Jan 23

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Genetic engineers have designed strains of E. coli that can survive only in the presence of a compound that doesn't exist in nature—meaning the bacteria's odds of escaping the lab alive are limited. Dan Mandell, a research fellow in genetics at Harvard Medical School who co-authored a paper about the findings in Nature this week, explains. David Guston, co-director of the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University, discusses the ethical and safety implications of the work.

Scientists Engineer Bacteria With Genetic 'Kill Switch'

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“Exploration without science is just adventure,” according to Will Roseman, executive director of the Explorers Club. The club was founded in 1904 to promote exploration and science research in the field. Video producer Emily Driscoll takes us on a private tour of the collection at the club’s headquarters—from yeti scalps to a flag from the Apollo 11 moon mission.

Behind the Scenes of the Explorers Club

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The Carysfort Reef of Key Largo, Florida, has lost 95 percent of its coral cover since 1975. But 150 miles to the south, coral reefs on the southern coast of Cuba are flourishing. Marine scientist David Guggenheim dives into what has kept these Cuban colonies healthy and how this insight could affect the management of corals worldwide.


Conserving Cuba’s Coral Reefs

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Today, physicists take the existence of black holes for granted. But back in the mid-1960s, the jury was still out: Were black holes a real feature of our universe, or a figment of mathematicians’ imaginations? The debate changed with a historic collaboration between mathematician Roger Penrose and physicist Stephen Hawking. Forty-five years after the publication of their 1970 Royal Society paper, Roger Penrose remembers the discoveries that led him and Hawking to believe that black holes really do exist, and that our universe started with a space-time singularity.

Remembering the Moment Black Holes Went Mainstream

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Water droplets might slide off your Teflon-coated pan, but what if they bounced off immediately instead? Scientists at the University of Rochester are pioneering a new way to make metals more water-repellent. The researchers used lasers to fundamentally alter the metal by creating micro- and nanoscale structures on its surface. Physicist Chunlei Guo, one of the authors of the study published this week in the Journal of Applied Physics, explains possible real-world applications of this technology.

Lasers Help Metal Resist Rust and Ice

Ryan Rykaczewski describes one of the most massive migrations on the planet, driven by the sun. Image by Tintinnidguy (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 

#ExplainTheSun  - The Largest Migration on The Planet

Once, there was the ordinary incandescent light bulb. It shone brightly, but wasted much of the energy put into it as heat. Then came the compact fluorescent. And as costs have dropped, consumers have increasingly been switching to light-emitting diode (LED) technology for many lighting applications, in an ongoing search for a more efficient bulb. Now, in work published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, researchers report that nanophotonic devices may be able to breathe new life into old incandescent technology. Marin Soljačić and Ognjen Ilic, two authors of the study, explain how they’ve been able to “recycle” some of the incandescent bulb’s wasted heat and re-emit it as visible light, boosting efficiency.

For the Lowly Incandescent Bulb, a Ray of Hope

Science, technology, and other cool stuff from public radio's Science Friday. It's brain fun, for curious people. From WNYC Studios.

Conserving Cuba’s Coral Reefs

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