http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-541683.mp3
Albany, NY – PROFESSOR LOOKS AT CORE OF SUN THROUGH THE
SUDBURY NEUTRINO OBSERVATORY, Pt. 1 of 2 -
Over the years on this program, as we've broadcast our Origins of
Life segments, we've often commented that to learn more about
outer space, sometimes we need to turn our attention to inner space.
Well, it turns out that was never more true than in our first feature
today...an amazing story about the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory.
It's located more than a mile below the surface of the earth. So, just
what are neutrinos? You may be more interested when you learn that
billions of neutrinos stream through your body every second of every
day. Neutrinos are very tiny particles which make up the universe.
In fact, they are by far the most numerous particle in the universe.
The sun and all other stars produce neutrinos due to nuclear fusion
and decay processes within their cores. This week TBOOK's Karen
Hitchcock finds out about the construction and immense size of the
Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, why scientists are interested in
neutrinos, and what this all means to you and me. Karen goes directly
to the source. Dr. Art McDonald has been Director of the Sudbury
Neutrino Observatory, known as SNO Lab, for more than 17 years.
Dr. McDonald is a University Research Chair, and Professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Next week, we'll have research
results, how this impacts the way we look at our universe and the laws of physics, and what students are gaining from this investigation.
Dr. Karen Hitchcock reports. (11:21)
**(Attention Program Directors. For more information about the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, go to their website: www.sno.phy.queensu.ca)**
THE CHALLENGE OF INDECENT LANGUAGE IN CULTURE AND IN EDUCATION -
The conflict over swear words in language arises everyday in
classrooms between students and teachers, and at home between
parents and children. Some may look on this as a moral decline of
society. Others are more inclined to merely accept it as the way
culture is evolving. For examples you need only listen to the radio
and watch TV. That's where the Federal Communications Commission
enters the discussion. Last Spring, the FCC issued a new policy
stating that almost without exception, the use of the s-word and the
f-word are indecent on broadcast televison and radio. The major
television networks sued to block the new policy, arguing that it was unconstitutional. But a recent ruling by the U.S. Second Circuit Court
of Appeals temporarily blocks the FCC from enforcing those new
standards while the case is considered. With the widespread impact
indecent language has at school and at home, we wanted to try and
find out just what makes a bad word bad. TBOOK found a professor
who looks at a wide range of research on the subject.
Greg Dahlmann reports. (6:15)