Scientific American's 60-Second Science podcasts
December 7, 2006: Resonant request for research respect
December 20, 2006: Even clean humans can smell like dogs

Vocabulary:
December 7:
Steve Mursky
this'll just take a minute
date
to live in infamy (audio link)
to skip to
United States
forces
Japan
to reach
temporary headquarters
Misaki Marine Biological Station
note on the door
to read
in part
history
Woods Hole
Puget Sound
to take care of
to protect
possibility
continuation
peaceful
research
to destroy
weapons
war instruments
to save
civil
equipment
to be through with
job
to notify
scientific home
signed,
the last one to go
turned out to have been
Katsuma Dan
educated at
University of Pennsylvania
half century
to go on to
to make important contributions
fertilization
development
scientific
legacy
poignant plea for
respect
research		 December 20:
Karen Hopkin
they say that
good science
just smells right
and then there's
funny
in this case
peculiar
researchers
Berkeley
to announce
humans
noses
to track a scent
finding
stupendously
odd
although
to give one pause
olfactory apparatus
generally
second rate
furry friends
unusual
report
Neuroscience
experimental design
to lay out an odor trail
grassy field
to get down on all fours
to track a scent
willing participants
to be blindfolded
to be made to wear
heavy gloves
earplugs
subjects
slower
hounds on a hunt
meter
trail
to crawl through a meadow
to consider
alluring
aroma
chocolate
pile
brownies
at the end
Litvenenko murder
radioactive
skullduggery

Listening comprehension questions:
Dec. 7:
1. Which date will "live in infamy", and why? Who is speaking in this historical recording?
2. What was significant about the date September 2, 1945 in this report?
3. What was the main point of the note left on the door of the marine biological station, and who was it addressed to?
4. Based on what you heard in this report, do you think the ones who found the note granted the request? Why?
5. Give two examples of incorrect grammar in the note that show it was written by a non-native speaker of English.

Dec. 20:
6. How does the reporter distinguish between two common meanings of the English word "funny"? Also, explain the "double entendre" in the title of the podcast. (What is "double entendre"?)
7. What does "might give one pause" mean? What pun (relating to dogs) is Hopkin making when she says this?
8. What was this research project trying to prove?
9. How did the researchers make sure that the subjects didn't use their other senses to complete the task?
10. How many human subjects participated in the study, and how did they compare to dogs doing a similar task?

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