Scientists have long thought that when two animals from two different species mate, it’s a colossal error and the end of the road for the mismatched couple. It’s called interspecies breeding, and many hybrid offspring often end up sterile, such as zonkeys —a cross between a zebra and donkey. Or they can develop serious health problems, like ligers and tigons.
One biologist even went as far to call interspecies breeding “the grossest blunder in sexual preference.” But is breeding across species lines always a dead end? One critter —the plains spadefoot toad—shows us that maybe it isn’t. In fact, it can give them a leg up in survival.
Katherine Wu, staff writer for The Atlantic, talks with Ira about the complicated sex lives of the female plains spadefoot toads, the trade-offs females make when choosing a mate, and why hybridizing critters may not be such a biological abomination after all.
Major Semiconductor Support Bill Passes First Hurdle
Earlier this week, the Senate voted in favor of the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act. If passed, the bill would provide more than $50 billion to companies that will build semiconductor factories here in the United States. Semiconductors are versatile materials—such as silicon—often used in electronics and in microchips. But the bulk of semiconductors, known as “chips,” are produced in other countries, mostly Taiwan. If the CHIPS Act is passed, the government will fund tech companies to build factories at home instead. Although the bill still has to go through the House and be signed by President Biden, this Senate vote is still a monumental moment in the tech world.
Jesús del Alamo, a professor of electrical engineering at MIT, joins Ira to talk about why this bill is such a big deal, and what’s at stake.
Drought Could Raise Toxic Dust Around Utah’s Great Salt Lake
Utah’s Great Salt Lake holds a unique ecological niche as the western hemisphere’s largest saltwater lake. The body of water is three to five times saltier than the ocean, with salinity ranging between 12 and 28 percent. According to the Great Salt Lake Institute, millions of birds from more than 250 species rely on the lake yearly, alongside a diverse variety of plants and animals.
Like many bodies of water in the U.S., climate change is affecting the status quo in the Great Salt Lake. The water is drying up at an alarming rate, reaching its lowest level in recorded history this month. Now, researchers warn that toxic dust could increase as water levels continue to drop.
Joining Ira to discuss the Great Salt Lake’s ecosystem and future is Bonnie Baxter, director of the Great Salt Lake Institute and biology professor at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah.
A Flaw in Human Judgment: How Making Decisions Isn’t As Objective As You Think
If two people are presented with the same set of facts, they will often draw different conclusions. For example, judges often dole out different sentences for the same case, which can lead to an unjust system. This unwanted variability in judgments in which we expect uniformity is what psychologist Daniel Kahneman calls “noise.”
The importance of thoughtful decision-making has come in stark relief during the pandemic and in the events leading up to the January 6th insurrection.
Ira talks with Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman about the role of ‘noise’ in human judgment, his long career studying cognitive biases, and how systematic decision-making can result in fewer errors.
Kahneman is the co-author of “Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment,” along with Oliver Sibony and Cass R. Sunstein, now available in paperback.
Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.
Pod Pregnancy Movie, Increase In Deep-Sea Mining, Upcoming Astronomical Delights. August 11, 2023, Part 2
Hawai’i Wildfires, Blue-Fin Tuna Science, Maine’s New Lithium Deposit. August 11, 2023, Part 1
Answering Evolution Questions, Planetary Protection. Aug 4, 2023, Part 2
Artificial Sweetener Safety, Nuclear Weapons Tech. Aug 4, 2023, Part 1
The Cat’s Meow, Chumash Marine Sanctuary, EV Tires. July 28, 2023, Part 2
Kākāpō Conservation, NYC Parrots, One Year After the Dobbs Decision. July 28, 2023, Part 1
How Does The Brain Control Your Every Move? July 21, 2023, Part 1
What To Know Before You Go See ‘Oppenheimer’. July 21, 2023, Part 2
Lab-Grown Meat Approval, Underground Climate Change, Utahraptor. July 14, 2023, Part 2
Youth Mental Health Crisis, Repairing Sharks’ Bad Reputation. July 14, 2023, Part 1
Accessible Birding, Space Sounds, Wasps. July 7, 2023. Part 2
Beavers, Pando Tree, $7 Violin. July 7, 2023. Part 1
Cloning for Conservation, Cubesats, Queer Ecology, Henry Petroski. June 30, 2023, Part 2
Hum Of The Universe, Cephalopod Event In Miami. June 30, 2023, Part 1
Social Media Chaos, Remembering Whale Song Scientist Roger Payne. June 23, 2023, Part 2
Cephalopod Week Salutes See-Thru Squid, Hyperbole In Science Publishing, Art and the Brain, Rover Competition. June 23, 2023, Part 1
Avian Flu, Curly Hair. June 16, 2023, Part 2
Science Books For Summer Reading. June 16, 2023, Part 1
Living Underwater For 100 Days, Refineries’ Excess Emissions, Owl Facts. June 9, 2023, Part 2
Wildfire Smoke, Jurassic Park Reflection, Mosquito DNA Editing. June 9, 2023, Part 1
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