This week, smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted south, enveloping the Northeastern United States, casting an ominous orange glow. The smoke continued spreading outwards to the Southeast and to the Midwest.
While climate change is extending and worsening the Canadian wildfire season, it’s still rare for this many fires, so early in the season.
Ira talks with Katherine Wu, staff writer at The Atlantic, about the latest on the Canadian wildfires and other top news stories of the week, including; a new type of cat contraception, drilling into the Earth’s mantle, and a ‘virgin’ crocodile birth.
30 Years Later, ’Jurassic Park’ Still Inspires
On June 11th, 1993, what would become one of the biggest movies of all time was released in theaters: Jurassic Park.
Based on the novel by Michael Crichton, the film is about people’s belief that they can control nature. Wealthy businessman John Hammond creates a dinosaur nature park. Things go awry quickly. Electric fences break down, dinosaurs get loose, and people are eaten. At the time of its release, the film became the highest-grossing movie of all time.
In the decades since it came out, the film has spawned a multi-movie franchise, amusement park rides, video games, and every type of merchandise imaginable. The movie also had a tremendous impact on visual effects, both computer animated and practical, which are still seen today in the media.
When the first Jurassic Park movie came out, many of the paleontologists of today were children—or not even born yet. Ira speaks with a trio of paleontologists about the film’s impact on them as kids, and its continuous use as an educational tool to inspire young dino enthusiasts: Riley Black, Steve Brusatte and Yara Haridy.
A Biotech Offensive Against Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes are the primary spreaders of some highly dangerous diseases for people: The insect spreads diseases like yellow fever, dengue fever, malaria, and zika, which kill millions of people globally each year. There’s one species of mosquito that’s invasive to the United States, and whose populations are spreading: Aedes aegypti, which is recognizable by black and white markings on its legs.
Lee County, Florida is taking aim at this species with biotechnology. Their strategy is to release 30,000 sterilized male mosquitoes into the environment, who will go on to mate with females, who then will release eggs that do not hatch. Male mosquitoes don’t bite, only females do. The goal of this method is to decrease the Aedes aegypti population with every generation.
Biotechnology to combat this mosquito species is nothing new. Ira speaks with reporter Cary Barbor at WGCU in Fort Myers about this strategy in her city. He also speaks with Dr. Omar Akbari, professor of cell and developmental biology at UC San Diego, about his research on using CRISPR to alter Aedes aegypti into harmless insects.
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Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.
667: The Military’s Carbon Footprint Is A Hidden Cost Of Defense
666: High Energy Cosmic Ray Detected | These Penguins Are The Masters Of Microsleeping
665: COP28 Climate Conference Ends | Why Are Some People Affected By Seasonal Affective Disorder?
664: A Celebration Of The 2023 Christmas Bird Count
663: Surfing Particles Can Supercharge Northern Lights
662: The (Not So) Easy Guide To Getting To Space
663: The Women Astronomers Who Captured the Stars
662: Quercetin May Cause Red Wine Headaches | Worsening Wildfires Are Undoing Air Quality Progress
661: Speaking Multiple Languages Changes The Way You Think
660: Social Connections Keep Us Physically and Mentally Healthy As We Age
661: Women Were Also Skilled Hunters In Ancient Times
658: An AI Leader’s Human-Centered Approach To Artificial Intelligence
659: COP28 Host Had Plans to Promote Oil and Gas | Researchers Detected Cicada Emergence With Fiber-Optics
656: Ralph Nader Reflects On His Auto Safety Campaign, 55 Years Later
654: What’s That Smell? An AI Nose Knows
655: Jane Goodall On Life Among Chimpanzees
654: The ‘Wet-Dog Shake’ And Other Physics Mysteries
657: Ig Nobel Prizes | Stop Flushing Your Health Data Down The Toilet
653: The West’s Wild Horses | Artist Explores History Of Humans Genetically Modifying Pigs
650: Moon Rock Research | Science of Unraveling Sweaters
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