Category: Environment

The Blessing and Curse of Methane – Hash it Out

07.11.18.

Methane is a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of gas: on one hand, it is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel. On the other, if it leaks, methane itself is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. In this special Hash It Out episode, Brian and Fedor go from 18th century Italian methane guns…
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The Chemical Ban That Got a Reprieve from Trump’s EPA – with Miriam Rotkin-Ellman of the Natural Resources Defense Council

06.25.18.

After years of exhaustive research linking the pesticide chlorpyrifos to a host of developmental and cognitive deficiencies in children, the EPA was poised to ban the chemical in November 2016. But something else happened that same month: the election of Donald Trump. As a result, this potent neurotoxin is still in use. Miriam Rotkin-Ellman is…
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Miles O’Brien wins inaugural Darlene Schmidt Science News Award

06.20.18.

This week, Miles was honored with the inaugural Darlene Schmidt Science News Award, presented by the American Nuclear Society (ANS). Here’s what the ANS had to say: “O’Brien was nominated based on a 2017 PBS segment on the advances made in nuclear energy systems since the Fukushima accident. He spent two days filming at the…
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Welcome to the Madhouse – with Michael Mann and Tom Toles

06.11.18.

Communicating the science of climate change, with its overwhelming expert consensus, seems like it should be easy. However, a science-averse media and strong fossil fuel lobby make it exceedingly difficult. Climatologist Michael Mann and cartoonist Tom Toles have teamed up to put climate change in context in their new book, The Madhouse Effect: How Climate…
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Searching for Methane, the Other Greenhouse Gas – with Robert Green of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

06.04.18.

Methane is a much more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. It is more short lived than CO2 (about a decade as opposed to a century) but it is 85 times more effective at warming. Rob Green is a world renowned expert in spectroscopy, which is a great way to find methane on…
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Understanding the Eruption at Kilauea – with Geologist Mike Garcia

05.08.18.

As Hawaii trembles with earthquakes and the Kilauea volcano continues to spew forth lava and gas, residents and the wider world watch and wonder: how long will this renewed activity continue? To find out, we turn to Mike Garcia, professor of geology at the University of Hawaii and funded by the National Science Foundation. He…
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