Naming Planets in Hebrew, Toward Copenhagen, Mayan Daily Life

This week: In last week’s podcast, you heard about the possibilities of world leaders agreeing on a new climate treaty at next month’s climate summit in Copenhagen. You’ll hear from Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister for Climate and Energy who will be chairing the summit in Copenhagen next month. You’ll also hear a story on efforts to get wildlife off restaurant menus in Vietnam. Then, a story on how Israel is trying to come up with Hebrew names for Uranus and Neptune. Some disturbing news about plastics in our oceans and new clues to the day-to-day existence of the ordinary Mayan.

Oh! And a big thanks to all our listeners who participated in our last week’s Science Forum. Your thoughtful comments and questions made the Forum a big success!

Danish Climate Minister: The climate summit in Copenhagen is barely a few weeks away. And scientists, environmental activists and law makers from around the world are preparing for that upcoming meeting. Connie Hedegaard is the Danish minister for Climate and Energy and she will chair the climate summit in December. She says that leaders must remain committed to forging a strong, new international treaty to reduce carbon emissions.
Guest: Connie Hedegaard.
Links:
Collection of BBC stories on the Copenhagen summit.
Denmark’s Ministry of Climate and Energy.

Elsa’s Favorite Science Stories:

• More Plastic in Our Oceans: Scientists now think that the Pacific Garbage patch may not be the only collection of plastic waste in our oceans. There are similar plastic dumps in other oceans, like the Atlantic and Indian. It is only a matter of time before they find those too.
  New York Times article (including a slide show).
  The Plastic Ocean, the blog of researcher Bonnie Monteleone
  More on ocean garbage from the Algalita Foundation.
• Why Do Humans Talk and Chimps Don’t? Part of the answer may lie in our genes. A new study published this week shows that a genetic player in brain development does completely different things in humans and chimps. The results suggest that some of the answers to the mysteries behind humans’ highly developed language skills may lie in the gene called FoxP2.
  The study.
  BBC coverage.
  More on language evolution from NOVA ScienceNOW.
• The Musty Smell of Old Books: Scientists have identified the cocktail of volatile chemicals emitted by old books. The chemicals are released when the compounds in paper start to degrade. Different kinds of papers decay at different rates and emit different chemicals. The researchers want to use the findings to develop a non-destructive sniff-test to identify books and papers in need of better preservation and storage.
  The study.
  BBC coverage.
  All about preserving old papers, from the Cornell University Library.
• Picture of the Ordinary Mayan Life: Archaelogists exploring a “painted pyramid” in Mexico have uncovered murals depicting rare images of the daily life of ordinary Mayans. The pictures show what ordinary people in the Mayan civilzation wore, cooked and traded.
  The study.
  Information on Maya culture from the National Gallery of Art. (Note from Elsa: Find out some of the things I did not know about the Mayan elite!)

Naming Uranus and Neptune, in Hebrew: Did you know that 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy? Well, the Israelis did. And they decided to commemorate the occasion by coming up with Hebrew names for Uranus and Neptune. These planets were discovered after the ancient Hebrews named the other six planets in our solar system.
Report: By Daniel Estrin.
Links:
Jerusalem Post coverage.
The Academy of the Hebrew Language.

Getting Wildlife off the Menu: Wildlife delicacies such as snakes and monkeys have become increasingly popular in Vietnamese restaurants. But its hurting the country’s wildlife population. And that’s why two environmental groups are now trying to change attitudes and discourage the Vietnamese from indulging in wildlife cuisine.
Report: By The World’s Mary Kay Magistad.
Links:
Read a transcript of this story.
More about the WWF restaurant campaign in Hanoi.
Wildlife consumption is a problem in other parts of the world, too. Learn more from the Bushmeat Crisis Taskforce.

Tags: archaeology, climate change, conservation, Denmark, evolution, languag, language, Mayan cvilization, Mexico, planets, pyramids