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Amid all the hypes, hopes, and concerns about artificial intelligence, it has been successfully applied to many areas of math and science with many more ideas on how it can improve future research. Our guest today discusses one such topic: how AI can be applied to improve research into plasmas and fusion energy. Our guest … Continue reading "AI and Fusion Energy"

Angela Ardolino has advocated for and developed safe, natural, ethically grown hemp and medical cannabis for human and animal use. We talked last month about her current work with aging dogs, particularly her use of medicinal mushrooms and other adaptogens – which you will also hear about – for the treatment of canine dementia. Executive … Continue reading "Dogs Get Dementia Too – And There May be a Remedy"

Halloween Sadism – (Starts 2:45)  Criminologist Joel Best researches questions such as, Do Halloween apples harbor razor blades?  and “Has anyone ever died of poisoned Halloween candy?” One answer might surprise you. Detecting DeepFake Video Criminals  (Starts 16:50) Deep fake images of financial officials during a video conference have fooled people into wiring bad … Continue reading "Halloween Sadism and Detecting Modern Deepfakes"

Legal and Environmental Expert Chris Winter explains the Boulder Vs Suncor lawsuit, what it’s about, what’s at stake, and why it’s become the lead case, being heard at the US Supreme Court, about whether lawsuits attributing climate change damage to a corporation are allowed to be tried in court . . . or not.  This … Continue reading "Boulder vs Suncor – Chris Winter Explains Why and What’s at Stake"

One million Americans get knee replacements every year, for a cost of up to $70,000 per knee, plus a year-long recovery.  CU-Boulder scientist Stephanie Bryant leads a team that’s developing a single-shot hydrosol that helps the body regenerate cartilage in the knee, so it can heal in just a few weeks, and cost much … Continue reading "Regenerating Cartilage to Heal Osteoarthritis (Achy Knees) CU-Boulder Stephanie Bryant"

The Quest to Replace Human Body Parts (start time: 3:06) In this week’s pledge-drive show, science writer Mary Roach discusses her latest book, Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy, which was recently released in paperback (W.W. Norton & Co.). Roach is a New York Times bestselling author of Stiff,  Fuzz, Bonk, and several more books. In Replaceable … Continue reading "Replaceable You: The Science of Growing Body Parts"

From Climate Week to Societal Climate Engagement (start time: 1:22) Last week tens of thousands of people from environmental nonprofit organizations, private companies, academia and other sectors came together in New York City for Climate Week NYC, which coincided with the United Nations General Assembly and the UN  Climate Summit. While climate activists, communicators and … Continue reading "Youth+Adult Climate Engagement"

In this week’s show, Beth speaks with author and evolutionary biologist, Rowan Hooper, discussing the themes and examples of symbiosis from his current book, Togetherness: Symbiosis and the Hidden Story of Life’s Greatest Collaborations. He explored the history of study of symbiosis, as well as wonderful stories illustrating this complex phenomenon. And, he went beyond … Continue reading "Symbiosis – Maybe We Are All Living Together"

CU Boulder Computer Scientist Aaron Clauset says military leaders frequently underestimate the ultimate length and size of a war.   Clauset offers a new way to measure wars, not just by counting deaths at a war’s end – his research shows how death rates change, throughout a war.  This provides insights into what causes wars to … Continue reading "Measuring War: Aaron Clauset"

Forests Vanishing in Wake of Megafires (start time: 7:55) Increasingly  large and hot wildfires are turning many conifer-dominated forests in the western U.S.and Canada into shrublands or grasslands, largely by making it impossible for ponderosa and other pines to reseed themselves. The stakes are high, for flora and wildlife, as well as humans. For instance, … Continue reading "How Megafires are Transforming Conifer Forests"

Teaching through screens is part of getting kids ready for the digital world.  But when do tech and screens help students and when do they get in the way?  CU-Boulder Journalism Student Juliana Krigsman explores these questions with teachers, with Boulder Valley School District’s Academic Services Director Lynn Gershman, and with CU-Boulder Psychology and Neuroscience … Continue reading "Screens & Tech Safety . . . in Schools"

Climate “hushing” (start time: 5:41) Since President Trump began his second term as president in January, 2025, his administration, at a dizzying pace, has attacked climate change as a Democratic elite “hoax” and gutted federal funding for climate-related research and institutions. Partly in response to these attacks, and in an attempt to appeal to more … Continue reading "Moving Beyond Climate “Hushing”"

In her new book, The Power of the Pause: 90 Seconds to Calm, Reset, and Reconnect, Jillian Pransky teaches readers how a brief 90-second break can help regulate the nervous system and stop automatic, reactive habits. Today, we get into some of the science underlying the utility of the pause, but further, we can easily … Continue reading "Take a Pause – With Jillian"

A heart attack forced Boulder community leader and journalist Sam Fuqua to need emergency care.  While being wheeled into the operating room, Sam hoped to soothe his anxiety by hearing some favorite music.  His hope had scientific merit.  Studies like this indicate that surgery patients who get to choose what music plays during surgery, … Continue reading "Operation Music – Why or Why Not?"

Colorado River Water (starts 1:00)   Steep cuts are ahead in the use of Colorado River water by Arizona and California.  But what about Colorado?  For answers, we talk with CU-Boulder’s Doug Kenney, water law expert and  chair of the Colorado River Project. Ghostbots (starts )  AI apps offer to help people  “talk” with the dead.  … Continue reading "Colorado River // Ghostbots"