Through the Unknown with Dustin Driver

Why do we have clean air regulations?

Many of us never got to experience it, but the air quality in LA in the ‘40s  ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s was deadly. Smog hung in the air like a thick fog and many residents actually said that it hurt to breathe.

Sources:

https://www.kcet.org/history-society/how-los-angeles-began-to-put-its-smoggy-days-behind

https://earther.gizmodo.com/environmental-regulation-has-helped-cut-deaths-from-air-1829875441

https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hcc/2007/09/After-Burner/1509192.html  

https://www.marketplace.org/2014/07/14/sustainability/we-used-be-china/la-smog-battle-against-air-pollution

https://www.geek.com/geek-cetera/spaceballs-becomes-reality-canadian-company-is-selling-bottled-air-to-the-chinese-1642442/

https://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/15/canadians-are-selling-cans-of-fresh-air-to-china.html

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170515-the-entrepreneurs-making-money-out-of-thin-air

https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/08/world/fresh-air-britain-china-bottles/index.html

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/about/history

Is alcohol poison?

This summer a lot of science news bubbled up out of the quantum foam, but the one thing that really caught my attention was booze. And not Oregon’s world-famous craft beers. A study landed that allegedly found that any amount of alcohol—any—is bad for you. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't drink.

Sources:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31310-2/fulltext
https://science.howstuffworks.com/alcohol.htm
https://lifehacker.com/5684996/what-alcohol-actually-does-to-your-brain-and-body
https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh25-4/255-261.htm
https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics
https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa63/aa63.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4065474/
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/07/what_is_dopamine_love_lust_sex_addiction_gambling_motivation_reward.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/07/18/alcohol-related-liver-deaths-have-increased-sharply/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.23550826155d
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321731.php

 

Why is raccoon scat deadly?

That’s the bone-chilling shriek of America’s favorite pest, the trash panda. Or Raccoon. And while they may sound like demons shredding the flesh from helpless babes, there’s something even more terrifying about them: Their poop.

Should we make a humanzee?

Psychologist and author David P. Barash recently wrote an article for Nautilus Magazine arguing that now is the time to make a humanzee. I wrote a story about an experiment gone horribly wrong. How are they related? Listen to find out!https://dustindriver.com/simple-procedure.html http://nautil.us/issue/58/self/its-time-to-make-human_chimp-hybrids

What is CRISPR? With Sam Sternberg

No fancy sci-fi introduction is needed this time, folks, because today we have world-renown CRISPR expert Sam Sternberg. Sam worked with biochemist, author, and science celebrity Jennifer Doudna to refine CRISPR gene editing technology at UC Berkeley. The two wrote best-selling book A Crack in Creation about the discovery and what it could mean for humanity. Today Sam is working on CRISPR at Columbia University in New York. Sam was kind enough to take an hour or so out of his busy schedule to chat about CRISPR and how it’s being used to revolutionize science and medicine.

Can you teach a computer to talk? With Kelly Davis

In this episode I had the opportunity to chat with the head of the Common Voice project, Kelly Davis. Kelly is a trained physicist who studied string theory before getting hooked on artificial intelligence in the late ‘90s. We talk about AI art collectives, his fascination with creating an intelligent agent, project Common Voice, and a little about the future of humanity.

Is fusion power right around the corner?

Nuclear fusion technology could herald a golden age of energy that will make the fossil fuel age look like the stone age! That’s right, limitless carbon-free energy for everyone, all thanks to the hard work of genius nuclear physicists and engineers! MIT recently announced that their fusion reactor project is only about 15 years away. http://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-newly-formed-company-launch-novel-approach-fusion-power-0309

Are we doomed to nuclear apocalypse?

Are we headed for nuclear apocalypse? Everybody’s favorite crony capitalist and democratically elected dictator Vladimir Putin just announced an all-new nuclear-powered cruise missile that can hit any target on earth. The missile can, according to Putin, fly under any existing US missile defense systems undetected. It’s a bizarre announcement, because Russia already has more than 1,900 nuclear missiles on standby that most experts agree could bypass any missile defense systems anywhere. The announcement comes just weeks after the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the Doomsday Clock to two minutes till midnight. If you don’t know, the Doomsday Clock represents expert global opinion of how close the world is to nuclear apocalypse. Midnight means the party’s over, and experts believe the planet is closer to total nuclear destruction than it has been since the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was really really damn close. Well, and in 1953, just after the United states tested a hydrogen bomb.

Can you clone your dog?

Barbra Streisand cloned her favorite dog and things didn’t turn out as expected. Why? And How? And, most importantly, Whuuuuuuuut? First, Streisand revealed in a recent interview with Variety Magazine that she had her recently deceased dog Samantha cloned—twice. Well, she had two clones made. According to the world-renown singer, the dogs have different personalities than Samantha and aren’t exactly identical to her, either. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/02/barbra-streisand-clone-pet-dogs-explained-spd/

How do crawdads clone themselves?

In science fiction they call it gray goo - nanobots that replicate without limits until eventually everything on the planet is a featureless gray goo. It’s the first thing that came to mind when I read a recent article in the NY Times about a new species of crayfish that clones itself and is taking over Europe. The species emerged just 25 years ago as a mutation. Normally, animals have two chromosomes, one from each parent. This female crayfish ended up with three, meaning that she could produce her own fertilized eggs without mating. And every egg is a perfect clone of the original crayfish. Oh, and crayfish lay hundreds of eggs at a time. More from the German Cancer Research Institute: https://www.dkfz.de/en/presse/pressemitteilungen/2018/dkfz-pm-18-07-A-clonal-crayfish-from-nature-as-a-model-for-tumors.php