Disease Sniffing Super Dogs!

Episode 47 - by Agatha Jassem (Click here to directly access the MP3)

(Access the full text transcript)

Think you only look bad when you’re sick? Well it turns out you stink too. That distinctive sick smell, however, could just save your life. Medical detection dogs are a new breed of canine workers, with Cliff the C. diff sniffing dog being the latest pioneer.

Listen to the podcast to learn more.

For more info:

Dog Sniffs Out Deadly C. diff Infection - Web MD

Dr Dog: How beagle Cliff can sniff C. Diff - The Independant

Agatha Jassem (shown here with her pups Motley and Misiu) is a scientist that currently oversees and helps develop molecular-based diagnostic tests at the Vancouver General Hospital Medical Microbiology Lab. When not at the bench, this 2012 alumna of the Banff Science Communications Program can be found talking about science through various outreach initiatives. Follow her on twitter @agathajassem.

Finding Aliens on Other Planets

REPLAY Episode 16 - by John Rennie (click here to directly access the MP3)

(Access the Full Text transcript)

Interplanetary probes and space telescopes have been seeking evidence of life elsewhere in the universe for decades. But would we necessarily know alien life if we encountered it? The biochemistry of any organisms that evolve on inhospitable worlds might turn out to be unrecognizably different from anything ever seen on Earth. 

On the other hand, discoveries involving meteorites hint that we shouldn’t be surprised if some aliens also turn out to have deep similarities to terrestrial life.

Listen to learn more….

More information about the possibilities of extraterrestrial life:

Rennie, J. “Invisible aliens: life as we don’t know it — yet.” The Savvy Scientist column (April 17, 2012). SmartPlanet.com.

National Research Council. The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press (2007).

Benner, S.A.; Ricardo, A.; Carrigan, M.A. “Is there a common chemical model for life in the universe?” Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. (2004 Dec.); 8(6):672-89.

McKay, C.P; Smith, H.D. “Possibilities for methanogenic life in liquid methane on the surface of Titan.” Icarus (2005 Nov.); 178(1):274-76. DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2005.05.018

John Rennie (www.johnrennie.net, @tvjrennie) is a science writer, editor and lecturer based in New York City. For 15 years he served as editor in chief of Scientific American. Currently, he writes “The Gleaming Retort” for the PLoS Blogs science blogging network and “The Savvy Scientist” column for SmartPlanet.com, among other projects. He is on the faculty of the Banff Centre Science Communications Program and of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University.

Frogs Spreading Deadly Disease!

REPLAY Episode 14 - by Niki Wilson (Click here to directly access the mp3)

(Access the Full Text transcript)

Pacific Chorus frogs may be helping to spread a deadly infectious disease responsible for the extinction of over 200 amphibian species world wide.

The disease, known as chytridiomycosis, is caused by a fungus called Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd. The fungus attacks amphibian’s skin, disrupting the absorption of water and important electrolytes like sodium. The condition eventually results in heart failure.

Listen to the podcast to learn more…

Niki Wilson is a multi-media science communicator living in Jasper, Alberta. Her articles have appeared in the Jasper Fitzhugh, Canmore’s Highline Magazine and The Wild Lands Advocate. She has produced podcasts for Friends in High Places, and Parks Canada, and has collaborated with the Foothills Research Institute and Parks Canada on several regional public exhibits.  In 2009, Wilson was accepted into the Banff Centre Science Communications Program, and has since become an affiliate. She is a member of the Canadian Science Writer’s Association, and  holds a Master of Environmental Design Degree in Environmental Science. More of her projects can be found at nikiwilson.com. Tweet with her at: twitter.com/niki_wilson

Robots on DRUGS!

REPLAY Episode 13 - by Lisa Willemse (Click here to directly access the MP3)

It’s the perfect marriage between robotics, chemistry, statistics and biology. It’s the latest tool in the arsenal of study against disease. It’s known as high throughput screening, or HTS. Developed by the pharmaceutical industry in the late 1980s, research scientists around the globe are now using it to find new uses for old drugs and if current progress is any indication, it will be responsible for hundreds of new therapies in the near future.

See an HTS robot in action:

Lisa Willemse is a science communicator with an interest in the science found in our everyday lives. She has worked as a journalist, photographer and was once encouraged to take a job in sales (she lasted one day). She is an alumni of the Banff Science Communications Program and currently works for the Stem Cell Network in Ottawa.

Dinosaurs Having SEX!

REPLAY Episode 10 - by Sarah Chow (Click here to directly access the MP3)

(Access the full transcript)

Dinosaur mating has long puzzled scientists. However with the help of dinosaur descendants like birds and crocodiles, scientists can better visualize these prehistoric beasts behind closed bushes.

Listen to the Podcast to learn more about doin’ it DINO-Style!

Check out this great link from the Smithsonian on Dinosaur Tracking

Sarah Chow is a recent graduate of the Banff Science Communication program and enjoys bringing the humour into science one podcast at a time. When not writing in her blog or frantically running around the lab doing experiments, you can find Sarah running the trails along the West Coast of British Columbia. You can visit Sarah’s blog www.sschow.com or follow her on twitter @sswchow.

Frogs that can SEE out of their BUTTS!

Episode 46 - by Scott Unger (Click here to directly access the MP3)

(Access the full text transcript)

Scientists at Tufts University graft an eye onto the tail of a tadpole and discover that without any direct connection to the brain, the tadpoles can still see!

No ifs, ands or BUTTS about it, this is an amazing finding that has tremendous impact on research into replacing sensory organs in humans.

Listen to the podcast for more on this amazing study!

For more info:

Tadpoles see with extra eyes - from The Scientist

Blackiston, D. J. and M. Levin. 2013. Ectopic eyes outside the head in Xenopus tadpoles provide sensory data for light-mediated learning. Journal of Experimental Biology. 216, 1031-1040. doi: 10.1242/​jeb.074963

Beazley, L D. 1975. Developent of intertectal neuronal connections in Xenopus, the effects of contralateral transposition of the eye and eye removal. Exp Brain research 23 505-518

Scott Unger is the producer / director of Experimental. He’s also a career science communicator with a background in Microbiology, and spent seven years working in a series of laboratories before moving into science writing. Scott is an alumni of the Banff Science Communications Program. Learn more about Scott from his LinkedIn résumé.

Video Gamers Playing for Science!

Episode 45 - by Stefanie Vogt (Click here to directly access the MP3)

(Access the full text transcript)

Far from being a waste of time, computer games have become a cutting-edge scientific tool.  Scientists have enlisted the help of gamers to solve problems ranging from figuring out protein structures to identifying whale calls.

Listen to the podcast to learn more…

For more information on the Science Gaming phenomena:

“Playing Scientist” by Dan Cossins. (2013) The Scientist 27(1):42-44.

Predicting protein structures with a multiplayer online game by Cooper et al. (2010)  Nature 466:756-760.

Foldit website

Phylo website

Whale FM website

Stefanie Vogt is a PhD student studying microbiology at the University of Alberta and an alumna of the 2012 Banff Science Communications Program.  She has shared her love of science with thousands of kids by organizing science competitions, science activities in rural Alberta, and a science-themed Harry Potter Day.  Follow her on Twitter: @StefanieVogt.

Making Sense of our NINE Senses

REPLAY Episode 9 - by Scott Unger (Click here to directly access the MP3)

(Access the full text transcript)

You’re familiar with the first five: Taste, Touch, Hearing, Smell and Sight - but what you might not realize is we possess FOUR MORE senses (and I’m not talking about the supernatural kind!)

More on our other four senses

About Equilibrioception on Science Daily

The Sixth Sense and Beyond - about Thermoception and the other senses

About Nociception on Serendip Exchange

About Body Awareness, Kinesthetic Sense and Proprioception

Scott Unger is the producer / director of Experimental. He’s also a career science communicator with a background in Microbiology, and spent seven years working in a series of laboratories before moving into science writing. Scott is an alumni of the Banff Science Communications Program. Learn more about Scott from his LinkedIn résumé.

Battling Obesity: It’s Time to Fight Fat with Fat

Episode 44 by Lisa Willemse (Click here to directly access the MP3)

(Access the full text transcript)

Brown fat may become the newest weapon in the war against obesity. Unlike white fat, which stores excess energy, brown fat is highly metabolic, meaning it burns energy and therefore helps to regulate weight. New research has found that the same stem cells that produce muscle also produce brown fat and that a particular switch (namely a gene regulator known as microRNA-133) is responsible for telling the stem cells which type of cell to become. 

Listen to the podcast to learn what happened when the researchers flipped the switch to produce more brown fat and what that might mean for human health.

For more information:

H. Yin et al. (2013). MicroRNA-133 Controls Brown Adipose Determination in Skeletal Muscle Satellite Cells by Targeting Prdm16. Cell Metabolism17(2): 210-224.

Gaining ground on losing pounds: How a little more fat might help combat the obesity crisis by Holly Wobma on Signals Blog

Trigger Turns Muscle Stem Cells Into Brown Fat: Discovery Identifies Potential Obesity Treatment on Science Daily

Lisa Willemse is a science communicator with an interest in the science found in our everyday lives. She has worked as a journalist, photographer and was once encouraged to take a job in sales (she lasted one day). She is an alumni of the Banff Science Communications Program and currently works for the Stem Cell Network in Ottawa.

Medical Isotopes Without the Nuclear Reactor

Episode 43 by Mark A. Ferguson (Click here to directly access the MP3)

(Access the full text transcript)

Traditionally, nuclear reactors - and the one at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories in particular - have been used to create medical isotopes. But when the National Reseearch Universal Reactor nuclear reactor at in Chalk River was closed in 2007, it caused a worldwide shortage in these important compounds used in the diagnostic imaging of nearly 6000 patients a day around the world.

Creating a new source of isotopes required a new way of doing things - and that’s where synchrotrons and particle accelerators came to the rescue.

Listen to learn more…

Mark A. Ferguson is a science journalist and communications professional currently working at the Canadian Light Source synchrotron in sunny Saskatoon, SK. He is an alumnus of the University of Saskatchewan, the University of King’s College, and the Banff Science Communications Program.

Follow him on Twitter @markaferg