Star City Blog

Science Odyssey: Using Evolutionary Theory to Cure Social Problems

By Clay Farris Naff

"Applied evolution" has been tried with some success in medicine, marketing, and computer science, but David Sloan Wilson goes one better. In this edition of Science Odyssey, he introduces us to applied evolutionary philanthropy! Wilson, a distinguished professor of biology and anthropology at Binghamton University, stepped out of the groves of academe to try an audacious project: bringing evolutionary theory to bear on some of the most entrenched problems in the city around him: failing schools, crime, crumbling properties. With successes under his belt, he's written a new book, called The Neighborhood Project: Using Evolution to Improve my City, One Block at a Time.

Applied Evolution, Part 1

Applied Evolution, Part 2 

Clay Farris Naff is (claynaff.com) is a science author and blogger whose weekly radio program, Science Odyssey, airs Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9 a.m. CST on KZUM, Lincoln's community radio station. You can hear it over the air at 89.3 FM or on the web live at kzum.org. Clay's science and religion blog on the Huffington Post can be seen here.

Science Odyssey: Neutrinos Caught Speeding?

by Clay Farris Naff

The data collected by Italian physicists monitoring neutrinos streaming out of a particle collider at CERN were so strange that even they cannot quite believe them. It appears that the tiny particles are exceeding the speed of light. If true, this would mean that something's not quite right with Einstein's theory of relativity.

To learn about the experiment and its implications, we talk with Associate Professor of Physics Chad Orzel of Union College and Distinguished Professor of Theoretical Physics Alan Kostelecky of Indiana University. Orzel is author of the popular book How to Teach Physics to Your Dog. Kostelecky coauthored a paper decades ago that predicted the possibility of a faster-than-light neutrino.

Fast Neutrinos, Part 1

Fast Neutrinos, Part 2

Clay Farris Naff is (claynaff.com) is a science author and blogger whose weekly radio program, Science Odyssey, airs Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9 a.m. CST on KZUM, Lincoln's community radio station. You can hear it over the air at 89.3 FM or on the web live at kzum.org. Clay's science and religion blog on the Huffington Post can be seen here.

 

Science Odyssey: What Does Scientific Literacy Really Mean?

By Clay Farris Naff

"Just the facts, ma'am." That's what Sgt. Joe Friday used to growl on the old Dragnet TV show. But is a laundry list of facts sufficient to imbue a person with scientific literacy? Evidently not. In this episode, we talk with two scientists who have devoted themselves to trying to raise the level of scientific literacy.

In Part 1 we converse with Dr. Thomas Martin of Arizona State University. He's the author of a prizewinning essay on scientific literacy and an honors college instructor who grapples with the anti-scientific preconceptions of very bright students.

In Part 2, we hear from John Janovy Jr.,  Varner Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska, who is also the author of a book on scientific literacy for political leaders.

Scientific Literacy, Part 1

 

Scientific Literacy, Part 2

Clay Farris Naff is (claynaff.com) is a science author and blogger whose weekly radio program, Science Odyssey, airs Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9 a.m. CST on KZUM, Lincoln's community radio station. You can hear it over the air at 89.3 FM or on the web live at kzum.org. Clay's science and religion blog on the Huffington Post can be seen here.

 

Science Odyssey: Demography Shows How Religion Drives Population Growth

By Clay Farris Naff

Much has been made of the apparent decline of religion in the West. But demographer Eric Kaufmann of the University of London sees things differently. His close study of the effects of fundamentalism in all religions shows that the most religious people are outreproducing the seculars and liberal religionists by leaps and bounds.

The implications are staggering. Already in Israel, he says, the Ultraorthodox are blocking a peace deal, sapping the military, and undermining the economy by refusing to compromise, serve or take jobs -- and their numbers are growing fast. Similar patterns exist in virtually all the major religions, he says. Kaufmann is the author of Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth? Demography and Politics in the Twentieth Century.

 

Religion-demog-pt1

Religion-demog-pt2

Clay Farris Naff is (claynaff.com) is a science author and blogger whose weekly radio program, Science Odyssey, airs Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9 a.m. CST on KZUM, Lincoln's community radio station. You can hear it over the air at 89.3 FM or on the web live at kzum.org. Clay's science and religion blog on the Huffington Post can be seen here.

 

Science Odyssey: Glimpsing the Future Through Computer Models

By Clay Farris Naff

People have always tried to get a look at what's to come. The ancients turned to oracles, prophecies, and horoscopes. Only science, however, has proven to be a reliable source of prediction.

In this program, we have an extended conversation with Laurence Smith, a UCLA geographer who has woven together scientific projections from computer models in several different fields to create a tapestry of the world in 2050 -- which also happens to be the title of his new book.

Future-pt1

Future-pt2

Clay Farris Naff is (claynaff.com) is a science author and blogger whose weekly radio program, Science Odyssey, airs Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9 a.m. CST on KZUM, Lincoln's community radio station. You can hear it over the air at 89.3 FM or on the web live at kzum.org. Clay's science and religion blog on the Huffington Post can be seen here.

Science Odyssey: Can Economics and Political Science Make Sense of the American Morass?

By Clay Farris Naff

Following a week of political agony and financial turmoil, we turn to the social sciences to try to make sense of what strikes many as irrational behavior among politicians and investors.

In Part 1 we hear from economist Michael Goldberg, Roland H. O'Neal Professor in the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. In Part 2, we hear from political scientist John Hibbing, the Foundation Regents University Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Policon, Part 1

Policon, Part 2

Clay Farris Naff is (claynaff.com) is a science author and blogger whose weekly radio program, Science Odyssey, airs Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9 a.m. CST on KZUM, Lincoln's community radio station. You can hear it over the air at 89.3 FM or on the web live at kzum.org. Clay's science and religion blog on the Huffington Post can be seen here.

 

Science Odyssey: Shifts in Disease Boundaries

By Clay Farris Naff

New temperature data show that climate change is well underway in the US. As it takes hold, experts say the boundaries of diseases are shifting as well. That's partly because the carriers of disease, such as mosquitoes and mice, are finding new places to live.

But there's more to it than that. In  Part 1 we hear from Dr. Mary Hayden of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. In Part 2, we talk with epidemiologist Gregory Glass of Johns Hopkins University.

Climate and Disease, Part 1

Climate and Disease, Part 2

Clay Farris Naff is (claynaff.com) is a science author and blogger whose weekly radio program, Science Odyssey, airs Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9 a.m. CST on KZUM, Lincoln's community radio station. You can hear it over the air at 89.3 FM or on the web live at kzum.org. Clay's science and religion blog on the Huffington Post can be seen here.

Science Odyssey: Will US Concede Particle Physics to Europe?

By Clay Farris Naff

For decades, the Tevatron at Fermilab, in Batavia, Illinois, has been the world's leader in the search for subatomic particles. Recently, however, Europe's Large Hadron Collider has surpassed its firepower, and now Tevatron is about to close down for good. Does this mean the end of US leadership in high-energy physics?

On today's program we hear the latest from the LHC, courtesy of physicist Ken Bloom, who is on site at CERN, and in Part 2 we hear from Fermilab's longtime associate director of research, Greg Bock, on how his lab has every intention of moving ahead.

LHC update, Part 1

LHC update, Part 2

Clay Farris Naff is (claynaff.com) is a science author and blogger whose weekly radio program, Science Odyssey, airs Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9 a.m. CST on KZUM, Lincoln's community radio station. You can hear it over the air at 89.3 FM or on the web live at kzum.org. Clay's science and religion blog on the Huffington Post can be seen here.

Science Odyssey: The Evidence for Evolution

By Clay Farris Naff

Evolution continues to lead a double life. In science, it is currently the most widely accepted, uncontroversial theory around. By contrast, gravity is hotly disputed. Among the public, however, evolution is far more controversial than gravity.

To address the doubts of evo-skeptics, University of Utah anthropologist Alan Rogers has written a slim new book that elegantly compiles the overwhelming evidence for evolution. On this program we talk with him about the book and why he wrote it.

Evo-evidence, Part 1

Evo-evidence, Part 2

Clay Farris Naff is (claynaff.com) is a science author and blogger whose weekly radio program, Science Odyssey, airs Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9 a.m. CST on KZUM, Lincoln's community radio station. You can hear it over the air at 89.3 FM or on the web live at kzum.org. Clay's science and religion blog on the Huffington Post can be seen here.

 

Science Odyssey: Where Science Went During Europe's Dark Ages

By Clay Farris Naff

The idea that progress in science halted after the fall of the Roman Empire is simply wrong, argues physicist Jim al-Khalili in his new book The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance. It details how beginning soon after the establishment of the Islamic Empire, Arabic speaking scholars in Baghdad not only translated the great works of ancient Greece and India, but advanced chemistry, astronomy, mathematics and more. 

 We speak with Professor al-Khalili about his book, his childhood in Iraq, and why he has taken three years out of his career as a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Surrey to write about history.

Arabicscience-pt1

Arabicscience-pt2

Clay Farris Naff is (claynaff.com) is a science author and blogger whose weekly radio program, Science Odyssey, airs Saturday mornings from 8:30 to 9 a.m. CST on KZUM, Lincoln's community radio station. You can hear it over the air at 89.3 FM or on the web live at kzum.org. Clay's science and religion blog on the Huffington Post can be seen here.