the glory of radio lab, the missteps in pakistan

Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich give scientists everywhere hope. You know, hope that its possible that as a scientist, your friends won't, someday, exhaust every possible other conversation thread before, haltingly, delivering a "and how's work going for you?" with a heavy undertone of "don't you dare slip in some sort of name for a protein that's made out of numbers and capital letters." which eventually leads to the thousand yard stare, leading you to summarize with a "you know, ups and downs," and leaving your poor conversation-mate to breathe an (often audible!) sigh of relief and return to more human conversation.

don't think we can escape blame for this, scientists. we invariably respond to this snub by describing our jobs as solving the hidden secrets of the universe, one (incomprehensibly named) molecule at a time. this allows us to compartmentalize the rest of the world into people who are either a) too dumb to understand what we're saying, or b) too self-absorbed to care. (note: we also generally feel that group b) is too dumb to understand what we are saying). get real. we do some pipetting, drag and drop some stuff into analysis software, make an excel table, and get back to crafting the perfect Facebook status update (what's just snarky enough to say that my life is way too busy for Facebook?)

it's ok. Jad and Robert are here to show us the way. Robert alluded to this in a speech he gave at Caltech's commencement, entitled, Tell Me a Story. In it he implores scientists to find a way to make our work relatable. Tell a story, he says, and make people care. But why do we shoulder this burden? Simply put, the Sarah Palins of the world see scientific progress as antithetical to the religious beliefs that govern their value system. Learning about synaptic transmission takes away the wonder of God's work, apparently.

What these cats need is their own scientific experience. Anyone in science can tell you that new discoveries usually serve to show us the immense complexities and interplay within all living (and frankly, nonliving) things. The myriads of landmark discoveries haven't brought us much closer to *solving* the human experience, but they have helped us appreciate it. And within those complexities there is space for believers and nonbelievers. Whether the whole kit and caboodle is God's work or Darwin's work, solving a few mysteries isn't going to hurt anyone.

But Intelligent Design will. Teaching something like creationism in schools encourages kids to smother the curiosity that creates great scientists. Meanwhile, precipitous cuts to NIH funding stifle the perseverant scholars that keep the scientific dream alive. Opposing stem cell research is just another way of telling us that there's a limit to how high we can climb.

The point here, that Robert and Jad outright tell us (eloquently in this week's Radio Lab, "Making the Hippo Dance"), but also demonstrate with their weekly program, is that we have an opportunity to stem the tide. So. Don't hesitate. Talk about actin treadmilling over beers. You may get a few converts.

Random Aside: The amazing McSweeneys did a retelling of Hamlet with Facebook status updates. Ha.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the war in Pakistan. Does anyone doubt that the Bush Administration is going to screw the pooch on this one? The New York Times Magazine, as I mentioned before, delivered a stunning piece on the growth of Taliban influence in the Pashtun dominated northwest region. Now, reports have revealed that the National Intelligence Council warned Bush sometime ago that sending troops into Pakistan would be counterproductive. To quote:

The intelligence community believes U.S. military incursions into Pakistan will benefit the political-military organizations allied with the Taliban that are seeking to destabilize the national government in Islamabad.

Patrick Lang, former defense intelligence officer for the Middle East at the Defense Intelligence Agency, told IPS he understands the intelligence community issued a "pretty clear warning" against the commando raid. "They said, in effect, if you want to see the Pakistani government collapse, go right ahead," Lang said.

Another dead end military scenario. I think we get the next one free!