Infectious diseases like plague don’t just impact humans, they can spread and decimate animal populations as well. One scientist saw the impact of plague in prairie dog colonies and among black footed ferrets. He questioned whether the scientific understanding of plague cycles and transmission was accurate. Listen to learn what scientists discovered about plague and its larger impact on ecosystems.
Story Length: 5:13
© 2013 National Public Radio, Inc. Used with the permission of NPR. All rights reserved.
AIR DATE: 10/23/2013
Scientists have now figured out the genetic code to one of the oldest known plagues. This public radio story describes what may have been the first outbreak of bubonic plague in Europe in the 6th century CE, 800 years before the Black Death struck in 1347. You learn how scientists discovered that the “Justinian plague” was actually a first outbreak of bubonic plague in Europe, and where it came from.
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Researchers are looking deep into our cells to study the origins of cancer. This audio story is about scientific research that’s trying to prevent cancer at a cellular level. It also looks at how more money is spent on treating the disease than studying ways to prevent it.
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The increasing acidity of the oceans could eventually affect your dinner plate. This public radio story begins in a factory where workers are shucking shellfish. It looks at a shellfish producer and how the company has had a hard time producing juvenile oysters or “seed” because of the increase of CO2 in the ocean. The story examines the impact of ocean acidification on the seafood we eat.
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Students in Bellingham, Washington, pushed to introduce composting programs at their high schools and these programs proved successful. This public radio story also gives an insider's view of industrial scale composting from multiple perspectives. It follows food from the school cafeteria to the compost site where it is transformed by microorganisms and eventually to home gardens and nurseries where compost is applied as fertilizer and mulch.
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