E.O. Wilson And Will Wright on NPR’s “open mic”

What happens when you get really talented, accomplished people to interview other really talented, accomplished people?
That’s the idea behind National Public Radio’s “open mic” series. Here’s a great clip of game designer Will Wright (creator of The Sims) interviewing his hero, the eminent biologist and emeritus Harvard professor E.O. Wilson.
They talk about the future of [...]

Taming technology

What should we do when a technology might be spreading too fast? Consider nano-silver, an antimicrobial compound that some fear might be damaging to many kinds of living cells. What happens if nano-silver gets into our waterways and oceans before regulators have time to examine it?
Or think about this: what do we do when technology [...]

Introduction to Biological Anthropology

UC Berkeley neurobiologist Terrence Deacon gives a rousing grand finale to his spring 2009 course Introduction to Biological Anthropology (website, feed).
The final three lectures explore the ways that our bodies and minds have been shaped by evolution, sometimes in ways that leave us poorly prepared for the artificial environments in which we now live.
He’s not [...]

Neurobiology of sex: the birds, the bees, baboons and us

Stanford biology professor Robert Sapolsky is a smart funny guy who sprints from one topic to the next, strewing interesting ideas and punchlines in his path. Sapolsky has long been a favorite of mine (see The best health lecture on the Internet) and recently BoingBoing pointed out that two lectures from his Human Behavioral Biology [...]

Say hello to your cousin — the yeast!

Among the weird and wonderful factiods in Terrence Deacon’s UC Berkeley course Introduction to Biological Anthropology (website, feed) is this one from lecture 5: we humans are more closely related genetically to yeast then we are to maize. Think of that the next time you eat cornbread or suffer from a yeast infection.
Deacon’s [...]

Are you ready for Darwin Day?

Thursday February 12 is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth.  Do you have your party hat yet?
To help get you into the right mood, this year’s Darwin Lecture series (website, iTunes) from Darwin College, Cambridge University is tackling the legacy of its namesake.  A team of 8 distinguished academics will talk about Darwin’s life, [...]

Happy 200th Birthday to Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin was born February 12, 1808, and in honor of his birthday Darwin lovers the world over are celebrating.
The BBC’s Darwin bash began this week with a special 4-part documentary (website) on the Beeb’s often excellent history/philosophy/science radio show In Our Time (website, feed, iTunes). Abandoning the show’s usual panel discussion format, this [...]

10 top things to do with your iPod during a financial meltdown

10) Learn about stress in baboons.
Our primate cousins have a lot to teach us about handling stress according to this lecture (iTunes) by Stanford stress researcher Robert Sapolsky.
9) Take a meditation break.
Get the free audio for short, guided meditations from UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Center (iTunes) (website). (See Ready for a break? Try meditation)
8) Read [...]

Ready for a break? Try meditation

Are you spending too much time worrying about (pick one or several):

job security,
the financial crisis,
global warming,
terrorism,
your kid’s algebra homework?

Meditation is a proven antidote to stress, and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) has a podcast (iTunes) (website) to help. Diana Winston, director for mindfulness education at UCLA’s mindfulness awareness research Center, narrates the [...]

What killed the dinosaurs? Are we next?

It’s one of the great scientific mystery stories of all time, and paleontologist Peter Ward tells it with great verve in this Teaching Company lecture podcast, The Search for What Killed the Dinosaurs .
Ward relates how geologist Walter Alvarez, in his quest for scientific truth and tenure, hit upon the idea that the dinosaurs, along [...]