Sep
24
This is the first of a four-part series on the original four Greek elements: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. For EARTH, we focused on the Marcellus Shale, the natural gas-rich geologic formation stretching through parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. It’s a highly controversial topic getting a lot of press these days and I hope we did it justice.
I narrated the show’s first segment on the geologic history of the Marcellus shale, and WHYY reporter Susan Phillips reported a feature for us on how the development of the Marcellus Shale is affecting families in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. She also co-produced a long series on the subject for WHYY, with my fellow Science Literacy Project colleague Kerry Grens.
Image of Marcellus Black Shale exposure on Interstate 80 courtesy of Wikimedia user Dahluza.
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Sep
14
In this Pulse of the Planet segment, UC Merced professor Christopher Viney and Kids’ Science Challenge winner Olivia Smith-Donovan talk about how to build something BIG based on a natural phenomenon that is, in fact, very, very small. This is the final segment in the series I helped write and produce for the KSC bio-inspired design competition.
Maple Seed Drop – Scaling: When you’re building a larger invention from a smaller scale model, the design is likely to change!
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Sep
13
The next in the series of segments I produced for Jim Metzner’s Kids’ Science Challenge. In this one, UC Merced professor Christopher Viney talks about how maple seeds fall ever so gently to the ground.
Maple Seed Drop – How it Works: Scientists are baffled by the way in which a maple seed spins to the ground to slow the rate of its descent.
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Sep
10
Another reason I love Distillations – a whole show on medicine you can GROW. A segment on digitalis – the heart medication in the form of the lovely foxglove. And producer Joel Rose takes us on a walking tour of Lancaster Farmacy – just like a CSA, but focused on medicine instead of traditional food crops. So cool!
Foxglove photographed in Bestwood Country Park, Nottinghamshire, from Flickr user DaveKav.
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Sep
7
This is the next in a series of segments I produced for Jim Metzner’s Kids’ Science Challenge, based on Jim’s interview with UC Merced engineering professor Christopher Viney.
New from Nature: A 5th-grade winner of the Kids’ Science Challenge comes up with a great idea, inspired by nature.
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Sep
6
This is a series I helped write and produce for Jim Metzner’s Kid Science Challenge, a national competition for 3rd to 6th graders. The theme for this challenge was bio-inspired design, and the winner was Delaware 5th grader Olivia Smith-Donovan. She traveled to California to meet with UC Merced professor Christopher Viney to help make her maple seed helicopter design a reality. I produced four segments from their time together, using audio and video interviews to pull together the sound of their experience. This is the first:
Floppy flier: Maple tree seed pods are the inspiration for a new way to deliver relief supplies via airplane.
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