Well, Slate was our partner in a “test run” of this show, and now the test run is over… sooner than either of us expected, but hey, that’s the economy for ya. But it’s not a cold-blooded (or one-sided) decision to “shelve” anything — more like a mutual agreement to take a bit of time to figure out the best way to keep doing what’s working.
So what’s working? Well, if yourfeedbackisanyindication… a lot! The popculturey screencast format that caught The New York Times’s eye (back during GUW’s “previous life” at Scientific American) is still appealing to new viewers. iTunes liked our selection of stories enough to feature GUW on their podcast page. And visits to this site and sign-ups for the mailing list were increasing, which means that the show was gaining momentum.
Anyway, my goal in creating Grand Unified Weekly was pretty much just to do on the internet what 3-2-1 Contact and NOVA did for me on TV — evoke a delight in science for its own sake by sheer pleasure of presentation. In that I think the test was successful. Some stuff might be different when we come back, but as long as the show’s still doing that basic job for you, then it’s all good.
What are some of your favorite (or least favorite) aspects of GUW? Know any deep-pocketed science enthusiasts who’d enjoy an “executive producer” credit? We’d love to hear your comments as always… and from me, Christie, Christopher and Andrew, thanks for watching, and we’ll see you again soon!
This week on Grand Unified Weekly: A jellyfish-like hydrozoan is the only immortal creature known to science; plus, it’s invading all Earth’s oceans. Did you know there’s a shortage of isotopes needed to diagnose and treat cancer? Well there is, and scientists may be able to stop getting them from nuclear power plants and start getting them from atom smashers. Finally: Bees can count, to three. And before that makes you smug, think on this: by the same sensory mechanism, humans can only count to four.
This week on Grand Unified Weekly: New “green” explosives take eco-friendly somewhere the Sierra Club never intended, China is offering cash bounties for scientists to come work within its borders, and how agricultural runoff into the Nile is reversing an earlier man-made disaster and boosting fish stocks as a result.
Back by popular demand: links to stories featured in this week’s episode.
Imagine you’re a scientist tasked with testing children’s lunchboxes for lead residue. (The very same stuff that led to a mass recall of Chinese-made toys last year.) In a simulation of the action of a child handling the lunchbox, you swab one, and discover unacceptably high concentrations of lead in the resulting sample. Red flag, right? Raise the alarms and alert the media — a federal ban or at least a manufacturer’s recall is on its way… right?
Then your supervisor does something peculiar: he asks you what would happen if you kept swabbing the lunchbox. You report that the amount of lead residue on each successive swab would eventually drop to zero, because you would have wiped all the lead off the lunchbox. The supervisor responds:
“Just keep swiping. And when you’ve swiped it down to zero, take an average and use that — because then it will be at a safe level.” [click to continue…]
Consider a 2005 analysis of speed dating data, by psychologist Robert Kurzban of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Men tended to choose to have further contact with every other woman they met. Women only wanted to meet again with one in three men.
Not only are women picky, they’re also, apparently, coy:
Related evidence comes from a speed dating study in the January Psychological Science. Psychologist Peter Todd of Indiana University in Bloomington and his coworkers found that observers of speed dating encounters are moderately good at picking out who later expresses romantic interest in whom, with women being harder to read than men.
What’s more, they almost invariably are forced to settle. Because really, they want Brad Pitt. [click to continue…]
This week on Grand Unified Weekly: Scientists figure out the strength of gravity in the mushroom kingdom, James Hansen = Jor-El, and Borat’s cousin wants us not to abort babies with autism, even if we can detect them, which we will be able too, real soon.
I wouldn’t call myself a “designer,” but I’m a bit of a graphic design/typography fetishist. (And you wondered why the opening titles of this show take place “in” Adobe CS3?) So when I saw these indie-rock-show-esque posters for faculty lectures at the University of North Carolina, I wanted to high-five the savvy academic who commissioned them.
Now all they need to do is get Hilotrons to open for “How Molecular Motors Work.” Drop us a line, UNC, we’ll hook you up!
This week: The world’s smallest robot hand can’t wait to be inside you. The origins of life — the self-replicating RNA molecule that started it all — recreated for the first time? And Wall Street bubbles might be caused by testosterone and maternal effects.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ON THIS BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS, AND NOT OF SLATE, WASHINGTONPOST. NEWSWEEK INTERACTIVE, or anyone else connected to them, who are all beyond reproach.
"WHATS THAT AWESOME THEME SONG ON EVERY EPISODE OF GUW?"
