Science Straight Up

Judy Muller and George Lewis
  • 5.0 (5)
  • SCIENCE
  • MONTHLY SERIES
Science Straight Up

In conjunction with Telluride Science, "Science Straight Up" delves into how science impacts our everyday lives. Your hosts, veteran broadcast journalists Judy Muller and George Lewis talk to leading scientists and engineers from around the world.

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  1. EPISODE 1

    "Beam me up, Scotty:" Demystifying the Quantum World

    Send us a textOur fifth season of "Science Straight Up" kicks off with Dr. Michael Wasielewski of Northwestern University talking about the basics of quantum theory and how it will change our lives. We can't beam people aboard the starship just yet, but teleportation of information using quantum techniques is happening right now. Many of us have heard about quantum computers and some of the amazing things that they will do, literally a “quantum leap” in performance. However, this is not...

    19 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    The Ethics of Emerging Technology: The Era of Artificial Intelligence--Dr. Teresa Head-Gordon

    Send us a textArtificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are relatively new, powerful, and disruptive technologies that are rapidly entering practice in our daily lives and shaping our future in areas ranging from employment, health, politics, and what it means to be human. This talk, by Dr. Teresa Head-Gordon of the University of California, Berkeley considers the current status of AI and ML and the ethical considerations that can guide us to finding the best in this emerging tec...

    23 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    Inspired by Nature: The Chemistry That Powers our Planet--Dr. Jenny Yang, UC Irvine

    Send us a textOur planet has always been powered by sunlight. Plants use light and water and air to grow through the process of photosynthesis. Dr. Jenny Yang, Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine proposes that we imitate plants to produce fuel through artificial photosynthesis. That fuel would be carbon neutral because we would be pulling CO2 out ot the air to manufacture it. She says this would be part of a portfolio of green solutions to ma...

    24 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    Quantum Simulations of the Origins of Life: Life-Giving Molecules From Planetary Impacts--Dr. Nir Goldman, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory

    Send us a textBefore there was life on Earth, there was something called "the period of maximum bombardment" when comets, meteors and other space objects crashed into the planet. Some of those carried materials necessary for life to emerge. Dr. Nir Goldman of Lawrence Livermore has been using computer simulations to investigate the hypothesis that some of these collisions synthesized the building blocks of life. He spoke at a "town talk" sponsored by Telluride Science. Moder...

    22 min

  5. EPISODE 5

    Storm Chasing From Space--Dr. Susan van den Heever, Colorado State University

    Send us a textLife on Earth is fundamentally impacted by thunderstorms, from the life-sustaining fresh water they supply, to the life-threatening severe weather they produce. T In spite of the critical role of thunderstorms in our weather and climate system, we've fallen short in predicting how they'll behave. But Dr. Susan van den Heever's team and NASA plan to observe these storms from space, helping to construct better models for predicting severe weather, something that could save m...

    27 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    Methane: Supercharging Nature's Solution to Reverse Climate Change

    Send us a textMethane is a greenhouse gas that's 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. And unvortunately, methane concentrations in our atmosphere are rapidly increasing. Yet, methane may also offer a potential climate solution. With a much shorter half-life than CO2, reductions in methane pack a punch. Dr. Jessica Swanson has a plan to use methane-eating bacteria called methanotrophs to do just that. A side benefit, she says, is that once the bacteria have gobbled up all the methan...

    22 min

  7. EPISODE 7

    Clean Energy's Reliance on Dirty Magnets: The Source and a Solution--Dr. Peter Ladwig, Niron Magnetics

    Send us a textAs climate change worsens, the need for a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources gets more urgent. But clean energy often has its own environmental costs. The risks posed by nuclear reactors and mining lithium for batteries are well known, but our speaker, Dr. Peter Ladwig, a materials scientist, is working on another aspect of the problem: dirty magnets used in the electric motors that power green transportation. In a "Town Talk" sponsored by Telluride...

    22 min

  8. EPISODE 8

    Can we opt out of Aging?

    Send us a textMankind has long searched for the fountain of youth. Recent studies indicate that both immunological and global aging processes can be reversed in humans now using repurposed medicines that are known to be safe. The key is the thymus, the center of your adaptive immune system, which withers starting at puberty but can be fanned back to life even after the age of 60. It turns out that a side effect of restoring your immune system is the reversal of the most reliable i...

    26 min

  9. EPISODE 9

    Chromatin: Your DNA in a Package

    Send us a textThe double helix structure of DNA discovered in 1953 explained the basic mechanism for how our genetic information can be inherited through replication. But, we've since found that those genes have on/off switches. Understanding how our genes are turned on and off has been complicated partly due to the compacting of DNA with proteins (the histones) into chromatin. Dr. Song Tan has spent years studying chromatin using advanced imaging technology and he and his colleag...

    24 min
See All Season 5 (9)

Ratings & Reviews

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5 Ratings

About

In conjunction with Telluride Science, "Science Straight Up" delves into how science impacts our everyday lives. Your hosts, veteran broadcast journalists Judy Muller and George Lewis talk to leading scientists and engineers from around the world.

Information

  • Creator
    Judy Muller and George Lewis
  • Episodes
    33
  • Seasons
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2024 Science Straight Up
  • Show Website
    Science Straight Up

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