Corporate corruption of higher education

Research at public universities is increasingly being driven by profit motives that undermine academic integrity and limit the free expression of ideas. What does this shift mean for higher education? On this week's show, Jennifer Washburn discussed the corporate corruption of higher education. This is a shame, since the reason most of us stay in academia is to avoid having to deal with the real world... ;) Seriously though, many research labs on public campuses have little distinction from their corporate brethren, which is not necessarily a bad thing for training industrial scientists. But, problems arise when supposedly disinterested academic research is now driven by the bottom line...data gets suppressed or fabricated, scientific personnel are intimidated, and academic departments suffer. But hey, if you dance with the devil...
science, technology

Metal casting

Wow! Frank Gombik, founder of a foundry resource in Canada (www.theworkshop.ca), created a metal casting in the shape of a brain with the Berkeley Groks title, station call letters, and the words "Radio that is mental" engraved. This is the nicest thing that anyone has done for us since... well, actually this is probably the only thing that anyone has ever done for us. ;) If you want to see some of Frank's other awesome castings, go to: http://www.theworkshop.ca/Gallery/2004/Gallery1.htm. He says that he's living the life of the starving artist right now, which makes it even more cool that he would do this on his own time. If you are interested in commissioning a casting, or obtaining a copy of the Groks cast, you can contact him at frank@theworkshop.ca.
science, technology

Science in fiction

Scientists draw their inspiration from many sources, and a common one is science fiction. On this program, Prof. Gregory Benford, physicist and SF novelist, discussed science fiction writing and its influence on scientific inquiry. I grew up reading science fiction, but can't say with certainty that it's influenced my scientific career...except for a side project to interbreed aardvarks with the Loch Ness monster. But, I mean, who hasn't tried to do that?
science, technology