What is the most expensive thing in the world? At a price of 4 trillion dollars per gram, pieces of the sun might be the most precious things we've ever collected. 

The piece features Prof. Kevin McKeegan of the Genesis science team and Dr. Matt Siegler, who work down the hall from the producer. Special thanks to FreeSound.org users reinsamba, HerbertBoland, progic35, dobroide, lg, Benboncan, alphahog, and qubodup for their sounds, and funding support from the National Science Foundation. Submitted to the 2012 Third Coast International Audio Festival ShortDocs competition.

Gold dust

Today, we measure the body temperature of something that's been dead for 170 million years. Our guest is Dr. Robert Eagle, a researcher at UCLA. 

Music and sound effects were provided by generous users of the Free Music Archive and Freesound (users gezortenplotz, digifishmusic, freqman, spandau, acclivity, jpnien, zoom-h4, walter-odington, and anton) . Funding support was provided by the National Science Foundation.

Measure Twice, Cut Once (Episode 1): Sticking a thermometer in a dinosaur's mouth

A clip. The title is more or less self-explanatory.

Curiosity Rover Gangnam Parody Mashup

How weird is it that there are humpback whales near Tromsø (69°N) in December? They should be in the tropics at this time of year. But the water is much warmer than it used to be, so their prey, North Sea herring, are still around. 

I made a recording of these whales in pitch darkness as they fed. Our guide, Gunnar Hildonen, was taking pictures. 

Whales in a fjord

Laurence is a scientist by day, a musician by night, and an audio producer by...twilight? Lately, he has been asking his colleagues, whether down the hall or across the Canadian border, to explain their research to him as though he were their drunk cousin. So far, everyone has been up to the challenge.

sneakypeteiii