CrowdScience - Can plants talk?

David in Bogota might have raised a few eyebrows in the CrowdScience office with his questions – can plants talk? And can they hear us talking to them? But actually scientists now know that plants do have the ability to communicate with the world around them to a much greater extent than previously thought. Some scientists even talk about plants being able to “hear” a hungry caterpillar or the sound of running water, while others argue that we should not anthropomorphise plants.

One underground communication network, affectionately dubbed the Wood Wide Web by scientists, is made of fungi that grow off the roots of plants. The network lets plants forge alliances, friendships and business partners.

But as we learn nothing is free in nature. In return for their haulage services, the fungi which make up the network siphons off some of the sugar produced during photosynthesis by the plants. Presenter Anand Jagatia goes foraging for answers in the woods together with fungal ecologists.

Do you have a question we can turn into a programme? Email us at crowdscience@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Louisa Field

(Image: Misty path running through woodland. Credit: Getty Images)

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - The Search For Bigfoot

For centuries, cultures around the world have told tales of "wild men" lurking in the woods, and reports of these creatures continue in the modern day. So what exactly is Bigfoot? Join the guys as they interview David Bakara, the creator of Expedition: Bigfoot, to learn more about his search for the creature and the inspiration behind his museum.

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They don't want you to read our book.: https://static.macmillan.com/static/fib/stuff-you-should-read/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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African Tech Roundup - Malawi Secures $72.4 Million Credit Line From The World Bank To Advance National Digitisation

The Sub-Saharan Africa heads of the likes of Huawei, Oracle, Cisco, IBM and perhaps even Amazon, Facebook and Google, have no doubt already booked first class tickets to Lilongwe to advise the Malawian government on what to do with the $72.4 million line of credit the country has secured from the World Bank to "help Malawi build the digital foundations needed to help the country connect to the global digital economy". This development comes in the wake of the World Bank resuming "budget support financing" for Malawi in May 2017 after a four-year hiatus. In this African Tech Round-up, Musa Kalenga and Andile Masuku discuss some of the things that Malawian policy-makers ought to prioritise as they engage with potential technology partners. News like this helps contextualise some of the sentiments expressed by David Meads, Cisco's Africa business head, in a recent IoT-focussed chat he had with Andile, in which he highlighted his organisation's commitment to assisting African governments with their digital transformation efforts. Heads up... This episode was taped before Uber announced that Travis Kalanick would be stepping down as the company's CEO, so Andile and Musa didn't take that more recent piece of news into account when discussing Uber's travails. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Opening Arguments - OA80: Flashback Friday (featuring Health Care, The Slants, and Gerrymandering!)

It's our first Flashback Friday!  On today's episode, we revisit topics from previous episodes that are once again back in the news. We begin with the breaking-est of breaking news, the new Senate version of the AHCA that literally just got released right before the show was scheduled to record.  What's in the new bill?  Listen and find out! After that, our main segment goes through the recent Supreme Court victory for our friend Simon Tam of the Slants, who previewed this case for us way back on Episode 33.  Find out what the ruling means and how it might impact future issues (like a certain D.C.-area football team). After that, we take a look at the Supreme Court's recent grant of certiorari in the Wisconsin gerrymandering case we discussed back in Episode 54.  What's the prognosis for whether the Supreme Court will finally do something about partisan gerrymandering?  Listen and find out! Finally, we end with a brand new Thomas (and Denise) Take the Bar Exam Question #29, in which next week's guest, Denise Howell, joins the guys for a preview and plays along.  Remember that you too can play along by following our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and/or our Facebook Page and quoting the Tweet or Facebook Post that announces this episode along with your guess and reason(s).  Answers, as always, drop on Tuesday. Recent Appearances None.  But if you're on the East Coast, you should check out Andrew's speech to the Lehigh Valley Skeptics on "Skepticism and the Law" on July 2, 2017 at 11 am by clicking here. Show Notes & Links
  1. Flash back to our first discussion with Simon Tam of the Slants on Episode 33, and keep groovin' with gerrymandering by listening to Episode 54.
  2. This is the text of the Senate's version of the AHCA.
  3. MACPAC's analysis of the ACA referenced on the show is here.
  4. This table shows the DSH allotment by state for 2016.
  5. Here is the full text of the Supreme Court's opinion in Matal v. Tam (formerly Lee v. Tam).
  6. Finally, here's the text of the Cooper v. Harris decision we discussed on Episode 72 that gives Andrew some cause for concern.
Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/ And email us at openarguments@gmail.com

The Gist - Scaachi Koul on Surviving the Trolls

Scaachi Koul, a writer for BuzzFeed, talks about growing up as a brown girl in Canada’s “Cowtown,” and how she set off a tweetstorm by soliciting job applications from writers who are “not white and not male.” Koul’s book of essays is One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter

In the Spiel, legislative and executive reaction to the healthcare bill. 

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Bay Curious - Living Without a Home in San Francisco: 3 stories and 4 questions

Since Bay Curious first answered your questions on homelessness in 2017, the cost of living has continued to rise in the Bay Area and with it, the number of people living without a home.

In the nine county Bay Area, just over 34,000 people are experiencing homelessness, according to point-in-time counts conducted in January by most counties

In at least five of the nine counties, the recent count revealed an increase in the number of homeless people from the last time the count was done in 2017.

In this episode, we explore four common questions about homelessness with Audrey Cooper, editor in chief of The San Francisco Chronicle and Kevin Fagan, a reporter with The San Francisco Chronicle who has covered homelessness for more than two decades.

More resources:


* 89 answers to your questions from The San Francisco Chronicle

* One Day, One City, No Relief: 24 hours inside San Francisco’s Homeless Crisis

* Homelessness in SF is Complex. Here Are Answers to the Most Common Questions


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