Perpetual Notion Machine Perpetual Notion Machine

How do you make science news interesting and understandable? Why is anti-science on the rise? Award-winning science journalist Claudia Wallis joins Perpetual Notion Machine host Patrick Sajbel to talk about the art of science communication and to delve into the alarming trend of a growing anti-science movement within the United States.

Claudia Wallis has served as science editor for 40 Time magazine cover stories, managing editor of Scientific American Mind magazine and contributing editor and columnist at Scientific American. Her work has appeared in a wide range of other major publications including The New York Times, Fortune, Parade and Rolling Stone.

Cartoon Credit: Tom Dunne for American Scientist

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On today’s episode, we continue our journey through the world of experiments, curiosity and the people who made them. In this second part, we explore more of the people behind the experiments.

What if…

We could go back in the time and see how the atom was split. Or, discover the mystery of light, both wave and particle. Examine X-rays for the first time.

What if we could travel to the present and see how these experiments changed the world? In Suzie Sheehy’s book, The Matter of Everything, we can.

On Perpetual Notion Machine, host Anita Nsubuga explores the many discoveries, people, and science with particle physicist, Dr. Suzie Sheehy in her book. More than theorems and experiements, the scientists stand out as people on a quest for knowledge. Some spurred on by competition; others through merticulous methods and principles.

This is part 2, the journey continued.

Stay tuned (again).



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Bioelectronics is a new area of study and industry that combines biology and electronics to develop devices and systems capable of interfacing with living organisms. It focuses on creating biocompatible sensors, implants, and bioelectronic circuits to monitor and modulate biological functions. These advancements have the potential to revolutionize healthcare by enabling precise diagnostics, targeted therapies, and even restoring lost sensory or motor functions.

Dr. Ying Li joins us to discuss his research team’s recently published paper on computational simulations of potential bioelectronics.

Dr. Ying Li is an Associate Professor at the U-W College of Engineering in Madison. Dr. Li has received numerous achievements in research including the NSF CAREER Award (2021), Air Force’s Young Investigator Award (2020), 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award (2020), and multiple best paper awards from major conferences. He has authored and co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles. Most recently his research team has released a paper in the journal Science Advances about flexible bioelectronics.

 

Conformability of flexible sheets on spherical surfaces

Dr. Ying Li

 

Image courtesy: WikimediaImages / PIXABAY

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A study published in Science in 2019 found that 3 billion birds have been lost since 1970. The Perpetual Notion Machine takes a look at existing and new programs to save Wisconsin’s declining bird population. Host Catherine Garvens speaks with folks from the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin about the Great Wisconsin Birdathon, which raises money for the Bird Protection Fund. We also feature two of the programs in the state that receive support from that fund–Important Bird Areas, and the SOS Save Our Songbirds program.

Other organizations mentioned in this story:

Wisconsin Bird Conservation Partnership

Audubon Great Lakes

The image used in this posting is courtesy of SOS Save Our Songbirds. Original graphic by Earl Madden.

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If you take a stroll down the lakeshore path skirting Lake Mendota, you are likely to encounter one of Madison’s most charismatic residents, the Sandhill crane. These graceful and stately birds are beloved by Madisonians for their distinctive trumpet-like calls and their tall stature. While a cultural and ecological pillar of Madison, the Sandhill crane is also a conservation success story. Due to habitat loss and overhunting in the first half of the 20th century, it was estimated that only a few dozen individuals remained in the state. However, through pioneering legislative protection and the efforts ENGO’s and the Wisconsin DNR, the population has recovered and now numbers in the thousands. Unfortunately, conservation challenges currently afflict many species of cranes all of the globe. Two species of particular concern are the Red-Crowned and White-naped cranes of southeast Asia.

To learn more about the plight of these two species and the efforts currently being made to preserve their dwindling populations, we spoke with Dr. Eugenia Bragina whom recently published an article in the Journal of Ornithological Science on this very topic. Dr. Bragina is an Honorary Postdoctoral Fellow with the SILVIS Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and also the Coordinator of Scientific Capacity Development for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Arctic Beringia Program. Dr. Bragina is a native of Russia, and educator whom earned her undergraduate and doctoral degrees in population ecology and Zoology from Moscow State University. As a subject matter expert, Dr. Bragina has been featured in the NY Times and published numerous peer-reviewed publications on wildlife and habitat conservation methods.

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Renowned ethologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall came to UW-Madison last week. Speaking at Memorial Union, Dr. Goodall shared her story and encouraged action for the future of our environment.

Goodall was the first ethologist to see the animals fashioning tools and eating meat. Her findings challenged conventional notions about primates and provided evidence for the evolutionary relationship between humans and chimpanzees.

And she’s been a wildlife protector and advocate for restoring damaged habitats since the mid 1980s. Her latest book, “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times,” chronicles her life’s work and her optimism that humankind will come together to protect the environment.

Perpetual Notion Machine host Taylor Woelfel headed down to the event on Sunday, March 26. In tonight’s episode, Woelfel delves deep into Dr. Goodall’s philosophy and plays some clips from the event.

Image courtesy World Bank Photo Collection on flickr.com. 

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