Biology Library Blog

Podcasts are audio or video files that one can download from the web; or more simply said, downloadable internet radio shows. Although many people play them on portable devices, one can also simply listen to a podcast on their computer. There are thousands of podcasts that span a broad range of topics. In this post I will highlight a few podcast series that might be of interest to scholars in the sciences. Each of these podcasts is available for free on the websites, via RSS feeds, or in a podcast directory such as iTunes.

Science Friday
Excellent weekly coverage of the top stories in science and technology.

SEED
SEED is a is magazine that approaches science from a hip and stylish perspective; but it also accentuates the policial relevance of scientific issues. Imagine combining Wired, Scientific American, and The Economist; SEED is something like that. “Science Is Culture” is their mantra, and their Podcasts reflect this focus on the relevance of science to our lives.

Nature
Nature Publishing Group produces a rich array of podcasts that highlight stories covered in their journals. There is also a blog on the site that facilitates discussion of each episode. All podcasts are archived on the site back to the first episode in October 2005.

Science
In December 2005, around the time podcasts became popular in the mainstream, Science started producing their podcasts as a pilot project. They have been posting new episodes to their site twice a month since then. These shows contain excellent coverage of articles published in the journal, but with an interesting down-to-earth tone appropriate for any audience.

Scientific American
Sciam.com has two podcast series: 60-Second Science and Science Talk. 60-Second Science is posted every weekday and contains 1 minute reports that explore 1 interesting scientific topic each. With this one, you can’t claim you don’t have time to listen to a podcast. Science Talk, on the other hand, is posted weekly and covers a variety of scientifc topics in each 20-minute show.

New Scientist
This weekly show highlights many topics in each 30-minute episode and includes science news stories and interviews with top scientists.

Digg Podcasts: Science and Medicine
Digg is a website that unites people on the web around their interests. According to their “about” site,”Digg is a user driven social content website.” Everything on digg has been submitted by the Digg community. If you like something on the site you can “Digg It” (vote for it) to affirm it’s usefulness, or “Bury It” if you dislike it. This site is great for news and for finding our what the hottest sites on the web are. The Podcast section has a special category for science and medicine. This a great way to discover science podcasts, tell others about them, and discuss their content (each entry has an associated blog).

Explore and Enjoy,
Steve

All,
James Gould and Carol Grant Gould are celebrating the release of their new book Animal Architects, which we own two copies of in the Biology Library (Call Number: QL756 .G57 2007). According to the book jacket:

Animal Architects examines animal architecture across a range of species, from those whose blueprints are largely innate (such as spiders and their webs) to those whose challenging structures seem to require intellectual insight, planning, and even aesthetics (such as bowerbirds’ nests, or beavers’ dams). Beginning with instinct and the simple homes of solitary insects, James and Carol Gould move on to conditioning; the “cognitive map” and how it evolved; and the role of planning and insight. Finally, they reflect on what animal building tells us about the nature of human intelligence-showing why humans, unlike many animals, need to build castles in the air.

Animal Architects was recently reviewed in the May 3rd issue of Nature. Congratulations Jim!

Read and Enjoy,

Steve

The University of Cambridge is sponsoring the Darwin Correspndence Project. Founded in 1974 by Frederick Burkhardt and Sydney Smith, the initial goal of the project was to “locate, research and publish” Charles Darwin’s letters. The project later grew to include all letters written to Darwin, they have thus far located approximately 14,500 letters and new letters still being to be discovered. The letters range from 1821 to 1882 when Darwin died. This is an invaluable resource for scholars of history, evolution, genetics, and religion.

The project is celebrating the launch of their redesigned website, which features a full-text database of 5,000 letters written by and to Charles Darwin. Darwin’s correspondents include Emma Darwin (his cousin and wife), Robert Fitzroy (captain of the Beagle), and Alfred Russel Wallace (another evolution scholar). The site also contains a special section that deals Darwin’s religious beliefs, meant to provide clarity in the evolution vs. creation debate.

There are also two other websites for those interested in Darwin:The Darwin Digital Library, run by the American Museum of Natural History; and The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online, another University of Cambridge project.

Explore and Enjoy,
Steve

The Encyclopedia of Life Project is an ambitious effort to build an online reference source and database for the world’s 1.8 million named and known species, and to facilitate the discovery of those yet unknown. Concieved by Edward O. Wilson, the project is backed by a robust amalgam of organizations, including The MacArthur Foundation, The Field Museum, Harvard University, The Marine Biological Laboratory, The Smithsonian, and The Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Watch the videos below. The first is a an entertaining montage explaining and demonstrating the concept, the second is Edward O. Wilson’s TED Prize acceptance speech where he shares his wish for this project.

Watch and Enjoy,