The Best of Our Knowledge

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.New research links pesky mosquitoes that thrive in urban areas to invasive plants.And scientists have confirmed an atmosphere on a distant planet in what’s called a habitable zone – they think it could potentially be home to life far outside our solar system.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.You may have been told when you were a kid, “If you keep watching that TV, you’ll rot your brain!”There might be some truth to that.And we’ll learn about a transmissible cancer found in a common catfish.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.Tuberculosis is one of the deadliest diseases faced by humans. A team of researchers is using AI to potentially find more reliable treatments. And, as we listen for extraterrestrial radio waves, have we missed messages and should we change the way we scan for signals?

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.We’ll learn how researchers are using a video game to identify people experiencing depression.And a new study reveals human DNA can survive for thousands of years in underground caves.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.As prospective students weigh the cost and demands of achieving a college degree, the first three-year bachelor’s degree programs in Massachusetts are preparing for launch. We’ll speak with the state’s Commissioner of Higher Education about the effort to reimagine the college experience.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.A very common houseplant is revealing the secret math of plants.And scientists estimate an underground network of tiny fungal filaments would, if placed end-to-end, span 10 percent of our Milky Way galaxy.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.A new study finds that fish are similar to humans in how they sleep.And researchers used a drone to track honey bees. They found the insects have surprisingly precise flight patterns.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.Scientists have analyzed the fossilized poop of prehistoric ground squirrels. The findings tell us a lot about life in North America 700,000 years ago.And an ancient gravesite found in modern-day Germany offers a new glimpse into the Bronze Age.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.Not all answers given by artificial intelligence-powered chatbots are equal. It can be that, based on what language users might ask their question, a chatbot may give a different response.We’ll speak with a researcher who was part of a time that examined how government media control affects AI.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.The commencement address has become a way for colleges and universities to make headlines – and maybe a viral moment – but, in the information age, some speakers carry a risk.And a recent study on remoras – the suckerfish that attached to large sea animals – has scientists rethinking the fish’s relationship with manta rays.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.A new scientific breakthrough is changing the way research think about our sense of smell.And we’ll learn about a particular species of ant that spends its days cleaning ants of a separate species.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.On this episode, we’ll the explore the phenomenon of musical daydreams.Our guest is Elizabeth Margulis, Director of the Music Cognition Lab at Princeton University. She writes about the ability of music to bring the listener to another time and place in her book, ‘TRANSPORTED: The Everyday Magic of Musical Daydreams.’

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.On this episode, we’ll learn how an unusual fossil offered scientists a new glimpse into the evolutionary history of some of Earth’s earliest animals.And we’ll learn how pirate gold helped dispel a centuries-old rumor among seafaring European traders.

On the latest 51%, we speak with sociologist Gretchen Sisson about her book Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood. Sisson studies the relationship between abortion and adoption in the U.S., and is part of a team of researchers for "The Turnaway Study" at the University of California, San Francisco. In Relinquished, Sisson compiles a decade's worth of interviews with women who gave their newborns up for adoption through a private adoption agency. In unpacking how some agencies pressure (and rely on) struggling moms to relinquish their children, Sisson pushes back on the idea that adoption is an ethical alternative to abortion, and questions whether it's really a choice at all.Encore Episode.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.According to a recent analysis, hundreds of private colleges and universities across the United States are at risk of closing in the next 10 years.On this episode, we speak with Jon Marcus, a journalist with the Hechinger Report, who recently reported on the impending closure of Sterling College, a tiny school in rural Vermont.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research.On this episode, we’ll learn about scientists testing a new theory of how to look for life on other planets.And a newly-discovered species of spider in the Amazon mimics an infamous zombie fungus.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education, and research. On this episode, we’ll learn what’s keeping more student nurses from graduating in New York.A newly identified species of tarantula is setting a record among large, furry spiders.And humans are not the only ones with an affinity for beautiful crystals.

The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, science, and research.A species of beetle found living in ant colonies has developed a cloaking system to go undetected – but it could represent an evolutionary dead end.And scientists believe the fossilized skeleton of a two-pound dinosaur found in Argentina may offer new clues into dinosaur evolution.

Few people may have seen St. Elmo’s Fire, the mythical glow that appears on structures and ships at sea during thunderstorms.But a team of researchers has discovered the fabled phenomenon is quite common. You just need the right equipment to see it.And we’ll discuss two recent landmark court decisions against social media companies that are part of the national discussion over the negative impacts of tech on young people.