March 2008
Monthly Archive
Episode 16: Vitamania!
Friday 28 Mar 2008
In today’s show we take a closer look at vitamins, the tiny substances that are vital to our health. You’ll hear how the British biochemist Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins discovered vitamins (or, as he preferred, “vitamines”) in 1909 and find out why the rate of rickets is once again increasing. Finally, producer Jocelyn Ford takes us to Shijiazhuang in China’s Hebei Province for a visit to the world’s largest Vitamin C factory. Element of the Week: Iron.
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Show Clock
00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:39 Mystery Solved: Rickets
04:35 Element of the Week: Iron
06:41 Making Vitaming C
10:18 Quotation: George Bernard Shaw
10:38 Closing Credits
Resources and References
The title of today’s episode is from Rima Apple’s wonderful book, Vitamania: Vitamins in American Culture (Rutgers University Press, 1996).
For a historical perspective on rickets: Kumaravel Rajakumar, “Vitamin D, Cod-Liver Oil, Sunlight, and Rickets: A Historical Perspective,” Pediatrics 112 (2003): e132–e135.
On Vitamin D and milk: This fact sheet from the University of California, Riverside.
On iron and anemia: This fact sheet from Rutgers University Health Services.
On hemochromatosis: This helpful entry from the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse.
Although today’s quote has been widely attributed to George Bernard Shaw, we have not been able to locate an official source. Please let us know if you’ve heard otherwise!
Credits
Special thanks to Anke Timmermann for researching the show.
Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music was provided by the Podsafe Music Network. The music at the beginning of Mystery Solved! is “Joan of Arc,” by 46Bliss; the segment ends with “Steel Away,” by Wade Austin. The Element of the Week ends with the YoungBlood Brass Band’s “Is That a Riot?” The feature on Vitamin C includes “I Can Taste the Colors,” by Edgar Malaran. The music at the quotation is “Colorado,” by the John Conahan Group.
Photo credit: “Pure Orange,” from stock.xchng, by somadjinn.
Posted in Medicine No Comments
Episode 15: The Art of Science
Friday 21 Mar 2008
While chemistry often plays a silent role in art, such as synthetic additives in acrylic paints, both artists and scientists have consciously chosen to intersect the two. CHF’s Erin McLeary was astounded by the work of Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, who created images with filter paper and called them “self-grown pictures.” In this week’s episode, Erin tells us how Runge discovered the colorful pictures that grow themselves. We also visit two present-day New York artists — Steve Miller and Dove Bradshaw — who have chosen different routes to incorporate science into their art. And this week we learn about neon and how it found its way into popular art. Element of the Week: Neon.
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Show Clock
00:00 Opening Credits
00:32 Introduction
01:09 Element of the Week: Neon
03:37 Commentary: Self-Grown Pictures
06:54 ChemArtists
10:51 Quote: Bo Malmstrom
11:04 Closing Credits
Resources and References
Neon as art: Eric Ehlenberger’s virtual art gallery and the online gallery of Craig Kraft.
On Runge: Bussemas, H. H., G. Harsch, and L. S. Ettre. “Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge (1794-1867): ‘Self-Grown Pictures’ as Precursors of Paper Chromatography,” Chromatographia 38 (1994): 243-254.
For more about the ChemArtists: Steve Miller and Dove Bradshaw.
Credits
This show was researched by Erin McLeary and Audra Wolfe.
Lisa Gray produced the segment on ChemArtists.
Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music was provided from the Podsafe Music Network. The music at the end of the Element of the Week is Neon Baby, by The Bad Touch. The music for the commentary is Mysterious World, by If. The music for the quotation is Fire against the Sea, by Ichiro Nakagawa.
Photo credits, from top to bottom: Six Continents, art and photo by Dove Bradshaw. Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge title page from the author’s 1858 book Der Bildungstrieb der Stoffe: Veranschaulicht in selbstständig gewachsenen Bildern (Fortsetzung der Musterbilder). Image courtesy of The Othmer Library of Chemical History at CHF, photo by Rosanne DiVernieri. Artist Steve Miller in front of his work With Strings Attached, photo by Lisa Gray.
Episode 14: Blockbuster Science
Friday 14 Mar 2008
Is science on the silver screen any less real than science in the lab? A crew from CHF attempts to answer this question with a visit to a new Star Wars exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. In a commentary on how cartoons shape our ideas about emerging science and technology, Jody Roberts suggests that accuracy is not really the point when science makes its way into popular culture. Element of the Week: Krypton.
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Show Clock
00:00 Opening Credits
00:32 Introduction
00:50 Element of the Week: Krypton
02:28 Commentary: Cartoons as Science?
06:15 Exhibit Review: Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination
11:10 Quote: Lex Luthor
11:30 Closing Credits
Resources and References
To see the exhibit: Star Wars touring schedule.
On G. I. Joe: An incredibly thorough fan site and this clip from YouTube.
On Spiderman: this clip from YouTube.
Everything you ever wanted to know about kryptonite: “Kryptonite” Wikipedia entry
Credits
Special thanks to Jody Roberts for researching the show, to Jennifer Landry for reviewing the exhibit, and to Tori Indivero for organizing the trip to the Franklin Institute.
Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music and sound clips sampled from the films and cartoons under review.
Photo credit: © Lucasfilm Ltd. These and other costumes from the Star Wars saga can be seen in the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit.
Posted in Society No Comments
Episode 13: The Nanoscale
Friday 07 Mar 2008
You’ve heard the hype—but what’s nanotechnology really all about? Today’s show is an investigation into the current reality and the future potential of nanotechnology. In an interview with CHF’s Chi Chan, Harvard University chemist George Whitesides explains how nanofabrication works, what it has to do with chemistry, and what new developments we should expect to see in the next five years. In our Mystery Solved! segment, Jennifer Dionisio uncovers the tiny secret behind the legendary sharpness of Damascus steel. The Element of the Week: Carbon.
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Show Clock
00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:32 Element of the Week: Carbon
03:08 Conversation with George Whitesides
07:51 Mystery Solved! Damascus Steel
10:49 Quote: Richard Smalley
11:08 Closing Credits
Resources and References
Nano basics: National Nanotechnology Initiative.
For more on nanoresearch at Harvard: The Center for Nanoscale Systems.
On Damascus steel: Reibold, M., A. A. Levin, W. Kochmann, N. Pätzke, and D. C. Meyer, “Materials: Carbon Nanotubes in an Ancient Damascus Sabre,” Nature 444 (2006): 286.
And just for fun, an odd nanoachievement: The darkest thing ever made.
Credits
Special thanks to Chi Chan for researching the show.
Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music was provided from the Podsafe Music Network. The music for the transition out of the Element of the Week is Sand Swallows Earth, by Spring Clock Wonder. We used Ozone Chamber (Chemical Mix), by Fledglyng, under the show ID. The music at the beginning of Mystery Solved is Keblah—Architectural Mix, by Riad Abdel-Gawad. The music for the quotation is La Circiuma de la Drum, by Romashka.
This week’s image of nanocrystals is copyright Felice Frankel. You can see more like it in her book, written with George Whitesides, On the Surface of Things: Images of the Extraordinary in Science (Harvard University Press, 2008). (Purchase on amazon.com.)
Posted in Technology 1 Comment
