
Science Friday de Science Friday and WNYC Studios
Science Friday and WNYC Studios
Categorias: Ciência e Medicina
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Some Grasses Can Stop Lead From Spreading In Soil
Lead left behind in soil from mining and smelting poses a major health risk to people who live nearby. Researchers in Nebraska and Kansas believe plant life and organic material can limit lead’s spread.In parts of the Midwest where lead mining and smelting lasted for over a century, communities are still dealing with toxic waste left behind by the industry.
Lead, a dangerous neurotoxin, persists in the environment, including in water and soil, where it can pose a threat to the health of people living nearby. The risk is especially acute for children, who can unintentionally ingest lead by putting their hands in their mouths and whose brains and bodies are still developing.
It can be spread to other areas, like yards and schools, by rainfall, and can also taint aquifers or vegetables in gardens, making them harmful to consume.
Now researchers are working to limit the impact of lead in the environment on people, and they believe they’ve found a promising solution: Plant life.
Phytostabilization involves moving lead from soil into the roots, stems and leaves of plants to prevent it from spreading and to limit people’s contact with it.
“One of the goals of phytostabilization is to take the site with lead and put it in a stable state, so that the risk is reduced, and the issues related to lead in the soil can be managed,” said Larry Erickson, a professor emeritus at Kansas State University and former director of the university’s Center for Hazardous Substance Research.
Read the rest on sciencefriday.com.
A High School Student Invented An Affordable Brain-Reading Prosthetic
Artificial limb technology has come a long way since the first prosthetic—a big toe made of wood and leather developed in ancient Egypt.
Today’s cutting-edge robotic limbs use mind-control and even give users a sense of touch, helping them feel sensations like a warm cup of coffee or a mushy banana. Still, these state-of-the-art prosthetics often involve invasive brain surgeries and can be exorbitantly expensive.
Hearing of these issues, one teenager set out to create a solution. Seventeen-year-old Benjamin Choi has developed a non-invasive, affordable prosthetic arm. His Star Wars-inspired technology reads a user’s mind with only two sensors—one on the forehead and the other clipped to the earlobe. And he doesn’t plan on stopping there. He sees his work in artificial intelligence expanding to help ALS patients, wheelchair users, and beyond.
Ira speaks with Benjamin Choi from McLean, Virginia about how he developed this arm and what it means to be a young innovator.
New Immunotherapy Shows Promise Far Beyond Cancer
CAR T cell therapy, a type of immunotherapy in which a patient’s own immune cells are modified to create a hybrid immune cell that destroys cancer cells, was first developed over a decade ago.
Now, researchers are continuing to find success in treating new types of blood cancers with the therapy, and are working on applying the technology to solid state cancers like those of the pancreas and brain.
Scientists are also at the early stages of testing CAR T cells to treat autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS) and lupus.
Ira talks with Dr. Carl June, one of the pioneers of CAR T cell therapy, a professor of immunotherapy and director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at the University of Pennsylvania, based in Philadelphia.
Feeling Hopeless About Climate Change? Try Playing These Video Games
Five years ago, Stephanie Barish was tired of the public’s attitude about climate change. “Most people at that time were just so negative about climate,” she said. “It was doom and destruction, and I thought, wow, to make positive change, you have to really look at this from a solutions perspective.”
Stephanie is the founder and CEO of Indiecade, an organization that supports indie video game developers and hosts events like the Climate Jam—the goal of which was to change the gloomy public narrative around climate change. So, with the help of organizations like Earth Games, participants around the globe gather every year to make video games about climate change optimism, solutions, and justice.
Teams can also consult with subject matter experts, like Dargan Frierson, an associate professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington, and also a judge for the Climate Jam. If teams wonder what climate change would look like on a different planet, they can go to him for answers. “We always look for scientific accuracy,” he said. “I think it’s very important to keep things within the realm of possibility, even when you’re looking at fiction.”
Read the rest of the article and check out some of the games at sciencefriday.com.
Analogue Animation: Turning The Pages Of A Flipbook Machine
Brooklyn-based artist J.C. Fontanive is a master of the moving image—but in analogue. As an animator, he creates mechanical, perpetual motion ‘flipbooks,’ with help from old clocks and colorful illustrations of flying birds, butterflies, and other scenes from nature.
Fontanive joins Ira to talk about the act of invention, the ‘primal’ language of art, and how to create visceral work in a digital age.
See the flipbooks in gorgeous action at sciencefriday.com.
Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.
Episódios anteriores
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805 - New Prosthetic Arm, CAR T Cell Therapy, Climate Games. August 12, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 12 Aug 2022 - 0h
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804 - Insulin Price Plan, Monkeypox Facts, Milky Way Memoir. August 12, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 12 Aug 2022 - 0h
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803 - Clean Energy Bill, Heatwave Infrastructure, Etana Teen Innovator. August 5th, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 05 Aug 2022 - 0h
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802 - Cancer Vaccines, Planting Wildflowers, Eating Copi Fish. August 5th, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 05 Aug 2022 - 0h
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801 - Alzheimer’s Research Fraud, Extreme Heat Health, Piping Plovers, Octaglove. July 29, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 29 Jul 2022 - 0h
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800 - Fire Of Love Film, Accessible Tech, Vagina Book. July 29, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 29 Jul 2022 - 0h
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799 - Kahneman on ‘Noise,’ CHIPS Act, Great Salt Lake Dryness, Hybrid Toads. July 22, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 22 Jul 2022 - 0h
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798 - Global Heat Wave, Indigenous Peoples Genetic History, Heat-Adaptive Plants. July 22, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 22 Jul 2022 - 0h
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797 - JWST Images, Solar System Exploration, Monkeypox. July 15, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 15 Jul 2022 - 0h
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796 - A Land Return, A COVID Update, Texas’ Power Grid, and A Gene-Editing Thriller. July 15, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 15 Jul 2022 - 0h
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795 - Big Bang Debate History, Black Hole Sounds, Maggot Healthcare, Forest Lichens. July 8, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 08 Jul 2022 - 0h
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794 - Bird Poop Importance, The Wonders Of Sweat, Invertebrate Butts. July 8, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 08 Jul 2022 - 0h
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793 - Summer Science Books, Effect of Roe on Obstetric Care, Female Athletic Injuries. July 1, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 01 Jul 2022 - 0h
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792 - SCOTUS Restricts EPA, Scientist Rebellion Protests, Kansas Wheat Problems, Early Science Films. July 1, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 01 Jul 2022 - 0h
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791 - HIPAA Explained, Trans Research, Queer Scientists. June 24, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 24 Jun 2022 - 0h
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790 - Roe V. Wade Overturned, Animals’ Amazing Sensory Abilities. June 24, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 24 Jun 2022 - 0h
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789 - The Rise Of Mammals And A Cephalopod Celebration. June 17, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 17 Jun 2022 - 0h
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788 - COVID Vaccines For Kids Under 5, IVF Status After Roe V. Wade. June 17, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 17 Jun 2022 - 0h
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787 - Race And Medicine, Salmon Recovery, Emergency Mushroom ID. June 10, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 10 Jun 2022 - 0h
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786 - Cephalopod Wonders, Jumping Worms, Early Plastic Surgery. June 10, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 10 Jun 2022 - 0h
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785 - Medical And Recreational Cannabis, Ocean Viruses, The Sound of Wi-Fi. June 3, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 03 Jun 2022 - 0h
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784 - History Of Sex, Plastic Battery, Mosquito Smell, Postpartum Art. June 3, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 03 Jun 2022 - 0h
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783 - SIDS Research, Period Tracking Apps, Women And Girls In Science. May 27, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 27 May 2022 - 0h
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782 - Gun Violence, Baby Formula, Monkeypox, Milk Banking, Wondrous Sharks. May 27, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 27 May 2022 - 0h
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781 - Seabird Poop, ‘Prehistoric Planet’ TV Show, Dry Great Plains, Six Foods For A Changing Climate. May 20, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 20 May 2022 - 0h
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780 - Miscarriage Care, End of Astronauts, COVID Deaths Milestone. May 20, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 20 May 2022 - 0h
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779 - Abortion Medication, Rat Island, Access To Parks, Climate And Seafood. May 13, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 13 May 2022 - 0h
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778 - Second Black Hole Image, Last Days Of The Dinosaurs, Rising COVID Cases. May 13, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 13 May 2022 - 0h
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777 - Revisiting The Titanic, STEM Drag Performers As Science Ambassadors. May 6, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 06 May 2022 - 0h
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776 - How The Brain Deals With Grief, Listening To Noisy Fish Sounds. May 6, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 06 May 2022 - 0h
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775 - Covid Court Cases, Sharing Viruses for Research, Hepatitis Spike. April 29, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 29 Apr 2022 - 0h
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774 - Dog Breeds And Dog Behavior, Polar Science Update, Decarbonizing Transportation. April 29, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 29 Apr 2022 - 0h
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773 - Plastics And Ocean Life, Building An Animal Crossing, Indigenous Restoration. April 22, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 22 Apr 2022 - 0h
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772 - Carbon Removal Technology, IPCC And Policy, Sustainability News, Listening To A River. April 22, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 22 Apr 2022 - 0h
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771 - Inaccurate COVID Case Numbers, Spending A Trillion Dollars To Solve Problems. April 15, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 15 Apr 2022 - 0h
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770 - NSF Director, Soylent Green In 2022, Colorado Snowpack, Springtime On Neptune. April 15, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 15 Apr 2022 - 0h
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769 - Why Cold Plasma Could Help Sustainable Farming, How To Get Teens The Sleep They Need. April 8, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 08 Apr 2022 - 0h
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768 - FDA To Analyze COVID Boosters Efficacy, Dig Into Spring With Gardening Science. April 8, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 08 Apr 2022 - 0h
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767 - Why People Can’t Read Bar Graphs, First Complete Human Genome Released, Mars Book Club Finale. April 1, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 01 Apr 2022 - 0h
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766 - Experimental HIV Vaccines, Lithium Mining In Oregon, Controlling The Tawny Crazy Ant. April 1, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 01 Apr 2022 - 0h
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765 - Ukraine And The Energy Market, More West Nile Virus, Bird Flu In Chickens, 5,000 Exoplanets Found. March 25, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 25 Mar 2022 - 0h
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764 - How Vampire Bats Evolved To Drink Blood, Ethics Checks On Brain Research, Cicada Exhibit. March 25, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 25 Mar 2022 - 0h
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763 - James Webb Focused Image, Decarbonize Your Home, Wildlife Crime. March 18, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 18 Mar 2022 - 0h
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762 - Dandelion Sensors, GoFundMe Healthcare Shortcomings, Where Did Mars’ Water Go. March 18, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 18 Mar 2022 - 0h
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761 - Will Russia’s War Spur Clean Energy Efforts, What Is “Life,” Scientific Sewer Tour. March 11, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 11 Mar 2022 - 0h
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760 - Mask Mandates Drop, International Salmon Survey, Long COVID Answers And Questions. March 11, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 11 Mar 2022 - 0h
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759 - T. Rex Dispute, Texas Trans Healthcare, Russian Cyber Warfare, Bird Calls. March 4, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 04 Mar 2022 - 0h
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758 - Lack Of Black Physicists, Solar Outages, Martian Meteorites, What Is A Butt. March 4, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 04 Mar 2022 - 0h
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757 - Bridge Infrastructure, Cat Ancestor Gap, Lab Mice, Power Of The Dog, Mars Book Club. Feb 25, 2022, Part 2 Fri, 25 Feb 2022 - 0h
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756 - Eye Implant Ethics, Sled Dogs, Tranquility Sound Scapes. Feb 25, 2022, Part 1 Fri, 25 Feb 2022 - 0h