Category Archives: News

Top Science Podcasts: Researchers “Locked In Arctic Ice Flow”, “Spikes Of Plasma” Heating The Sun’s Corona (ScienceMag)

The Polarstern research vessel will spend 1 year locked in an Arctic ice floe. Aboard the ship and on the nearby ice, researchers will take measurements of the ice, air, water, and more in an effort to understand this pristine place. Science journalist Shannon Hall joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about her time aboard the Polarstern and how difficult these measurements are, when the researchers’ temporary Arctic home is the noisiest, smokiest, brightest thing around.

After that icy start, Sarah talks also with Tanmoy Samanta, a postdoctoral researcher at Peking University in Beijing, about the source of the extreme temperature of the Sun’s corona, which can be up to 1 million K hotter than the surface of the Sun. His team’s careful measurements of spicules—small, plentiful, short-lived spikes of plasma that constantly ruffle the Sun’s surface—and the magnetic networks that seem to generate these spikes, suggest a solution to the long-standing problem of how spicules arise and, at the same time, their likely role in the heating of the corona.

To read more: https://www.sciencemag.org/podcast/how-make-arctic-ship-vanish-and-how-fast-moving-spikes-are-heating-sun-s-atmosphere

World Affairs Podcasts: Impeachment, Middle East Conflict And Aircraft Carriers (The Economist)

Economist RadioA selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, Democrats want impeachment hearings to change the public’s view of Donald Trump. That will be difficult. (10:50) The tangled politics surrounding a killing and its aftermath in Gaza. (16:30) And, for aircraft-carriers, bigger isn’t better.

Senior Housing: Baby Boomers Choosing To Stay In Own Homes Threatens New Facilities

From a Wall Street Journal online article:

US Census BureauThe rise of technologies that help the elderly stay in their homes threatens to upend one of commercial real estate’s biggest bets: Aging baby boomers will leave their residences in droves for senior housing.

Developers and senior-housing companies have spent billions of dollars over the past five years to build facilities that provide housing, food, medical care and assistance for the elderly.

While these properties have been filling up with people born during the Depression or World War II era, real-estate investors are eagerly eyeing the massive baby-boomer generation: 72 million people born between 1946 and 1964, or about one in five Americans. Their needs would require hundreds of thousands of new units, if previous demand patterns persist.

But this wager on elderly care is falling short of expectations, and there are concerns that it could become one of the biggest real-estate miscalculations in recent memory, some analysts suggest.

To read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/boomers-want-to-stay-home-senior-housing-now-faces-a-budding-glut-11573554601

Top Political Podcasts: Tamara Keith And Amy Walter On The Latest In Washington (PBS)

Tamara Keith and Amy Walter PBS Newshour Nov 11 2019NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including whether open hearings could change Americans’ minds about impeachment, implications for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, the potential entry of Michael Bloomberg into the Democratic race, Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s comments about standards for female politicians and more.

Consumer Surveys: Only 30% Of Baby Boomers Use Online Grocery Services

From a Chain Store Age online release:

Chain Store Age CoverAccording to a recent survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers from advertising platform Criteo, 48% of millennial and Gen Z respondents use online grocery delivery services, compared to 37% of Gen X respondents and only 30% of baby boomer respondents. 

Baby boomers are much less likely than younger consumers to participate in a particular omnichannel grocery activity.

Results for browsing multiple sites to read product reviews are essentially the same across generations. But Gen X consumers are much more likely to browse multiple sites if a product they want is unavailable (37%) than Gen Z/millennial (28%) or baby boomer/silent generation consumers (22%). And more than half (51%) of baby boomer/silent generation consumers will browse multiple sites for none of these reasons, compared to 27% of Gen X and 15% of Gen Z/millennial consumers.

To read more: https://chainstoreage.com/survey-boomers-dont-say-ok-grocery-service

Studies On Eating: Most Adults Prefer “Snacks” Over Meals On Daily Basis

From a Mondelēz International online release:

State of Snacking Report Mondelez InternationalNotably 6 in 10 adults worldwide (59%) say they prefer to eat many small meals throughout the day, as opposed to a few larger ones, with younger consumers especially leaning into snacks over meals as that number rises to 7 in 10 among Millennials (70%).

For consumers around the world, the role food plays in health and wellbeing is increasingly top of mind; people are more commonly considering how smaller bites – snacks – effect their emotional wellbeing, as well as their physical health.

  • For more than 8 in 10 people, convenience (87%) and quality (85%) are among the top factors impacting snack choice.
  • 80% of consumers are looking for healthy, balanced bites.
  • 71% of adults say snacking helps them control their hunger and manage their calories throughout the day.
  • Scking is a key way for people around the world to connect to their culture and share their sense of identity with their communities and families.
    • 71% say snacking is a way to remind themselves of home.
    • 7 in 10 adults make an effort to share their favorite childhood snacks with others (70%).

To read more: https://ir.mondelezinternational.com/news-releases/news-release-details/mondelez-international-releases-first-ever-state-snackingtm

Top Podcast Interviews: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon On Elizabeth Warren, Income And Economics (60 Minutes)

60-Minutes-LogoFrom a November 10, 2019 “60 Minutes” program: In an interview with Lesley Stahl, the chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase talks about Elizabeth Warren and the state of the global economy.

Top Podcasts: 77-Year Old Rock & Roll Legend Graham Nash Talks About His Albums And Music (PBS)

Graham Nash Interview PBS Nov 2019Two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Graham Nash has hits aplenty spanning his nearly six-decade career. But the 77-year-old singer-songwriter recently chose to perform a special run of shows featuring his lesser-known first two solo albums in their entirety, which together describe a crucial chapter in his personal and artistic life. Tom Casciato recently spoke to Nash to learn more.

Top Political Podcasts: Mark Shields And David Brooks On The Latest In Washington (PBS)

Shields and Brooks Nov 8 2019Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s political news, including the impact of released impeachment inquiry transcripts, what we might learn from the upcoming public hearings, the possible entry of Michael Bloomberg into the 2020 presidential race and results from state elections in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

New Science Podcasts: Archaeologists Study Slavery In Caribbean, “WEIRD” Psychology

scimag_pc_logo_120_120 (2)Most historical accounts of slavery were written by colonists and planters. Researchers are now using the tools of archaeology to learn more about the day-to-day lives of enslaved Africans—how they survived the conditions of slavery, how they participated in local economies, and how they maintained their own agency. Host Sarah Crespi talks with Contributing Correspondent Lizzie Wade about a Caribbean archaeology project based on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands and launched by the founders of the Society for Black Archaeologists that aims to unearth these details. Watch a related video here.

Sarah also talks with Jonathan Schulz, a professor in the Department of Economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, about a role for the medieval Roman Catholic Church in so-called WEIRD psychology—western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic. The bulk of psychology experiments have used participants that could be described as WEIRD, and according to many psychological measures, WEIRD subjects tend to have some extreme traits, like a stronger tendency toward individuality and more friendliness with strangers. Schulz and colleagues used historical maps and measures of kinship structure to tie these traits to strict marriage rules enforced by the medieval Catholic Church in Western Europe. Read related commentary.