Inoculated Media :

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Star Date: 2008.02.06.2200

Show Topics:

First synthetic bacterial genome made from scratch, raises promise and bioethics issues, MicroRNAs evolved early in vertebrates, Horseshoe crabs now 100 million years older, nitrogen fertilizers may lower biodiversity of prairie grasses, yet also increase growth in tropical forests, and gene silencing breakthrough may help protect crops against pests.

Native bees in Oregon and California can give ailing honeybees some help, a new component is added to the International Space Station, and fish accused of interspecies sexual harrasment!

Interview with Dr. Neil Shubin, Co-discoverer of Tiktaalik and author of Your Inner Fish.

Brought to you by Calcium Carbonate.

Theme = Jurassic Park by John Williams.

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Star Date: 2007.05.10.2200

Show Topics:

Last Davis Show! Battle of the Science Communication Heroes: Ken Miller and PZ Myers discuss and debate the issue of religion and the acceptance of evolution.

Then, an unsolicited call from Evil J. Klone reveals a plot behind the takeover attempt of KDRT by KMJE, and then Karl explains what he is going to be doing in Graduate School.

Ariela joins the show, and unbeknownst to her, their parents were on the phone. Technical issues were abound throughout the show, but it was nicely salvaged and might be one of the most remembered shows ever done. That is, Karl pops a big question to Ariela before they move 2,000 miles to start the next phase of their lives.

(For a huge image click here.)

Theme = the best of Karls collection of science fiction music.

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Star Date: 2007.04.26.2200

Show Topics:

Booster Shot on CCD – Karl gets in an Aggie article about the disappearing bees, and the Rapture must be taking away the bees! Irradiated hive boxes demonstrate recovery of bees, Varroa mite now in Hawaii, and a new bee virus discovered.

Most Earth-like extra-solar planet discovered, may support liquid water, sounds a lot like Krypton from the Superman comics, and coincidentally “Kryptonite” is discovered… sort of. Now named Jaderite. “The Great Global Warming Swindle” film criticized, and China decides to make it rain before the 2008 Olympics so it won’t rain during the games, first evidence for pre-colonial metal smithing in the Americas, questions about the inheritance of archaic traits in Neanderthals and early humans – were they social equals?

Interview with Dr. Ellis Jones, Sociology professor and author of The Better World Handbook and The Better World Shopping Guide. We talked about making ethical choices with our dollars, and the sociology of science fiction. Ariela also joined us in the studio for the interview.

Theme = Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark by John Williams.

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Star Date: 2007.04.12.2200.

Show Topics:

46th anniversary of the first human in space, scifi author Kurt Vonnegut dies and is “up in heaven”, skin cream products contain compound that causes pathological reactions, Rhesus Monkey genome sequenced.

The pope pontificates on evolution and doesn’t seem to understand a few fundamentals of science – commentary on the trouble with religion wading into science, Myers-Miller show announced, and 7000 year old corn pollen found, pushing back the date of corn cultivation. The sometimes deadly mouth bacterium S. sanguinis has been sequenced as well.

Latest IPCC report is out, and points to dramatic changes unless action is taken – the arctic permafrost may melt. There are possible caves on Mars, research suggest that the first photosynthetic life forms may have been purple, and for the same reasons, alien life on alien worlds orbiting alien suns would have very alien coloration.

Finally, Karl announces that he will be departing for graduate school.

Theme = The Last Starfighter by Craig Safan.

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Star Date: 2007.03.22.2200

Show Topics:

Warmest Winter Ever. Cleaning up the air has helped the warming of the Earth, and for our second climate irony of the show, a cooler climate may have made our brains bigger, and we’re warming it back up! Also, there are new global maps of biodiversity and carbon dioxide emissions, and this year will be particularly bad for pollen allergies, too.

Plenty of bee-autiful science, a new bee-powered poison alert system, and a new study on Vitellogenin shows how evolution has co-opted a reproductive gene to govern the division of labor in hives.

the Battle for Humanity, genetically engineered mosquitoes resistant to malaria will quickly spread throughout the population, spiders are snuggling, and the path of human ancestors 100-200k years ago, root beer is the kindest soda to your teeth, Playstation IIIs turned into a supercomputer, and you may have heard of dry ice, but Hot Ice?

Theme = Independence Day by David Arnold.