
Focus on Technology—reported and hosted by WVXU’s Ann Thompson—looks at important scientific advancements and tech news trends, as well as their many intersections with other areas and issues in our society today like medicine, politics, entertainment and the environment. Airing weekly on 91.7 FM, Focus on Technology takes on a range of fascinating topics, from archaeology to alternative fuels, every Monday in Thompson’s engaging, in-depth style, and covers the cutting edge of research and development as well as forecasts from experts about where we’ll be in a few years with the future technology of tomorrow.
From cute animals to social justice, this NPR podcast produced by WVXU brings its listeners engrossing and relevant content about the world of high tech that we’re living in, like:
· Earlham College archaeologists using drones and 3D mapping to survey the landscape for potential sites of Viking artifacts in Iceland;
· fairness in the art world with a discussion of NFTs as a mechanism of equity for marginalized and minority artists;
· and the use of RFID, or radio frequency identification, chips to monitor activity and interaction between penguins at the new little blue or “fairy” penguin exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo—the only such use of RFID technology on penguins in the world.
In political tech news, Thompson illuminates the unexpected but alarming links between ideological extremism, domestic terror and nuclear power plants. In the field of medicine, she takes a close look at what only a few years ago would have seemed like future technologies—laparoscopic surgeries performed on fetuses in utero to repair spina bifida at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital; new research on peanut allergies at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; and advancements by researchers at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in the care of patients with respiratory distress, allowing them to “breathe” through their intestines.
Focus on Technology is also available online and wherever NPR podcasts are found—on the NPR One app, streaming services, and a wide variety of smart devices.
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At least one Cincinnati-based company sees it as a solution to prevent birds from flocking on its Downtown building.
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According to researchers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, a handheld device approved to treat migraines appears to also boost alertness for the sleep…
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iSpace, a STEM non-profit, and Gorman Heritage Farm, a working farm teaching kids about the science of growing and preparing food, have joined forces to…
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According to the Harvard Kennedy School's Matthew Bunn, "For whatever reason, for a certain brand of right-wing extremists in the United States and…
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Business at the Springfield Beckley Airport is taking off with a growing list of electric flying car companies signed on to test their aircraft. Area…
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Earlham College researchers have returned to Iceland with a variety of tech tools to help Icelanders learn more about their Nordic past.Computer scientist…
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Doctors are gradually learning sparing the nipple in breast cancer surgery is better for the patient for cosmetic, sexual and mental health reasons. Ohio…
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Why do the eye-straining work of sorting pottery at an archaeological dig site when a computer will do it for you? Researchers at Northern Arizona…
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Inspired in part by aquatic animals who can absorb oxygen, a Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center researcher has developed an innovative way to…
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Residents of the Springdale retirement community Maple Knoll Village have been busier than usual lately. They've been onstage with Lion King performers in…