Jeff Flake, Mojave Rattlesnakes, Pediatric Trauma

Guest: Former Republican Arizona Senator Jeff Flake With the longest government shutdown in US history dragging on, recently retired Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake visits Top of Mind to discuss what has gone wrong with our political discourse and whether his public criticism of President Trump achieved what he'd hoped.

Guest: Jason Strickland, Post-doctoral Researcher, Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University One of the most toxic snakes in the North America is the Mojave Rattlesnake, common in warm western deserts. Its venom has long been interesting to scientists because of how potent it is, and also, because Mojave rattlesnakes have different types of venom depending on where they’re found. One version paralyzes the victim, causing organs to shut down. The other results in massive internal bleeding. Needless to say, both are bad news. What evolutionary biologist Jason Strickland is trying to figure out is why some snakes have one venom and some have the other.

Guest: Charles Nelson, Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Harvard Medical School Scoring an ace in tennis, or “acing” a test, are both good things. But to neuroscientists who study the effect of trauma on the developing brain, ACE has an entirely different meaning. It stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences., and in recent years, researchers have found that these adverse events, or ACEs, increase the risk of developmental delays in childhood and long-term mental and physical health problems as the child matures.

(Originally aired October 3, 2018) Guest: Dava J. Newman, PhD, Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics, MIT, faculty member in Harvard-MIT Health Sciences Technology, former NASA Deputy Administrator Within the next twenty years America hopes to send astronauts back to the Moon and then on to Mars. But before they launch, they’ll need to update their wardrobe. The spacesuits NASA has currently won’t cut it for these kinds of long missions and for walking around on Mars. So how does a space agency do a fashion makeover?

(Originally aired October 1,2018) Guest: Deirdre Clemente, Associate Professor of History at University of Nevada Las Vegas, director of Public History at UNLV. Author of Dress Casual: How College Students Redefined American Style. Sales of clothing in the US have been generally flat the last few years, but there’s one fashion category that’s booming. It’s called “athleisure” and it’s blurring the lines between the office and the gym. Men wearing slim-fitting joggers to work instead of slacks? That’s athleisure. Women dressing up a pair of yoga leggings with heels and a long sweater? Athleisure.

(Originally aired October 1, 2018) Guest: Anita Kozyrskyj, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta Childhood obesity has tripled in the past generation – the CDC says one in five school age children are obese in the US now. The causes are complex, but one culprit may be lurking under the kitchen sink: household disinfectants. A 2018 study found that babies in households that use disinfectant cleaners have more of a certain kind of bacteria in their gut –and when those babies reach the age of 3, they’re more likely to overweight.