Transcipt: TWIS.org May 13, 2008

Justin: Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Disclaimer! There are by current estimates 70 sextillion stars in a known universe. That’s a seven followed by 22 zeroes, which means that if you collected every grain of sand from every beach on planet Earth you would still fall critically short in constructing a solar model of the universe.

And since this stellar magnitude maybe mentally incomprehensible like the following hour of programming, it therefore does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of University of California at Davis, KDVS or it’s sponsors.

And while pondering the scale of the universe may put some intimidating perspective on the day to day lives of the average earthling, you are not an average earthling. Yes, our earth may be comparable to a bit of dust and a grain of sand on the edges of the oceans of space but in all of the universe, there’s only one you.

Multiple magnitudes of galaxies may come and go but still, there can be only one you, which makes you a very rare properly of the universe indeed. So pull up a beach chair and together, let’s sun ourselves in the light of our mutually incomprehensible uniqueness as we improve our mental sandbox by listening to This Week in Science, coming up next.
Continue reading “Transcipt: TWIS.org May 13, 2008”

Transcipt: TWIS.org May 20, 2008

Justin: You’re listening to This Week in Science.

Good morning (Kiki). What’s up?

Kirsten: Hey!

Justin: Anything can happen today. Justin’s pushing the buttons.

Kirsten: Anything.

Justin: This could end really badly or I could go on. There’s no way to know.

Kirsten: Justin is pushing – Justin button-pushing monkey.

Justin: Where are you? You sound like you’re down in a deep, dark well.

Kirsten: Do I? I’m going to try and see if I can – I don’t know if I can turn it up at all. I am in Florida right now.

Justin: Wow! What’s happening over there?

Kirsten: Yes. In Florida I am hanging out at a resort and looking at the beach.

Justin: Oh, (unintelligible).

Kirsten: And not doing much else.

Justin: You poor, poor thing. Well, here we are. This is so strange doing a show without seeing you. I feel I can get a way with stuff.

Kirsten: I know.

Justin: But on the other hand, yes, I miss you. Yes.

Continue reading “Transcipt: TWIS.org May 20, 2008”

Transcipt: TWIS.org April 15, 2008

Kirsten: And you are listening to This Week in Science on KDVS 90.3 Fm in Davis. Joining me in the studio today is not Justin. No, no, no. We have a guest host today, Andy Fell from here at UC, Davis. He work at the..
MH:: Good morning.
Kirsten: Good morning. You work at the news service and you’re jumping free of the print media.
Andy Fell: [Laugh]
Kirsten: Yeheey!
Andy Fell: You know well — print broadcast, this is my first radio show. So here we go.
Kirsten: Yeheey! Exciting. I’m very excited to have you on today. Oh, and you get the bell. [Laugh] Making great use of the props in the studio already. This is good.
Andy Fell: I’ve got the rubber chicken too.
Kirsten: [Laugh] But Nobody gets to see that. If you’ve love to call us and say hello this morning, call in it 530-752-2777. You can say hello to Andy.
Continue reading “Transcipt: TWIS.org April 15, 2008”

Transcipt: TWIS.org April 29, 2008

Justin: Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer! From the beginning mankind and for that matter womankind have looked to the night sky for guidance, mystery and inspiration.
Gazing into the starry night we imagined all sorts of wondrous meanings in the twinklings from a distant sphere upon which they hung like Christmas lights on the inside of a cosmic snow globe to the embodiment of the gods themselves. And we found the twinklings to be useful here on earth.
Whether it was navigating a ship in uncharted waters or charting the fate of a new relationship. The stars held answers that could keep us from hitting the rocky shores.
While many brave scientists have died as heretics for defining these celestial inspirations, the true nature of the universe would not allow itself to be shrouded indefinitely from the mind of man or the mind of women for that matter.
And while the nightly twinkling of stars continues to inspire inspite of their true nature begin known much like the hosts of the following hour of programming, they do not necessarily represent the views of the University of California Davis KDVS or its sponsors.
And yet, if you looked carefully next time when the moon is hiding and the stars are at their brightest by connecting just a few points of light visible with the naked eye you may make out a message in the heavens that has been waiting to reach you for quite some time. I believe it says, stay tuned for This Week In Science, coming up next.
[musical interlude]
Continue reading “Transcipt: TWIS.org April 29, 2008”

Transcipt: TWIS.org April 22, 2008

Justin: Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer. There are places in the imagination that defy the laws of what is possible in reality, in wistful meanderings of the mind or purposeful ponderings of the impossible we construct these non-realities into definable states of being.
And when the mind that plays unsatisfied with the state of reality beyond its membrane textured walls begins to tinker with that reality and challenge the authority of what is and is not possible. And so, art, science and civilization are born.
While the meanderings of thought that precede our reality like the following hour of programming do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University Of California Davis KDVS or its sponsors, it is these very imagery meanderings whose outcomes, evidences, and flagrant flauntings of brave new realities we celebrate here on This Weekend Science- KDVS fund raiser edition, coming up next.
[musical interlude]

Continue reading “Transcipt: TWIS.org April 22, 2008”

Transcipt: TWIS.org April 08, 2008

Justin: Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Not since the days of the traveling circus side show carnival of conjoined contortionist, limbless, jugglers, and knife throwing micro-cephalic has the American imagination have been so enthralled with the bearded lady. And the pregnant one at that!

Still science assures though the imagination may wonder, the headlines may proclaim, and her beard may tickle, it is still not possible for a man to be pregnant. While the following freak show of programming does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the University of California Davies KDVS and it’s sponsors.

It does offer a look into a world of wonder and amazement. That will at once startle and astonish your senses. You won’t believe your own ears, when you peak behind the canvas curtain and witness for yourself, all the strangeness that awaits you in This Week in Science. Coming up next.

(Music Playing)
Continue reading “Transcipt: TWIS.org April 08, 2008”

Transcipt: TWIS.org Mar 18, 2008 Part 4

Justin: Of the – what it takes to reproduce. Which is usually in the females.

Kirsten: Hmm.

Justin: And in the third eukaryote –

Kirsten: Eukaryote.

Justin: Eukaryote kingdom, the fungi kingdom, there are no sexes but rather simpler and more primitive system of different so-called mating types that are distinguish by different variants of a few specific genes.

There are many ways to determine sex. In humans, done by sex chromosomes, or a – actually there are simpler ways. But it’s thought that the sex difference arose in plant and animal kingdom from this simpler system mating types that, this happens several times independently of each other throughout evolution.

The change is believed to have happened with the inhibition of a step in the copying process in DNA, which led to two separate chromosomes. These then developed further over long period of time.

“In humans, sex chromosomes are believed to dropped over the last 300 million years from a common ‘proto-sex chromosome’”, says Hanna Johannesson, who directed the study.
Continue reading “Transcipt: TWIS.org Mar 18, 2008 Part 4”

Transcipt: TWIS.org Mar 18, 2008 Part 3

Justin: Our next presentation, we will give you an hour and a half of squirrels chatting. [laughs]

Kirsten: [laughs] Yes, and with that, we are going to take a short station break. We will be back in just a few moments. Stay tuned before This Week in Science.

Justin: Am going to raise my cortisol?

Kirsten: Yes. Go get it, Justin.

[music playing]

Justin: [singing]

Kirsten: [laughs]

Justin: Hey we are back.

Kirsten: We are back, that’s Chris Taylor with “Robots are Great”, that’s off of the – 2007?

Justin: 2007.

Kirsten: Yes. The two thousand –

Justin: Six.

Kirsten: Oh, my goodness. 2006 music compilation.

Justin: Time is flying.

Kirsten: Wow. Yes. The 2008 compilation is coming along really flying the super colored fast wonderfulness.

Justin: Wow. Goodness Its good.

Kirsten: It could.

Justin: It sound even good.

Kirsten: My caveman’s speech attacked.. Continue reading “Transcipt: TWIS.org Mar 18, 2008 Part 3”

Transcipt: TWIS.org Mar 18, 2008 Part 2

Justin: They say that they’ve contributed great – much more greatly than the Australian government’s flyovers of military helicopters and what have you. Japan for whom whaling is historically part of its culture, much like slavery was at the United States I guess, has plan to kill 850 Minke whales and 50 fin whales.

Under international pressure, Japan dropped plans to kill up to 50 humpbacks, beloved by the Australian whale watchers. They also have one, like albino humpback- that’s like the name that the tourist got to see all the time, and it was so frightening like –

Kirsten: Yes. To somebody who is going to kill it.

Justin: Going to kill their cash cow of the sea.

Kirsten: Tourist cash whale?

Justin: Yes. Last year, as well – Japan only killed a little – more than half of its intended catch, although at that point it was because a fire had damaged the mother ship and it was leaking oil into the arctic down there.
Continue reading “Transcipt: TWIS.org Mar 18, 2008 Part 2”

Transcipt: TWIS.org Mar 18, 2008 Part 1

Justin: Disclaimer. Disclaimer. Disclaimer.

Now is not the moment to panic. Yes, there’s a war waging in the far off land. Yes, the economy tethering on the brink of an untold turmoil. Yes, the waging and the tether are taking native focus off the impending collapse of our fluctuating climate.

Yes, the content of the following hour of programming does not necessarily represent the views of University of California Davis, yes, the same goes for KDVS and its sponsors.

Yes, This Week in Science is in potential danger of becoming an evening commute, rather than morning drive time broadcast, but for Douglas Adam’s sake people, don’t panic.

The fact that we live at the bottom of the deep gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet, going around the nuclear fire ball 90 million miles away, and think these to be normal and not worth panicking about is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.

And should allow some level of comfort that things really are much stranger than This Week in Science, coming up next.

(Music Playing) Continue reading “Transcipt: TWIS.org Mar 18, 2008 Part 1”