Sci Art Blog

When Humans met Neandertals

September 06 2011 by Lynn Fellman | Filed Under: Paleogenomics

Watch the video on this web site.

The video slide show "At the Crossroads: Finding Family in bones and Genes" is based on the draft sequence of the Neandertal genome published in "Science".

The show explains how fossils and genes come together for a more complete story of human evolution.

Video for AAAS: Neandertals!

One of my favorite areas of discovery in science today is the new technology for sequencing DNA from old bones. Research in this field is called paleogenomics — the study of ancient genomes.

Recent data reveals what scientists have long suspected — that our prehistoric ancestors exchanged genes with Neandertals. Exchanging genes is the scientists' polite way of saying we hooked up and made whoopie with our now extinct cousins.

The video was commissioned by AAAS for their Member Central web site. You can also see it on my site here. I wrote the script, narrated, and illustrated the show explaining how we met the Neandertals as we moved out of Africa into the fertile crescent. The area was a crossroad for many migrations over thousands of years. Our ancestors made the trek about 50,000 years ago.

My script and illustrations were based on the paper "A Draft Sequence of the Neandertal Genome", published in the journal "Science" in May, 2010.

I had a chance to talk to Savante Paabo, one of the authors of the paper during a meeting at Cold Spring Harbor Lab this summer. I asked him if he had any new data I could include in my video. He said yes, he has new data but it is being verified so he couldn't tell me. A new paper will be published soon, he said.

So the story of our encounters with archaic humans will continue as more bones are found and DNA is sequenced and papers are written — prehistoric stories that are finally being revealed.
Ira on Science and the Media

September 03 2011 by Lynn Fellman | Filed Under: Radio Interviews with Scientists
Greg Laden and I talked with Ira Flatow on live radio about the major changes in delivering science news and effectiveness of new media for science education. Mike Haubrich hosted the show.
Interview with Ira Flatow

Ira Flatow talks with Greg Laden and me about science and the media. Click on the player to hear the 40 minute interview.
- Lynn and greg laden interview ira flatow
Most know Ira Flatow as a science journalist, producer, and host of "Science Friday", broadcast on NPR every Friday afternoon. But did you know about his Minnesota connection? He was the original host and writer for the Emmy-award-winning "Newton's Apple", which originated at KTCA in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Ira agreed to talk with Greg and me from his NYC home for a live radio interview on Atheist Talk. The focus of the conversation was the major changes Ira sees in delivering science news and effectiveness of new media for science education.

Science is changing our culture and Ira had insights on the value of communicating science through the humanities.

Ira Flatow is a national science journalist working in multiple media: TV, web, blogger, national speaker and book author, and most widely known as the host of the very popular radio show "Science Friday" which is a major stopping point for science geeks on their weekly rounds.
Interview with PZ Myers

September 03 2011 by Lynn Fellman | Filed Under: Radio Interviews with Scientists
When PZ Myers, evolutionary developmental biology professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris campus is a frequent guest on Atheists Talk radio.
PZ Myers and Evo Devo Biology

Lynn Fellman talks with Evo Devo Biologist, PZ Myers about the shared genetics of a bat's wing and a mouse's leg.

Click on the player to hear the 40 minute interview.
- Radio_pz_seed
Many of us know you through your well-known Blog — pharyngula. But I'd like everyone to know that you are a working scientist, an educator, and a terrific science writer as well. So just a bit about you. Let's talk about the article. The title is "Wing of Bat and Mouses Leg" You begin by saying that the mouse and bat have the same bones to build a leg and a wing.

Dr Paul Myers is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Minnesota — at the Morris Campus. His research in his lab uses zebrafish to understand embryonic development.

I found out about PZ by reading his column for SEED magazine. The emphasis on Evolutionary developmental biology (Evo Devo) and his sense of the aesthetic caught my attention.

That's PZ Myers in the middle, Mike Haubrich, host of the show is on the left and I'm in the interviewer's chair on the right.
Genie Scott talks about Evolution

September 03 2011 by Lynn Fellman | Filed Under: Radio Interviews with Scientists
While Genie Scott was in town to present at a conference about evolution, I invited her and members of the Minnesota Citizens for Science Education to my studio.

She had been traveling nonstop, all over the country to defend evolution in the schools. I thought she may like to relax with a cup of tea before everyone showed up and she was off to give her talk.

On the right: That's Genie with a cup of tea, relaxing in the big red chair in my Minneapolis studio.
Interview with Dr. Eugenie Scott

I invited Dr. Eugenie Scott, Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), to talk about her new book and the ongoing efforts to teach science and evolution in the K-12 classroom. Click on the player to hear the 40 minute interview.
- Lynn fellman interviews genie scott
I met Genie when she was in town to speak on the topic of "Renewing America through smarter Science and Technology Policy". It was 2009 and a big year for Evolution and Science. Genie was right on top of it with speaking engagements all over the country.

With all the traveling, I thought she may like to relax with a cup of tea. So while she was in town, I invited the members of the Minnesota Citizens for Science Education to come to my studio for conversation with Genie.

Greg Laden was there and we had such a good talk I wanted to get us together again. When her book was published, "Evolution vs Creationism", I asked her to join Greg and I on the air to discuss her book, her work and the ongoing efforts to improve the teaching of evolution, and science as a way of knowing.

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