Science Notes 2015 Podcasts

Recorded and produced by each author

Kerry Klein visits a family in Fresno, California, where smog triggers high rates of asthma in children. A community collective visits parents to provide in-home advice on lowering the risks.

Nicholas Weiler joins a UC Santa Cruz student in pursuit of southern and northern alligator lizards at the margins of one species' extinction.

Nala Rogers goes to Año Nuevo, north of Santa Cruz, to record the distinctive clap-threat calls of male northern elephant seals. A marine biologist explains how the seals use these calls to identify rivals and decide whether to challenge.

Chris Cesare visits the UC Berkeley laboratory of Frederic Theunissen, whose team examines how the brains of zebra finches perceive the chirps and calls of other birds. Listen in to the meaning of each call.

Rex Sanders interviews a UC Santa Cruz toxicologist about lead bullets and their deadly impacts on critically endangered California condors. Despite a ban on lead ammunition, condors still ingest fragments of lead from carrion.

Leslie Willoughby watches snacking sea otters and talks with a marine biologist about their dietary preferences. Sea star wasting syndrome may change what California's otters eat.

Leigh Cooper goes for a ridealong with a Santa Cruz County vector control agent, tamping down mosquito populations in an effort to prevent West Nile virus infections.

James Urton visits with two stroke survivors to discuss their different pathways to recovery and with a therapist who emphasizes the importance of individual treatment.

Kim Smuga-Otto interviews a UC Santa Cruz engineer on the "Smart Energy Analysis and Disaggregation" (SEAD) project — a way to track the individual energy signature of each home appliance.

Lisa Marie Potter examines the practice of "sound healing," whose practitioners claim to influence brain waves and physiological states through vibrations, binaural beats, and other sounds.