This week: Geologists say they expected the earthquake in Haiti. Some European countries have overstocked the H1N1 vaccine and are trying to unload excess doses. Engineers and archaeologists are collaborating to expand Rome’s metro system. Elsa is back from vacation and her favorites stories include one about ancient Egyptian eyeliners. Finally, a listener tells us about his favorite music for doing science.

Haiti’s Seismic History: Haiti has had more than its share of natural disasters. Every year the country is hit by violent tropical storms, not earthquakes.  But geologists say that this week’s earthquake should not have come as a surprise. I spoke to a couple of geologists to find out why. Its a story I did for the radio show earlier this week.
Report by: Rhitu Chatterjee.
Live updates about Haiti from the BBC.
The quake could have been worse, says one scientist.

Flu Vaccine Overstock: After last year’s rush to stock up on the vaccine against the H1N1 flu, some European countries are now trying to unload millions of doses. Countries such as Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, and France have found themselves with huge stockpiles because far fewer citizens than expected sought out the vaccine. Governments are hoping to cancel orders or sell the excess vaccines to developing nations.
Report by: The World’s Gerry Hadden.

Elsa’s Favorite Science Stories:

• Lead in Ancient Egyptian Eyeliner: Ancient Egyptians might have been unaware of lead poisoning. But they might have known of some health benefits of lead that we are unaware of. That’s the conclusion of a new study that analyzed the novel lead salts found in the famous black eyeliners of ancient Egyptians sampled from a collection at France’s Louvre Museum.
  The study.
  The Egyptian Antiquities collection at the Louvre.
• Inflatable Female Cane Toads: Australian scientists have found that female cane toads are a fairly empowered lot. A female toad picks a male with the best call. But she wards off the smaller, unworthy suitors by inflating herself and causing them to loosen their grip on her. (Or if she prefers a smaller guy, she can make that happen too.)
  The study.
  BBC coverage.
  More about cane toads.
• Cricket Pollinators: A researcher working on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean has found the first evidence of a cricket pollinating flowers. Crickets are omnivorous and normally don’t use nectar as a food source. The researchers think that the raspy cricket on Reunion might have developed a taste for orchid nectar and become an important pollinator because of a scarcity of other insects on the island.
  The study.
  Watch the video of the raspy cricket caught in the act of pollinating an orchid.
  

Rome’s New Metro Line: Expanding Rome’s metro system is not an easy task. In a city with a rich history, building a metro line could mean endangering the city’s historical sites. That’s why engineers and archaeologists are collaborating to build Rome’s third metro line.
Report by: The BBC’s Duncan Kennedy.
See a BBC video of the new construction.

Music in Science: Biologist D J Braiser tells us which songs best describe his experience of doing science.

This week: Swine flu continues to spread. In today’s podcast you’ll hear from two parts of the world that are dealing with the pandemic. We also have a story about the lessons two American brothers learned while bringing renewable energy to the rural poor in Nicaragua. We follow up by talking to environmental engineer Anu Ramaswami about why technological fixes often fail. We have an update on negotiations over a new international climate change treaty. And a new twist on an old tale about a duo of man-eating lions in Kenya.

Ukraine Overreacts to Swine Flu: Ukrainians are panicking about the spreading swine flu virus. But is the hysteria justified? You’ll hear how culture and politics rather than science and good information may be causing Ukraine to react so dramatically.
Report: By Brigid McCarthy in Kiev.
Links:
Information on H1N1 flu from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
More on the upcoming Ukrainian elections from the BBC

Swine Flu in the Amazon: A thousand members of the Yanomami tribe deep in the Amazon have fallen ill with swine flu. Seven have died. Venezuela has shut off a part of the forest to help protect the tribe.
Guest: Fiona Watson, Survival International.
Links:
BBC story
More about the Yanomami people from Survival International

Fighting Poverty in Nicaragua: Two American brothers, Mathias and Guillaume Craig, have dedicated themselves to bringing renewable energy to the rural poor in Nicaragua. They returned home with some important lessons about the limits of technology in eradicating poverty.
Report: By Eliza Barclay in Nicaragua.
Links:
Website of blueEnergy, the Craigs’ organization

Re-thinking Engineering: The Craig Brothers are not alone in discovering that technological fixes often fail to produce the intended results. Some educators say engineers need more training in the social sciences, so those who work with technology can fashion their efforts to serve people better. We talk to one educator on the forefront of this movement.
Guest: Anu Ramaswami, University of Colorado.

Do you have an example of a failed technological fix? Or thoughts on how to design solutions that really work? Bring them to our online discussion with Anu Ramaswami in The World Science Forum here. Anu will be taking your questions and sharing her thoughts through November 13th.

Elsa’s Favorite Science Stories:

• Man-eaters of Tsavo: In 1898, two male lions terrorized and killed workers building a railroad over the river Tsavo, in Kenya. Legend has it that the lions killed and ate more than 140 people. Researchers have now analyzed tissues from the lions – on display at the Field Museum in Chicago – and conclude that the lions did not eat as many people as previously thought.
  The study
  Information about the Tsavo lions, then and now, from the Field Museum of Natural History
  World Wildlife Fund page on human-wildlife conflict
• Language Learning in the Womb: Babies may start their language lessons earlier than previously thought. German researchers have found evidence that fetuses  pick up elements of their mother tongue in the womb.
  The study
• Gene Therapy Shows New Promise: Two new gene therapy studies have reported promising results. One treated ADL, a neurodegenerative disease that causes nerves to lose their protective sheath. The other cured hereditary blindness.
  The ADL study
  The blindness study
  Notes on bioethics and gene therapy from Georgetown University

Climate Negotiations: This week negotiators met in Spain to discuss the possibilities of a new international climate treaty, but chances remain slim that countries will settle on a new treaty at the climate summit in Copenhagen next month.
Report: By The World’s Marina Giovannelli.
(This story is a podcast exclusive! It is a longer version of a story that aired on The World earlier this week.)
Collection of BBC stories on the Copenhagen summit

Mysterious Bear Disease: An unknown disease is striking bears in zoos in Germany and elsewhere. It is turning spectacled bears bald.
BBC story

This week: Mediterranean bluefin tuna, being decimated. Watching for swine flu in Africa. Germany leads the way on renewable energy. And some surprising results from a mummy CAT scan. Plus carbs and cardiovascular disease, and genetic links between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Bluefin Tuna Troubles: In the Mediterranean, fishing for bluefin tuna goes back thousands of years. But now, overfishing is taking a severe toll, and the bluefin tuna population is crashing.
Report: By The World’s Gerry Hadden in Barcelona.

Swine Flu in Africa: The World Health Organization has tallied more than 70,000 confirmed cases of swine flu worldwide. Of those, fewer than ten are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Even so, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worries that Africa could be hit hard by the pandemic. Experts say crowded slums on the continent could serve as perfect places for the spread of H1N1.
Report: By The World’s Andrea Crossan in Nairobi, Kenya.

An interactive worldwide swine flu map from the WHO

Solar Energy in East Germany: A decade ago, Germany’s government decided to focus on creating new sources of clean, renewable energy — and putting people to work in these new industries. The strategy succeeded. It helped create a solar power industry and revive a depressed region of the former East Germany. This story is the first installment in a five-part series on how Europe is confronting the challenge of climate change.
Report: By Kathleen Schalch in Frankfurt an Oder, Germany.

German Renewable Energy Federation

Mummies Get CAT Scans: Researchers in New York gave CAT scans to four mummies from the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The scans revealed a few surprises, including the fact that one mummy long thought to be a woman is actually a man.
Report: By The World’s Lisa Mullins.

Mummy photos from the Brooklyn Museum

David’s favorite science stories of the week (Elsa’s away, having fun — we hope — in Bulgaria):

• New details on how some carbohydrates can damage the cardiovascular system
• A large international schizophrenia study finds genetic evidence that the disease has an immune component, and comes up with a genetic link to bipolar disorder.

Music:
Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, by World Party
Way Down Now, by World Party

Nuclear weapons test

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This week: Controversy over carbon capture and nuclear fusion, revisiting a journalist with swine flu, and a forensic technique that uses the residue of atomic tests to identify human remains. Plus a sneaky tentacled snake, and a new archaeological find near Stonehenge.

Nuclear Fusion: Some see nuclear fusion as a global warming holy grail, a way to produce an endless supply of cheap, green energy. In the south of France, researchers are building an experimental reactor. But the project is in trouble – construction costs have doubled, and critics say the method isn’t commercially viable.
Report: By BBC science reporter Matt McGrath.

Carbon Capture: In recent years, an experimental technology has become the darling of energy industries, governments, and some environmentalists – carbon capture and storage. The technology involves taking CO2 out of energy production and injecting it into the ground. If it works, oil, gas and coal power plants could reduce emissions dramatically. But some argue that carbon capture could be a false lead that will distract us from taking steps we know will work.
Report: By the BBC’s Lars Bevanger.

Preparing tooth for radiocarbon analysis

Radiocarbon Forensics: In the early years of the Cold War, the U.S., the Soviet Union, and other countries exploded hundreds of nuclear devices in the atmosphere. A treaty banned those tests beginning in 1963, but traces of the nuclear explosions are still in the atmosphere. Now scientists in Sweden are trying to use those traces to help solve homicides.

Report: By The World’s David Baron.

Inuit Flu Redux: We revisit a story from last week – the spread of swine in Northern Canada.
Guest: CBC reporter Patricia Bell

And….. Elsa’s Favorite Science Stories For the Week:
How tentacled snakes trick fish and eat them. See video of the clever predator, below. The study is still in press and will soon be online here.
Ocean currents influence earth’s magnetism. When you check that link, don’t miss the movies showing how the magnetic field changes over time! (The study.)
A huge new archaeological discovery near Stonehenge.

Music:
Radio Active by DJ Sergio Mesa
Pagan Baby, by CCR

Earthquake trigger?

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This week: Swine flu among the Inuit, typhoons trigger earthquakes, elephants afraid of bees, too many jellyfish, and bigger black holes.

Inuit Flu: The World Health Organization has announced that it’s particularly worried about Inuits in northern Canada. That region is experiencing a cluster of cases.
Guest: CBC reporter Patricia Bell, under swine flu quarantine in the town of Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut.

Typhoons and Earthquakes: A new study has found that one kind of catastrophe – typhoons – may actually trigger another, earthquakes. But it’s more complicated, because these earthquakes are the “slow” kind, which means no one notices them.
Guest: Geophysicist Alan Linde of the Carnegie Institution in Washington

Science News:
A new scientific paper reviews why jellyfish are taking over the seas. (The study.) And as long as you’re thinking about jellies, you might want to enter or vote in this jellyfish naming contest.

Elephants are afraid of something else that stings: bees. Researchers have taken advantage of this to develop “beehive fences,” which seem to work well. (The study.)

Black holes turn out to be much bigger than we thought. (The study isn’t published yet, but here’s an article from Science News about the work.)

Music:
Earthquake, by Jackie Mittoo.
Stormy Monday Blues, by T-Bone Walker.

Mountain chicken

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This week: Swine flu may not be so bad after all. Good news and bad on climate. An aircraft manufacturer tries to green its image. A giant frog flies to safety. And too much daylight may increase suicides in the land of the midnight sun.

Climate: Australia is holding off on an ambitious plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions with carbon trading. Meanwhile, Canada says it will stop building coal-fired power plants unless they include cutting-edge anti-pollution technology.
Guests: Phil Mercer, BBC
Shawn McCarthy, Toronto Globe and Mail
Peter Thomson, The World’s environment editor

Green aviation: Emissions from international aviation are a significant cause of global warming. Critics say airlines aren’t doing enough to get greener. To solve this problem – and to get some good PR – Airbus has launched a contest to identify ways to fly more efficiently.
Report: By The World’s Alex Gallafent

Frog rescue: The mountain chicken – a creature that got its name because it tastes like you-know-what – is one of the largest frogs on Earth. The animals live on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. Like many frogs, mountain chickens are being decimated by a fungus. Scientists are now airlifting the frogs to Europe.
Guest: Andrew Cunningham, Zoological Society of London

Swine flu: The H1N1 influenza virus appears less deadly than scientists first feared. A new study from the World Health Organization suggests the virus could cause a pandemic similar to the 1957 “Asian flu.” That pandemic was serious but not nearly as devastating as the nightmarish 1918 flu.
Guest: Christophe Fraser, Imperial College, London

Science chat: Our weekly check-in with science news maven Elsa Youngsteadt.
• Bumblebees are bumbling fliers. Their wings move separately, and inefficiently. (Abstract of the study.)
• Suicides in Greenland are higher during the summer months, when it’s sunny 24-7. Is daylight is bad for our mental health? (The study.)
• Snails survive better when they have slower metabolisms. The same may be true for us. (Abstract of the study.)

Useful links:
The Natural Resources Defense Council on clean coal
A flight emissions calculator to check your own carbon footprint
A history of 20th century influenza pandemics

Songs:
Morrissey, Every Day is Like Sunday
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, Sunny

OK, so it’s true that mobile telecom giant Vodafone knows a thing or two about making money. The company currently operates in more than 25 countries, and has more than 250 million customers. Many of these millions are in developing countries, where things like infectious diseases and sudden natural disasters take heavy tolls. Well, the Vodafone Americas Foundation, a non-profit arm of the company, is looking for ways to help, and that’s where we start this week’s Technology Podcast (WTP 242). Vodafone just ran what it calls the Wireless Innovation Project. One hundred applicants submitted ideas that harnessed new and existing wireless technologies in pursuit of social good. The idea was to show not only great use of technology, but also a clear sense of how these products could, and would, make it to market. The three winners were recently announced at the Global Philanthropy Forum in Washington, DC. I just happened to be there, and was lucky enough to get to sit down with the three winners. Two of the projects, including the CellScope you see at right, try to capitalize on a smartphone’s imaging abilities. The CellScope works by fitting a microscope lens onto a phone’s camera, so that a field worker trying to find out if someone has tuberculosis or malaria could get lab-quality imaging of blood while out in the field. The other imaging project, the CelloPhone, dispenses with the camera lens entirely. Samples are placed directly on the cameras imaging sensors, essentially creating a hologram of the cells that are imaged. What can a cell hologram tell you? Plenty, it turns out. The third project is all about ANTs (that’s “active networked tags”). Imagine if our buildings, our bridges, our roads, even our clothes were filled with small tags that could talk to each other (and rescue teams) in the event of an emergency. Powerful ideas. I don’t know if any of this tech will save the world, but these devices might make it a little more livable for whole lot of human beings. You can see some pictures and videos of the winners here.

Also in this week’s technology podcast, we take an in-depth look at Britain’s DNA database. It’s supposed to hold DNA samples of British criminals, but it turns out that many innocent people are also in there, and that has privacy advocates up in arms.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their swine flu questions. We’ve got a segment that hopefully will answer some of them. Listen in for the great discussion between risk expert Peter Sandman and health journalist and blogger Christine Gorman. Good stuff.

And we end with another competition. Airbus is looking for interesting, even outlandish, ways to save money. So it’s asked engineering teams to submit ideas. Our favorites among the finalists: the windowless cabin, and having groups of commercial planes fly in an inverted “V” formation…like migrating birds. Yowzah!