Essential Rhythm 8/5/21: Snails without shells

Producer/Host: Sarah O’Malley

This episode introduces some of the evolutionary hallmarks of shell less gastropods-the sea slugs and nudibranchs.

About the host:
Sarah O’Malley is an ecologist, naturalist and science communicator passionate about deepening her listeners’ experiences with the natural world. She teaches biology and sustainability at Maine Maritime Academy and is currently collaborating on a guide book to the intertidal zone in the Gulf of Maine.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Notes from the Electronic Cottage 8/5/21: Summer 2021 Encore 3- Science and Fiction

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Arthur C. Clarke once observed that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. While that once may have been true, it probably isn’t any more. We’re so used to amazing scientific and technological innovation these days that we take the next one with a grain of salt. But, some of today’s “exploratory fiction” writers suggest that we may not want to shrug our shoulders about new technology. Instead, perhaps we ought to really think about if and how we are going to live with it. Here’s a Summer Encore to help us think about that idea.

About the host:
Jim Campbell has a longstanding interest in the intersection of digital technology, law, and public policy and how they affect our daily lives in our increasingly digital world. He has banged around non-commercial radio for decades and, in the little known facts department (that should probably stay that way), he was one of the readers voicing Richard Nixon’s words when NPR broadcast the entire transcript of the Watergate tapes. Like several other current WERU volunteers, he was at the station’s sign-on party on May 1, 1988 and has been a volunteer ever since doing an early stint as a Morning Maine host, and later producing WERU program series including Northern Lights, Conversations on Science and Society, Sound Portrait of the Artist, Selections from the Camden Conference, others that will probably come to him after this is is posted, and, of course, Notes from the Electronic Cottage.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Healthy Options 8/4/21: Osteoporosis: Myths and Facts

Host/Producer: Rhonda Feiman
Co-Producer: Petra Hall
Technical assistance: Joel Mann & Amy Browne

Osteoporosis: The myths and facts in diagnosis, new developments in screening technology, and the pros & cons of current treatment options

Key Discussion Points:
1. What are some ideas and strategies to keep your bones strong and healthy?
2. What are some ways to be safe in your house and with your everyday activities to try to prevent debilitating falls?
3. What is osteoporosis?
4. Why is bone density difficult to measure?
5. What is a DXA scan? How are DXA scans interpreted?
6. What is a Trabecular Bone Score (TBS)?
7. Why should Trabecular Bone Score software be used to interpret the results of your DXA scan?
8. What is osteopenia, and why is this a controversial diagnosis?
9. What are the pros and cons of current medicines being prescribed for osteoporosis, including biophosphonates such as alendronate (Fosamax), etidronate (Didronel) & zoledronic acid (Zometa), and monoclonal antibodies, such as denosumab (Prolia)?
10. How has pharmaceutical company research & marketing impacted and influenced medical diagnosis and treatment of bone density and osteoporosis?

Guest:
Cindy Pearson, the former Executive Director of the National Women’s Health Network of Washington, D.C.
She is one of the nation’s best-known advocates for women’s health, and is well known for her leadership in bringing grassroots organizations together to press for accountability from the government and other powerful entities. Cindy Pearson often testified before Congress, the National Institutes of Health and the FDA, and was frequently featured in the news as a consumer expert on women’s health issues.

Website of Interest: National Women’s Health Network

About the host:
Rhonda Feiman is a nationally-certified, licensed acupuncturist practicing in Belfast, Maine since 1993. She primarily practices Toyohari Japanese acupuncture, using gentle and powerful non-insertion needle techniques, and also utilizes Chinese acupuncture and herbology. In addition, Rhonda is a practitioner of Qi Gong and an instructor of Tai Chi Chuan in the Yang Family tradition.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Technoptimist Show 8/4/21: Artificial Heart Made With Magnets

Join Teresa Carey as she breaks down the latest news on the technology that is solving the world’s biggest problems. In today’s show, Teresa covers an artificial heart made with magnets, the first lab-grown coral, and an anti-aging pill.

To learn more about the topics:
The world’s first lab-grown coral could help save the ocean reefs
This artificial heart uses magnets and spinning disks to reinvent the heart
Is the US military testing an anti-aging pill?
Wearable robotic suits could be coming to a store near you
An AI co-pilots a military jet for the first time

About the host:
Teresa Carey is a senior staff writer at Freethink.com, where she covers genetics and the environment. She is also a US Coast Guard licensed captain and a NatGeo Explorer. In addition to Freethink her work can be found in BuzzFeed, Scientific American, PBS NewsHour, NPR Weekend Edition, Smithsonian and more. @teresa_carey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Outside the Box 8/3/21: “Fun, Not Work”

Producer/Host: Larry Dansinger

About the host:
Larry Dansinger (no pronouns) of Bangor came to Maine in 1974 and has been here ever since. Some of Larry’s activities since then: Done community organizing on numerous issues through INVERT and then Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC), committed civil disobedience several times, grown a garden yearly since 1977, joined various food cooperatives and two men’s groups, refused to pay federal income taxes for war, lived on a community land trust for 23 years, and met a wonderful partner whom Larry has loved for over 40 years. Larry has produced Outside the Box features on WERU since 2007 and continues to look for unique ways of seeing almost any problem or situation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Poetry Express 8/1/21: “Home”

“Home” by Ryan Nayhill read by the poet

About the host:
Jan Bindas-Tenney is a trans non-binary and queer writer, reader, fighter, lover, friend and parent living on unceded Abenaki land. They hold an MFA in nonfiction from University of Arizona. Their writing has appeared in the opinion pages of Maine newspapers, in legislative testimony, as well as in Orion, Guernica, Gulf Coast, Arts & Letters, CutBank, the Maine Review, among other places. They work at the Maine Humanities Council where they curate a weekly poetry feature on WERU Community Radio called Poetry Express.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download