| |
Past Shows
October 22, 2005
 Listen to a Real Audio stream of the entire program (available Saturday, two hours after broadcast).
Download an MP3 of the entire program (22MB) (available Saturday, two hours after broadcast).
 Real Player is required to listen to RealAudio files. Other media players can play the MP3 or Ogg audio files.
Download the RealPlayer plug-in for your browser.
 CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in a new window.
Flores Man Update
Listen to or download the mp3
or Ogg files.
(what's ogg?)
Homo floresiensis skull and human skull - Courtesy, Dr. Peter Brown
|
Last year a group of Indonesian and Australian researchers shocked the world with the discovery of a new species of human cousin in a cave on the island of Flores. The creature was a meter-tall, miniature hominid, unlike anything seen elsewhere in the world. Now, they've announced the discovery of more fossils, which deepen the mystery of just who these creatures were, and where they came from. Unfortunately, scientific politics has reared its ugly head. Parts of the original fossil have been destroyed under cloudy circumstances and the scientists are now being refused access to the dig by the Indonesian government. Dr. Peter Brown, a paleoanthropologist from the University of New England in Australia, was part of the team working with the fossils.
Related Links
Ants in the Devil's Gardens
Listen to or download the mp3
or Ogg files.
(what's ogg?)
Ants attacking an alien plant - Courtesy, M. Frederickson
|
Deep in the Amazonian jungle are strange clearings where nothing grows but a single species of tree. Legend has it that a forest demon maintained these Devil's Gardens, but a Canadian biologist has proved that, in fact, it's a humble ant that does the work. Megan Frederickson, a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University, has shown that the ants, who make their homes in the stems of their favorite trees, will poison other plants that try and colonize their gardens.
Related Links
Venus Express
Listen to or download the mp3
or Ogg files.
(what's ogg?)
Artist's impression of Venus Express in orbit - Courtesy, ESA
|
Mars has been much in the news, what with all the rovers and orbiters that have been studying the red planet lately. Venus, however, has been largely ignored despite the fact that it's closer in size and nearer in space to the Earth. The European Space Agency is about to end Venus' scientific exile with a new mission called Venus Express, set to launch next week. Dr. Andrew Coates is head of planetary science at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College, London, and is part of a team responsible for one of the instruments on the Venus Express mission.
Related Links
Cichlid Dominance
Listen to or download the mp3
or Ogg files.
(what's ogg?)
African Cichlid - Courtesy, Dr. S. Burmeister
|
Like many fish, males of a species of African Cichlid fight for dominance. And why not? The dominant fish are the only ones who are able to reproduce. But that dominance is reversible if a lowly subordinate fish takes on a top fish and wins a battle. Dr. Sabrina Burmeister and her colleagues wondered how quickly a cichlid might take advantage of a new social situation, one where he could just rise to the top without a fight. They surreptitiously removed the dominant male from the territory and watched in amazement as the subordinate male recognized his new social opportunity almost immediately and didn't waste any time capitalizing on it. The researchers show for the first time that subordinate male cichlid shows dramatic colour changes and even a rapid change in brain cells within minutes of the chance to do so. Dr. Burmeister is an assistant professor of biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Related Links
Making Mice Meek
Listen to or download the mp3
or Ogg files.
(what's ogg?)
Dr. Simpson with mouse
|
Turning a mouse into a meek animal might not sound like much of an accomplishment. But in Dr. Elizabeth Simpson's lab at the University of British Columbia, it's quite a feat. A few years ago, Dr. Simpson made news when she announced she'd been able to genetically alter mice to make them extremely aggressive. Now, she's been able to reverse that genetic engineering, but she's done it using a gene from humans. It's one of the first direct indications that we may share genes that control behaviour with other animals.
Related Links
Last week
|
|
