text: WNYC - Topic: Science & Technology
  16 Aug 2008 - 18 Aug 2010
  Scattered clouds | 58 °F
  MP3 32k | 128k
  WNYC2 WNYC2 Classical Now Playing
  Music Playlists »
  Audio Help »
  Vote 2009 Election Coverage
  Street Shots: WNYC's Street Photography
  WQXR is Moving to 105.9 FM
  Studio 360: Rudnick, Lehman, BLK JKS
  The Brian Lehrer Show: 30 Issues in Thirty Days
  On the Media: Different Perspectives
  The Greene Space: WNYC's street level, broadcast studio
  Science | Environment | Space | Math | Technology | Biology | Physics | Life | Genetics | Psychology
  Council Signs Bill to Reduce School Bus Emissions
  The New York City Council has passed a bill to reduce emissions from school buses. The legislation mandates that starting next school year, 600 older buses be retired and more than 6,000 be retro-fi....
  Energy-Efficient Lampposts Unveiled in Central Park
  New lampposts were unveiled today in Central Park, equipped with energy-efficient bulbs. The 13 lights between East 67th and 72nd streets are the first installation in an initiative to test LED-bulb....
  City to Ban Smoking in Parks, Add Impetus for Exercise
  City health officials are making a new push to make New Yorkers healthier. This time, it involves getting outer borough residents to exercise more and banning smoking in city parks and beaches. As W....
  Weatherization Bill Heads to NY Gov's Desk
  A bill is headed for Governor Paterson's desk that would create a public-private weatherization fund. Advocates say it could be a game changer in the effort to make buildings more energy efficient. W....
  Teens Struggle With Death of Parents on 9/11
  Many children who were young when they lost parents at the World Trade Center are now adolescents – and September 11th is often a reminder that they have even more to deal with, as teen-agers, than....
  Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff tells a colleague how to throw securities investigators off the track, in a newly-released recording of a 2005 phone call. Warren Levinson reports. ....
  Cuomo Report Says State Police Tainted by Politics
  This week, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo released a report that says as far back as the Pataki Administration, top officials at the state police have been tainted by politics. Governor Paterson reque....
  NYC Sewage Operations Win $220 Million in Stimulus Funding
  New York City's sewage operations will get freshening up, through $220 million in federal economic stimulus money. With the funds, which are coming to the city through Albany, the city will upgrade ....
  Colin Beavan and his family tried for a year to have no environmental impact on the world. He talks about his new book, No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009), and the about documentary on his experiment in sustainable living that opens Friday at the Angelika Film Center in Manhattan.
  Crickets are an important part of the urban ecosystem, but little is known about their presence in and around New York. Sam Droege, biologist at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, and Lou Sorkin, entomologist at the American Museum of Natural History, explain the upcoming NYC Cricket Crawl and how you can volunteer as a citizen scientist.
  Have you heard a cricket or a katydid in the city? Tell us where.
  When NASA launches the space shuttle, mission control wakes up the astronauts every morning with a song. But that's not the only music heard in outer space. The astronauts often bring instruments with them to play. We asked Richard Paul to find out what it's like to rock out in space. (Originally aired: October 26, 2007)
  Astronaut Ed Lu plays Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata on board the International Space Station in 2003:
  FAA to Change Safety Rules Over Hudson
  The Federal Aviation Administration says it will change rules for flying over the Hudson River, in the wake of a deadly crash last month. Pilots will be required to use a common radio frequency when ....
  DOB Opens Independent Concrete Testing Lab
  Since two of the city's biggest testers of concrete are under indictment, the Department of Buildings has decided to open its own independent testing lab. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more. Buildings Com....
  Comptroller Blasts DEP Over Croton Water Filtration Plant
  The Croton water treatment plant in the Bronx is overdue and running at double its original budget. That's according to audits by city comptroller Bill Thompson. Thompson, who's also running for may....
  EPA Criticizes NJ's Monitoring of Contaminated Sites
  The US Environmental Protection Agency is citing problems with how New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection monitors thousands of contaminated sites. WNYC's Bob Hennelly has more. REPORTE....
  Asbury Park Under Construction
  William J. Ward, attorney and author of the New Jersey Eminent Domain Law blog, and Paul McEvily, associate executive director of Interfaith Neighbors discuss halted development, eminent domain and Asbury Park.
  What's Behind Umbilical Cord Blood's Freezing Promises?
  Stem cells have been in the news for years – both for their biological promise and their political baggage. President Bush banned research on new embryonic stem cell lines eight years ago. Preside....
  Asian American Students at Risk?
  Andrew Lam, editor at New America Media and the author of Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora , and Peter Yee, President of NY Coalition for Asian Mental Health and assistant executive director of Behavioral Health Services at Hamilton Madison House in Manhattan discuss whether cultural pressures for extreme achievement played a role in the suicides of three Asian American Cal Tech students in recent months.
  The city's Department of Sanitation is test driving three new hybrid garbage trucks. Commissioner John Doherty says the new trucks should increase fuel efficiency by as much as 30 percent compared to....
  City Closes Beaches Due to Hurricane Bill
  Despite the heat and humidity, some of New York City's most popular beaches are closed today, because of concerns about rip tides from Hurricane Bill. Even though Bill is hundreds of miles away, he'....
  Take ordinary news footage and political commentary, send it through a software tool that makes you sound like a robot, and you have a viral internet hit. That's what the band The Gregory Brothers did with their series "Auto-Tune the News." Certain politicians and anchors are inherently musical, say the band members: "Katie Couric is the Queen of Auto-Tune." Produced by Barrett Golding of Hearing Voices.
  VIDEO: Auto-Tune the News #5
  Parks Commissioner Says Report on Hazards "Alarmist"
  The city's parks commissioner say parents should pay no heed to a new report that cites potential hazards in playgrounds. The New York Public Interest Research Group cites things like peeling paint a....
  Thunder Storms Flood Roads, Damage Cars
  Many New Yorkers are cleaning up today, after several thunderstorms last night that knocked down trees and scaffolding, and caused flooding in some spots. Riverside Drive is closed from 97th Street ....
  Lower Manhattan to Get New 2-Mile Waterfront Promenade
  A stretch of lower Manhattan along the East River is set to get a new, two-mile promenade. The project is meant to transform the waterfront into a more pedestrian and bike-friendly space. City Plann....