Let there be light! Whether it comes from the sky or a bulb, we’d be lost without it. In this episode of Distillations, we first examine new developments in solar power. Next, we explore how light can be used to treat those with Seasonal Affective Disorder. And finally, producer Jim Burress takes us through a guided history of lightbulbs, starting in Louisville, Kentucky, with Thomas Edison’s most illuminating invention. Chemical Agent: Organic Solar Cells.

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00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:01 Chemical Agent: Organic Solar Cells
03:54 Mystery Solved! Seasonal Affective Disorder
06:42 Feature: The History of Lightbulbs
11:21 Closing Credits

Credits

This show was written and researched by Hilary Domush, Michal Meyer, and Erica Stefanovich.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music includes “Bacon Wine,” by Jim Tyrrell, ”Madam, Madame!,” by Firefox AK, and ”Snows No Fun At All,” by Danny Daughtridge Trio.

Image courtesy NASA/GSFC via Flickr.

Every year the Chemical Heritage Foundation holds Innovation Day—an event for people to get together to discuss and learn about science’s exciting new technologies. On this week’s episode we take a look at innovations—the natural kind and the man-made kind. First we talk about thermoregulation—the body’s way of keeping itself at just the right temperature. Next we learn how GoreTex can be used for more than just jackets. And finally, host Meir Rinde interviews Dr. Richard Silverman, who discovered the main chemical compound in the drug Lyrica and is the recipient of this year’s Perkin Medal. Chemical Agent: Thermoregulation.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:32 Introduction
01:13 Chemical Agent: Thermoregulation
03:34 Tools of the Trade: GoreTex Stents
06:25 A Conversation with Richard Silverman
11:22 Closing Credits

Credits

This show was written and researched by Chi Chan.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music includes “Gathered Safely In,” by Damien Shingleton, “The Rhyme Scheme,” by Cursive, and “All About the Old School,” by MSU Orchestra.

Birth, once nature’s miracle, is increasingly manipulated by humans and regulated by society. In this week’s episode, we look at a range of reproductive technologies and the implications of their use. First we look at the herbal fertility treatments women used hundreds of years ago. Then, our host Meir Rinde speaks with University of Pennsylvania doctoral candidate Joanna Radin about a trend catching on with new moms: cord-blood banking. Finally, CHF’s Erica Stefanovich explores the dark side of these technologies as described in classic dystopian literature. Chemical Agent: Luteinizing Hormone.

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00:00 Opening Credits
00:30 Introduction
01:16 Chemical Agent: Luteinizing Hormone
03:54 Conversation with Joanna Radin
09:01 Review: Reproduction in Dystopian Novels
11:39 Closing Credits

Credits

This show was written and researched by Erica Stefanovich and Hilary Domush.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music includes “Brave Heart,” by Sonic Mystery, “Before Beauty,” by Secret Archives of the Vatican, and “love hides in familiar places,” by lacunae.

This week’s image was uploaded to Flickr by Kshort1.

Location, location, location! In this week’s episode we talk about why and how certain spaces are chosen and used. First we go back in time to the late 1800s and find out why Herbert Dow chose Midland, Michigan, as the site of his company. Next, learn about brownfields and how they are being remediated to become habitable again. Finally, CHF’s Jody Roberts speaks to Professor Jim Hutchison, from the University of Oregon, about changing laboratory facilities in order to make them a better space and place for students, faculty, and others to work. Chemical Agent: Bromine.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:32 Introduction
01:07 Chemical Agent: Bromine
03:13 Mystery Solved! Brownfields
06:31 Conversation with Jim Hutchison
11:16 Closing Credits

Credits

This show was written and researched by Hilary Domush, Jennifer Dionisio, and Jody Roberts.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music includes “Pumpkin,” by Jack Erdie and “In A Different Place,” by PAT ZELENKA.

This week’s image is of the Evans Flour Mill in Midland, Michigan. The tower in the photo housed the brine well — which provided the raw material for Dow to produce bromine. From the Dow Historical Collection, CHF Archives.