Cape Cod communities are facing an expensive mandate to clean up their wastewater. Urine diversion or “pee-cycling” could be a cost-effective pollution solution. In the third and final installment of our three-part Fascination series about Cape Cod’s “yellow tide,” environmental reporter Barbara Moran meets a Falmouth couple championing this unconventional a ... Show More
Jan 21
What is consciousness, really?
In this episode, we explore what consciousness is, how the brain creates it and what current science says about dreams, anesthesia, animals and even artificial intelligence. Scientific American’s associate editor Allison Parshall breaks down what the leading theories are and why ... Show More
16m 16s
Jan 19
EPA weakens air pollution rules, cancer survival soars, and NASA evacuates astronauts
In this episode of Science Quickly, we unpack the Environmental Protection Agency’s controversial decision to change how it calculates health benefits from regulating certain air pollutants, a move that experts warn could lead to dirtier air and worse health outcomes. And we’ve a ... Show More
11m 13s
May 2023
Colin Hoag, "The Fluvial Imagination: On Lesotho’s Water-Export Economy" (U California Press, 2022)
Landlocked and surrounded by South Africa on all sides, the mountain kingdom of Lesotho became the world's first "water-exporting country" when it signed a 1986 treaty with its powerful neighbor. An elaborate network of dams and tunnels now carries water to Johannesburg, the subc ... Show More
59m 23s
Apr 2022
Environmental Microbiology (TESTING WASTEWATER FOR DISEASES) with Amy Kirby
<p>Oh boy. This episode may seeeeem crappy but it is certainly not a waste of your time. We’re not kidding, while the episode is of course wonderful, mostly thanks to our wonderful guests, it is also certainly about poopy wastewater and what we can all learn from it. About those ... Show More
1h 3m
Sep 2019
Oceans, ice and climate change; Neolithic baby bottles; Caroline Criado-Perez wins RS Book Prize
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's special report on the oceans and cryosphere makes pretty grim reading on the state of our seas and icy places. Ocean temperatures are rising, permafrost and sea ice are melting, sea levels are rising and marine life is either moving ... Show More
35m 17s