Science Talk

Jeff Potter, author of Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks and Good Food, talks with daily podcast correspondent Cynthia Graber, and podcast host Steve Mirsky tests your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Web sites related to content of this podcast include www.cookingforgeeks.com

Podcast host Steve Mirsky talks with author Mary Roach about her new book "Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void." Part 2 of 2. (Part 1 is at http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=mary-roach-is-packing-for-mars-10-08-20). Web sites related to content of this podcast include www.maryroach.net.

Podcast host Steve Mirsky recently attended a talk by author Mary Roach about her new book Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void . In part 1 of this two-part episode, we'll hear that talk. Web sites related to content of this podcast include www.maryroach.net

Podcast host Steve Mirsky talks with human evolution expert Kate Wong about the small group of humans who survived tough times beginning about 195,000 years ago and gave rise to all of us, a story told in the cover article of the August issue of Scientific American, our 165th anniversary edition. And Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina talks about the rest of the contents of the issue, including our coverage of the search for rocky exoplanets. Plus, we test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Web sites related to content of this podcast include http://snipurl.com/10louu

A panel discussion on arguing with non-skeptics at the recent Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism in New York City featured James Randi, George Hrab, D. J. Grothe and podcast host Steve Mirsky. Julia Galef moderated. Part 2 of 2. Web sites related to content of this podcast include www.necsscon.org

A panel discussion on arguing with non-skeptics at the recent Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism in New York City featured James Randi, George Hrab, D. J. Grothe and podcast host Steve Mirsky. Julia Galef moderated. Part 1 of 2. Web sites related to content of this podcast include www.nature.com/nature/podcast and www.necsscon.org

The new documentary film Whiz Kids follows three high school student-scientists as they attempt to get their projects accepted into the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search. Scientific American podcast host Steve Mirsky talks with the film's writer and editor, Jane Wagner, and with two of the stars of the documentary, Ana Cisneros and Hermain Khan. Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Web sites related to content of this podcast include www.nature.com/nature/podcast and http://whizkidsmovie.com

Scientific American Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina and staff editor Michael Moyer join podcast host Steve Mirsky to talk about articles in the July issue, including: "The Dirty Truth about Plug-In Hybrids"; "How Babies Think"; and "Birds That Lived with Dinosaurs". Plus, we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Web sites related to content of this podcast include www.scientificamerican.com/sciammag; http://bit.ly/cwcTtR

Award-winning writer and physicist Graham Farmelo talks with podcast host Steve Mirsky about The Strangest Man, Farmelo's biography of Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist Paul Dirac. Part 2 of 2. Web sites related to this episode include www.thestrangestman.com and http://bit.ly/dirac1963

The Wildlife Conservation Society's George Schaller talks about his new book, "A Naturalist and Other Beasts," which covers his 50 years of documenting important large animal species in the field. And Scientific American editor in chief, John Rennie, offers a look at some articles in the June issue. Plus, we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Web sites mentioned on this episode include www.SciAm.com/daily, www.wcs.org

Kate Wong brings us up to date on the ongoing research into fossils of the tiny human, called the Hobbit, found on the island of Flores. And Ivan Oransky reports from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Plus, Nobel laureate Gerald Edelman illustrates problems with reductionism and refrigerators. And we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Web sites mentioned on this episode include www.SciAm.com/daily, www.nybg.org/darwin/symposium.php, www.intel.com/education/ISEF

A new movie, Expelled, claims that intelligent design is good science that is being censored by adherents to evolution, which is nothing but Darwinian dogma. Scientific American's editor-in-chief, John Rennie, and podcast host Steve Mirsky discuss the movie. And Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education, talks about being interviewed for the film as well as her organization's efforts to provide correct information about the claims in Expelled. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. For more of SciAm's coverage of Expelled visit www.sciam.com/expelled. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.expelledthemovie.com; www.expelledexposed.com; www.natcenscied.org

Francesca Grifo from the Union of Concerned Scientists talks about the need for legislation to protect federal scientists. We'll also hear from the UCS's Kurt Gottfried and Anthony Robbins, who spoke at a press conference in Boston in February. And Scientific American's editor-in-chief, John Rennie, previews the April issue of the magazine. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.ucsusa.org

Ornithologist and conservation biologist Jeffrey Wells talks about birds and their roles as markers for environmental health. He also discusses the Boreal Forest, the Boreal Birdsong Initiative, the eBird research project (that you can assist) and his new book, The Birder's Conservation Handbook. We also have a brief tribute to the late Arthur C. Clarke. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.ebird.org; www.borealbirds.org

In this episode, Scientific American editor George Musser talks with Caltech Astronomer Josh Simon about dark matter, and about the efforts to try to locate the so-called missing satellites of the Milky Way--small galaxies that have yet to be found in the numbers that the cold dark matter theory predicts. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include: tinyurl.com/27g9op; www.astro.caltech.edu/~jsimon