credit: Maeve Conran. The Flatirons in Boulder shrouded in wildfire smoke on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued an air quality alert due to particle pollution and ozone levels. Wildfire smoke has marred the Front Range in recent weeks, due to Megafires that are likely to become more frequent. A…

Photo credit: Jeff Mitton Clever Chickadees on the Front Range (start time: 4:20) Many of us wake up these days to a chorus of songbirds, including mountain and black-capped chickadees. Host Susan Moran interviews Scott Taylor, an ecologist at CU Boulder and director of the Mountain Research Station near the Continental Divide, about a multi-year s…

On this week’s How on Earth we’re airing a show produced by Science Moab‘s Peggy Hodgkins. She speaks with Professor Kari Veblen, who is currently a professor of rangeland ecology at Utah State University. Her research focuses on the ecology and management of rangelands, including questions related to restoration, plant community dynamics, grazing …

In this episode, we talk with journalist and author Rebecca Boyle about her book Our Moon – How Earth’s Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are. We discuss how the Moon impacts all aspects of our lives including the creation of life. It is a key component to philosophy and religion, culture and agricultu…

Making “Compostable” Products Truly Compostable (start time: 0:56) You’ve probably wracked your brain at some point trying to figure out whether the compostable-labelled clamshell or the green-tinted plastic cup you got at a restaurant is truly compostable. Many products contain misleading and outright false claims, leaving consumers confused about…

This week on How on Earth, Beth talks with author and cheesemaker extraordinaire and author, David Asher, about his book Milk Into Cheese: The Foundations of Natural Cheesemaking. The science and art of cheese. David Asher has a long career as an educator, activist, and celebrated natural cheesemaker. In our conversation, you’ll hear about the cult…

c Wiki Media from Olympus Digital Camera Matt Johnson of Namaste Solar and Stu Cummings of Go Electric Colorado share climate friendly ways to keep your home power going, even if power from your utility suddenly goes out. It’s a discussion spurred by April’s massive power outages, when Xcel Energy Colorado abruptly shut off power to over 150,000 De…

Photo credit: CU Boulder Composting for Human, Soil and Climate Health (start time: 4:39) It’s late spring, when many people are out gardening, planting vegetables, and spreading compost on the soil to give those veggies a leg up. Composting also benefits the planet. If dumped into landfills, organic waste breaks down and releases methane, a greenh…

On this week’s show, Beth speaks with Jennifer Ackerman, about her new book, What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds. In a writing career spanning over three decades, Jennifer has covered many aspects of science and nature but recently has focused on birds. In the book she regales the reader with the amazing adaptatio…

This week on How on Earth, we revisit bees and pollination biology. Beth spoke with Professor Michael Breed about honeybees and other pollinators. These insects provide crucial service to our agricultural systems by pollinating flowers whose seeds and fruit produce our foods. But many of us ignore or take them for granted. The Colorado State Univer…

Birds of Spring, Habitat Preservation (start time: 3:08) It’s springtime, when many of us are woken up at the crack of dawn by a chorus of chickadees or other songbirds outside. To celebrate these emblems of spring, and World Migratory Bird Day (May 18), How On Earth’s Susan Moran interviews two bird/nature experts about the state of affairs for th…

Gold Lab Foundation 2024 Illustration Gold Lab Symposium on Science and Health. (starts 6:40) Boulder scientist and entrepreneur, Larry Gold, shares a sneak preview of this year’s Gold Lab Symposium at CU-Boulder Muenzinger Auditorium this Thursday and Friday. This year’s symposium focuses on Pain, Culture and Intelligence. The symposium includes d…

Dr. Danile Wildcat c Indian Leader Rising Voices Changing Coasts – Indigenuity Science leader Daniel Wildcat, talks about the Rising Voices/Changing Coasts symposium taking place this week Boulder. The symposium connects Indigenous Leaders with climate scientists to solve pressing climate and environmental challenges.. Science Moab – Our “sister sc…

Seahorses (starts 4:10) Science Writer Till Hein explains his new book, The Curious World of Seahorses: The Life and Lore of a Marine Marvel. Also in this episode, we share this week’s DomeFest West at CU-Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium (starts 2:00). And we share congratulations to three new CU-Boulder members of the American Academy of Arts and Scien…

In this week’s show, Beth speaks with rewilder Derek Gow about his new book, Hunt for the Shadow Wolf, in which he explores the mythology, mystery and history of wolves in Europe, and their speckled history with our species. Executive Producer: Shelley Schlender Show Producer: Beth Bennett Additional Contributions: Esther Franke, Joel Parker Engine…

Dr. Christopher Kerr The Science of Deathbed Visions Many people have visions and dreams as they near the end of their life in which they reunite with loved ones who have gone before them. What can science tell us about these mysterious and common experiences? And how do they affect those who have them? These are questions that Chris Kerr, a hospic…

Corban Tillemann Dick c Maybell Quantum Colorado – The Quantum State: We speak with Corban Tillemann-Dick about how Colorado has emerged as a world leader in Quantum Technologies. Tillemann-Dick will speak at CU-Boulder’s Conference on World Affairs, Thursday, 10:30, at the UMC Central Ballroom. Tillemann-Dick heads up Elevate Quantum, a consortium…

In this episode of How on Earth, we talk about the upcoming 2024 April 8th solar eclipse. Our guests are science writer David Baron, author of American Eclipse, and Dr. Doug Duncan, served as Director of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium. Show Producer and Host: Joel Parker Executive Producer: Shelley Schlender Listen to the sh…

Lake Mead’s water level Credit: Research Gate Colorado River: Promise and Peril (start time: 6:28) For more than two decades the Colorado River has been shrinking, afflicted by climate change-induced drought, population growth, and water politics. Some 40 million people living in seven states, and 30 tribes, depend on the river. The Upper Basin — C…

This is the third and final episode of a series where we hear about recent research presented at the American Astronomical Society (AAS) January 2024 meeting. Habitable Worlds Observatory (starts at 5:15) Dr. Megan Ansdell, Program Scientist at NASA Headquarters in the Astrophysics Division and the Planetary Science Division, talks about the Habita…

Peter McGraw cc Glenn J. Asakawa Copyright: University of Colorado In this Spring Pledge Drive show, we talk with CU-Boulder professor and behavioral economist Peter McGraw about his new book, Solo: Building a Remarkable Life of your own. The book is also available through KGNU for listeners who give a donation to support this non-commercial, commu…

This is the second episode of a series where we hear about recent research presented at the American Astronomical Society (AAS) January 2024 meeting. Credit: ESO/Igor Chekalin 3D Astronomy (starts at 3:08) Dr. Nicole Karnath, Research Scientist, at Space Science Institute, talks about using the Hubble Space Telescope and the airborne SOFIA telescop…

This week’s How On Earth offers two features: Deep-sea Coral photo credit: NOAA Deep-sea coral reef discovery (start time: 0:58) Scientists recently discovered and mapped the largest known deep-sea coral reef in the world. It’s located up to 200 miles off the U.S. Atlantic Coast, and it’s larger than Vermont. The news comes as a bright spot for oce…

In this week’s show Beth speaks with author Annabel Abbs-Streets about her new book, SLEEPLESS: Unleashing the Subversive Power of the Night Self, in which she dives into both the science of sleep and sleeplessness, and a new perspective on life after midnight. Executive Producer: Joel Parker Show Producer: Beth Bennett Listen to the show:…

This week on How on Earth Beth speaks with Mattie Matsch, deputy director of Boulder’s Eco-Cycle. We spoke about the challenges of recycling plastics. As consumers, it’s vital to be aware of these challenges and the limitations they impose on the types of plastic we can toss in the barrel for pickup. Executive Producer: Joel Parker Show Producer: B…