Science

As solstice approaches and nights grow longer, Minnesotans have extended opportunities to gaze at the stars. The director of the Minneapolis Planetarium discusses stars, planets and the meteor shower that's lighting up night skies around the world.
The chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics says he supports two new proposals that could allow scientists to create human embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos. Despite some recent support for stem cell research in California, the debate over its ethical implications continues.
Dinosaur fossils recently uncovered in China prove some tyrannosaurs had feathers, not scaly skin. Another newly discovered set of remains provides a first-ever look at how the prehistoric creatures slept. A Minnesota paleontologist talks about current dinosaur research as well as a new dinosaur exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota.
At the state Capitol Monday, a University of California scientist presented an array of research showing the corn herbicide atrazine causes deformities in frogs -- and may pose threats to humans as well. Studies show the problems occur at atrazine levels commonly found in drinking water all across Minnesota.
One of the controversial issues in this year's presidential campaign is stem cell research. While both President George W. Bush and his Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry favor research on adult stem cells, they have very different positions on embryonic stem cell research. In August of 2001, Bush decided to restrict public funding for research on embryonic stem cells to already existing cell lines. Kerry has said that, as president, he would reverse those restrictions. Embryonic stem cells are capable of becoming almost any type of cell or tissue in the body, which makes them valuable in the search for medical treatments. But the research also raises ethical questions, and many opponents say it destroys human life. The University of Minnesota's Stem Cell Research Institute is a leader in the field. Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Catherine Verfaillie, director of the Institute.
Satellite radio looks more competitive with the addition of Howard Stern to Sirius. Midmorning talks with an industry expert about the new force shaping radio.
The 2003 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry criticized President Bush on Friday for politicizing science. Minnesota native Peter Agre spoke to students and faculty at St. Olaf College on Thursday and the University of Minnesota on Friday. He is one of 25 leading scientists who are touring the country speaking about the future of science under the Bush administration.
Dr. Jack Shonkoff, a pediatrician and Dean at Brandeis University, says you can learn a lot about effective education policy by looking at the human brain and how it works. According to Shonkoff, neuroscience proves that emotional, social and verbal development don't happen independently in the brain; they're all interconnected, hence education reform has to address problems with schools, teachers, parents and communities. He spoke this summer to the Minnesota School Readiness Business Advisory Council, a group of local business leaders working on issues of early childhood development.
September is peak time for apples in Minnesota, and the news for apple lovers this year can be summed up in one word -- Zestar! It's the latest variety developed by the apple breeders at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's Horticultural Research Center in Chanhassen. Apple breeders have been creating, testing and eating apples at the center for almost 100 years. The U of M's chief apple research scientist took us on a tour of the orchards.
A scientist who has spent his life studying the way the brain works explains why we still know so little about the body's most complex organ.