Friday, May 23, 2008

Food and Global Warming

In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Understanding the Universe - with the Large Hadron Collider

"Rock star physicist" Brian Cox talks about his work on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Discussing the biggest of big science in an engaging, accessible way, Cox brings us along on a tour of the massive complex and describes his part in it -- and the vital role it's going to play in understanding our universe.

6 Ways Mushrooms Can Help Save The World

Mycologist Paul Stamets studies the mycelium -- and lists 6 ways that this astonishing fungus can help save the world.



And here Stamets describes the mycelium's capacity for breaking down hydrocarbons to eliminate toxic spills.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Carl Sagan On The "gods" and "God" (also with Stephen Hawking)




Carl Sagan, in his Cosmos PBS Series, also said:
"And our small planet, at this moment, here we face a critical branch-point in the history. What we do with our world, right now, will propagate down through the centuries and powerfully affect the destiny of our descendants. It is well within our power to destroy our civilization, and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate to superstition, or greed, or stupidity we can plunge our world into a darkness deeper than time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian Renaissance. But, we are also capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth, to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet. To enhance enormously our understanding of the Universe, and to carry us to the stars."