China’s Water Woes, Rebuilding a Footbridge Across the Blue Nile

This week: You’ll learn about China’s water pollution problems. You’ll hear a story about efforts to rebuild an ancient footbridge across the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. Whale evolution is among Elsa’s favorite stories this week. And a marine biologist tells us about the music that keeps him company while he searches the deep sea waters for new species.  And, we have an ONLINE SURVEY for you. Please take a few minutes to give your feedback about this podcast.

China’s Dirty Water Problem: You may already know that China has some of the worst water pollution problems in the world.  Well, the Chinese government recently released its first comprehensive review of pollution sources, and the problem appears to be even worse than previously thought.  The study found that by at least one key measure, water pollution is twice as bad as the government had reported just two years ago.  Peter Gleick is president of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California, and he has written extensively on China’s water challenges.  He gave us some perspective on these new findings.
Guest: Peter Gleick.

Elsa’s Favorite Science Stories:

• Scanning for Painting Forgeries: Scientists are now using a medical imaging technology to tell whether historic paintings have been altered. The imaging technique, called Optical Coherence Tomography, is used by doctors to scan the retina to detect vision problems. When used to analyze paintings, it becomes a valuable tool to look deeper into the layers of paint and varnish.
  The study. (Includes photos of the paintings the researchers analyzed.)
  NPR story on yet another way of discovering art fakes.
• Whales, Whales, and More Whales: Two new studies elucidate important aspects of whale evolutionary biology. One uses old and forgotten fossil specimens to connect modern-day baleen whales with their filter-feeding predecessors in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The other uses statistical models to discover an important factor behind the diversity of whales in our oceans today – diatoms. These tiny single-celled organisms form the base of the modern marine food web; their evolution has, in turn, supported the diversification of whales.
  The giant filter-feeding fish study.
  The diatom diversity study.
  Discover blog post about the filter-feeding fish.

Music in Science: We may be whaled out by now, but we aren’t leaving the oceans yet. In our music segment this week, a marine biologist from the U.K takes us deep down under the sea where he’s studying marine species. His name is Jon Copley, and he’s a researcher at England’s University of Southampton. What does Copley listen to while he peers into the oceans from his ship with a remotely operated vehicle? Listen and find out.
Produced by: Elsa Youngsteadt
Music: Two Tribes, by Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Rebuilding the Blue Nile Footbridge: In the Blue Nile Canyon of Ethiopia, a single footbridge is the only connection for people who live on opposite sides of the river. The ancient bridge has been repeatedly destroyed and repaired over the centuries. Now, a team of American volunteers has built a new, sturdier suspension bridge across the chasm. Reporter Daniel Glick was there as the new span was put into place.
View a slide show of the project.
View map.

Credit: Bridges to Prosperity.

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Tags: China, Ethiopia, Nile River, water, whales