Jungus

2009 marks 150 years since the publication of Darwin’s On The Origin of Species, and the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of a telescope to study the skies. M. Lee Allison is an organizer of a “Year of Science 2009,” a celebration of scientific methods and discoveries.

Biologists identified bacteria that shorten the lifespan of disease-carrying mosquitoes. Shorter lives mean less time for the mosquitoes to incubate and transmit diseases like dengue and malaria. Biologist Andrew Read of The Pennsylvania State University explains the findings.

Both bring wintertime suffering, but how different is the common cold from influenza, scientifically speaking? Ira Flatow talks with cold and flu experts about how these viruses are transmitted, how best to dodge them, and why hand sanitizer may not be of much help.

Whodunit? Was it Dr. Jones, in the lab, with the beaker? Eric and Natalie Yoder may have the answer. They are authors of One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science, a new book that uses mysteries and problem solving to get kids energized about science.

How are the discovery of oxygen, the founding of the Unitarian Church and ecosystem science linked? Author Steven Johnson tells the story of scientist and theologian Joseph Priestley, a protege of Benjamin Franklin and friend of Thomas Jefferson, in The Invention of Air.