Lab Out Loud » TEDTalks

Episode 60 – Paleontology: Adventure with a Purpose

Brian — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 06:30:39 +0000

Dr. Paul Sereno

For episode 60, we talk about Paleontology with Dr. Paul Sereno. Dr. Sereno is a world-renowned paleontologist and Professor of Organismal Biology & Anatomy at the University of Chicago. He joins us to talk about what’s new in the field of paleontology.

Links:

paulsereno.org
Project Exploration
Paul Sereno – University of Chicago Experts
Paul Sereno, National Geographic Explorer in Residence
Latest Dinosaur Find – a Precursor to T-Rex (Jan 11, 2011 – CBS Chicago.com)
Paul Sereno TED Profile & TED Presentation: Paul Sereno Digs Up Dinosaurs
Paul Sereno, One of 50 Most Beautiful Chicagoans (ChicagoMag.com)
Illinois State Fossil – the Tullimonster
U-Haul SuperGraphics – Illinois
The Archaeopteryx, an early bird (University of California Museum of Paleontology)
Are Birds Really Dinosaurs? (University of California Museum of Paleontology)
T-Rex Feathers (npr.org)
Fermilab
Fermilab Lecture Series Presents Dr. Paul Sereno
Argonne National Laboratory
Principles of Paleobiology (University of Maryland Masters of Life Science)

2010 University of Chicago Spring Convocation Speech

Featured Image showing Sereno with Nigersaurus, a plant-eating dinosaur (Lauren Victoria Burke/Associated Press) from the Boston Globe Online

Direct download: LOL60.mp3

Episode 36 – The Scientific Method Starts with Curiosity

Brian — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:15:15 +0000

Dr. Bonnie Bassler

With the upcoming 2009 HHMI Holiday Lecture on Science in December (Exploring Biodiversity), we decided to talk with one of the presenters – Dr. Bonnie Bassler. The focus of Dr. Bassler’s research is on how bacteria communicate with each other in a process called quorum sensing. This research has earned her a MacArthur fellowship in 2002, and her work is being carefully watched for the development of new antimicrobial drugs. Dr. Bassler inspires us with her curiosity, her research, and science education.

Links:

Direct download: LOL36.mp3

Episode 11 – Death of the Chemistry Set

Brian — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:47:33 +0000

This week we talk with Steve Silberman, contributing editor for Wired Magazine. Steve talks to us about the demise of the chemistry set (as related to his article Don’t Try this at Home) and what that might mean for the future of scientific curiosity in our children.

Preview from the Show:
In the last few years, a kind of perfect storm of concerns and legislation has arisen that has had the unintended effect of discouraging amateur chemistry.

Kids really want to fall in love with science. And I know how much the teachers really want to communicate their own enthusiasm about science to their kids. But with fears of liability, and these restrictive laws, and just a kind of general paranoia, instead what’s being transmitted to kids is some kind of combination of boredom and fear.

I would say that one of the reasons that I became a science writer was that I had a well stocked chemistry set when I was in elementary school, that contained many things that I am sure are now illegal.

If we’re cutting off the possibility of future generations of being interested in science – at the same time that the performance of American kids in science starts to go down around 12th grade, the number of science and technology related jobs in the world are going continually up – so we’re creating a gap here where we need people in science and technology, but we’re no longer giving them the access to the things that could help them become interested in the subject.

Links:

Direct download: nstalol11.mp3