Featured image: Liquid acrylic artwork poured and frozen, leaving a record of its motion in the permanent solid. (Courtesy Nancy Wood)

We are so fortunate to welcome author and material scientist Dr. Mark Miodownik to our show this week! A professor at University College London, Mark runs a lab studying self-healing materials that can make the future more efficient—but in his spare time he writes books! Hear about his newest release, “Liquid Rules,” which covers the wondrous world of liquids through the lens of an airplane ride (kerosene, ink, and caffeine to name a few…). Mark flew to New York to meet us for this weekend chat, and he brings his sense of humor and storytelling from the book to his live persona. Listen carefully for an amazing take on how we “solidify” as we grow old. Thanks to Princeton Public Library and Kelsey Ockert for setting up the interview and book giveaway!

In other news:

• Breathing in smoke from forest fires can have lifelong deleterious effects, even if you’re in utero at the time. A study of pregnant Singaporeans in 1997 revealed their exposed children were stunted as a result.
• A new upgrade for the LIGO gravitational wave observatory, called Advanced LIGO+, will make the instrument seven times more sensitive and maybe even enable one observation per day (vs. 11 up until now).
• Slavery still occurs in the modern world, often at sites that are distinguishable on satellite images. Scientists are trying to automate analysis to hunt down potential slavery operations and send in ground personnel to investigate.

The playlist can be found on WPRB.com or below.