This week: You’ll hear the true story of a Siberian tiger that hunted a poacher. We’re also talking about tigers in our latest Science Forum discussion. Our guest is renowned tiger expert, John Seidensticker. He’s taking questions about efforts to save wild tigers. Check out what he has to say in the podcast then join the conversation.   Also in today’s show, U.K scientists release first drafts of the wheat genome sequence. And please tell us what you think in this online survey!

‘The Tiger’: That’s the name of a new book that tells the true story of a Siberian tiger that killed a poacher, for revenge. The drama takes place in the late 1990s, in far-eastern Russia, just across the border from China. We spoke with the author, John Vaillant.
Guest: John Vaillant
Read the first chapter of ‘The Tiger’.

More about the Siberian tiger on National Geographic.
John Vaillant’s previous book, The Golden Spruce.

Saving Wild Tigers: The tiger is facing extinction. There are some 3500 of the beasts left in the wild today. That’s barely half their number just a decade ago. Poaching and habitat loss are among the many threats facing tiger populations around the world. Several countries are gearing up to enforce stricter measures to protect the species as part of the new Global Tiger Recovery Program. But can we save the species? Or is it doomed to become extinct? Listen to our interview with tiger expert John Seidensticker. Then bring your questions for Seidensticker to the latest Science Forum discussion. He’ll be taking your thoughts and questions until September 13th.
Guest: John Seidensticker.
Join our online conversation about tigers.
Tiger facts from the World Wildlife Fund.

Wheat Genome Sequences: Scientists in the U.K have released draft sequences of the wheat genome. The discovery comes at a time when wheat crops around the world are threatened by disease and climate change. The findings provides scientists and crop breeders with genetic tools to help select for hardier varieties of wheat in the coming years.
Guest: Neil Hall
International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium.
FAO cuts outlook for global wheat harvests
More work needed to get the entire genome sequenced.
Stem rust and global wheat production on Podcast 62.

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Listen to our interview with journalist and author, John Vaillant about his new book, The Tiger, followed by our conversation with conservation biologist John Seidensticker.

Seidensticker then joins us as our guest in this Science Forum discussion. He is a conservation biologist at the Smithsonian Washington National Zoological Park in Washington D.C. He also advises countries that are part of the Global Tiger Initiative, a tiger conservation program supported by the World Bank.

The future for tigers looks dismal.  Today, there are some 3500 wild tigers in 13 countries. That’s barely half their number just a decade ago.

Poaching and habitat loss are the two biggest threats to wild tigers today. Tiger-human conflict, where tigers sometimes attack people and livestock and are in turn killed by people also threatens survival of the species. “If there isn’t an incentive to make live tigers worth more than dead tigers, we’ll lose tigers,” says Seidensticker.

China and Russia have just announced a plan to set up the first cross-border protection zone for the Siberian tiger. There are less than 500 Siberian tigers in the wild today, only about 20 of them in China.  This international tiger conservation effort will attempt to protect the remaining tigers from poaching and habitat loss.

Nepal runs a program that pays local communities to protect tigers and tiger habitats. Other countries that are still home to the wild tiger are also drafting plans to protect the species as part of a new Global Tiger Recovery Program.

Can such efforts save the tiger? Or is it facing inevitable extinction? Bring your thoughts and questions to our conversation with John Seidensticker. It’s just to the right. He is taking your comments till September 13th.

• Tiger poaching is driven by a global demand for tiger parts and products. Can we stop this illegal trade?
• How can ordinary citizens help protect wild tigers?
• Have you ever encountered a wild tiger? Tell us about your experience.

Additional Resources:

• Read Chapter 1 of John Vaillant’s book, The Tiger on The World’s website.
• Tiger facts from the World Wildlife Fund.
• Siberian tigers: photos, videos and facts from the National Geographic.

This week: We’re visiting Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park to hear about a battle between conservation and development. A Scottish researcher tells us how to make biofuel from the byproducts of single malts. We have two stories about bacteria—one about microbes that survived outer space, and the second about methane-eating bacteria in peat bogs. Also in today’s show, plastic in the Atlantic ocean and helping the blind see, with sound.

Conservation vs. Development in Tanzania: Can wildebeest and trucks coexist? That’s the question at the heart of a controversy in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. The Serengeti is home to some of the last great herds of migrating animals… including hundreds of thousands of wildebeest. That’s great for nature lovers and tour operators, but there’s a downside: most of the region has no roads, which is bad news for some remote communities. Now the Tanzanian government has a controversial plan to build a road through the park.
Report by: Benedict Moran
Wildebeest facts from National Geographic.
Serengeti official site.
Serengeti information from UNESCO.

Microbes Survive Outer Space: Bacteria from an English village have survived more than a year in space. The microbes were taken from cliffs in the village of Beer and placed in experimental boxes outside the International Space Station. Scientists were conducting the research to find microbes that could be used as life-support systems for humans traveling in space. The surviving bacteria are now back in a laboratory at the Open University in Milton Keynes.
Guest: Charles Cockell
See a video of Charles Cockell in his laboratory talking about his space-traveling microbes.
Cockell also studies microbes that live in Icelandic volcanoes.
Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute

Elsa’s Favorite Science Stories:

• Methane-Eating Bacteria: One-third of the Earth’s terrestrial carbon is tied up in peat bogs, where it’s stored as frozen and partially decayed plant matter. Global warming could thaw the bogs, accelerating decay and pumping tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Now researchers have found that methane-eating bacteria living inside sphagnum moss could help sop up the greenhouse gas as its released from rotting plant matter.
  The study.
  Photo gallery of sphagnum mosses.
  More about permafrost, peat bogs, and climate.
• Plastic in the Atlantic: Researchers have released 22 years’ worth of data on the location and quantity of plastic crumbs floating in the Atlantic Ocean. Much as in the Pacific Garbage Patch, ocean currents in the Atlantic concentrate the plastic soup in a giant slow-moving whirlpool hundreds of miles from shore. The amount of plastic in the Atlantic didn’t increase over the 22 years of the study–but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ve been keeping our garbage out of the ocean.
  The study.
  The Sea Education Association led the new research.
  Our previous coverage of plastic in the Atlantic, in the Pacific, and in albatross bellies.
  Slate article on plastic beads in exfoliants.
• Seeing with Sound: A Dutch inventor came up with a way to translate camera images into soundscapes. Blind people can train their brains to interpret these sounds as visual scenes in their minds. New Scientist looked into how the system works.
  The New Scientist article (preview only).
  More about the technology from the inventor’s website. (To hear soundscapes and the images to which they correspond, follow the link next to “No Surgery” at the top of the page, then scroll down to “Example Sounds.”)

Biofuel from Single Malts: A team from Edinburgh Napier University has come up with a way to produce a biofuel from the byproducts of whiskey. They say the fuel could soon be mixed with gasoline or diesel to power cars. Not only would that be a boon to Scotland, but the new process could save a lot of fuel.
Guest: Martin Tangney
Edinburgh Napier University’s Biofuel Research Team.
Watch a video about the discovery from Edinburgh Napier University here.

Our guest in the Science Forum is marine biologist Stephen Palumbi of Stanford University. He uses genetics to study whale populations.

The International Whaling Commission is considering legalizing commercial whaling by some countries, but at a very limited scale. Palumbi says that the current proposal would fail to protect endangered whale species.

You can ask Palumbi your own questions. Join the conversation. It’s just to the right.

• Do you think all whaling should be banned? Why?
• What role can lay citizens play in conserving whales?
• How can modern genetic techniques be used to crack down on whale smuggling?

Additional Resources:

• Read a study by Stephen Palumbi about the antarctic minke whale. A lay summary of that study is here.
• A Must-See: The BBC’s humpback whale page. Includes video excerpts from documentaries.
• The International Whaling Commission.
• Watch this video (below) for the latest about the antarctic minke whale population. (Credit: Garthwait & Griffin Films)

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.

[player] Download MP3

This week: Cyprus’s water resources have been overused, and now the country is facing a severe water shortage. Worldwide efforts to conserve forests and wildlife have displaced native peoples from their ancestral landscapes. Kenya is considering a controversial proposal to conserve its dwindling lion population. Scientists have figured out how the chytrid fungus kills frogs. The largest orb-weaving spider has been discovered. And could too much light lead to depression?

Cyprus’s Water Woes: Water was once plentiful in this Mediterranean island country, but recent development efforts have exhausted those resources. Now a new study suggests Cyprus faces the risk of becoming more desert-like in the coming years.
Report: By The World’s Aaron Schachter in Cyprus.
Links:
Cyprus country profile from the BBC.
Mediterranean Water Shortage.
The uncertainties around desalination.
Transcript of this story

Elsa’s Favorite Science Stories:

• How chytrid fungus kills frogs: Amphibian species around the world are declining. More than 160 of some 6000 known species are now thought to be extinct, and roughly 30% of remaining species are considered threatened. Among the many things killing these creatures is a mysterious fungal disease. It is infecting frogs the world over, and scientists have finally figured out what makes it so deadly.
  The study.
  Overview of amphibian decline with a video.
  More on amphibian conservation from Amphibian Ark.
• Giant Spider: Scientists have found the largest known web-spinning spider. The females of this species, Nephila komaci, are gigantic – about the size of a human palm. Males look like miniatures in comparison. The webs they weave can be up to a meter in diameter. The spider is a rare species that lives in Madagascar and South Africa.
  The study.
  BBC story.
  Spider tapestry exhibit.
  Video: See the spider silk tapestry in this video from the American Museum of Natural History.
  
• Light and Depression: Too much light can lead to depression — at least in mice. That’s the conclusion of new data presented at the annual Society for Neuroscience conference in Chicago.
  The study.
  More about light pollution.

Conservation Refugees: More than 12% of land worldwide is currently protected by conservation laws, but those laws have displaced many people who historically lived on those lands.  The resulting dislocation has harmed cultures, spurred conflict, and in some cases undermined conservation.
Guest: Mark Dowie
Mark Dowie’s book, Conservation Refugees:The Hundred-Year Conflict between Global Conservation and Native Peoples
Dissociating People from Nature
More on the Batwa people.
Transcript of this interview.

Saving Kenya’s Lions: Tourists flock to the East African nation of Kenya to see its wildlife, especially lions, but the country’s lion population is dwindling. Some conservationists say it’s time to try a new and controversial strategy: save lions by allowing them to be hunted.
Report: By The World’s Andrea Crossan in Kenya.
More on the lion conservation organization Living with Lions.
Transcript of this story.

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars have a great story to tell. Find out more about them and their music here.

Baby harp seal

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This week: We present you with an all-animal podcast. We have stories about seals in Canada, crocs in Cambodia, Tasmanian devils in Australia, and jaguars in Panama.

Crocs at Risk: The Siamese crocodile was once a key part of Southeast Asia’s wetland ecosystems. Today, it is close to extinction. A new project in Cambodia is trying to bring them back. (You can see researchers wrestling Siamese crocs in this video from the BBC.)

Report: By the World’s Mary Kay Magistad in Cambodia.

Jaguar Corridors: National parks around the world provide important refuge for wildlife, but parks rarely provide enough space to ensure the survival of an entire species. This is especially true for large animals like jaguars. In Central America, scientists are trying to protect jaguars by identifying corridors the cats use to roam from park to park.

Report: By Julia Kumari Drapkin in Panama.

Tasmanian Devils in Trouble: The Tasmanian devil, known to many as a character in Bugs Bunny cartoons, is actually the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial.  Already an endangered species, the creatures are now threatened by a killer disease. (For more on why Australia’s giant kangaroo, marsupial lion, and other megafauna went extinct about 50,000 years ago, try these links about overhunting, climate change, and fires.)
Report: By Jake Warga in Tasmania.

Harp Seals on the Ice: Millions of harp seals live in the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St Lawrence, off the coast of Quebec, Canada. They’re being affected by global warming, and they’re still being hunted.
Report: By The World’s Jeb Sharp in Quebec.

Music:
Every Beat of My Heart, by Booker T. and the MG’s

Alan Bean

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This week: Two stories from Europe on climate change: Leaders at the G8 summit talk about emissions limits, and Amsterdam goes aggressively green. Also: An anti-Darwinist in Turkey, an artistic astronaut, and a drive to save wildlife in Kenya. Plus economic crises contribute to higher suicide rates, and caloric restriction helps monkeys live longer.

Climate at the G8: The eight major industrialized countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – met in Italy this week. One of the key topics was climate change, but progress was slim.
Guest: Alden Meyer, Union of Concerned Scientists.

Amsterdam Goes Green: The capital of the Netherlands is hoping to dramatically lower the carbon footprint of its residents. This story is the second installment in a five-part series on how Europe is confronting the challenge of climate change.
Report: By Kathleen Schalch in Amsterdam

Amsterdam Innovative Motor, a venture to create clean energy.

Protecting Wildlife In Kenya: A new study reports that Kenya’s famed wildlife is in trouble. Researchers say from the late 1970s to the late 1990s, wildlife populations in that country declined by 40 percent. The scientists say saving the animals will require help from villagers who live around national parks. We look at efforts to protect wildlife around the Masai Mara National Reserve.
Report: By Jon Miller in Kenya.

Here’s the study itself.

Download the story about animals inside the park.

Turkish Creationist: For decades, America has been the locus of anti-Darwinism. Now Darwin’s theory of evolution is being attacked by a creationist in Turkey, Adnan Oktar. He says he’s defending Islam against a false and dangerous idea exported from the West.
Report: By the World’s Aaron Schachter in Istanbul.

"How It Felt"

Artsy Astronaut: Over the past 40 years, 11 men have walked on the moon. Only one is an artist. Former astronaut Alan Bean has dedicated his life to capturing his experiences in space — on canvas. An exhibition of his work will open next week at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
Guest: Alan Bean

See more paintings at Alan Bean’s site.

David’s favorite science stories of the week (Elsa’s away, venturing through Bulgaria):

• Financial crises may contribute to increases in suicide and alcohol-related deaths (but decreases in automobile-related deaths). Here’s more.

• Calorie restriction helps monkeys live longer. Here’s the press release.

Music:
Rocket, by Albert Hammond, Jr.
My Moon My Man, by Feist