Day: March 27, 2010

Transcript:TWIS.ORG Mar 02, 2010


Justin: Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Disclaimer!

The largest earth tremor recorded anywhere on the planet registered a 9.5 magnitude on the Richter scale. It occurred 50 years ago in Chile, the Gran Terremoto de Valdivia.

Fifty years later, people of Chile are no strangers to earthquakes. And despite the great magnitude and duration of the recent 8.8 Chilean building codes, engineering and retrofitting have saved many more lives than were lost.

If we know our history, we know that there are no such things as natural disasters. There are only disasters of man’s making. For ignorance of tectonics will not protect people from tremors. Not having seen a hurricane first hand doesn’t mean they are harmless.

Filling former floodplains with newly furnished homes is not going to dictate the future rainfall for that area. If you want to live on a mountain peak or a valley floor, by ocean frontage or in hillside retreat or wherever you prefer to place yourself on the planet, it comes with the responsibility of being prepared.

And while condemning ignorance of the future, much like the following hour of our programming, does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of California at Davis, KDVS or its sponsors.

Nature is a consistent creature. If you watched her movements in the past, you will know where she will go in the future. The better we know her ways, the more prepared we will be to deliver This Week in Science, coming up next.
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Transcript: TWIS.org Feb 23, 2010

Justin: Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Disclaimer!

With the eyes of the world watching, with the hopes of a nation resting upon your shoulders, with the lifetime of training and hard work at your disposal and everything on the line, what now separates you from the victory platform or the agony of defeat?

Only you, your will to make it happen. Concentrate, meditate, one point of focus. Now is the moment in which you can do. Whether you’re about to make your attempt for Olympic gold or stepping out of your front door to meet the day, every moment of your life is an opportunity to perform at your best.

And while your best, much like the following hour of programming, does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of California at Davis, KDVS or its sponsor. Like your life, Science is an unending series of Olympic performances with scientists who train hard to hone their skills working alone or in teams, researchers going for the gold with every study.

And though we are not gathered in one spot, we are the crowd cheering each triple acts of twisler and stuck three point landing of insight and innovation, and waiting with anticipation the results and hopes of adding to our overall mental count here on This Week in Science, coming up next.
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Transcript:TWIS.org Feb 09, 2010

Kirsten: This show is brought to you by listeners like you and your contributions. We couldn’t do it without you. Thanks.

Justin: Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Disclaimer!

The future is not difficult to see. Unlike the past, events of the future have yet to commit themselves to exacting detail. Yet in the mystery of an unfolding world, there is much that can be foreseen. The little things we expect from the future often come true with incredible reliability, like when the rent is due or whether or not it’s going to rain.

The more often our future unfolds as we have expected, the more comfortable we are in commanding the course that it will take and that we get to go where we want to.

And though, comfortable foreseeing of the otherwise unforeseeable – much like the following hour of programming does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of California at Davis, KDVS or its sponsors – through science, the past is always becoming clear.

We can see how one event lends itself to another. Through science, we can understand so well the workings of the world that the future cannot only be predicted, it can be manufactured to our liking, making the only time that is not as well known to us as the past and future is the one we are currently in – the moment of now.

And since this is the only moment in which we can do, we will now do what the past predicted and what was expected in the future by bringing you another episode of This Week in Science, coming up next.
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