Measles Outbreak, Escape Rooms, Food Preferences,Llama Nanobodies

Guest: Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Co-Director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Author of “Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism” The Governor of Washington has declared a public health state of emergency. There have been 36 confirmed cases of measles in Clark County, Washington, which borders Portland, Oregon. Another case has been confirmed in King County, which includes Seattle. Both areas are hotspots that vaccine researcher Peter Hotez has been warning for several years were at risk of a major outbreak. And there are a dozen other metropolitan areas around the country at similar risk.

Guest: David Spira, Room Escape Artist There were only 22 escape room companies in the US five years ago, and now there are thousands. It’s a popular entertainment option for date nights and group bonding worldwide.

Guest: Paul Rozin, Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania I bet there’s a food you hated as a kid but like to eat now. The first time I encountered pickled beets at a neighborhood picnic, I thought they were the worst-tasting thing ever. Now, I make a point of putting them on my plate if they’re offered at a salad bar. I also used to really hate vinegar-based salad dressings. Now I prefer them over the creamy ones.

Guest: Sam Payne Sam Payne shares a story

Guest: Ian Wilson, DPhil, Professor of Structural Biology, Chairman of Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, Scripps Research You probably know that the reason you have to get a flu shot every year is that there are a bunch of different flu viruses and we haven’t figured out yet out to make a vaccine that works against all of them. But llamas might be able to help. Yes, llamas.

Guests: Jennifer Ouellette, Senior Reporter, Ars Technica; Sean Carroll, Theoretical Physicist, California Institute of Technology When you’re trying to tell a good story for the silver screen, you can’t get bogged down in the scientific details. You could argue we watch TV and go to the movie theater to escape reality. But many Hollywood producers and directors do care about getting at least some of the science right. The National Academy of Sciences even has a program to put the entertainment industry in touch with top scientists and engineers to advise them.