World Toilet Day, Zimbabwe, Manipulating Memories

The Importance of World Toilet Day Guest: Diane Kellogg, EdD, Professor of Management, Bentley University, Consultant with Sustainable Sanitation Alliance and the Stockholm Environment Institute Sunday was World Toilet Day at the United Nations. And you may be wondering why on Earth we’d need a day dedicated to something we don’t give much thought here in the US. Well, it’s because the majority of people the world over either have no access to a toilet at all, or they use one that doesn’t dispose of the waste safely. The result is contaminated soil and water, widespread disease and frankly, a global sanitation crisis.  What’s Going On in Zimbabwe Guest: Todd Moss, PhD, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development Zimbabwe’s long-time president Robert Mugabe is clinging to power, despite a military takeover that placed him under house arrest and massive protests over the weekend calling for him to step down. Mugabe’s own political party voted him out of his leadership position. And yet, the 93-year-old president is refusing to relinquish the post he’s held for almost forty years.  Manipulating Memories Moves Beyond Sci-Fi Guest: Steve Ramirez, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Boston University   All of us have at least one memory we’d like to forget; somehow just wipe the slate clean of that one troubling moment so it stops haunting us. Scientists at Boston University have done it in mice. Well, they actually did the reverse: they forced a mouse to recall a bad memory on-the-spot. It’s the first step in learning how to manipulate memory. King’s Singers on 50 Years of Choral Spotlight Guests: Christopher Gabbitas and Julian Gregory, Members of The King’s Singers The King’s Singers. Is there a more legendary men’s vocal ensemble in the world? The group’s been around 50 years and to mark the occasion, they’ve released a multi-disc recording called “Gold.” While at BYU to perform last week, a couple of the group’s members sat down with BYUradio’s Steven Kapp Perry. Parent Previews – Justice League and COCO Guest: Rod Gustafson, movie reviewer, ParentPreviews.com Wanting to see a movie over the Thanksgiving holiday? Let’s find out about some options from the team at Parent Previews.com. First, it’s a superhero supergroup: Justice League. Second, a big family movie opening this week. Disney Pixar’s COCO. It’s been out for a month in Mexico already and it’s been a huge hit there. Sugar Power: Electricity from Plants Guests: Gerald Watt, PhD, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Brigham Young University; Mike Alder, Brigham Young University Technology Transfer Office It’s holiday season and the sugary treats are starting to pop up everywhere. This time of year, there will probably be a day when you give in and your body will run almost entirely on sugar. But even when we’re not eating sugar, we’re consuming it in the form of more complex sugars – we call them carbohydrates. Sugar is the fuel of life. What if we could use it to fuel the devices around us, too?