Damian’s notes

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  Soil science goes deep, and making moldable wood - Science Magazine Podcast - Omny.fm There are massive telescopes that look far out into the cosmos, giant particle accelerators looking for ever tinier signals, gargantuan gravitational wave detectors that span kilometers of Earth—what about soil science? Where’s the big science project on deep soil? It’s coming soon. Staff Writer Erik Stokstad talks with host Sarah Crespi about plans for a new subsoil observatory to take us beyond topsoil. Wood is in some ways an ideal building material. You can grow it out of the ground. It’s not very heavy. It’s strong. But materials like metal and plastic have one up on wood in terms of flexibility. Plastic and metal can be melted and molded into complicated shapes. Could wood ever do this? Liangbing Hu, a professor in the department of materials science and engineering and director of the Center for Materials Innovation at the University of Maryland, College Park, talked with Sarah about making moldable wood in a new way. In a sponsored segment from Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office, Sean Sanders, director and senior editor for the Custom Publishing office, interviews Michael Brehm, associate professor at UMass Chan Medical School Diabetes Center of Excellence, about how he is using humanized mouse models to study ways to modulate the body’s immune system as a pathway to treating type 1 diabetes. This segment is sponsored by the Jackson Laboratory.  This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. [Image: Xiao et al., Science 2021; Music: Jeffrey Cook] [Alt text:  honeycomb structure made from moldable wood] Authors: Sarah Crespi; Erik Stokstad

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  Finding consciousness outside the brain, and using DNA to reunite families — Science Magazine Podcast — Overcast

• 318 - Party For One: Dating Yourself — Multiamory — Overcast

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  Breakthrough of the Year, top online news, and science book highlights — Science Magazine Podcast — Overcast

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  534: The Young Henry Chronicles — The Incomparable — Overcast

• Editor’s Picks: 26th December 2019 — Editor's Picks from The Economist — Overcast

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  In like a Leyen: the European Commission’s new president — The Intelligence — Overcast Ursula von der Leyen has a tough task ahead, pressing a broad agenda in a fragmented European Parliament. We take a look at the vast international collaboration that is weather prediction, where it’s heading and how climate change could make it harder. And, why the villages of Japan are where to head if you love getting close to bears.

(Via A Midsummer Night’s Dream — In Our Time — Overcast)

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  BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, A Midsummer Night's Dream Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Shakespeare's comedy, one of his most popular plays