In the first episode of SciTech in a Flash, we dive into the world of creepy, crawly, cockroaches. The pesky cockroaches we sometimes find in kitchens, sewers and basements make up less than one percent of all cockroach species. Researchers estimate there are as many as 20,000 roach species on the planet and less than 5,000 have been catalogued. Our partners at Science Friday bring us inside a cockroach research lab, working to identify different species, at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
 
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Inside the World of Roaches

Michael Massimino, retired NASA astronaut and mechanical engineering professor at Columbia Engineering School, joins host Hari Sreenivasan to talk about “Extreme Engineering” and offers advice to young engineers just starting out. Massimino, a graduate from both Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, aims to shows that doing things on the edge of your field requires thinking of problems differently. Massimino aims to inspire his students with what’s ahead of them after engineering school.

Extreme Engineering

First introduced in 12th century Europe, the guitar is now a ubiquitous musical instrument. Guitars are made from the rarest forms of wood and it has become increasingly difficult to source that wood from the tropics. Our environmental reporting partner EarthFix brings us to the damp forests of the Pacific Northwest, home to the fast-growing big leaf maple tree, which may offer a solution for sourcing wood for ethical and sustainable instruments.

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Sustainably Sourced Instruments

Many people all over the world consume at least one cup of coffee every day.  Is it possible to brew the perfect cup? We visit two local shops in State College, PA to examine the roasting and brewing processes and explore the science of coffee.

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The Science of Coffee

Over the last few decades an invasive crab native to Europe has been making its way to the West Coast in the U.S. The menacing European green crab has been found in Washington’s Puget Sound. The species has earned a reputation as one of the worst global invaders, making its way to South Africa, Brazil, Australia and both coasts of North America. The three inch long species has already wreaked havoc on the ecosystem, devastating the soft shell crab industry on the East Coast. Once they become abundant, as they have in coastal Maine, they become nearly impossible to get rid of. Our environmental reporting partner EarthFix brings us to Washington where University of Washington researchers are trying to find out if there are more of these destructive invaders lurking in the Northwest inland sea.
 
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Attack of the Invasive Crabs

Polar scientist Marco Tedesco of Columbia University’s Earth Institute joins host Hari Sreenivasan to discuss how warmer winters are affecting our planet. He explains that Earth’s Polar Regions are sensitive enough that a difference of one degree can thaw ice, resulting in rises in sea levels and global implications. Tedesco also explains how we might slow the acceleration we are seeing by cooling down the planet.
 
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Warmer Winters

A lab at The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is printing organs using human cells in a biodegradable frame allowing for nerves and blood vessels to grow into the organ and function normally. We go inside this lab that is bringing the science of regenerative medicine to a new level.
 
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3D Printing for Medicine

Our bodies have adapted over time to the conditions in which we live. Now scientists at the Pennsylvania State University Center for Quantitative Imaging are imaging and examining bones to see what they reveal, not only about our ancestors but about our lifestyles and eating habits.  We’ll explore what your bones may reveal about you.
 
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Secrets of Your Bones

How do dogs recognize each other or gain an understanding of the world around them? Alexandra Horowitz, a leading researcher in dog cognition and author of “Being a Dog: Following the Dog into a World of Smell,” joins host Hari Sreenivasan to explain how smells change a dog’s perception in surprising ways.
 
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Dog Perception

Justin Cappos, associate professor of computer science and engineering at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering, explains the importance of securing software update systems. He details his project The Update Framework (TUF), which can help web developers secure new or existing software update systems, which are often found to be vulnerable to many know cyberattacks. 
 
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Software Updates and Cybersecurity

Dr. Munshi-South, associate professor of biological sciences at Fordham University joins host Hari Sreenivasan to discuss the evolutionary changes of rats and rodents in New York City. Researchers have been trapping rats and extracting their DNA to learn more about their evolutionary origins and interactions with urban environments. Dr. Munshi-South explains that rats have a wide range of genetic diversity and how rats located in one city may be biologically different than those of another city.  
 
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The Evolution of Rats

SciTech Now is public media’s nexus of new ideas. The SciTech in a Flash podcast explores the latest breakthroughs in science and technology – in under 10 minutes. Hosted by Hari Sreenivasan, anchor of PBS NewsHour Weekend and a senior correspondent for the nightly program, SciTech in a Flash will navigate the mysteries of the scientific and technology worlds. 11 new episodes will be released weekly on the SciTech Now website, iTunes and Soundcloud.

SciTech in a Flash

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