Dark Patterns in Marketing, Fake News, Northern White Rhinos, Antarctica

Dark Patterns in Marketing, Fake News, Northern White Rhinos, Antarctica

Constant Wonder - Radio Archive, Episode 380

  • Mar 11, 2020 6:00 pm
  • 1:40:11 mins

Marketing or Manipulation? Guest: Douglas Thomas, Assistant Professor, Design, Brigham Young University Font, layout, graphics, color schemes—they're all supposed to make our online experience easier. But "dark patterns," or deceptive design strategies, seek to manipulate us in ways that might be unfair or unethical.   Science of Shopping Guest: Paco Underhill, environmental psychologist, author, "Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping," and founder, Envirosell The design and layout of brick-and-mortar stores are part of their marketing plan. How to realize the ways sellers are trying to influence your behavior.  Fake News Guest: Jevin West, Assistant Professor, Information School, University of Washington; Carl Bergstrom, Professor, Biology, University of Washington How to sort through fake news and become a more critical consumer of information.  Bringing Back the Northern White Rhino Guest: Barbara Durrant, Director, Reproductive Sciences, San Diego Zoo Global It might sound like Jurassic Park, but scientists at the San Diego Zoo are using cells from a frozen zoo to try to bring back the functionally extinct northern white rhino.  Antarctica's Animals' Can Come Back to Life Guest: Byron Adams, Evolutionary Ecologist, Brigham Young University While Antarctica might seem like a barren wasteland of ice, it actually contains an incredibly resilient ecosystem of microorganisms—creatures who can essentially hibernate for decades and then come back to life when conditions are just right. Promising implications for human medicine. Galapagos Guest: Elizabeth Hennessy, Assistant Professor, History and Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author, "On the Backs of Tortoises: Darwin, the Galapagos, and the Fate of an Evolutionary Eden" The Galapagos became famous for what they taught us about evolution. But now scientists are debating efforts to preserve species that live there, which may work against the forces of evolution.