© 2025
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
WAMC FM will periodically be on low power for tower maintenance

The Best of Our Knowledge

The Best of Our Knowledge

  • This 10.5-billion-year-old globular cluster, NGC 6496, is home to heavy-metal stars of a celestial kind! The stars comprising this spectacular spherical cluster are enriched with much higher proportions of metals — elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, are in astronomy curiously known as metals — than stars found in similar clusters. A handful of these high-metallicity stars are also variable stars, meaning that their brightness fluctuates over time. NGC 6496 hosts a selection of long-period variables — giant pulsating stars whose brightness can take up to, and even over, a thousand days to change — and short-period eclipsing binaries, which dim when eclipsed by a stellar companion. The nature of the variability of these stars can reveal important information about their mass, radius, luminosity, temperature, composition, and evolution, providing astronomers with measurements that would be difficult or even impossible to obtain through other methods. NGC 6496 was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. The cluster resides at about 35 000 light-years away in the southern constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion).
    ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgemen
    /
    ESA/Hubble
    The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education and research.Scientists have discovered a new color. Only a handful of people on Earth have seen “olo” – a greenish-blue hue that can only be seen by using special equipment.And we’ll learn how scientists are aging stars – not by the light they emit, but by their “sound.”
  • Yellowstone National Park
    /
    Public domain image
    The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education and research.In recognition of Mother’s Day, we’ll learn how Affectionate Mothering impacts children as they grow up.It’s graduation season, and students are showcasing their research, and preparing for life after college.And new research provides a deeper look at what’s underneath Yellowstone National Park.
  • The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education and research.Einstein theorized that at the center of a black hole, the laws of time and space break down. But quantum theory might allow researchers to further our understanding of the unknown.And an underground water source that feeds rivers in the Pacific Northwest could be much larger than previously thought.
  • The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education and research.Shape-shifting, fluid-like robotic materials may one day no longer exist only in science fiction.We’ll learn about how microplastics could contribute to antibiotic resistance.And students and faculty at UVM ask questions about cuts to federal funding for college campuses.
  • The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education and research.Black students in America are more likely to be disciplined with out-of-school suspension than their white counterparts. Author Aaron Kupchik explores the legacy of racism and segregation in schools.And we’ll cheer on a robotics competition in Massachusetts.
  • The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education and research.New research on aging finds lifestyle and environmental factors may contribute more to aging and health than genetics.We’ll speak with outgoing Hampshire College President Ed Wingenbach about his efforts to stabilize the private Massachusetts institution.And filmmaker Jay Craven tells us about how he involves students in his productions.
  • The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education and research.New research gives a more accurate picture of the lifespan of whales. And some whales may live longer than previously thought.And scientists have located a mysterious, repeating source of radio waves from far across space.
  • Scientists may have discovered the genetic key that allowed humans to develop complex language.And new research looks deeper into what causes allergic reactions and intolerances to common foods like nuts, milk, and eggs.
  • Union College in Schenectady, New York has selected its next president. Elizabeth Kiss will become the private institution’s first female president in its 230-year history.And new research reveals new details about the nervous system of octopuses.
  • Artificial intelligence is reinventing scientific research. We’ll speak with a scientist who says machine learning can be used to develop anti-venoms for toxic snakebites.And Connecticut has hired its first student loan ombudsperson. We’ll speak with them about their goals in their new role.
  • A team of researchers uses lasers to unveil tattoos on ancient Peruvian mummies.And modern 3D imaging technology is being used to uncover dinosaurs’ diets and how they changed hundreds of millions of years ago.
  • New York’s governor has proposed free community college for adults retraining for careers in high-demand fields. We’ll speak with the chancellor of the state’s public college and university system about the idea.A new lab at Western New England University is dedicated to studying “extended reality.”And Marist College has officially rebranded as Marist University