wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Underreported: The Cassini-Huygens Space Mission

The Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn is a multinational cooperation between three space agencies and 17 nations, with a total cost of over $3 billion. Launched in 1997, its goal was to orbit Saturn and its moons, and probe the atmosphere of Titan and land on its surface. The spacecraft has provided startling discoveries about Saturn, our solar system, and planet Earth, with more surprises doubtless to come. On today's Underreported, Leonard will speak with two of the mission's teams members about their discoveries: Dr. Carolyn Porco, the leader of the imaging team and Director of the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations, and Dr. Torrence V. Johnson, Chief Scientist for the Solar System Exploration Programs Directorate at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

To learn more about the mission, visit the Cassini-Huygens homepage

Weigh in: Have you heard much in the media about the Cassini-Huygens space mission?

Slideshow: Cassini Space Mission

• Comments [3]
• Email
• Save

Esperanto: The Universal Language

L.L. Zamenhof created Esperanto in 1887 with the goal of increasing international understanding and cooperation through the use of a universal second language. That lofty goal wasn’t reached, but an estimated 100,000 to 1 million speakers are still using the language today – and about 1,000 of those speakers are native (i.e. infants taught by their parents). Esperanto’s presence is growing on the internet, and there’s even an entire version of Wikipedia in Esperanto. Dr. Humphrey Tonkin, President Emeritus at the University of Hartford and past president of the Universal Esperanto Association, and Karina Kehlet-Lins, a second-generation native speaker, join Leonard to explain how Esperanto works, how it’s being used today, why speakers have adopted it, what the community is like, and even speak a bit of the language.

Weigh in: We want to hear from Esperanto speakers. Why have you adopted the language and how do you use it today?

• Comments [31]
• Email
• Save

Ann Patchett’s New Novel

In Run, Ann Patchett explores what it takes to be a family. The novel centers on the family of a former mayor of Boston and what happens when one of his sons is nearly killed in a traffic accident.

Run is available for purchase at amazon.com

Events: Ann Patchett will be speaking and signing books
Thursday, September 27 at 7:30pm
Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Center
1972 Broadway (at 66th Street)

• Comments [1]
• Email
• Save

The 2007 Lasker Awards

The Lasker Awards have come to be known as “America’s Nobels” and are the most coveted awards in medical science. Leonard will be joined by three of this year’s winners. Ralph M. Steinman discovered dendritic cells – the preeminent component of the immune system that initiates and regulates the body’s response to foreign antigens. Albert Starr developed prosthetic replacement heart valves, which have saved the lives of millions of people. And Anthony Fauci created two major U.S. governmental programs that combat AIDS and bioterrorism.

To learn more about the Lasker Awards, visit The Lasker Foundation

• Comments [2]
• Email
• Save