By Karl HvM on 2007.03.01: Thursday
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Star Date: 2007.03.01.2200
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Karl is back from his tours of graduate schools, but before he left he dropped a public note to Davis anti-evolutionists. The color red makes people fail (or think they will), mint tea may help reduce facial hair, breakthrough in cell-printing technology, there is a hole in the Earth’s crust, Stephen Hawking to experience zero gravity after a lifetime of studying the phenomenon, birds can plan ahead, Chimpanzees had their own stone age thousdands of years ago, female chimps hunt with tools, primates pushed back 10 million years to the age of dinosaurs. And the most amazing scientific feat saved for last – an ancient endogenous retrovirus has been resurrected.
Interview with Nick Matzke, Public Information Project Director at the National Center for Science Education. We talked about the Dover trial, how he discovered some of the jaw-dropping evidence used in the case, and finally we talked about how, despite what the anti-evolutionists say, the evolution of the flagellum is within reach of understanding.
Brought to you by Deoxynivalenol.
Theme = Star Wars Episode IV The Empire Strikes Back by John Williams.
Posted in The Inoculated Mind - Mindcast
By Karl HvM on 2007.02.08: Thursday
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Star Date: 2007.02.08.2200
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Pre-Darwin Day show, quick comment on Astronaut kidnapping incident and Astronaut psychology, Nintendo Wii used to control sword-wielding robot, latest development on the way to the Javamochalattevanillachino bean: Genes responsible for sucrose accumulation in coffee beans characterized and its relationship to shading.
Strength of concrete has to do with structure – not composition – can we fight global warming with less polluting concrete? What factors influence deforestation in the Amazon, 45 nations call for new environmental body to deal with global warming and the US is predictably not one of them, new study of 3.75 year-old rocks shows that greenhouse gases were abundant in the atmosphere and influenced the chemistry and living conditions of the young planet.
Interview with Ed Brayton on opposition to evolution, the Dover case, and Michigan weather.
Finally, a short mention of Darwin Day events in the area, as well as the Evolution Sunday concept, set to the ironic tune of The Evolution Chorus, by the secular a capella choral group, The Voices of Reason.
Brought to you by Chemical Free products.
Theme = Darwin Dub by The Genomic Dub Collective.
Posted in The Inoculated Mind - Mindcast
By Karl HvM on 2007.02.01: Thursday
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Star Date: 2007.02.01.2200
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Anthropologist weighs in on Hobbit, brain configuration does not match microcephaly, Evidence of ancient galactic collision with Andromeda Galaxy, Bush Administration abusing climate science according to report by Henry Waxman and others, pleasant smell of ocean air due to bacteria, and Cornell plant scientist Li Li characterizes the gene that makes orange cauliflower and what it means for nutrition in developing countries.
First dual-interview with Phillip Johnson, founder of the Intelligent Design Movement and Ed Brayton, co-founder of Michigan Citizens for Science and The Pandas Thumb weblog, also author of blog, Dispatches from the Culture Wars.
Special commentary at the end about the interview.
Brought to you by Copper.
Theme = the Original Battlestar Galactica by Stu Phillips.
For references for the special commentary, go here.
Posted in The Inoculated Mind - Mindcast
By Karl HvM on 2007.01.25: Thursday
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Star Date: 2007.01.25.2200
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On the State of the Union speech, Bush finally acknowledges climate change, latest climate change report avoids “smoking gun” and introduces “battalion of intergalactic smoking missiles” label, glaciers in the Alps may be gone by 2050, and one scientist says that two snowflakes may be alike, spinal nerve cells have similar processes going on as in the cerebral cortex, bumblebees split tasks between hive cluster warmers and fanners, and low-birthweight correlates with adult salt intake.
Two interviews on evolution, religion, and atheism: Dr. Ken Miller at Brown University, and Dr. PZ Myers at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
Brought to you by Cinnamaldehyde.
Theme = Music from “The Body” by Roger Waters.
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By Karl HvM on 2007.01.18: Thursday
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Star Date: 2007.01.18.2200
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Climate Satellites desperately need upgrade or science could suffer by 2020, Chinese government creates hundreds of pieces of orbiting debris when they test satellite-destroying rocket, New Horizons is already approaching Jupiter – explanation of gravity assist, and higher education associated with faster post-education mental decline. Discussion of recent water poisoning death after a local Sacramento radio show contest, interactions between water and hydrophobic surfaces provide new evidence that makes theory water-tight, new study suggests that gun ownership precedes crime, and not the other way around.
Evolutionary relationship of the world’s largest flower finally deduced with DNA study, Wollemi Pine found – a living fossil – and Karl highlights our zoocentric and anthropocentric view of evolution, two-headed lizard fossil found, ancient human skull has features that suggest interbreeding with neanderthals or it could be archaic features not yet weeded out of the population, climate scientists and religious fundamentalists unite over global warming.
Announcement of an upcoming series of interviews on opposition to evolution and the year since the Dover case announced.
Brought to you by Chlorophyll.
Theme = Star Trek Insurrection by Jerry Goldsmith.
Posted in The Inoculated Mind - Mindcast
By Karl HvM on 2007.01.04: Thursday
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Star Date: 2007.01.04.2200
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Happy New Years, Karl discusses the different kinds of ways to measure a year and they’re all different in length, Merry Kitzmas: Intelligent Design continues its unintelligent legacy since the Kitzmiller v Dover case. Food-heavy episode: NYC bans trans fats, Karl explains what these are and coincidentally, there’s news about a trans fat that may be healthy, conjugated linoleic acid. Tall soybeans bred for wood fibers? Gene silencing technology makes a better french fry potato, and OSU is evaluating new potatoes for organic farms. Linolenic acid-rich seeds being pushed by seed companies to meet trans fat free demands.
Huge ice shelf breaks free in Canadian Artic, more data coming out of the honeybee genome moves place of origin from Asia to Africa, tiny grapes developed for breeding – UC Davis helped with the project, Komodo Dragon can reproduce sexually AND asexually, Thiomargarita bacteria similar to what was once thought to be the oldest animal embryo fossils. Discussion of free will, brain tries to rethink golf club swings each time, so the best plan is not to think about it too hard.
Research came out showing how control can be an illusion, and Evil J. Klone calls in to object and gets schooled on ID and personal responsibility. Cows engineered to be prion-free, and the FDA tentatively approves cloned animals for food. Finally, another Sound of Science: Gibbons can communicate warnings through song.
Brought to you by Hemoglobin.
Theme = Star Trek Nemesis by Jerry Goldsmith.
Posted in The Inoculated Mind - Mindcast
By Karl HvM on 2006.12.14: Thursday
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Star Date: 2006.12.14.2200
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Breakthrough in the origin of life – part of the TCA Cycle (or Krebs Cycle) can run in reverse, strange helical ice forms inside of carbon nanotubes, Nature publishes paper that exonerates the Tripoli six – six doctors and nurses held in Libya accused of infecting patients with HIV. NASA refuses to put a price tag on the Moon mission, global warming extends the life of space junk, strong rare-Earth magnets in children toys can be swallowed and cause injury, including one death.
Interviews with two UC Davis scientists, Dr. Rob Atwill who is organizing a study on E. coli in the Salinas valley, and Dr. Jonathan Eisen who studies microbial genomics and advocates for open-access scientific journals.
Brought to you by The Scientific Method.
Theme = Starcraft by Derek Duke, Glenn Stafford, Jason Hayes, and Tracy W. Bush.
Posted in The Inoculated Mind - Mindcast
By Karl HvM on 2006.12.07: Thursday
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Star Date: 2006.12.07.2200
Show Topics: Description coming soon.
Theme = Star Trek TNG by Dennis McCarthy.
Posted in The Inoculated Mind - Mindcast
By Karl HvM on 2006.08.10: Thursday
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Star Date: 2006.08.10.2200
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KDRT has a new studio with a window! Bumble Bees prefer warm flowers, second infectious cancer found, goats genetically engineered with human lysozyme produce milk that fights bacteria, planetary mass objects or planemos orbiting around each other in the depths of space, United States has a lot of catching up to do in understanding of genetics and acceptance of evolution.
The Mosquito Menagerie: Vicki Kramer, Sharon Lawler, Jim Northup, and Rick Roush. We discussed the issue of spraying mosquitoes for West Nile Virus.
Theme = Star Trek TOS “The Menagerie”
Posted in The Inoculated Mind - Mindcast
By Karl HvM on 2006.07.27: Thursday
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Star Date: 2006.07.27.2200
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Followup on previous coverage of the Day that Science Stood Still – Senator Rick Santorum says that scientists that want to work on ES cells have no morals, a representative of the Bush Administration agrees that killing embryos is murder – yet gets put in a logical headlock by a question about why they don’t want to close in vitro fertilization clinics, and “M is for Mistake” as White House spokesperson Tony Snow retracts the “Murder” label. Commentary on the indefensible and inconsistent logic used when discussing this issue politically.
Neanderthal Genome to be sequenced, new research on the oldest strata in the world bolsters support for the presence of life, and shows that they may be older than the previously estimated age of 3.8 billion years old, and UF geneticists pin down some of the genetics and cell biology involved in the evolution of fins and limbs – co-option of vertebrae developmental genes to form fins supported. Sounds of Science – mosquitoes falling in love. Bizarre ants feed each other their own eggs as food, bacterial parasite of insects Wolbachia might be useful in fighting Malaria in the ongoing Battle for Humanity.
A Wiki Odyssey: Interview with Philip Neustrom, founder of the Davis Wiki, currently the largest city wiki in the world.
Theme = 2001 A space Odyssey.
Posted in The Inoculated Mind - Mindcast
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