“Black Software” Book, Mucus. Oct 25, 2019, Part 2

Science Friday

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Natural Sciences, Wnyc, Science, Friday, Life Sciences

4.4 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 October 2019

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When the World Wide Web was first being developed, African American software engineers, journalists and entrepreneurs were building search engines, directories, and forums to connect and bring on black web users and communities. In his book Black Software: The Internet and Racial Justice, from the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter, Charlton McIlwain tells the stories of these individuals. McIlwain also discusses the role these technologies can play in racial justice including how digital data can become segregated and the role social media platforms can play in offline social movements. Plus, mucus gets a bad rap for its “ick” factor. But without it, you couldn’t blink, swallow, smell, or taste. You couldn’t digest your food, either. In fact, you wouldn’t even exist. The slimy material is the miraculous reason for our survival. Mucus is a ubiquitous natural goo. Jellyfish and hagfish have it; corals, which spend 40% of their daily energy intake producing mucus, are coated with it; even vegetables ooze it. The substance is built from tiny thread-like polymers that look like bottle brushes, she says, and that backbone is studded with sugars called glycans. Those sugars appear to be one of the key ingredients that allows mucus to pacify problematic pathogens, according to a new study from Ribbeck’s group. The work is in the journal Nature Microbiology. In this segment, Ribbeck talks with Ira about the molecular complexities of mucus, and the many wondrous qualities of this potent and protective natural goo.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Science Friday. I'm Ira Plato. Coming up, the magnificence of mucus. Yes, it really is
0:06.3	amazing stuff. You will come away with a new appreciation of it. It's not what you think.
0:12.7	But first, in the late 80s and early 90s, when the World Wide Web was first being developed,
0:19.0	all sorts of hardware and software were being created for the
0:22.9	new network. And there were groups of African American engineers and hobbyists working to connect
0:28.8	and bring black communities online. The Universal Black Pages was one product, a directory of
0:35.5	black content. AfroLink was a software package that was like a Wikipedia database of information about Africa.
0:43.3	In his new book, my next guest tells the stories of these black pioneers of the early Internet,
0:48.3	and he also talks about how this all connects to present-day digital networks,
0:53.3	like Black Twitter and Black Lives Matter,
0:56.9	hashtag.
0:58.2	Charlton McElwain is a professor of media, culture, and communication at New York University.
1:04.0	He's also author of this book, Black Software, the Internet and Racial Justice, from the AfroNet
1:10.0	to Black Lives Matter.
1:12.1	And you can read an excerpt of the book on our website at Science Friday.com slash black software.
1:18.9	Welcome to Science Friday.
1:20.2	Thank you.
1:21.2	And I want to ask our listeners, if they listened, if they use the Universal Black Pages or AfroLink in the 90s, give us a call if you did.
1:29.0	Our number is 844-724-8255, 844-Sight-4-Sight-Fry, or tweet us at SciFry.
1:35.8	If you ever use the Universal Black Pages or AfroLink in the 90s.
1:40.7	Charles, let me begin with your book looks at black engineers and developers and hobbyists who were active when the World Wide Web was first coming online.
1:49.4	What got you interested in these stories?
	...

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