May 2008
Science Podcast: Evolution of Eusociality; Supernova Light "Echo"; Fermilab's Uncertain Future [Listen to MP3]
Several polyandrous, eusocial insect species were once monogamous; analyzing the light "echo" from the Cassiopeia A supernova; budget cuts mean job cuts and an uncertain future for Fermilab; and more. (35 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
23 May 2008
Science Podcast: Food-Driven Circadian Clock; New Lake in Turkmenistan; Silica Deposits on Mars [Listen to MP3]
Light- and food-entrainable circadian rhythms; the science and politics over creating a new lake in Turkmenistan; Mars rover Spirit uncovers silica-rich deposits that suggest past hydrothermal activity; and more. (38 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
16 May 2008
Science Podcast: Climbing Versus Walking; Awarding Grants; Using Surface Tension to Eat; Rampant Tiger Mosquitoes; Going to Europe to do Science [Listen to MP3]
The metabolic costs of climbing and walking are the same for small primates; editorial on awarding grants to young investigators; how shorebirds use surface tension to eat; Asian tiger mosquitoes are spreading around the world; streamlining the process of going to Europe to do science; and more. (38 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
09 May 2008
Science Podcast: HIV Prevention Priorities; Neurobiology of Morality; Climate Change in the Sahara [Listen to MP3]
Prioritizing male circumcision to curb HIV epidemics; how scientists are probing the nature of morality; 6,000 year-long record of climate change in the Sahara shows region gradually became desert; and more. (31 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
02 May 2008
Science Podcast: How the Bird Brain Babbles; Reversing Loss of Sight; Screening for Cancer [Listen to MP3]
Finding the neuronal circuitry for babbling in young songbirds; gene therapy for reversing loss of sight; computed tomography (CT) scans to catch lung cancer early; and more. (38 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
25 April 2008
Science Podcast: How Mice Process Pheromones; Plant Genomics; Radical Treatment for Type-2 Diabetes [Listen to MP3]
Understanding the neuronal response of mice to pheromones; future directions for plant genomics; using gastric bypass surgery to treat type-2 diabetes; and more. (32 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
18 April 2008
Science Podcast: How Influenza Spreads; Aquatic Mercury in Terrestrial Animals; Making Synthetic Fuels; Geometrical Model of Music [Listen to MP3]
Some influenza strains evolve and circulate in East and Southeast Asia and then spread around the world; mercury from rivers are making it into non-aquatic birds; synthetic fuels getting another look in the U.S.; describing music using the universal language of mathematics; and more. (30 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
11 April 2008
Science Podcast: Radioprotective Drugs; Modeling the Supergreenhouse; New Treatments for Alcoholism; Generation Y Workforce [Listen to MP3]
New drugs help cells survive exposure to radiation; how fewer biological materials in the atmosphere may have led to the Cretaceous supergreenhouse; an expanding suite of therapies to treat alcoholism; characteristics of the Generation Y workforce; and more. (30 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
04 April 2008
Science Podcast: Earliest Human Presence in North America; Bacteria Living on Antibiotics; Aztec Arithmetic [Listen to MP3]
DNA evidence shows people lived in North America about a thousand years earlier than Clovis tools suggest; bacteria found in soil can subsist entirely on antibiotics; understanding how Aztecs calculated area from perimeter; and more. (30 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
28 March 2008
Science Podcast: Rats Learn Rules; Carbon-Dioxide Monitoring; Genome-Wide Association Studies; Squid Beaks [Listen to MP3]
Rats can transfer learned rules to novel situations; 50th anniversary of carbon dioxide monitoring on Mauna Loa; questions raised by genome-wide association studies; biomechanical properties of squid beaks; and more. (35 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
21 March 2008
Science Podcast: Evolution of Human Bipedalism; Subliminal Influences on Behavior; Farewell Thoughts from Science's Jean Marx [Listen to MP3]
Six-million years ago our early ancestors were already bipedal but walked differently than us; subliminally priming people to be vigorous and motivated means they keep squeezing longer; senior correspondent Jean Marx shares how she got in to science journalism and what awaits in retirement after 35 years at Science; and more. (35 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
14 March 2008
Science Podcast: Predator-Induced Cloning; Organic Molecules in Protoplanetary Disks; Assessing Agricultural Science and Technology; Industry-Academia Collaborations [Listen to MP3]
Sand dollar larvae respond to predator cues by cloning themselves; finding organic molecules in protoplanetary disks around stars; planning for future food and fuel needs with the largest assessment of agricultural science and technology; getting industry funding for scientific research; and more. (34 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
7 March 2008
Science Podcast: Anti-Social Punishment; Tracking Near Earth Objects; Global Sea Level Changes; Science's New Editor-in-Chief [Listen to MP3]
All over the world, people punish those who help them; tracking asteroids and comets and what to do if they're on a collision course with Earth; how the sea level has changed over the last 140 million years; Science's new Editor-in-Chief takes the reigns; and more. (28 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
29 February 2008
Science Podcast: Ice-Nucleating Bacteria; Generating Lift for Bats at Slow Speeds; Prospects for Mars Research [Listen to MP3]
Bacteria and other biological ice nucleators found in snowfall; how bats use a similar strategy as insects for generating lift at slow speeds; budgets suggest fewer future Mars missions; and more. (33 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
22 February 2008
Science Podcast: Human Genetic Diversity; Corporations and Science Education; Moving a Single Atom [Listen to MP3]
An expanded view of the genetics of human differences (and similarities); how for-profit companies are getting into the act in local science education; the forces required to move an atom across a surface; and more. (33 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
14-18 February 2008
Science Podcast: 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting Stories
A series of stories and interviews from this year's meeting in Boston, MA
15 February 2008
Science Podcast: A Solar System Like Ours; Anoxia Just Off the Coast; Extensively Drug Resistant Tuberculosis; Dancing Scientists [Listen to MP3]
Gravitational microlensing used to find two planets in a solar system like our own; low-oxygen events reported off the coast of the western U.S.; tuberculosis that can resist all the regular treatments; the Gonzo Scientist asks if scientists can dance; and more. (34 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
8 February 2008
Science Podcast: Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases; Science Budget; Good Mentoring; Reproducing in Cities [Listen to MP3]
A new model suggests that land use changes would release more greenhouse gases than biofuels can save in the next few decades; examining the 2009 U.S. science budget; the characteristics of a good mentoring relationship; understanding lower reproduction rates in cities; and more. (34 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
1 February 2008
Science Podcast: What's Next for Stem-Cell Research; Languages Evolve in Bursts; Human-Induced Changes in Hydrology [Listen to MP3]
What's next for induced pluripotent stem cells and embryonic stem cells; how languages sometimes evolve in bursts of vocabulary changes; predicted water shortages because of human-induced changes in hydrology; and more. (35 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
25 January 2008
Science Podcast: Accurate Automatic Face Recognition; Complete Synthesis of a Genome; Understanding "Shell Shock" [Listen to MP3]
Averaging images to improve automatic face recognition systems; chemical synthesis, assembly, and cloning of a bacteria genome; a potential biological explanation for "shell shock"; and more. (39 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
18 January 2008
Science Podcast: Genetic Testing for Psychiatric Disorders; Virus as Possible Culprit in Rare Skin Cancer; Legacy of Water-Powered Mills [Listen to MP3]
Companies are launching genetic testing for psychiatric disorders; finding that a virus may be behind a particularly rare and deadly skin cancer; how water-powered mills transformed streams; and more. (35 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
11 January 2008
Science Podcast: Better Understanding of HIV Infections; Cancer Immunotherapy; Glaciation During the Cretaceous Period; Second Chances at First Loves [Listen to MP3]
Using a functional genomic screen to find host proteins involved in HIV infection; why it is hard to recruit the immune system to fight cancer; Antarctic glaciers during a very warm period of Earth's history; ScienceCareers on doing what you love; and more. (36 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
04 January 2008
Science Podcast: Coevolution of a Butterfly with Ants; How the U.S. Presidential Candidates View Science; Big Decisions by Little Fish [Listen to MP3]
Two ant species play host to a butterfly parasite and coevolve; opinions of U.S. presidential candidates on topics from evolution to global warming; archerfish make complex decisions very quickly; and more. (36 minutes)
[Transcript of this podcast]
Previous Years' Podcasts
2007 Shows
2006 Shows
2005 Shows
Podcast content ©2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 American Association for the Advancement of Science
Music ©2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Jeffrey E. Cook
