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This week: We have two stories from East Africa. One about the ongoing food crisis in the Horn of Africa, and the other about lions attacking humans in Tanzania. We’re also taking you to the world’s northernmost botanical garden.

Famine in Southern Somalia: You may remember my story from last week about food security experts’ aversion to using the famine label too readily. They had labeled the ongoing food crisis in East Africa a famine. But that changed last week, when the U.N. declared famine in two parts of southern Somalia. What caused the change in terminology? I explore the answer in this story, which I originally did for the radio show.
Famine Early Warning Systems Network.
U.N. Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Network.
Oxfam is working on delivering aid in Somalia and other parts of drought stricken East Africa.

Why Lions Attack After the Full Moon: Lion attacks on humans have been growing in East African countries like Tanzania. Ecologist Craig Packer, of the University of Minnesota has been studying lions in the country for 30 years. He has published a new study that suggests that lions in Tanzania are more likely to attack humans after the full moon.
The Study.

Northernmost Botanical Garden: At almost 70 degrees north latitude, the Norwegian city of Tromsø sits above the Arctic Circle. But its climate is more temperate than you might expect — warmed by the Gulf Stream offshore. Tromsø is lush and green in the summer, and that’s an excellent time to visit the city’s unique botanical garden. The garden’s director, Arve Elvebakk, offers us this tour.

This week: I’m podcasting from India this week! So listen for an audio snapshot of my hometown in eastern India. Then, we have new findings about the tiger’s genetic relationship to other big cats. You’ll also hear about an effort to track the environmental footprints of consumer products. And how satellite imagery is helping researchers document human rights violations.  THANKS to everyone who participated in our online survey! Your feedback is important to us.

Tracking Environmental Footprints: If you’re like most Americans, the shirt you’re wearing probably has a label stating it was made in a far-off land like Indonesia or South Africa.  And a label on your computer probably tells you that it was made in China.  But those country-of-origin labels don’t say much about how the product was made, or about its environmental impact.  New web-based technologies are changing that. They’re helping track the origins and environmental footprints of consumer goods.
Report by: Murray Carpenter.
Transcript of the Story.
Patagonia.
Sourcemap.
CERES.

Elsa’s Favorite Stories: :

• Big Cat Family Tree: Members of the genus Panthera – tigers, lions, jaguars, leopards, and snow leopards — are all closely related. They can even interbreed (although it doesn’t happen often in the wild). But which species are most closely related to which others? It’s a question that has vexed biologists for decades. A recent study piles together a lot of data and finally produces a convincing answer. (Oh, and nothing sciencey there, but do check out the hilarious video of a Japanese zoo’s runaway tiger drill. The link to the video is in the list below.)
  The study.
  The World Wildlife Fund’s Year of the Tiger site.
  Sundaland clouded leopard video.
  The BBC’s collection of tiger videos.
  Japan’s Ueno Zoo runaway tiger drill.

• Questioning Homeopathy: The U.K. House of Commons Science and Technology Committee has called for the National Health Service to stop funding homeopathy. The weight of some 200 clinical trials indicates that homeopathic treatments don’t provide benefits beyond the placebo effect. But the government may not follow the committee’s recommendation.
  The committee report.
  The Science and Technology Committee site.
  BBC video that covers both sides of the homeopathy debate.

Monitoring Human Rights Violations from Space: Documenting human rights violations can be challenging, especially in regions or countries inaccessible to independent outside observers. But thanks to satellite images, that task is becoming easier. When attacks on populations cause visible changes to vegetation and infrastructure, satellites can document those events. Researchers are already using satellite images to monitor large-scale violations of human rights in countries such as Sudan, Burma, and Sri Lanka.
AAAS Science and Human Rights Program.
Eyes on Darfur.
Eyes on Pakistan.

Music in Science Segment: Sorry, everyone! This segment returns when I return to Boston.

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