Radiolab: Uncategorized

Have a Groovy Day!

July 15, 2008 – 12:30 pm

We’ve gotten a lot of great responses to our show Laughter. Tom was so inspired that he changed his voicemail:

“I was so excited that when I got to work I changed the end of my daily telephone greeting to “…make it a groovy day.” For some reason I then decided to start laughing like the laugh track people on your show.

When I finished I turned to look at my cube mates who were grinning from ear-to-ear. They didn’t know what was going on of course but my laughing sure “charged” their morning. Less than a minute later I started getting phone calls from others in the office who wanted to listen to my greeting. (My cubies must have told). I got 15 calls within 10 minutes and then things got back to normal. All day as I passed people in the hall I’d get “…hello Tom.” and then a big smile would come across their face.”

Listen to his giggle-fit here:

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By Radiolab | Also posted in Listenables | Comments (3)

When’s the Last Time You Cachinnated?

May 16, 2008 – 10:00 am

Though it’s practically a truism by now that anthropologists’ reports often say more about the writers’ assumptions than about the cultures in question, the valiant attempt by Mahadev L. Apte to compile an anthropology of laughter is laudable, if often hard to believe.

Here are a few highlights from his book Humor and Laughter: An Anthropological Approach:

The Dobuans of New Guinea revile laughter and have made a virtue of dourness.
Pygmies are very quick to roll on the ground, slap their sides, and snap their fingers in uproarious laughter.
The Greenland Inuit resolve disputes with public-humiliation contests, and the winner is chosen by how much laughter he summons to his cause.
Lower-caste Tamil men giggle when addressing someone from the upper caste in order to express humility.
The 40 million speakers of Marathi, in Western India, have a robust lexicon for laughter, including:

Khudukhudu: soft pleasant laughter of infant
Khadakhada: loud laughter of an infant
Phidiphid: vulgar and obscene laughter.
Khaskhas: mild appreciative laughter
Khokho: loud uproarious laughter
Khikhi: horselike laughter
Phisphis: derogatory laughter
Hyahya: superficial polite laughter

Of course, English has a respectable list as well, including giggle, chortle, chuckle, cackle, guffaw, snigger, snicker, snort, titter, crow, yuck, and the regrettably obsolete cachinnate. Perhaps this is what a cachinnation sounds like—you’ll want to fast forward through the first two minutes.

Apte also notes a few universals:

“…humor in traditional societies grossly appears similar to our own. Examples involved such varied situations as laughter at the antics of children, lewd comments, sexual jokes, teasing, mocking others who were too serious or in positions of authority, spousal jibes, slapstick maneuvers, uncomfortable laughter to save face, and humor to quell conflicts within a tribe.”

By Elizabeth Giddens | Comments (2)

You and Your Irrational Brain: An evening of experimentation under the stars

May 12, 2008 – 10:39 am

THIS EVENT IS FULL!! WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING RESERVATIONS

The World Science Festival and WNYC Radio present You and Your Irrational Brain, a live, outdoor event (rain or shine) Thursday, May 29th at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City, Queens, NY.

Have you ever wondered why you might think it’s okay to steal a pen from work, but not money from the petty cash box? Ever splurged on a lavish meal, only later to clip a 25 cent coupon for a can of soup? Ever taken something FREE, knowing full well that you didn’t really want it? Why do we make these decisions that are so clearly irrational?

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational, along with science writer and Radio Lab contributor Jonah Lehrer, will join Radio Lab hosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich to explore the often surprising factors that motivate and dictate human behavior.

The FREE event will combine discussion with live group experiments, games and demonstrations that test the ideas in Ariely’s book, followed by food, drink and music under the stars and on the sand.

WHEN
Thursday, May 29th, 2008 from 7 pm to 8:30 pm, followed by music, DJ, beer and beach-side merriment

WHERE
Water Taxi Beach (Google Map)
2nd Street and Borden Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101

For the full experience, take the 5-min water taxi to the beach. There’s a shuttle ($5) leaving at 5:45pm, and it’s departing from the pier at East 35th Street. THIS IS A SPECIAL ONE-TIME SHUTTLE set up for tonight’s event!

The Beach is also within walking distance of the Vernon/Jackson station on the 7 train.

Water Taxi Beach has concession stands for snacks and beer, so no outside food, but feel free to bring your beach towel, chaise lounge, volleyball, sand pail etc. And bring vaild ID (21 +). Minors are only allowed to come with their parents.

THIS EVENT IS FULL - WE ARE NO LONGER TAKING RESERVATIONS

By Lulu Miller | Also posted in Fieldwork | Comments (8)

Re-wilding Tigers

May 2, 2008 – 11:30 am

Flickr/ digitalART

Earlier this week, an article in the New York Times reported some good news about the genetic diversity of captive tigers. Apparently, a new study found that up to 20% of captive tigers are purebred, with genetic variations that no longer exist in the wild.

The article also pointed out that only 3,000 tigers now exist in the wild (that’s down from 100,000 in about 100 years). And of the tigers in captivity, only about 1,000 are part of breeding programs aimed at saving their respective species.

Three such tigers in South Africa made the headlines last month. A South China tiger–one of the most threatened tiger breeds–named Cathay gave birth to two cubs. The cubs, along with another born in November, are all the offspring of a South China tiger named Tiger Woods. They’re the first cubs of their kind to be born in captivity, and therefore raise hopes of saving their species–which The International Union for Conservation of Nature already declared extinct in 2002. The cubs are part of program in South Africa that aims to breed tigers, and eventually “re-wild” them after creating reserves in China.

For more information, check out this article at Times Online.

By Brenna Farrell | Comments (0)

The Fifth Annual Bent Festival hath begun!

April 25, 2008 – 2:27 pm

Gearheads, take note! The Bent Festival is in NYC all weekend long!
It’s a three day-long exploration of hardware hacking, DIY electronics, and circuit bending. Artists from around the globe perform music with their homemade or circuit bent instruments each night of the festival, teach workshops to adults and children alike, and create amazing, interactive art installations. The festival brings together artists of all ages and showcases the state of the art of DIY electronics and circuit bending culture.

Dates:
April 24-26

Location:
DCTV
87 Lafayette St
New York, NY, 10013

Tickets:
Each concert is $10.
A Festival Pass to all events is available for $25.

If you can’t make it to New York, the Bent Festival is also coming to Minneapolis May 1st-3rd.

For more information go here.

By Radiolab | Also posted in The Centrifuge | Comments (0)

Climate change and critical thinking

April 16, 2008 – 1:24 pm

yeimaya/flickr

NPR’s David Kestenbaum ran a piece yesterday on Morning Edition about a 16-year-old climate skeptic named Kristen Byrnes. This ambitious teenager has set up a website and dedicated huge chunks of her time to arguing that the rise of global temperature is part of a natural cycle and not, as most climate scientists agree, caused by human action.

The debate about the piece swirling around the science blog world provides a fascinating view into questions of expertise, critical thinking, and role of the media in covering the issue of climate change.

Kestenbaum draws us into what seems like a feel-good story about a young girl who has done something rather unusual. But his piece is really about much larger, and much more complicated issues: We’re not all scientists, so we have to look to others for expertise. At the same time, we should be critical in the face of that expertise.

Perhaps Kristen is a good example of critical thinking; as Kestenbaum says, “Kristen has a quality you want in a scientist, she is skeptical.” And she definitely tackled a pile of data and technical information that most teenagers would balk at. But Kristen may also have some qualities you don’t want in a scientist, particularly if she’s just seeking out evidence that supports her prior beliefs. She herself says “I never really believed in it.” And some of her science is questionable.

Toward the end of the piece, Kestenbaum does point out that “the overwhelming consensus is that humans are causing global warming, and the consequences could be serious.” Many of the science bloggers argue that Kestenbaum was wearing kid gloves during this interview. But then again, Kristen is a kid. And, in the end, maybe Kestenbaum is making a more subtle point. While the discussion of hard science is somewhat absent, the story takes us to the true front lines of the climate debate: the hearts and minds of Americans who have a lay person’s understanding of climate science and how to evaluate complicated scientific evidence.

Check out the story and the bloggers’ response, then come back to us and let us know what you think.

By Soren Wheeler | Comments (4)

The mark of a dedicated scientist

April 9, 2008 – 12:00 pm

Not all scientists are the quiet, serious type. Science writer Carl Zimmer offers a unique peek under the lab coat on his site Science Tattoo Emporium. Julian, who sent Carl the above picture of his tattoo of the testosterone molecule, writes:

The tat has to do with my love of lifting heavy weights and the most important molecule for that is testosterone. People can take all the synthetic testosterones and steroid derivatives they want but nothing feels better than knowing after a heavy lift that all you used was that which your testes produced.

So much for the stereotype of the timid scientist who avoids sports or physical exertion.

By Soren Wheeler | Comments (3)

Swarming Robots

April 3, 2008 – 10:00 am

Swarm Art Project /http://orbswarm.com

Radio Lab listener and electrical engineer, Mark Alexander, wrote in to let us know about a project that he’s working on and we think it’s just too cool not to show to yous guys.

Swarm is a collaborative art project with the idea to make a swarm of semi-autonomous rolling robots that travel and interact with whatever is around them. The thing is the robots communicate with one another as they roll around to figure out where they’ll go and what they’ll do, using sensor inputs and wireless communication. They’re also really pretty. The engineers put lights inside them that can change to any color. The orbs make music depending on the pattern they travel in and how close one is from another.

This reminded us a lot of the episode Emergence, where we examine what happens when there is no leader. (Though, technically speaking, there is a “mothership” that gives directions in the Swarm project.)

To learn more about the project you can go here.

“Vida 10.0″ is a quick documentary on the project:

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By Radiolab | Also posted in The Centrifuge | Comments (1)

Arthur C. Clarke 1917-2008

March 19, 2008 – 12:01 pm

Arthur C. Clarke at his home office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, photo by Amy Marash.

Arthur C. Clarke, the author of the book “2001: A Space Odyssey,” which became a Stanely Kubrick movie, died yesterday. Clarke was a visionary science fiction writer who foresaw the use of satellites for communications and planted a seed of wonder and awe in the universe for many young kids, including me.

You can check out his final interview, done by Spectrum radio, here.

By Soren Wheeler | Comments (2)

Our Podcast comes in all shapes and sizes

February 11, 2008 – 6:23 pm

Big and Small

Tuesday is Podcast Day. We’ve been getting some emails from some of you who are confused about the varying lengths of our podcasts… Some are long. Some are short. Fear not! There’s nothing wrong with your download. That’s the way it should be. Sometimes we podcast an entire hour-long episode. Sometimes we podcast a shorter piece that may only be 8 minutes or so. That’s just how we roll.

Up this week, Jad plays one of his favorite pieces of all time, “IF” by Sherre DeLys. You can sign up for our free podcast using Feedburner or just search for “Radio Lab” on your iTunes music store. Otherwise, take a listen to it right here!