Past Shows
Click on the show title below to access the show archive stored on the Georgia Tech SMARTECH system.
| Wednesday Feb. 15th, 2012 noon-1pm | Dodos and Sizzle Of course we could have called it Evolution and Global Warming, but our guest Randy Olsen might night think it was as engaging. Harvard-trained biology professor turned film director, Randy will chat about his films “Flock of Dodos” and “Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy” and how film can be used to better engage the public in a discussion of controversial science topics. |
| Wednesday Feb. 8th, 2012 noon-1pm | JROTC, but with Science The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) attempts to recruit military officers from High Schools by having them interact with military officers. Ed Morrison from Barrow County Schools, and Warren Matthews from Georgia Tech will talk to us about using a Race to the Top Grant to use scientists and engineers to recruit students into the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The main difference as that this program uses more interactive video conferences with scientists and fewer pushups. |
| Wednesday Feb. 1st, 2012 noon-1pm | Deciphering Our Digital World Justin Romberg, from the Georgia Tech School of Electrical & Computer Engineering will join us to talk about digital signal processing and how advanced mathematical algorithms help interpret and manipulate vast amounts of digital data. Applications from data compression to image analysis will be discussed, as well as Justin’s consultant work for the television series Numb3rs. |
| Wednesday Jan. 25th, 2011 noon-1pm |
Volcanology: Geology, not Spock Josef Dufek, from the Georgia Tech School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will join us to talk about the baddest geological event on the planet: Volcanoes. |
| Wednesday Jan. 18th, 2011 noon-1pm |
When Hollywood Goes Boom We’ll chat with special effects and stunt rigger Casey Noel of NAC Effects & Prop Animation on the technology and logistics behind explosions and other movie effects. Casey has worked on a number of movies from the Transformers movies to Iron Man 2. |
| Wednesday Jan. 11th, 2012 noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Sorry, Pete is out of town again, but we will be back next week with a brand new show. |
| Wednesday Jan. 4th, 2012 noon-1pm |
The Year in Science: 2011 We’ll take listener calls as we discuss the big science stories of 2011 from Discover Magazine |
| Wednesday Dec. 14th, 2011 noon-1pm |
Graduate School: The Final Frontier We sat down in the studio with Jorge Cham, the creator of Piled Higher and Deeper (Ph.D. Comics), a comic strip about life in graduate school. Jorge was on campus introducing his new movie inspired by the comic strip. We’ll play this interview and talk about the graduate school experience. |
| Wednesday Dec. 7th, 2011 noon-1pm |
Listener Calls Due to technical problems with Jorge Cham interview we took listener calls on a variety of topics |
| Wednesday Nov. 30th, 2011 noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Sorry, Pete is out of town again, but we will be back next week with a brand new show (for real this time). |
| Wednesday Nov. 23rd, 2011 noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete is out of town, but we will be back next week with a brand new show. |
| Wednesday Nov. 16th, 2011 noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete is at the New Orleans Fringe Festival using humor to teach basic statistics in a one man show entitled Feel the Power of the Dork Side. |
| Wednesday Nov. 9th, 2011 noon-1pm |
Faster than a Speeding Neutrino Eric Prebys, our favorite physicist from the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory will join us again to discuss the recent CERN results that reported neutrinos moving faster than the speed of light. |
| Wednesday Nov. 2nd, 2011 noon-1pm |
That’s No Beer Cooler: Modern Organ Transplants Drs. Christian Larsen and Thomas Pearson from Emory University will explain why it is important to get out of the way of the guy running through the hospital corridor with a cooler and other recent advances in transplant surgery. |
| Wednesday Oct. 26th, 2011 noon-1pm |
He Started Out as a Child Bill Cosby joined us last week before his appearance at the Ferst Center for the Performing Arts at Georgia Tech.Given our interest in using humor to teach science and engineering, we explored his thoughts on how to improve education with a bit of humor. |
| Wednesday Oct. 19th, 2011 noon-1pm |
Nerds in Space Sandy Magnus, who received her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Georgia Tech, was the last woman to fly on the Space Shuttle. She joins us to talk about the value of the space program and her experience on the shuttle and the international space station. |
| Wednesday Oct. 12th, 2011 noon-1pm |
The Battle against Cancer: News from the Frontlines Walter Curran, Director of the Emory Winship Cancer Institute, and Timothy Fox, Director of the Division of Medical Physics join us to discuss recent developments in the fight against this very challenging disease. |
| Wednesday Oct. 5th, 2011 noon-1pm |
Phunny Physics We’ve interviewed biologists and electrical engineers who became comedians, now it’s the physicists turn. Norm Goldblatt, who was actually interviewed about his comedy in Physics Today, joins us to about the relationship between physics and humor. |
| Wednesday Sept. 28th, 2011 noon-1pm |
Analytical Humor Doug Glick from the Anthropology Dept. of Binghamton University talks to us about anthropology and his recent published analysis of how Eddie Izzard’s humor works and why it is so funny. |
| Wednesday Sept. 21st, 2011 noon-1pm |
Blackout Episode 5: — |
| Wednesday Sept. 14th, 2011 noon-1pm |
Blackout Episode 4:Unexpected Results Mathematician/comedian Lew Lefton joins us to talk about the mathematical perspective on the World and unexpected scientific results. |
| Wednesday Sept. 7th, 2011 noon-1pm |
Blackout Episode 3: Dragoncon and Educational Outreach Episode 3 of the antenna upgrade period, with guest host Charlie Bennett, in which we weren’t always broadcasting at full power. Today we discussed the science track at Dragoncon and the future of educational science outreach. |
| Wednesday Aug. 31st, 2011 noon-1pm |
Blackout Episode 2: STEM Standards Episode 2 of the antenna upgrade period, with guest host Charlie Bennett, in which we weren’t always broadcasting at full power. Today we discuss new education standards in K-12 Science, Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) and everything from scientific disciplines and learning styles to innovation. |
| Wednesday Aug. 24th, 2011 noon-1pm |
Blackout Episode 1: Radio Waves Episode 1 of the antenna upgrade period, with guest host Charlie Bennett, in which we weren’t always broadcasting at full power. Daniel Smith, WREK’s chief engineer joins us to talk about radio waves and our ongoing upgrade of our antenna to 100,000 Watts of power. |
| Wednesday August 17th noon-1pm |
The Light Bulb Wars In light of the scandalous attempts by the government take your light bulbs away, we will be discussing the future of light bulbs. Ian Ferguson, Chair of the Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte will discuss solid state lighting with us. |
| Wednesday August 10th noon-1pm |
Sadistic Statistics We’ll chat about statistics, why it is important to understand them in our data-driven World and why people hate them so much. |
| Wednesday August 3rd noon-1pm |
On the Shoulders of Giants Today’s title is often used to describe how scientific development is based on previous work, and most of that previous work is housed in libraries. Our favorite library guru, Charlie Bennett joins us to discuss where all this started: the ancient library of Alexandria. |
| Wednesday July 27th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete is busy grading Senior Design Oral Presentations this week so tune in for a classic rewind of Inside the Black Box. |
| Wednesday July 20th noon-1pm |
Gender Equity in Engineering – Our Own Worst Enemy Electrical engineer turned economist Jenny Hunt from McGill University in Montreal joins us to discuss her work on why women leave science and engineering. Unlike many other studies, her work compared exit rates of women from science and engineering with those of other fields. The analysis indicates that to many men may be the reason many women leave engineering. Apparently, our previous hypothesis that Bill was responsible for women leaving engineering may be incorrect. |
| Wednesday July 13th noon-1pm |
Most Illogical Call in with your best example of logical or illogical behavior as fodder for discussion on how the use of logic is the fundamental difference between science and engineering and other human endeavors. |
| Wednesday July 6th noon-1pm |
Biology Education – More than Memorizing Latin Names Jennifer Kraft Leavy and Jung Choi from the Georgia Tech School of Biology joins us to discuss modern educational techniques in biology that are more engaging that Kingdom, Phylum , Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species. Jennifer research interests include inquiry-based learning techniques in biology education. |
| Wednesday June 29th noon-1pm |
Are You Smarter than a High School Student? No offense to Georgia Tech Alum Jeff Foxworthy and his show on being smarter then a 5th grader, but a lot of people in Louisiana are not smarter then High School Student Zack Kopplin. Zack Kopplin has been crusading for the repeal of a Lousiana Science Education Act that allows for the use of non-scientific text in teaching Intelligent Design and Creationism in schools. Zach joins us to discuss why the scientific theory of evolution is so hard for some many people to accept. |
| Wednesday June 22nd noon-1pm |
Trust in Your Robot Alan Wagner of the Aerospace, Transportation and Advanced Systems (ATAS) Laboratory of the Georgia Tech Research Institute joins us to discuss the computational model of trust. Humans and machines interact in ways that require trust, so a computational understanding of this subtle concept is required in such instances. |
| Wednesday June 15th noon-1pm |
The Miscibility of Science and Humor Scientist turned comedian, Tim Lee, will join us to discuss if science and humor actually mix. Tim will be performing at the Relapse Theater near the Georgia Tech campus on Saturday June 18th at 8pm. |
| Wednesday June 8th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete is in Florida presenting the lighter side of nuclear waste transport this week so tune in for a classic rewind of Inside the Black Box. |
| Wednesday June 1st noon-1pm |
Nuclear Power – Boogey Man or Key to Energy Security Concerns over the recent problems at the Fukushimi Daiichi nuclear power plant has us weighing the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power. Glenn Sjoden, from the Georgia Tech School of Mechanical Engineering, will discuss the recent debate related to questions about nuclear power advancement for US energy security. |
| Wednesday May 25th noon-1pm |
TODAY’S SHOW IS CANCELLED This live program was preempted by Georgia Tech post-season baseball. We’ll be back next week with another episode of Inside the Black Box. |
| Wednesday May 18th noon-1pm |
Shake Rattle and Roll Engineering Bruce Ellingwood of the Georgia Tech School of Civil and Environmental Engineering will join us to talk about engineered structures and how things like earthquakes and tsunamis affect them. |
| Wednesday May 11th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete, Bill and Trent are taking off during the semester break so tune in for a classic rewind of Inside the Black Box. |
| Wednesday May 4th noon-1pm |
Another Caller Show we haven’t done a show focusing on listener calls in a while so we will take calls and discuss some other suggesstiong we have received from our listeners recently. |
| Wednesday April 27th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete is off grading senior design projects this week so tune in for a classic rewind of Inside the Black Box. |
| Wednesday April 20th noon-1pm |
The Language of Pseudoscience Bob Blaskiewicz of the Georgia Tech School of Literature Communication and Culture joins us to discuss how language is used to disguise pseudoscience as science. |
| Wednesday April 13th noon-1pm |
Where Do Drugs Come from? Michael Thien, Vice President of Science, Technology and Global Pharmaceutical Commercialization for Merck Manufacturing will discuss how modern pharmaceuticals are discovered and developed. |
| Wednesday April 6th noon-1pm |
Nuclear Power to Save the World In the wake of the nuclear reactor accident in Japan it may not be easy to think of Nuclear Power as an important part of our energy future. However, Gwyneth Cravens, former antinuclear activist and author of “Power to Save the World: The Truth about Nuclear Energy,” will join us to dispel some myths about this important energy source. Gwenyth will be giving the keynote address at the upcoming American Nuclear Society Student Conference at Georgia Tech April14-17 in Atlanta. |
| Wednesday March 30th noon-1pm |
Inventure Time Craig Forest, one of the founders of the Georgia Tech Inventure program joins us with some of this years winners Daniel Chaney and Jacob Thompson and their innovative new inventions. |
| Wednesday March 23rd noon-1pm |
Poolside Research Alistair Dove, of the Georgia Aquarium will discuss aquariums and their role as research tools. Specifically he will discuss some of his recent work on Whale Sharks and some collaborations with Georgia Tech. |
| Wednesday March 16th noon-1pm |
The Devil’s in the Details Prompted by a listener call about Soybeans being a complete protein last week we will explore situations where small details can make a big difference in science and technology. One of our favorite guests hosts, Mathematician/Comedian Lew Lefton will join us to discuss this topic with our listeners |
| Wednesday March 9th noon-1pm |
Listener Topic Show Local comedian and listener Kim Huapaya will be in studio with her favorite questions about science and we will be taking listener calls about any and all topics. |
| Wednesday March 2nd noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete is in California talking with nerds from the microelectronics industry, but we will be back next week with a new show. |
| Wednesday Feb. 23rd noon-1pm |
Finding the Red Balloon Erica Briscoe and the Ethan Trewhitt of the Georgia Tech Research Institutediscuss their recent second place finish in the DARPA Network Challenge to use social media and the network to find 10 red balloons across the U.S. They will also discuss how tracking the flow of information and misinformation through social media can be used to gather information and mobilize people. |
| Wednesday Feb. 16th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete is out of town so we will be airing a previous show, unless Bill comes up with a cool idea. |
| Wednesday Feb. 9th noon-1pm |
Biomass vs. Petroleum Bruce Dale, the director of the Biomass Conversion Research Lab at Michigan State will join us to discuss current and future work on the efficient conversion of biomass to fuel, chemicals, material, food and feed. |
| Wednesday Feb. 2nd noon-1pm |
The Climate – Change or No Change Judith Curry, Chair of the Georgia Tech School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and director of the Climate Etc. Blog will discuss both the scientific and non-scientific issues associated with global warming. |
| Wednesday Jan. 26th noon-1pm |
tlhIngan yIntaH Hol (Klingon – a Living Language) Mark Okrand creator of the Klingon Language and author of the Klingon Dictionary will discuss the linquistics and use of this language. In addition to being a fascination among use geeks, this language is actually more of a living language than Latin. |
| Wednesday Jan. 19th noon-1pm |
Geeks Who Can Talk to Normal People J.C. Reilly and Lisa Yaszek discuss Georgia Tech’s unique program on Science Technology and Culture (STAC). This program integrates science and technology with humanities to produce individuals with some unique skills important in our technology-oriented society. |
| Wednesday Jan. 12th noon-1pm |
SNOWED IN Atlanta was paralyzed due to a snow storm and nobody could make it to the studio. |
| Wednesday Jan. 5th noon-1pm |
Biomechanics: Molecular Toolkits without the Axle Grease Todd Sulchek, of the School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, will discuss the molecular basis for the mechanical action of cells and how diseases can affect such mechanical processes. |
| Wednesday Dec. 29th noon-1pm |
Looking Back on 2010 Pete revisits all the topics we covered in and takes calls from listeners. |
| Wednesday Dec. 22nd noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete is out of town so we will be playing a previously aired show. |
| Wednesday Dec. 15th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete is out of town so we will be playing a previously aired show. |
| Wednesday Dec. 8th noon-1pm |
Biting the Bullet: The Technology of Anesthesia Joel Zivot of the Emory Medical School joins us to discuss the technology behind modern anesthesia. |
| Wednesday Dec. 1st noon-1pm |
More than Manure: How Fertilizer Changed the World Amit Roy, President and CEO of the IFDC will talk with us about how fertilizer technology has changed, and is continuing to change the face of the planet. TheIFDC is a public international organization that helps sustain food security and agricultural productivity in over 130 developing countries through the development and transfer of effective and environmentally sound crop nutrient technology and agribusiness expertise. |
| Wednesday Nov. 24th noon-1pm |
High-Tech Voyeurism On the eve of one of the year’s busiest travel days we will be talking about the technology behind the airport scanners that have everyone in a tizzy. We will also be taking calls about any other topic in science and technology. |
| Wednesday Nov. 17th noon-1pm |
Listener Calls Bill is still out of town, but Pete will be taking listen calls. Pete is still getting over a cold so he will be in a Dextromethorphan-induced haze. Of course that will only make things more interesting. |
| Wednesday Nov. 10th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete and Bill are both out of town so we are featuring a rebroadcast of a class Inside the Black Box show. |
| Wednesday Nov. 3rd noon-1pm |
Black Box Jambalaya Today we will be taking listener callers on any and every topic in science and technology. We are calling it a Jambalaya show because we are sick of potpourri. |
| Wednesday Oct. 27th noon-1pm |
Both Sides of Medical Marijuana In an effort to get a balanced view of this topic we are discussing it with Kamy Akhavan, Managing Editor of www.procon.org. |
| Wednesday Oct. 20th noon-1pm |
Science in Washington As a follow-up to our Oct. 6th show on science policy we go to the trenches withRob Butera of the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Rob will discuss his experience as a Jefferson Fellow advising the federal government on technical matters. |
| Wednesday Oct. 13th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind We will be playing a classic rebroadcast of Inside the Black Box. |
| Wednesday Oct. 6th noon-1pm |
How Science Gets Made into Science Policy Richard Barke of the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy joins us to discuss how science gets translated into policy. Both the science of politics and the politics of science will be addressed. |
| Wednesday Sept. 29th noon-1pm |
A Diamond is not Forever Graphene is the more stable form of Carbon. Despite the fact that it is not as sparkly is does have some amazing properties. Walt de Heer of the Georgia Tech School of Physics and the Georgia Tech Materials Research Science & Engineering Center on Graphene joins us to talk about this amazing material. This program was the first to air the hit single Graphene. |
| Wednesday Sept. 22nd noon-1pm |
Potpourri Despite Bill’s switching to a new deodorant, we are having a hard time scheduling guests, so today’s show will be based on listener’s questions and comments. Call us at 404-894-2468. |
| Wednesday Sept. 15th noon-1pm |
Choco-Technology While nanotechnology seems to grab most of the headlines, choco-technology tastes better. Craig D’Egidio, engineer turned chocolate maker of Schakolad in Sandy Springs, joins us to talk about how chocolate and how it is made. |
| Wednesday Sept. 8th noon-1pm |
Potpourri With the success of our last potpourri show, we are trying it again. Please call in with your questions and comments as well as suggestions for future shows. |
| Wednesday Sept. 1st noon-1pm |
Chemistry in the Computer Chris Williams from the Chemical Computing Group will join us to talk about molecular modeling and its application to design of new drugs in the computer. |
| Wednesday Aug. 25th noon-1pm |
Why Plants Don’t Want to be Turned into Gasoline Jeremy Smith of the Center for Molecular Biophysics at Oak Ridge National Laboratory joins us to discuss what can we do with supercomputers and neutrons to help quietly persuade these plants to cooperate (it could be very good indeed for the environment and our energy independence). |
| Wednesday Aug. 18th noon-1pm |
Meet George Jetson Our last discussion on robots featured comedian Bill Dwyer on his experience hosting Battlebots. Now we are getting serious and talking with Charlie Kemp of the Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Bioengineering about the current state of robot technology and what we need to do to make it to the age of the Jetsons. |
| Wednesday Aug. 11th noon-1pm |
Zymurgy: the chemistry lecture you won’t sleep through Zymurgy is the chemistry of fermentation. Tracy Hamilton from the Dept. of Chemistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham will join us to talk about the chemistry of beer. Tracy is a tour speaker for the American Chemical Society’s Speaker Service and talks about everything from the chemistry of coffee to the chemistry of beer. |
| Wednesday Aug. 4th noon-1pm |
dQ/T < dS – Not Just a Good Idea…It’s the Law Sam Shelton, the founding director of the Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institutejoins us to discuss energy systems and their potential application to our current energy challenges |
| Wednesday July 28th noon-1pm |
Cancelled Our show with Chris Williams of the Chemical Computing Group on molecular modeling was cancelled due to technical difficulties. Chris will join us in September |
| Wednesday July 21st noon-1pm |
Hard Facts about Software Don Cooper, software engineer and international man of mystery, joins us to talk about the field of software engineering. |
| Wednesday July 14th noon-1pm |
Potpourri We haven’t done a potpourri show in quite a while so here is a chance for our listeners to call in and chat about any aspect of science and technology (404) 894-2468. |
| Wednesday July 7th noon-1pm |
Lost in the Stacks Charlie Bennett and Ameet Doshi, host of Lost in the Stacks the World’s only Research Library Rock & Roll Radio Show on WREK join us to discuss new ways to get people engaged in the modern library. As the internet makes books and journals more accessible on-line, people are now visiting the library for information needs unheard of 20 years ago. |
| Wednesday June 30th noon-1pm |
Scientific Research – It’s Your Money In 1980, the Bayh-Dole Act allowed the commercialization of government-sponsored research. Nigam Acharya, an attorney from the Atlanta office of Barnes & Thornburg, will join us to discuss the ramifications of this law on scientific research. |
| Wednesday June 23rd noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind We will be rebroadcasting some of your favorite Inside the Black Box programs becuase we are not broadcasting through much of June as the broadcast tower is being painted. Sorry but this is beyond our control. |
| Wednesday June 16th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind We will be rebroadcasting some of your favorite Inside the Black Box programs becuase we are not broadcasting through much of June as the broadcast tower is being painted. Sorry but this is beyond our control |
| Wednesday June 9th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind We will be rebroadcasting some of your favorite Inside the Black Box programs becuase we are not broadcasting through much of June as the broadcast tower is being painted. Sorry but this is beyond our control |
| Wednesday June 2nd noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind We will be rebroadcasting some of your favorite Inside the Black Box programs becuase we are not broadcasting through much of June as the broadcast tower is being painted. Sorry but this is beyond our control |
| Wednesday May 26th noon-1pm |
The Science Behind the Science of the Big Bang Theory David Saltzberg of the UCLA Dept. of Physics and Astronomy and technical consultant on the hit CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory will discuss his dual life. Can a nerd who studies neutrinos teach the public about physics through the lives of 4 TV geeks and the girl next door? Check out David’s Blog on the physics behind the show: The Big Blog Theory. |
| Wednesday May 19th noon-1pm |
Power to the People Tom Fuller of the Georgia Tech Research Institute and the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering will join us to discuss recent advances in fuel cell and battery technology |
| Wednesday May 12th noon-1pm |
It’s a Bug’s Life Kostas Konstantinidis of the Georgia Tech School of Civil and Environmental Engineering will discuss the important role that microorganisms play in the global biogeochemical and life cycles on the planet |
| Wednesday May 5th noon-1pm |
Speech Synthesis – from Darth Vader to Princess Leia Tom Barnwell, from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, joins us to discuss the history of research and development on speech theory, processing and synthesis and how the synthesized voice is a bit less scary than it used to be. |
| Wednesday Apr. 28th noon-1pm |
Women, Science and Technology The co-directors of the Georgia Tech Women, Science and Technology program,Carol Colatrella, Mary Frank Fox and Mary Lynn Realff, join us to talk about the changing role of women in science and engineering. |
| Wednesday Apr. 21st noon-1pm |
Where Did We Come from? – The Ribosome Two former guests, Loren Williams and Nick Hud will discuss the molecular origin of life and research in Georgia Tech’s new NASA-funded Center for Ribosomal Evolution and Adaptation. |
| Wednesday Apr. 14th noon-1pm |
Invention + Adventure = Inventure Prof. Craig Forest, of the Georgia Tech Inventure Prize, a competition that finds and nutures the best undergraduate inventors on campus, joins us with the winners Patrick Whaley and Sarah Vaden to talk about this amazing event and the importance of technical innovation. |
| Wednesday Apr. 7th noon-1pm |
WARNING – Darwin in Science Class Jeff Selman, lead plaintiff in the landmark case Selman vs. Cobb County School District, will join us to talk about the fallout from this 2002 attempt to constrain the teaching of evolution in Georgia. We will also explore relevant issues regarding evolution in the classroom since this court case. |
| Wednesday March 31st noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete is out of town so we will be playing a previous show. |
| Wednesday Mar. 24th noon-1pm |
Biomaterials – from wooden legs to nanomaterials Julie Champion, of the Georgia Tech School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, talks with us about synthetic biomaterials and their numerous applications to improving health. |
| Wednesday Mar. 17th noon-1pm |
Green Business Bob Drew, of ECOVIE Rainwater Collection Systems, will be discussing how we can do business in an environmentally friendly way. |
| Wednesday Mar. 10th noon-1pm |
Piezoelectricity – from Sonar to AFM Art Ballato will join us to discuss the history and science behind everyone’s favorite physical phenomenon, piezoelectricity. |
| Wednesday Mar. 3rd noon-1pm |
Science from Science Fiction We will be joined by the Lisa Yazsek and her co-hosts of WREK’s SciFiLab to discuss science fiction that has turned into science. Pete and Bill will also join SciFiLab to cover this topic on Sunday March 7th |
| Wednesday Feb. 24th noon-1pm |
Nanotechnology – Size Does Matter David Gottfried from the Georgia Tech Nanotechnology Research Center will join us to talk about the role that Nanotechnology plays in your life everyday. |
| Wednesday Feb. 17th noon-1pm |
Stem Cells – Cells Not Sure What They Want to Do When They Grow Up Todd McDevitt, director of the Stem Cell Engineering Center at Georgia Tech, talks about Stem Cell technology and its potential applications. |
| Wednesday Feb. 10th noon-1pm |
Science on Stage Lauren Gunderson, the first ever playwright in residence at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical physics at the University of Santa Barbara has authored numerous critically acclaimed plays about science. She will discuss the juxtaposition of science and the performing arts and her recent projects in this area. |
| Wednesday Feb. 3rd noon-1pm |
Sir Harry Kroto Sir Harry Kroto, who shared the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of buckministerfullerene will join us to talk about science, society and education. |
| Wednesday Jan. 27th noon-1pm |
Fluids with an Attitude Amyn Teja from the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering will join us to talk about the thermodynamics and applications of supercritical fluids. They are not quite as critical as your mother-in-law, but they have applications for everything for making de-caffeinated coffee to dry cleaning. |
| Wednesday Jan. 20th noon-1pm |
POT-Pourri Our nanotechnology guest had to reschedule so we did a pot pourri show. The Science in the News article was on medical marijuana research which generated lots of discussion regarding how lots of policy decisions are made independent of science. We also discussed how the scientific method may be used for seemingly unscientific problems. |
| Wednesday Jan. 13th noon-1pm |
Coffee Chemistry Tracy Hamilton from the Dept. of Chemistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham will join us to talk about the chemistry of coffee. Tracy is a tour speaker for the American Chemical Society’s Speaker Service and talks about everything from the chemistry of coffee to the chemistry of beer. |
| Wednesday Jan. 6th noon-1pm |
High Speed Rail: When the Wait is Longer than the Flight Allen M. Zerembski, President of Zeta Tech, a consulting firm in the rail and transportation industry, will join us to discuss details if high speed rail and its prospects in the U.S. |
| Wednesday Dec. 30th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Bill, Pete and Trent will take a holiday hiatus, so tune in for a classic rewind of Inside the Black Box. |
| Wednesday Dec. 23th noon-1pm |
The Logic of Voting Voting activist Bernie Ellis, who joined us previously to talk about how high tech voting machines aren’t always the best solution, returns to our show. He will provide us with an update on what is going on in Tennessee regarding this important issue. |
| Wednesday Dec. 16th noon-1pm |
It’s all Relative Pablo Laguna from the Georgia Tech School of Physics will join us to talk about General Relativity, Gravity and what happens when Black Holes collide.Georgia Tech Graduate Student Adam Wathen will also be on hand to moderate questions from a physics class with which he has been working at Cedar Grove H.S. in Ellenwood GA. |
| Wednesday Dec. 9th noon-1pm |
Newton and the Counterfeiter Thomas Levinson, director of the graduate program in Science Writing at MIT will join us to discuss his latest book “Newton and the Counterfeiter: the Unknown Detective Career of the World Greatest Scientist“. In addition to discussing Isaac Newton and his second career with the Royal Mint, we will chat about science writing and journalism. |
| Wednesday Dec. 2nd noon-1pm |
Between Magic & Science Pete and Bill chat with our listeners about the interface between magic and science and Arthur C. Clarkes third law: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistiguishable from magic”. |
| Wednesday Nov. 25th noon-1pm |
Nothing Funny about Ethics Roberta Berry, from the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy will discuss the ethics problems that arise with advances in science and technology. We will be joined by Mr. Martin Shelton (PhD student in biomedical science, Morehouse School of Medicine) and Ms. Megan Daugherty (law student, Georgia State University College of Law) who are Roberta’s students in a new class in this area being developed under a National Science Foundation grant. |
| Wednesday Nov. 18th noon-1pm |
Grad School – funnier than you think Jorge Cham, creator of PhD Comics will join us to discuss the lighter side of graduate school. Called “Hilarious” by the Chronicle of Higher Education it appears in periodicals from coast to coast and may be the only comic strip every reviewed by the journal Nature. |
| Wednesday Nov. 11th noon-1pm |
Drug Design and the Male Ego Kerry Fowler, medicinal chemist and industry consultant, formerly of G.D. Searle and the late ICOS corporation will join us to talk about medicinal chemistry, drug design and his role in the development of Cialis, the erectile dysfunction drug. |
| Wednesday Nov. 4th noon-1pm |
The Music of Science We’ll be joined by our friend and former guest Steve Harvey from the School of Biology here at Georgia Tech. We will be listening to some of the music from a new album entitled “Here Comes Science†by the group They Might Be Giants and other music about science that will make you wonder why we don’t have a Science category at the Grammy Awards. |
| Wednesday Oct. 28th noon-1pm |
Don’t know much about science Chris Mooney, author of the New York Times bestseller, â€The Republican War on Scienceâ€, and co-author of “Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future†joins us to discuss the numerous ramifications of the lack of scientific knowledge in society. Chris is currently a Knight Fellow in Scientific Journalism at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. |
| Wednesday Oct. 21st noon-1pm |
It’s Elemental “Chemistry – It’s Elemental” is the theme of this year’s National Chemistry Week, sponsored by the American Chemical Society. We will have a panel of chemistry geeks answering questions from science students at Apalachee H.S. in Barrow County, GA and from North Hall H.S. in Hall County, GA. Warren Matthews from Georgia Tech is arranging video teleconferencing with our two High Schools. Our panel includes Facundo Fernandez,Dave Sherrill, and Christine Payne from the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, David Gottfried from the Georgia Tech Center for Nanotechnology and Vernita Lockhart from the Coca Cola Corporation. The American Chemical Society hasvarious activities planned for National Chemistry Week. Click Here to hear Tom Lehrer’s song about the elements. |
| Wednesday Oct. 14th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete & Bill are out of the studio, so we will be playing a classic rewind of Inside the Black Box. |
| Wednesday Oct. 7th noon-1pm |
Nobel Pursuits Pete and Bill will be discussing some of the recently awarded Nobel Prizes, and will be taking listener calls on these recent prizes and all aspects of science and technology. Give us a call at 404-894-2468. |
| Wednesday Sept. 30th noon-1pm |
Quantum Weirdness Carlos Stroud, professor in the Department of Physics in the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester, and the director of the Center for Quantum Information will discuss some really weird stuff on physics. Join as we explore whether the principle of quantum entanglement might ever be used to transmit information across the universe faster than the speed of light. |
| Wednesday Sept. 23rd noon-1pm |
Ins and Outs of Invention The patenting of a technical invention is critically important to innovation in science and engineering. Nigam Acharya, an attorney from the Atlanta office of Barnes & Thornburg will join us to talk about how patents work and where to begin if you think you have a patentable idea. |
| Wednesday Sept. 9th noon-1pm |
Calculus: Math in Motion One of Georgia Tech’s favorite Calculus Professors, Tom Morley will join us to talk about Calculus. We won’t just cover why it impresses people at cocktail parties, but actually talk about what it is and how it is useful. |
| Wednesday Sept. 2nd noon-1pm |
The World According to Bud The 11th President of Georgia Tech, Dr. G. P. (Bud) Peterson has been advising government, industry and academics on science and technology for years. He will sit down with us to discuss the future of science and technology in the U.S. and beyond. |
| Wednesday August 26th noon-1pm |
Borderless Engineering Bernard Amadai, Director of the Mortenson Center for Engineering in Developing Communities at the University of Colorado and the U.S. founder of Engineers Without Borders – USA will talk to us about the importance of engineering in the developing World. |
| Wednesday August 19th noon-1pm |
PVC and other scary chemicals Pete & Bill will look at dangers associated with Poly(vinyl chloride) and chemical safety in general after this topic was suggested by Paul, one of our regular listeners. We will look at the Greenpeace campaign to rid us from this plastic and will try to separate the science from the hype. For information about this on the consumer/environmental side see the Center for Health and Environmental Justiceand for the PVC industry side see the Vinyl Institute. |
| Wednesday August 12th noon-1pm |
Hackers, Crackers and Slackers, Oh My Our ow Chief Engineer, Trent Altman joins us to discuss software security. |
| Wednesday August 5th noon-1pm |
What I did on my Summer Vacation Pete is back and will catch up on Science in the News and take general questions from callers. He will also discuss technical education in Europe and the Middle East and other things he learned on his summer travels. |
| Wednesday July 29th noon-1pm REBROADCAST |
SCIENCE & YOUR MONEY Willie Belton, from the Georgia Tech School of Economics will talk about the basics behind this field and use it to explain what is happening with the current economic crisis. If you are as confused about this as Bill and Pete call in with your questions during the second half of the hour. |
| Wednesday July 22nd noon-1pm REBROADCAST |
Weapons Grade Allegations Dan Tedder, former staff member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will discuss shortcomings of the NRC to enforce its own regulations regarding the design of nuclear facilities. |
| Wednesday July 15th noon-1pm REBROADCAST |
Technically Funny Don McMillan, will join us to discuss the juxtaposition of humor and technology. Don has an M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University and previously designed integrated circuits but now he is the World’s most well-known technical comic and Pete’s and Bill’s personal hero. Don has appeared on the Tonight Show, but also does comedy with Powerpoint slides. |
| Wednesday July 8th noon-1pm REBROADCAST |
Medical Imaging: Way Beyond X-Ray Specs</> Join our guest Allen Tannenbaum from the Georgia Tech School of Electrical & Computer Engineering in discussing how large amounts of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and ultrasound data are manipulated to produce important diagnoses. Specifically he will talk about the virtual colon fly-through and how it compares to the latest rides at Six Flags over Georgia.. |
| Wednesday July 1st noon-1pm REBROADCAST |
Einstein’s Hair – Big Bangs or Supernova Professor Andy Zangwill from the Georgia Tech School of Physics, a science history enthusiast joins us to talk about Albert Einstein, the man, the hair and the science. We will discuss the unusual celebrity of this noted scientist and debunk some common misconceptions. |
| Wednesday June 24th noon-1pm |
SETI: Is it science, or are we just lonely? Seth Shostak, from the SETI Institute joins us to discuss the science behind the search for extraterrestrial intelligence while he searches for intraterrestrial intelligence among Bill and Pete in the studio. Seth is the author of several books on this topic including his most recent Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence”. |
| Wednesday June 17th noon-1pm |
Here Comes the Sun Michael Filler, from the Georgia Tech School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, joins us to discuss the technology behind solar cells and other methods for deriving renewable energy from the sun. |
| Wednesday June 10th noon-1pm |
The Science Behind the Music Physicist and musician, Henry Valk, will discuss our current scientific understanding of the mecanisms that give rise to musical sound, from its production by an instrument to its being heard by a listener. |
| Wednesday June 3rd noon-1pm |
Dark Chocolate: Is it Dark Matter or Dark Energy? Join our guest Hakeem Oluseyi from the Department of Physics and Space Science at the Florida Institute of Technology in discussing cosmology from dark matter to dark energy and the importance of diversity in physics. Hakeem is also a contributor to the television program Brink on the Science Channel. |
| Wednesday May 27th noon-1pm |
How Did I Get Here? Nick Hud from the School of Chemistry will attempt to provide an answer to this question posed by David Byrne of the Talking Heads. Coordinator of The Origins Project a Chemical Bonding Center funded by the National Science Foundation, Nick will discuss the chemistry requirements for the appearance of life on earth (at least all life except for Bill who we still suspect is some kind of alien). |
| Wednesday May 20th noon-1pm |
Preempted for ACC Baseball The ACC baseball Tournament will be broadcast during our regular time slot. We will be back next week with a new episode of “Inside the Black Box”. |
| Wednesday May 13th noon-1pm |
Gas and Hypotheses This is one of our Potpourri shows where we will wander through the ins and outs of science and technology. We plan to discuss new gasoline additives in the news and how scientific hypotheses are first formed. Feel free to call in with questions you have. |
| Wednesday May 6th noon-1pm |
What’s New with Chips Cliff Henderson, from the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech will discuss the latest developments in microelectronics research and how this is being used to make computer chips for the next generation of cool electronics. |
| Wednesday April 29th noon-1pm |
Fun with Epidemiology Our guest James Sezter, a consultant with Abt Associates Inc., will discuss how to logically interpret all the scary stories about infectious disease in the media. A former instructor at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory, Jim now travels the World advising governments on how to best address important health issues. |
| Wednesday April 22nd noon-1pm |
Why Johnny Can’t Communicate The public’s understanding of science and technology is only as good as the ability of scientists and engineers to communicate its significance. Jacqueline Mohalley Snedeker and Christina Bourgeois, who are responsible for teaching Georgia Tech’s Chemical and Electrical Engineers how to write, join us to discuss the importance of good communication skills for geeks. |
| Wednesday April 15th noon-1pm |
Hot Research from the Coldest Place on Earth Ignacio Taboada from the School of Physics joins Pete and his special guest hostAndy Zangwill to discuss Astrophysics at the South Pole. Using a cubic kilometer of ice, Prof. Taboada traps neutrinos in order to map activity of some of the hottest objects in the Universe. |
| Wednesday April 8th noon-1pm |
Science Education in the Trenches Two teachers trained as engineers (not educators) Tiffany Stark and Linda Patterson from the science magnet program at Wheeler H.S. in Marietta, GA will discuss the current state of H.S. science education. We will discuss what needs to be addressed in H.S. science education and some of the programs Wheeler is implementing to do just this. |
| Wednesday April 1st noon-1pm |
CHEMISTRY – IT’S EVERYWHERE Thomas Lane, President of the American Chemical Society (ACS) will join us by phone to explain the importance of chemistry in everyday life. If you don’t believe us just take a look at the ingredient labels on consumer products. Tom will also discuss the vision of the ACS and what this means to those of us who aren’t chemists. |
| Wednesday March 25th noon-1pm |
I Robot – Georgia Tech Style Bill Singhose, from the Georgia Tech School of Mechanical Engineering will this year’s design competition associated with the ME2110- Creative Decisions and Design Course. We’ll discuss the educational issues associated with such open-ended design projects and what we might expect from Bill’s students who are applying their design talents to Personal Transporters and Economic Bailouts. |
| Wednesday March 18th noon-1pm |
The Art of Approximation Pete and Bill will discuss the favorite approximations used by scientists and engineers including everything from linear models and harmonic oscillators to first order decay and ideal systems. We will explore how such simple approximations allow us to describe so much of what we see in nature. |
| Wednesday March 11th noon-1pm |
High Tech Start-ups: more than high tech Join us as we talk with John Ketchersid, Chief Technology Officer for the Atlanta Seed Fund about issues relevant to start-up companies in the high tech arena. |
| Wednesday March 4th noon-1pm |
Science of SCUBA Diving Bill and Pete will discuss the physics and chemistry of Pete’s favorite hobby – SCUBA Diving. Who says science can’t be fun. |
| Wednesday February 25th noon-1pm |
Complex Systems This started out as a potpourri type show be evolved into a discussion of the modeling and investigation of complex systems. The behavior of systems such as the global climate and economy are impossible to predict with a large degree of accuracy. That is why models and theories are constantly being updated. |
| Wednesday February 18th noon-1pm |
Classic Rewind Pete and Bill are out of town so we hope you will enjoy this previously broadcast episode of INSIDE THE BLACKBOX. |
| Wednesday February 11th noon-1pm |
Technical Entrepreneurs – An Alternative to Today’s Job Market Craig Forest, veteran of the American Inventor TV show, will join us to discuss technical innovation and the Georgia Tech Inventure Competion’s impact on creating a culture of innovation among undergraduate students. Previously the technical start-up company was the high risk option, but in today’s job market that may no longer be true.This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday February 4th noon-1pm |
Technically Funny Don McMillan, will join us to discuss the juxtaposition of humor and technology. Don has an M.S. in electrical engineering from Stanford University and previously designed integrated circuits but now he is the World’s most well-known technical comic and Pete’s and Bill’s personal hero. Don has appeared on the Tonight Show, but also does comedy with Powerpoint slides.This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday January 28th noon-1pm |
Human Augmentation – How Far is Too Far Steve Deweerth, from the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering will join us to talk about human augmentation, what it is and how it’s reality may differ from how it is portrayed in the movies. Steve is a primary faculty member with the Laboratory for Neuroengineering at Georgia Tech will discuss both simple and complex examples human augmentation. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday January 21st noon-1pm |
Baby It’s Cold Outside Michael Chapman, from the Georgia Tech School of physics will join us to talk about his work on a fascinating low temperature pheneomenon called “Bose-Einstein Condensation”. The 201 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded for the first experimental evidence of the unique phase of matter to scientists from the University of Colorado and MIT.This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday January 14th noon-1pm |
Weapons Grade Allegations Dan Tedder, former staff member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will discuss shortcomings of the NRC to enforce its own regulations regarding the design of nuclear facilities. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday January 7th noon-1pm |
Science and Sports, Do They Mix? Dan Radakovich, the Georgia Tech Athletic Director will join us to talk about the challenges of maintaining a top athletic program at a school with top science and engineering programs. Also joining us with the student/athlete perspective will be All-ACC Diver and Tech Student Stephanie England.This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday December 31st noon-1pm |
Year in Review Pete and Bill will review our first year after moving the show to WREK radio and take any and all questions from our listeners |
| Wednesday December 24th noon-1pm |
Black Box Classic Rewind Pete and Bill are both doing holiday stuff this week and we’re not important enough to have local radio personalities want to fill in for us. |
| Wednesday December 17th noon-1pm |
Black Box Classic Rewind Pete and Bill are both out of town this week and we’re not important enough to have local radio personalities want to fill in for us. |
| Wednesday December 10th noon-1pm |
High Tech Babies Mark Perloe, Medical Director at Georgia Reproductive Specialists will discuss the latest technological developments in reproductive medicine and infertility treatment. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday December 3rd noon-1pm |
Following the Sweat Haskell Beckham from the Georgia Tech School of Polymer and Textile Fiber Engineering will discuss the basics of, and some interesting applications for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Specifically he will talk about some recent applications to determine how modern athletic clothing wicks persperation away from your skin. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday November26th noon-1pm |
What’s In the Water Larry Bottomley, from the Georgia Tech School of Chemistry and Biochemistry will discuss the basics of the analytical chemistry you might watch on TV shows like CSI. He will illustrate these techniques by talking about looking for impurities in your drinking water. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday November19th noon-1pm |
Libraries in the 21st Century: No Longer Moss Covered Our Guest Charlie Bennett of the Georgia Tech Main Library will talk about the changing face of libraries. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday November12th noon-1pm |
The Science of Music Our own co-host Bill Hunt will discuss musical acoustics. Bill actually teaches a class on this at Georgia Tech. We will be joined by Paul Neitzel of the School of Mechanical Engineering who is interested in the application of this field to guitars.This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday November 5th noon-1pm |
UNIT UNITS EVERYWHERE Pete and Bill with discuss everyone’s favorite part of science and technology – UNITS. The units used for measured quantities are extremely important but often misunderstood. Call us with your questions or comments about this really cool topic. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday October 29th noon-1pm |
WOMEN IN ENGINEERING II Wendy Cocke, president of the Atlanta Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers will join us to discuss some recent studies that update the status of women in engineering. Two of Pete’s students, Sarah Begley and Ashley Newton will be joining us to give the Georgia Tech Student perspective.This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday October 22nd noon-1pm |
SCIENCE & YOUR MONEY Willie Belton, from the Georgia Tech School of Economics will talk about the basics behind this field and use it to explain what is happening with the current economic crisis. If you are as confused about this as Bill and Pete call in with your questions during the second half of the hour. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday October 15th noon-1pm |
CLASSIC REWIND Pete and Bill are both out of town so we will be playing a classic rewind of Inside the Black Box |
| Wednesday October 8th noon-1pm |
Voting: Is High Tech Always Best Voter activist Bernie Ellis will join us to discuss efforts to educate citizens and leaders to the threats of nonverifiable voting systems and other practices which work to disenfranchise voters and discourage participation in the election process. While trained as a public health epidemiologist who has done important work on intervention programs to reduce cancer, substance abuse and AIDS, his voting activism proves that us geeks can do more than one thing at a time |
| Wednesday October 1st noon-1pm |
Large Hadron Colliders: What’s All the Fuss About Physicist Eric Prebys, Program Leader at the Fermi National Accelerator Lab will talk about colliding Hadrons and why us geeks are excited about this topic. The Fermi Lab accelerator is currently the highest energy collider on the planet, but the CERN collider is now coming on line. In addition to high energy physics, Eric will talk about his favorite hobby Perpetual Motion Machines. |
| Wednesday September 24th noon-1pm |
High Tech Weather Bruce Rose, Vice President of Weather Systems from the Weather Channel will talk to us about modern weather monitoring and prediction and how this information flys all over the World and ends up on your TV, computer and smart phone. Don’t let the V.P. title fool you. Bruce has a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Scienced from Pete and Bill’s alma mater the University of Illinois. Bruce is also an experienced computer geek and we hope to get the high tech perspective that you just can’t get from the on-air talent. |
| Wednesday September 17th noon-1pm |
Medical Imaging: Way Beyond X-Ray Specs</> Join our guest Allen Tannenbaum from the Georgia Tech School of Electrical & Computer Engineering in discussing how large amounts of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and ultrasound data are manipulated to produce important diagnoses. Specifically he will talk about the virtual colon fly-through and how it compares to the latest rides at Six Flags over Georgia. |
| Wednesday September 10th noon-1pm |
The Goo in your Shampoo Victor Breedveld from the Georgia Tech School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering will discuss the fluid mechanics of complex fluids (rheology). He will illustrate the unique behavior of these materials by discussing all the thickeners (viscosity modifiers) you see in consumer products from shampoo to paint. These strange chemicals on your consumer product labels are the things that keep Bill up and night, and if you have similar nightmares be sure to join us. CLICK HERE for a cool video of walking across a pool filled with a shear thickening fluid (cornstarch in water).This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday September 3rd noon-1pm |
The Politics of Science We were hoping to get some weather geeks from the Weather Channel on the show, but they are busy tracking hurricanes this week. So instead we discussed the major parties platforms and what they say about science and took listener calls. |
| Wednesday August 27th noon-1pm |
The Gorey Details of Technical Innovation The unique management style of W.L. Gore and Associates was recently featured in Malcolm Gladwell’s best-selling book “The Tipping Pointâ€. Gladwell points out that Gore limits the size of their facilities to improve connections between employees. This, along with an egalitarian management structure is used to improve technical innovation in the application of fluorinated polymers. Gordon McGregor, Leader of New Business Development for the Industrial Products Division at W.L. Gore and Associates will use a product development example to illustrate the effect of such management structure on technical innovation. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday August 20th noon-1pm |
Welcome Back Bill In addition discussing what Bill did on his summer vacation we will be taking calls from our loyal listeners on any topic in science and technology. |
| Wednesday August 13th noon-1pm |
The Patent Game Intellectual property law is important to technical innovation. Andrew Torrencefrom the University of Kansas School of Law, will discuss patent law and technical innovation. He will also discuss some results from the Patent Game, the patent simulator he has developed and what it tells us about the relationship between patents and innovation. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday August 6th noon-1pm |
NERD GIRLS We will chat with Karen Panetta of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tufts University about the Nerd Girls Project. She is joined by Allison Bedwinek, a Nerd Girl and mechanical engineer who now designs medical devices. Recently featured on the NBC Today Show and MSNBC and in Newsweek this project attempts to break the stigmas and stereotypes of women in technical fields. Nerd Girls started in 2000 with Dr. Panetta’s efforts to empower female engineering students working in male-dominated technical fields.This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday July 30th noon-1pm |
Potpourri Due to scheduling issues with our guest for the show on patent law and technical innovation we had no guest today. Instead we answered general questions from callers and discussed green energy. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday July 23rd noon-1pm |
Science and Cooking We will discuss science and its relevance to cooking. Give us a call with questions or comments about your scientific adventures in the kitchen. For more details see “What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained,” by Robert Wolke and “What Einstein Told His Cook 2: The Sequel: Further Adventures In Kitchen Science,” by Robert Wolke and Marlene Parrish. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday July 16th noon-1pm |
Science and the Movies Just for fun, Pete will discuss science and its depiction in the movies. See some reviews of science in the movies by Charlie Anders, Phil Plait or see theInsultingly Stupid Movie Physics book and website by Tom Rogers. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday July 9th noon-1pm |
Engineers – What Do They Do? Pete & Bill will discuss a recently released report from the National Academy of Engineering on the Public Understanding of Engineering. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday June 4th noon-1pm |
CLASSIC REWIND Pete & Bill were out of town this week so we replayed our show on polymers that originally aired on April 13th, 2008. |
| Wednesday June 25th noon-1pm |
Don’t know much about Algebra Dr. Alvin Thaler, program director at the National Science Foundation will address the importance of math. |
| Wednesday June 18th noon-1pm |
Computers – Not Just for Geeks Anymore Joel Linderman Georgia Tech’s favorite computer geek and the director of Georgia Tech Multimedia Center will discuss the more creative uses of computers that can help enhance the educational experience. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday June 11th noon-1pm |
Sex & the Sea Julia Kubanek from the Georgia Tech School of Biology and Chemistry and Biochemistry will discuss the limited role of males in reproductive cycles for various marine microorganisms called rotifers. OK, it is not quite as exciting as the adventures of Kerry Bradshaw and friends, but it is fascinating science. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday June 4th noon-1pm |
NO SHOW Pete & Bill were out of town this week. |
| Wednesday May 28th noon-1pm |
Control Freaks of Science & Engineering Almost everything from complicated industrial processes to the simplest tasks carried out by your household appliances is manipulated to modern control schemes. Prof. Martha Gallivan of the Georgia Tech School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering will join us to talk about the important and often overlooked field of process control.This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Wednesday May 21st noon-1pm |
NO SHOW This weeks show is bumped due to the ACC baseball tournament. |
| Wednesday May 14th noon-1pm |
The Scientific Method Pete and Bill discuss the basics of the scientific method as well as its application to everyday life. This is a pre-taped show |
| Wednesday May 7th noon-1pm |
Ripping Off Mother Nature Over the years, scientists and engineers have discovered the utility of many of the design principals that occur in nature. Marc Weissburg, co-director of the Center for Biologically Inspired Design will illustrate how scientists and engineers are turning to Mother Nature for new ideas. |
| Wednesday April 30th noon-1pm |
Luring Undergraduates into Research Prof. James Gole from the School of Physics at Georgia Tech will be discussing the importance of undergraduate research. James won the 2008 Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award at Georgia Tech and has been doing research with undergraduates for 30 years. His current research focuses on the interfaces at the nanometer scale and increasing the sensitivity of devices. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Sunday April 27th noon-1pm |
NO SHOW We are in the process of switching times, so stay tuned for INSIDE THE BLACK BOX on Wednesdays at noon |
| Sunday April 20th noon-1pm |
NO SHOW We were yet again bumped by Georgia Tech Baseball that was rained out on Saturday. This was the 2nd time our guest Allen Tannenbaum was bumped and we hope to have him on the program again once he is speaking with us again. Pete lost it and this is why we are now switching to Wednesdays at noon. |
| Sunday April 13th noon-1pm |
One Word – Plastics This single line from the movie “The Graduate” underscores the importance of polymeric materials in our everyday lives. Pete and Bill will discuss the properties that make polymer materials useful in many applications. This will be a live show so call us at (404) 894-2468 with your questions and comments. |
| Sunday April 6th noon-1pm |
NO SHOW We were bumped by a replay of a double header of Georgia Tech Baseball that was rained out on Saturday. The irony of this clear example of prioritizing collegiate sports over collegiate education was not lost on us and may be the subject of a future show. |
| Sunday March 30th noon-1pm |
Science Education from the Trenches We talk with the top finishers of the recent science fair at North Springs High School, a Charter School in both Arts and Sciences to determine how best to reach young people in science and technology. Our guests are Sean McGee, Stoyan Ivanov, and Phil Winsor from North Springs High School. |
| Sunday March 23rd noon-1pm |
Ripping Off Mother Nature Over the years, scientists and engineers have discovered the utility of many of the design principals that occur in nature. Marc Weissburg, co-director of the Center for Biologically Inspired Design will illustrate how scientists and engineers are turning to Mother Nature for new ideas. THIS SHOW WAS NOT ACTUALLY AIRED DUE TO A PROGRAMMING ERROR – IT WILL BE AIRED AT A LATER DATE |
| Sunday March 16th noon-1pm |
Chemistry and why we hate it We chat with Loren Williams of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty at Georgia Tech about why only geeks like us appear to find chemistry engagin andhow we might improve the way we teach chemistry. |
| Sunday March 9th noon-1pm |
The Birds & the Bees, without the Birds Professor Michael Goodisman from the Georgia Tech School of Biology will discuss the social nature of Bees and other social insects. |
| Sunday March 2nd noon-1pm |
Einstein’s Hair – Big Bangs or Supernova Professor Andy Zangwill from the Georgia Tech School of Physics, a science history enthusiast joins us to talk about Albert Einstein, the man, the hair and the science. We will discuss the unusual celebrity of this noted scientist and debunk some common misconceptions. |