Inquiry has a thought provoking conversation with Nobel Laureate ROBERT B. LAUGHLIN, the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Physics at Stanford University. Professor Laughlin has written an impassioned polemic about politics, law, economics and “dangerous knowledge.” Why is simply inquiring about the construction of a nuclear bomb considered a highly illegal activity? How does intellectual activity change character when it becomes valuable enough to be bought and sold? How does patent law allow courts to “create” inventors? Is there now a corporate rush to patent everything under the sun and what does this mean for the future of open scientific research? The answers to these questions are complex and important in quite surprising ways. Be sure to tune in for wild and challenging conversation about the our freedom of access to knowledge and whether that freedom even exists . Professor Laughlin’s book is titled THE CRIME OF REASON AND THE CLOSING OF THE SCIENTIFIC MIND.
What happens when science fiction becomes battlefield reality?
An
amazing revolution is taking place on the battlefield, starting to
change not just how wars are fought, but also the politics, economics,
laws, and ethics that surround war itself. This upheaval is already
afoot -- remote-controlled drones take out terrorists in Afghanistan,
while the number of unmanned systems on the ground in Iraq has gone
from zero to 12,000 over the last five years. But it is only the
start. Military officers quietly acknowledge that new prototypes will
soon make human fighter pilots obsolete, while the Pentagon researches
tiny robots the size of flies to carry out reconnaissance work now
handled by elite Special Forces troops.
The mission of InncerCity Entrepreneurs, which is based in Boston, is to promote job creation, wealth generation and community development by helping a diverse group of urban entrepreneurs strengthen and grow their existing small business.
Tonight we talk with MARK OLIVER EVERETT, better known as “E”, creator and frontman for the band THE EELS. Tonight, E talks about his complex and touching memoir of growing up in an emotionally damaged family and how music got him through some extremely tough times. E’s critically acclaimed book is titled THINGS THE GRANDCHILDREN SHOULD KNOW.
Steve D'Agostino chats with David Barclay of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association and Marc Sternick of Deitz & Company Architects about NESEA's Building Energy '09 Conference and Trade Show.
Every sentence ends with them. Three of them in a row are called an ellipsis, but one atop another is a colon. They are the working stiffs of mathematics and the soul of computer programming. They are dots, plain and simple, and without them the modern world would cease to function. Tonight on Inquiry we speak with writers ALEXANDER HUMEZ and NICHOLAS HUMEZ about their crazily entertaining and always surprising history ON THE DOT: THE SPECK THAT CHANGED THE WORLD.
After too long an absence, Inquiry welcomes back explorer and writer RORY NUGENT. His latest book is a tour de force intimate portrait of the people that still try to live off the sea in what was once one of the most important fishing ports in the United States: New Bedford. This is a gritty tale of men against the sea, drugs, organized crime, declining fish stocks and losing battles against government regulations. What was once the last wild frontier begun in the heyday of whaling is now reduced to a sad shadow of it’s former self. Rory Nugent’s compelling story of a culture about to be forever lost is DOWN AT THE DOCKS.
Tonight on Inquiry we have a weird and wild discussion about “zooform” creatures, beings that “straddle the line between flesh and blood and the completely surreal.” Our guest is author and Fortean researcher NEIL ARNOLD, whose latest book MONSTER! THE A-Z OF ZOOFORM PHENOMENA is a raucous compendium of creatures from local legends, odd sightings and contemporary mythology. Tune in and learn about the likes of such strange creatures as The Mothman; Spring-heeled Jack and the ever-popular Chupacabra!!
Do creatures other than humans use a complex language? What does this say about animal intelligence and consciousness? Can we have a dialog with another species? Tonight on Inquiry we talk with DR. IRENE M. PEPPERBERG, Associate Research Professor at Brandeis University about her years long research attempting to communicate with an African Gray Parrot. Her research has been considered very controversial, but tune in tonight and you can decide for yourself. Dr. Pepperberg talks about learning to talk with her long time partner in research, Alex. Dr. Pepperberg’s popular account of her research is titled ALEX AND ME: HOW A SCIENTIST AND A PARROT UNCOVERED A HIDDEN WORLD OF ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE AND FORMED A DEEP BOND IN THE PROCESS.
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