CU Boulder Nobel Prize Winner Tom Cech discusses his new book, The Catalyst, RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life’s Deepest Secrets Tom Cech is our featured interview for the KGNU Fall Membership Drive.  Thank you to listeners who are contributing funds to help our volunteer powered, noncommercial, community radio station.  If you like what … Continue reading "CU Boulder Nobel Prize Winner Tom Cech & “The Catalyst”"

Beliefs, Perceptions, Decision-making (start time: 4:37)  For many people if feels like our society, and our beliefs, have never been as polarized as they are now. Indeed, we are living in a politically polarized society. But it’s not as unique, or as extreme, as many think. In this week’s show we look behind the curtain … Continue reading "Emotions, Beliefs, Politics"

Animal Communication Science (start time: 2:57)  Whether you own a dog or horse, or have listened to dolphins, wolves, chimpanzees or other wild animals, you’ve probably wondered what they’re saying when they communicate vocally – and why do they communicate the way they do? Our guest, zoologist Arik Kershenbaum, explores recent scientific discoveries in animal vocal … Continue reading "Why Do Animals Talk?"

Starting this week, the FDA has approved the sale of over-the-counter hearing aids.  In light of that, in today’s edition of How on Earth, we play an Encore Feature from February 2020 of an interview we did with David Owen about his book, Volume Control, in which he explores the surprising science of hearing and the … Continue reading "Hearing & Hearing Aids"

We talk with author Kristin Ohlson about her recent book: “Sweet in Tooth and Claw”.  In it, Ohlson examines cooperative relationships found in the natural world and in human civilization. She says this view is missing from many of our cultural and scientific narratives because of a tendency to apply Darwin’s idea of survival of … Continue reading "Sweet in Tooth and Claw // Fund Drive Show"

Pollution Impacts on Gut Microbiome (starts at 1:00) The Environmental Protection Agency has downgraded the air quality in the Denver Metro and Northern Front Range area to “severe” nonattainment for ground level ozone.  Shannon Young talks with Dr. Tanya Alderete (University of Colorado Integrative Physiology Department) about a recent study showing how air pollution may also affect the … Continue reading "Pollution Impacts on Gut Microbiome // Folding Proteins"

Today’s show features: Employing Beavers (start time: 11:12):  Some consider them pests. Others praise them as saviors of the environment. Whatever your impression of these furry swimming rodents, beavers are gaining more proponents for their ability to make landscapes, and thus humans, more resilient to climate change. Through their dams and lodges, beavers raise water levels, … Continue reading "Beavers: Engineers for Our Planet"

On today’s show Beth talks to Prof Michael Breed about honeybees. Sure, there is a little on their decline which is concerning to all of us, but we focus on many remarkable aspects of their biology. If you want to go deeper, you can visit Mike’s website or the book he mentions in the interview. … Continue reading "The Amazing…Honeybee!"

Nature Wants Us to be Fat:  The Surprising Science Behind Why we Gain Weight and How We Can Prevent and Reverse it.  University of Colorado Medical School Professor Rick Johnson shares why he thinks eating lots of fructose sugars can trigger a Survival Switch that helps bears put on weight before they hibernate . . … Continue reading "Nature Wants Us to Be Fat – Rick Johnson MD"

This is an extended version of the interview with Rick Johnson, author of Nature Wants Us to Be Fat.   LISTEN HERE TRANSCRIPT BELOW: RICK JOHNSON [00:00:00] My name is Richard Johnson. I’m a professor of medicine here at the University of Colorado. SHELLEY [00:00:04] In fact, you direct the Department of Hypertension, or have … Continue reading "Nature Wants Us To Be Fat – Extended Version"

ON this week’s show, Beth talks with Carole Hooven about her new book: “T – The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us”. She demonstrates that the hormone acts in concert with genes and culture to produce a vast variety of male and female behavior. And, crucially, the fact that many sex … Continue reading "Testosterone – Bane or Benefit?"

Colorado River Basin Crisis Pt. II (start time: 6:19): This week’s How On Earth show focuses on the implications and future prospects after the federal government in June ordered the seven Western states that rely on the river to come up with a plan to save trillions of gallons of water from the shrinking river) … Continue reading "Colorado River Basin Crisis: Pt. II"

In this week’s How on Earth, we look at 3 aspects of climate change: its role in disease incidence and transmission; some effects of the new climate change legislation; and how ‘micro-forests’ can mitigate temperature and water loss. The latter comes from an interview with author Hannah Lewis and her book Mini-Forest Revolution, in which … Continue reading "What’s New in Climate?"

In this fire prone season, we talk with experts about an ancient building technique that might reduce the chance that a building’s going to burn. Unfired, compressed earth blocks are a building material that involves clay, sand and lime.  Our guests are architect-engineer Lisa Morey and one of her clients, Matteo Rabescini, who had such … Continue reading "Fire Resistant Homes"

DNA Superconductors (Starts 1:00) Scientists are harnessing DNA to make electronic components at the nano-scale. Western Rewilding Network (Starts 3:50) Researchers at Oregon State University are urging the U.S. to set aside 500,000 square kilometers for a Western Rewilding Network that would include wolves and beavers as part of ecosystem restoration.  Their research appears today … Continue reading "DNA Superconductors // Western Rewilding // What Your Food Ate"

Colorado Cafe Sci (starts 1:00)  happens monthly, in Denver. Alcohol and Alcoholism Recent News (starts 2:49) We look at recent science about alcohol consumption, including a study that indicates as little as 3 glasses of wine a week is associated with buildups of iron in the brain — a risk factor for brain disease, increased … Continue reading "Alcohol, Brain Damage & Genetics"

This week on How On Earth: Colorado River Basin Crisis (start time: 5:31–scroll down for arrow) The Colorado River is the life blood for about 40 million inhabitants. And it’s in dire straights. The river’s two reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are at historically low levels, due primarily to climate change and overuse. The water-supply crisis is … Continue reading "Colorado River Basin Crisis"

We continue our look at the new Expose, Salmon Wars, the Dark Underbelly of our Favorite Fish, by checking out an alternative – LAND-Based Farmed Salmon. Chef Sheila Lucero –  (starts 2:25) We TASTE land-based salmon, with Coloraado’s award-winning, national expert on sustainable fish and member of Seafood Watch BlueRibbon Task Force,  Jax Fish House … Continue reading "Salmon Wars Part 2: Farm-Raised LAND Salmon"

Salmon Wars:  A Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent and a former private investigator dive deep into the murky waters of the international salmon farming industry in this just-published expose.       HostProducer: Shelley Schlender Executive Producer: Beth Bennett

This week on How on Earth, Beth speaks with author and planetary geologist Dr. Simon Morden. In his book, The Red Planet, he presents a tantalizing vision of our nearest neighbour, its dramatic history, and astonishing present.   Executive Producer: Beth Bennett Show Producer: Beth Bennet Additional Contributions: Joel Parker & Shelley Schlender Listen to … Continue reading "All About Mars"

Birds and Dopamine (starts 1:00) If bird songs help a bird fall in love, does it get even better with a dose of dopamine?       Nature Wants us to be Fat (starts 13:56) CU-Medical School professor and researcher Richard Johnson discusses his latest book, Nature Wants Us to Be Fat. The Surprising Science … Continue reading "Birds and Dopamine // Nature Wants Us To Fat"

Pre-dawn Summer Solstice Hike (Starts 1:00) We head out before 5:30 AM, to visit the NCAR Burn site, with Boulder Naturalists Steve Jones, Scott Severs and Ruth Carol Cushman   Hobbit Like Hominoids — Still Here?  (Starts 12:06) Anthropologist Gregory Forth discusses his book, Between Ape and Human – On the Trail of a Hidden … Continue reading "Summer Solstice Hike // On the Trail of a Hidden Hominoid"

Today’s show features headline news about new methods for detecting skin cancer and using “frequency comb” lasers to sniff out even the faintest traces of methane leaks.  And then we have an encore presentation of How on Earth features about “Engineering Happiness” and a black holes. Hosts: Joel Parker, Susan Moran, Beth Bartel Producer: Joel … Continue reading "Skin Cancer // Methane Leaks // Engineering Happiness // Black holes"

This week on How on Earth, Beth talks with Dr Seven Hussey about his recent book, Understanding the Heart: Surprising Insights into the Evolutionary Origins of Heart Disease—and Why It Matters. Following his early (34 years old) heart attack, he delved into alternative therapies to heal his heart. In the book he lays out a … Continue reading "Keeping Your Heart Healthy – Off the Western Medicine Track"

Wildfire smoke has marred the Front Range in recent weeks, due to Megafires that are likely to become more frequent.  And more smoke is likely. Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World (Starts 00:00) Beth Bennett speaks with author John Vaillant about the Canadian firestorm that forced 100,000 people to run for their … Continue reading "Wildfires & Smokey Skies"

With graduation season upon us, today’s edition of How on Earth is Part 2 of our annual “Graduation Special” (you can listen to Part 1). Our guests in the studio today are scientists who have or will soon receive their Ph.D. in a STEM-related field.  They talk about their thesis research, their grad school experiences, and what … Continue reading "2022 Graduation Special (part 2)"

With graduation season upon us, today’s edition of How on Earth is Part 1 of our annual “Graduation Special” (you can listen to Part 2). Our guests in the studio today are scientists who have or will soon receive their Ph.D. in a STEM-related field.  They talk about their thesis research, their grad school experiences, and what … Continue reading "2022 Graduation Special (part 1)"

Gold Lab Symposium and DeepMind’s Alpha Fold  (starts 1:00) We continue our discussion with Boulder scientist and entrepreneur, Larry Gold, about the Gold Lab Symposium on the science of Health, taking place this Thursday and Friday.  You can sign up here. Off-Target Drug Effect (starts 5:48 – ends at 10:00)  A local Boulder man recounts … Continue reading "Gold Lab Symposium and DeepMind/Alphafold"

We explore a wide range of science topics today. Brains in Space (starts 1:00) Joel Parker explains how space travel may affect human brains         Climate Grief (starts 5:17) The United Nations warns that the changing climate will lead to increasing climate grief around the world.  Kritee, a senior scientist at the … Continue reading "Brains in Space // Climate Grief // Gold Lab Symposium"

This week on How on Earth, Beth speaks with Susan Allport, an award-winning writer who has written extensively on science. They talk about her book on omega 3 fats, The Queen of Fats, namely the touted omega-3 fatty acid. These essential fats can’t be synthesized by the human body and must be obtained from our … Continue reading "The Queen of Fats: Omega-3"

Climate-conscious, pollinator-friendly gardening (start time: 4:55; scroll down for audio file): This week’s episode of How On Earth features a discussion on how cities, neighborhoods, individual residents can plan their landscapes and gardens for a hotter and drier future here on the Front Range. Host Susan Moran interviews Dave Sutherland, a field naturalist formerly with … Continue reading "Climate- & Pollinator-Conscious Planting"

Comedy+Climate Change: (start time: 5:50)  In this week’s show we look ahead to Earth Day by discussing the latest science about climate change, as reported in the recently released assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. And we explore the role that performing arts, especially comedy, can play in communicating, and processing emotions … Continue reading "Climate Change: A Laughing Matter?"

We feature an interview with astronomer and author Dr. Emily Levesque about her book, The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers.  In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Levesque about the history and future of astronomy.  We hear about how astronomical observing at some of the premier telescopes in the world has changed over … Continue reading "The Last Stargazers, Part 2"

We feature an interview with astronomer and author Dr. Emily Levesque about her book, The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers.  In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Levesque about how one becomes an astronomer and what a typical – and sometimes not so typical – night’s work is like at an observatory with highly … Continue reading "The Last Stargazers, Part 1"

Nature’s Songs and Cries (start time: 0:59) In this week’s show David George Haskell, a biologist at the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tenn., talks with How On Earth’s Susan Moran about his newly published book, Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity, and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction. The book is at … Continue reading "Sounds Wild and Broken"

Clever Chickadees on the Front Range (start time: 4:20) Many of us wake up these days to a chorus of songbirds, including mountain and black-capped chickadees. Host Susan Moran interviews Scott Taylor, an ecologist at CU Boulder and director of the Mountain Research Station near the Continental Divide, about a multi-year study, the Boulder Chickadee … Continue reading "Curious Patterns of Chickadees"

On this week’s show  – part of the annual KGNU Spring Fund Drive – we play excerpts of an upcoming interview with astronomer and author Dr. Emily Levesque about her book, The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers. The book is a modern history of observational astronomy, and shares an inside look at the lives and … Continue reading "KGNU Fund Drive with The Last Stargazers"

In this week’s show Beth talks to author Annabel Streets. Her book 52 WAYS TO WALK, takes you week by week, through a smorgasbord of walks in silence, rain, mud, or wind, as well as sunshine, scents and birdsong. She explains exactly how our bodies and minds benefit from a wide mix of terrain and … Continue reading "Walking Doesn’t Have to Get Old"

We speak with Ethan Greene, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, about the new study he has coauthored with Spencer Logan, a chief researcher at the center who alsoversees the Avalanche Accident database for the United States.    Their new study is available now.  It’s titled, Education and Experience Levels of People Involved in Avalanches … Continue reading "Avalanche Accidents — Who Dies?"

Long COVID  (starts 1:00) National Jewish in Denver shares research about how COVID sometimes affects the powerhouses inside our cells, the mitochondria. Green Walls (starts 3:54) are a beautiful way to cover indoor and outdoor walls with living plants.  It’s a popular feature for ultra-modern buildings.  Researchers in England report that green walls on older, … Continue reading "Green Walls // Drones Study Marshall Fire // Volunteering to GET COVID"

Heartbreak in Our  Bodies: (start time: 6:58) This week on How On Earth, host Susan Moran talks with science journalist Florence Williams about her newly published book, Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey, in which she goes on a quest to understand why, and how, the heartbreak she felt when her marriage fell apart was … Continue reading "The Science of Heartbreak"

This week on How on Earth, Beth talks to 2 climate scientists about their (very different) fields, and how climate change can play into local disasters, especially the recent fires that devastated the Front Range towns outside Boulder. Twila Moon is a glaciologist turned climate scientist who researches the effects of ice sheet melt on … Continue reading "Climate Change and Local Fires"

In this episode, we celebrate the show’s 30th Anniversary with Dave Atkins and Jeff Orrey, How on Earth’s original  hosts. We’ll play some excerpts from the pilot January 14, 1992 episode and update the science from a 2022 perspective.  Subjects range from Chinook winds and Colorado fires, finding exoplanets, the history of Hubble telescope, Halley’s … Continue reading "30th Anniversary Show"

2021 saw many remarkable science stories making it difficult to pick the top contenders. The How on Earth team struggled with these decisions but here they are! Executive Producer: Susan Moran Show Producer: Beth Bennett Additonal contributions by: Benita Lee, Joel Parker, Jill Sjong, Shelley Schlender Listen to the show:

Corona (Not Virus) News (starts 1:00)  Astrophysicist Joel Parker explains the probe that touched the sun’s corona. Green Recycling from Discarded Electronics (starts 3:59) Benita Lee talks with Penn State Scientist Amir Sheikhi about recycling neodymium. Defy Aging:  A Beginner’s Guide to the New Science of Longer Life and Better Health.  (starts 9:28)  Science Show … Continue reading "Defy Aging // Green Recycling // Corona (not virus) News"

This week on How On Earth, we welcome Benita Lee who brought up the growing problem with fentanyl – a new street drug that’s killing many. Benita talks with DEA agent David Olesky about the scope of the problem and what the agency is doing to combat it. Beth talks with pharmacologist and policy maker … Continue reading "The Fentanyl Epidemic: Why It’s Growing and Some Solutions"

On this week’s How on Earth we’re airing a show produced by Science Moab‘s Peggy Hodgkins. She speaks with Professor Kari Veblen, who is currently a professor of rangeland ecology at Utah State University. Her research focuses on the ecology and management of rangelands, including questions related to restoration, plant community dynamics, grazing and unraveling … Continue reading "Rangeland Restoration – A Science Moab Show"

This week on How on Earth, Beth talks with Professor Fred Provenza, author of the book Nourishment: What Animals Can Teach Us about Rediscovering our Nutritional Wisdom. He returns to discuss his current venture into the utility of grazing animals in regenerating soil and reducing our carbon footprint. Yes, cows may actually reduce the rate … Continue reading "Can Cattle Reduce Climate Change?"

Green Building Handbook (starts 1:00) CU Boulder Engineering Professor Wil Srubar is the co-author of a new report highlighting innovative building materials that actually store more CO2 than the emissions from their manufacture, making these building materials what’s known as “carbon sinks” Wild Strawberry Flavor from Fungi (starts 3:29) Holger Zorn explains how and why … Continue reading "Wild Strawberries, Wild Turkeys & Farewell to Bernie Rollin"

On today’s show, Beth talks with Dr John Jaquish about his novel method for treating osteoporosis, using ‘osteogenic’ loading. His method has been shown in clinical trials to build bone without drugs, and consequently without the serious side effects of these drugs. The loading method has been validated in using the classic DEXA screening method … Continue reading "Building Bones without Drugs"