Category Archives: News

Morning News Podcast: New Stimulus Bill Talks, California Covid-19 Rates

NPR News NowNPR News Now reports on Stimulus Bill talks on Saturday, California reaches 500,000 coronavirus infections and 9200 fatalities, Florida tropical storm, and more.

World News Podcast: Hong Kong Elections, European Economies

The Economist LogoThe Economist discusses latest news on Hong Kong postponing elections, the potential sale of popular video app Tik Tok to Microsoft, and other world news.

Political News: “Shields & Brooks” On The Latest In Washington (PBS Video)

Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including the question of whom Joe Biden will choose as his running mate, congressional failure to deliver another pandemic aid package and President Trump’s rhetoric about mail-in voting.

Food Trends: American “Fresh Seaweed” Products Are Expanding (Podcast)

NPR PodcastAtlantic Sea Farms is the largest commercial seaweed farm in the U.S. They line-grow their seaweed in clear, icy cold Maine waters. The seaweed — which is sold frozen in pureed cubes and in ready to eat cut strands and fermented products — is never dyed or dehydrated.

Beyond sushi restaurants and roasted snacks, seaweed is increasingly accepted, appreciated, even adored, in American kitchens — and for good reason.

Seaweed is really good for you. It’s loaded with potassium, magnesium, Vitamin B12, iodine, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and tons of calcium. And then there’s the umami bomb of taste: briny, sweet, meaty, and vegetal are just some of the ways cooks describe the flavor of various seaweeds.

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Top New Science Podcasts: Covid-19 Vaccine Fears And Origin Controversies

Also this week, Sarah talks with Science Senior Correspondent Jon Cohen about his story on Chinese scientist Shi Zhengli, the bat researcher at the center of the COVID-19 origins controversy—and why she thinks President Donald Trump owes her an apology.

Finally, Geert Van der Snickt, a professor in the conservation-restoration department at the University of Antwerp, talks with Sarah about his Science Advances paper on a new process for peering into the past of paintings. His team used a combination of techniques to look beneath an overpainting on the Ghent Altarpiece by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck—a pivotal piece that showed the potential of oil paints and even included an early example of painting from an aerial view.

Morning News Podcast: Big Tech CEO’s Testify, Trusted Companies & Working From Home

Axios TodayThe CEOs of four of the most powerful companies in the world testified before Congress yesterday. While the hearing was supposed to be about anti-trust laws, it quickly devolved into a scattered display of partisanship.

  • Plus, our exclusive Axios Harris Poll on the top 100 companies Americans trust most.
  • And, work from home really means work from anywhere – so how about Barbados?

Guests: Axios’ Ina Fried, Mike Allen, Sara Fischer, and Erica Pandey

Top New Science Podcasts: How The Skin Stretches, Covid-19 Conferences And Pain Resistance Traits

Nature PodcastThis week’s Nature podcast looks at how skin’s unusual response to stretching is finally explained, a coronavirus update and the latest in a huge effort to map DNA. 

In this episode:

01:06 Stretching skin

For decades it’s been known that stretching skin causes more skin to grow, but the reasons why have been a mystery. Now, researchers have uncovered a mechanism to explain the phenomenon. Research Article: Aragona et al.News and Views: Stretch exercises for stem cells expand the skin

07:49 Coronapod

We discuss how the coronavirus pandemic has affected scientific meetings and how the learned societies that organise them are adapting. How scientific conferences will survive the coronavirus shockHow scientific societies are weathering the pandemic’s financial storm;

A year without conferences? How the coronavirus pandemic could change research

18:18 Research Highlights

A genetic trait for pain-resistance, and the accessibility-aware ancient Greeks. Research Highlight: A gene helps women in labour to skip the painkillersResearch Highlight: This temple was equipped with accessibility ramps more than 2,000 years ago

20:42 ENCODE updates

The ENCODE project aims to identify all the regions in the human genome involved in gene regulation. This week, data from its third iteration has been published and we examine the highlights. Research Article: SnyderNews and Views: Expanded ENCODE delivers invaluable genomic encyclopaedia

28:50 Briefing Chat

We take a look at some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time we look at how smallpox may be much older than previously thought, and how the Earth’s atmosphere rings like a bell. Nature News: Smallpox and other viruses plagued humans much earlier than suspectedPhysics World:

World News Podcasts: Covid-19 Cases Spike, McDonald’s Profits Fall

The Economist LogoThe Economist updates Covid-19 rates spiking around the world, McDonald’s fast food profits plunge and other top international business and economic news.