science

Paul Agris, SUNY Albany RNA Institute - Unlocking Medical Secrets With RNA

Brian Shields — Thu, 30 May 2013 16:01:17 +0000

A cure for cancer - it could well be the most invigorating , but frustrating goal for medical research, but the work at a lab in Albany may help to end the scourge of cancer one day.

Jane Goodall

Joe Donahue — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:35:00 +0000

As a young woman, Jane Goodall was best known for her groundbreaking fieldwork with the chimpanzees of Gombe, Africa. Goodall's work has always been controversial, mostly because she broke the mold of research scientist by developing meaningful relationships with her "specimens" and honoring their lives as she would other humans.

"Cooked" by Michael Pollan

Joe Donahue — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:10:00 +0000

Michael Pollan’s new book, Cooked, follows the twists and turns of Pollan’s education in the kitchen. Organizing his journey around the four classical elements —fire, water, air, and earth—Pollan apprentices himself to a series of culinary experts to discover how these elements can transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink.

The Symposium Is About Hudson River Science

Allison Dunne — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:50:00 +0000

There’s a symposium Wednesday in New York on the state of Hudson River Science.

"Brothers Emanuel: A Memoir of an American Family" by Ezekiel J. Emanuel

Joe Donahue — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:02:47 +0000

For years, people have been asking Ezekiel “Zeke” Emanuel, the brash, outspoken, and fiercely loyal eldest brother in the Emanuel clan, the same question: What did your mom put in the cereal? Middle brother Rahm is the mayor of Chicago, erstwhile White House chief of staff, and one of the most colorful figures in American politics. Youngest brother Ari is a Hollywood super-agent. And Zeke himself is one of the world’s leading bioethicists and oncologists, and a former special advisor for health policy in the Obama administration.

In the new memoir, Brothers Emanuel: A Memoir of an American Family, Zeke tells his family's story.

Jonathan Dordick, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - nano-collaboration focus of symposium

Brian Shields — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:30:00 +0000

Collaboration is the focus of a two-day National Academy of Sciences symposium at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, and nano-technology is at the center of the discussion because of the work at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, the College of Nano-Scale Science and Engineering in Albany and Global Foundries in Malta, Saratoga County.

Working together in the nano field is vital according to professor Jonathan Dordick, vice president of research at RPI. He spoke with WAMC’s Brian Shields.

"Gulp" by Mary Roach

Joe Donahue — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 14:10:00 +0000

Science writer, Mary Roach, started out as a magazine journalist, but eventually parlayed her column for Salon.com into her first book, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Next, she investigated the afterlife in Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, then came Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.

In Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, Roach dives into the human body, beginning at the mouth, then moves, um, downward as she discusses digestion and elimination.

"Dollars and Sex" by Marina Adshade

Joe Donahue — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:35:00 +0000

Like Freakonomics, Dollars and Sex takes economics and converts it into a science by applying the principles of supply and demand, and other market forces, to matters of love, courtship, sex, and marriage.

As she does in her blog, author Marina Adshade explores the marketplace for sex and love using research, economic analysis, and humor to reveal just how central the interplay of libido, gender, love, power, and economic forces is to the most important choices we make in our lives. Call it "Sexonomics."

Vox Pop : Science Forum : 3/21/13

Patrick Donges — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:00:00 +0000

It's the Science Forum today on Vox Pop as we welcome back our esteemed panel of experts to answer your science questions. On today's show:

Dr. Barbara Brabetz is associate professor of biochemistry in the department of natural sciences at the State University of New York at Cobleskill.

Dr. Nancy Slack is emeritus professor of biology and history of science of the Sage Colleges.

A physicist, Dr. Ken Welles, is retired following a 33 plus year career at the GE Global Research Center.

"Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients" by Ben Goldacre

Joe Donahue — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:35:00 +0000

We like to imagine that medicine is based on evidence and the results of fair testing and clinical trials. In reality, those tests and trials are often profoundly flawed. We like to imagine that doctors who write prescriptions for everything from antidepressants to cancer drugs to heart medication are familiar with the research literature about a drug, when in reality much of the research is hidden from them by drug companies.

With Ben Goldacre’s characteristic flair and a forensic attention to detail, Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients reveals a shockingly broken system and calls for regulation. This is the pharmaceutical industry as it has never been seen before.