Secure Voting, Perovskite, Teen Food, Insurance, Harper Lee

Secure Voting  Guest: Dan Wallach, Professor of Computer Science and a Rice Scholar in the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University  STAR-vote: An ideal electronic voting system that solves the security and accuracy dilemma of previous voting methods.  “The current electronic voting systems are not really engineered with security in mind,” says Wallach.  “An ideal voting system has to be easy to use even for a variety of people with different disabilities,” says Wallach. “But likewise, an ideal voting machine has to be something that works for the poll workers. And it has to work for the security auditors. And it has to serve the candidates by providing evidence that is meaningful to them. And it has to serve the public by providing evidence that is meaningful to them. And on top of all of that, it has to be affordable.” Perovskite  Guest: Michael Graetzel, Director of the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces at the Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne  The cost of solar energy has been dropping rapidly in recent years, as scientists find better, cheaper ways to build panels that can convert sunlight to electricity.  Traditionally, those panels have been coated in silicon, but there’s increasing excitement over a mineral found in the Earth’s mantle called “perovskite” which seems to be much better at absorbing sunlight. These minerals have been known about for a hundred years, but their photovoltaic properties were fairly recently discovered by accident when a team at the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces at the Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne used colorful perovskite crystals as a molecular dye on solar cell.  Graetzel says that perovskite “comes as a gift from God. The crystals that are formed are unusually pure. Silicon purification are very costly. Perovskite comes out very pure.—very few materials have that property.”  Teen Brains and Food  Chad Jensen, BYU Psychology Professor  More than a third of American children and adolescents are overweight or obese. The CDC says the primary reason is “caloric imbalance”: kids are consuming more calories than they burn. That seems fairly obvious, but the solutions aren’t as simple. New research out of BYU’s MRI laboratory suggests that teenagers can train their brains to choose healthier food options.  “Our results suggest that physical activity is a key part. Even if one is in the overweight or obese category, physical activity is reliable. The study kind of underscores the importance of physical activity,” says Jensen.  Insurance Coverage  Guests: Mitch Vilos, Personal Injury Attorney  Ann Fadel, Farmer’s Insurance Agent  The moment of impact in a car accident may be the most terrifying, but it’s certainly not the end of the pain you’re likely to experience—particularly if the accident is your fault. You’ll wrangle with your insurance company. The other drive will too. You’ll inevitably be surprised or frustrated at what your insurance actually covers. There are probably gaps in your policy you never thought to ask about.  And then, you might even get a call from the other driver’s attorney. Though personal injury lawsuits are declining, there were still more than 60,000 of them filed in U.S. Courts in 2013 with an average payout of $60,000 for the plaintiff.   “You just don’t want to be without coverage—it’s so dangerous. The most dangerous things we do as citizens of the United States is get into a car,” says Mitch.  The New Harper Lee Novel  Guest: Chris Crowe, BYU English Professor  Picture the scene in black and white. A young Gregory Peck, in suit and spectacles, sits on a porch swing talking to a distressed little girl named Scout. Despite the popularity of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee never published another book. Well, until now.  To Kill a Mockingbird remains to be a required reading for junior and high school students across the country. “Sometimes teachers are looking for stories that their readers can connect with. They have a character that is more easily identifiable for a teen reader,” says Crowe.