Factory Farms, Swine Slaughter, and Sleeping Americans
A pig in Egypt
This week, we look at how industrial farms may be creating conditions for new flu strains. The H1N1 swine flu contains genes from pig, bird, and human flu viruses. Some scientists suspect that large pig farms may help incubate such hybrid viruses. We talk to Prof. Ellen Silbergeld of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Meanwhile, Egypt is slaughtering its pigs in an attempt to control swine flu. Experts say this strategy is misguided, and it has set off protests by Egyptians who depend on pigs for their livelihood.
In Antarctica, more evidence of warming. A huge piece of the Wilkins Ice Shelf has shattered into icebergs. Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, talks about what the satellite images show.
A new study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) examines the behavior and well-being of people in 18 countries. Among the findings: Americans are overweight, the Japanese watch a lot of TV, and Greece and Austria have the most bullies.
Plus more on the Flores Island hobbits, and a new study says bees may not be in so much trouble, after all. And how a brain chemical may help you get along with your spouse.
Some Useful Links:
More about swine flu from the BBC and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
The bee study and more on pollinators from The National Academies of Science. (Here you can listen to a podcast on pollinators and read the book Status of Pollinators in North America for free.)
More on Flores hobbits from the BBC and from Nature, the journal that published the study. (Note: the Nature link will only be open access for a few days.)
The oxytocin study and more about oxytocin. Finally, a paper on how to change brain chemistry without drugs.
Songs
Booker T. & The MG’s, Oo Wee Baby, I Love You
This entry was posted on Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 11:30 AM and is filed under Science Podcast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
