Lab Out Loud » Episodes

Episode 48 – Don’t Be Such a Scientist

Brian — Mon, 10 May 2010 05:15:07 +0000

Randy Olson (Credit: Sandy Huffaker for the New York Times

For our 100th podcast interview (including 52 interviews with Periodicity), we talk with former marine biologist turned filmmaker and author Randy Olson. Since we last talked with Randy about Flock of Dodos, he has since put out another movie (Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy) and a book (Don’t Be Such a Scientist: ). We talk with Randy about his new book and the importance of how scientists communicate.

We’d like to thank NSTA for their continued support of Lab Out Loud. If you haven’t already done so, make sure to join or renew your membership. If you have any comments from our third season, or have any suggestions for next year, please contact us.

Links:

Barnacle Sex Music Video (Barnacles Tell No Lies)

Direct download: LOL48.mp3

Episode 47 – Evolution for the Young Reader

Brian — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 05:15:53 +0000

Daniel Loxton

Our guest this week is Daniel Loxton, editor of Junior Skeptic and author/illustrator. Daniel joins us to talk about Junior Skeptic, shepherding and his new book: Evolution: How we and all Things Came to Be.

Links:

Praise From GeekDad (Wired):

Evolution

Daniel Loxton’s Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be (Kids Can Press, 2010) is the best overview of evolution for children of which I’m aware. There have been other recent kids’ books on Darwin, motivated by last year’s 150th anniversary of Origin of the Species. Instead of focusing on Darwin, Loxton sticks with explaining the mechanics of natural selection, both what it can accomplish and explain and what it can’t. Beautifully illustrated and elegantly written, any child interested in the story of life will be fascinated by it. There’s no need to take my word for it: This review is a couple of weeks later than I’d hoped, because my 6-yr-old kept stealing it and carrying it around the house to study.

Direct download: LOL47.mp3

Episode 46 – Paleontologist Scott from “Dinosaur Train”

Brian — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 05:15:13 +0000

Paleontologist Scott

You may know this week’s guest as Paleontologist Scott from the PBS hit show “Dinosaur Train”. In episode 46, Paleontologist Scott talks about the show, being a paleontologist, and his new book Dinosaur Odyssey.

Links:

Scott Sampson’s Website
Purchase Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life
Dinosaur Train (PBS)
Dinsosaur Train Videos
Dinosaur Train (Wikipedia Entry)
Dinosaur Fossil Reveals True Feather Colors (wired.com)
Listen to Colouring in Dinosaurs (Quirks and Quarks)
Masiakausaurus
Dinosaur Planet (IMDB)

Dinosaur Train Characters "Buddy" and "Tiny"

Direct download: LOL46.mp3

Episode 45 – Science Fiction Writer Cory Doctorow

Brian — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:15:13 +0000

Cory Doctorow (photo by Joi Ito, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0)

We first met Cory Doctorow in 2008 when he was giving a book tour for “Little Brother” in Milwaukee, WI. Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger, and the co-editor of Boing Boing. We talk with Doctorow about science and science fiction, privacy, and his new book “Makers”.

Links:

Doctorow’s craphound.com
Doctorow’s Novels (at Amazon.com)
News about Makers
Download Little Brother
Wikipedia Entry
Gruntzooki Flickr Stream
Doctorow on Twitter
Doctorow’s writing at the Guardian and Salon.com
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
Boing Boing

Direct download: LOL45.mp3

Episode 44 – Griff Jones and the IIHS

Brian — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:15:46 +0000

Griff Jones

Griff Jones is an award-winning science teacher plucked from teaching high school to work with UFTeach – a program with the University of Florida designed to increase the quantity and quality of secondary mathematics and science teachers. Griff was also selected to work with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to make two videos about understanding the science behind car crashes: Understanding Car Crashes: When Physics Meets Biology & Understanding Car Crashes: It’s Basic Physics. Griff talks to us about the videos, the IIHS, and their many resources for science teachers.

Make sure to visit Griff and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety at the 2010 NSTA Conference on Science Education in Philadephia.

Links:

(IIHS) Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
IIHS Vehicle Ratings
IIHS Videos: “Understanding Car Crashes: When Physics Meets Biology” & “Understanding Car Crashes: It’s Basic Physics”
50th Anniversary crash test video: 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air & 2009 Chevrolet Malibu
2010 NSTA Conference on Science Education in Philadephia
UFTeach
Griff Jones – UFTeach Biography (pdf)
Griff Jones – Products from Science Kit
‘Galileo’ Subs for Instructor in UFTeach Lab
UF Today: Two former high school teachers show their college students how to teach math and science. The first lesson is to have fun

From Paul G. Hewitt, the developer of the “Conceptual Physics” curriculum and author of the best selling text book by the same name: “The video “Understanding Car Crashes: It’s Basic Physics” and accompanying teacher’s guide are wonderful. The pacing is excellent, the coverage fascinating, and most importantly, the physics is correct. It’s a first rate teaching package. I give it five stars!” (www.iihs.org/videos/default.html)

Direct download: LOL44.mp3

Episode 43 – Mythbusters’ Adam Savage

Brian — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:15:18 +0000

Adam Savage

We first met Adam Savage (from the Mythbusters) at The Amaz!ng Meeting 7 last summer, where he gave a talk about the creative process and failure that comes with ‘making’. Of course, we knew that we had to get Adam on the show. A few months later, we were lucky to talk with Adam about the Mythbusters, science education, and how he uses both experimentation and learning from mistakes in his work both on and off the show.

Links:

Direct download: LOL43.mp3

Episode 42: SOFIA – A Telescope on a Plane

Brian — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:15:17 +0000

SOFIA's 100 Inch Diameter Telescope

Dana Backman is the Outreach Director for SOFIA – The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. Essentially, SOFIA is a modified 747SP with telescope in its fuselage. A joint project between NASA and the German Aerospace Center (NASA supplied the aircraft and the telescope was built in Germany), SOFIA is the largest airborne astronomical observatory that will allow astronomers to peer into the visible, infrared and sub-millimeter spectrum of space – above the majority of water vapor in the atmosphere. Dana talks with us about the aircraft, the mission, and some exciting opportunities for science teachers.

Links:

Direct download: LOL42.mp3

Episode 41 – NY Times Science Writer Nicholas Wade

Brian — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:15:16 +0000

Nicholas Wade

This week we talk with Nicholas Wade, author and science writer for the New York Times. Nicholas talks with us about his new book (The Faith Instinct), recent science breakthroughs and what to expect in the coming year.

Links:

Articles by Nicholas Wade from the NY Times
nicholas-wade.com
Wikipedia Entry on Nicholas Wade
The Faith Instinct (on Amazon.com)
Before the Dawn (on Amazon.com)
An Interview with Nicholas Wade from PLoS Genetics
An Interview with Nicholas Wade from the Scientist
Listen to our Interview with Nicholas Wade about his book “Before the Dawn” (from our previous podcast: Periodicity)
See Nicholas Wade on The Colbert Report

The Colbert Report

Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Nicholas Wade

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Economy

Direct download: LOL41.mp3

Episode 40 – Being Sean Carroll

Brian — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:15:33 +0000

Sean Carroll (physicist) and Sean B. Carroll (biologist) talk to us about their respective science fields, science education and being Sean Carroll. (NOTE: Scientists displayed below in alphabetical order)

Links:

Sean B Carroll

Sean B. Carroll (biologist)

seanbc arroll.com
Sean B. Carroll’s Lab
About Sean B. Carroll
HHMI Investigator Bio
Remarkable Creatures – NY Times Column
The Science of Evolution (video from the New York Times)
What Darwin Never Knew (PBS)
“Year of Darwin” You Tube Video
Lecture Video from Q2C Festival
Sean B Carroll at Scientific Commons
Sean B Carroll Author Page at Amazon.com
Lab Out Loud, Episode 2: Sean B. Carroll
Lab Out Loud, Episode 26: Stories of Evolution
Sean B. Carroll on Resurrecting the Extinct
(60 Minutes – 01/10/10)

Sean M Carroll

Sean M Carroll (physicist)

Direct download: LOL40.mp3

Episode 39 – Standards and Science Education

Brian — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:15:33 +0000

Barry Cartwright

Our guest this week is Barry Cartwright – the Science Content Specialist for the Colorado Department of Education. In November, Colorado recently released their Final Draft of the Colorado Academic Standards in Science. Barry discusses some of the highlights of the new Colorado science standards and the future of standards in science education.

Links:

Books Recommended By Barry:

Direct download: LOL39.mp3