Microbes and Art, Science Books 2018. Dec 7, 2018, Part 2

Science Friday

Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science, Life Sciences, Wnyc, Natural Sciences, Friday

4.4 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2018

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Here at Science Friday, our jobs involve reading a lot of science books every year. We have piles and piles of them at the office. Hundreds of titles about biology and art and technology and space, and sometimes even sci-fi. Now, the time has come for our annual roundup of the books we couldn’t forget. We have plenty of picks from you, our listeners, as well as from our panel of expert guests: Stephanie Sendaula of Library Journal Reviews, Deborah Blum of MIT’s Knight Science Journalism Program, and Dr. Eric Topol of Scripps Research. See our favorite science books of 2018 here. Fungi, bacteria and lichens can grow on paintings, monuments, and other types of artwork. They feed on different pigments, oils, and canvas. In a study out this week in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers analyzed a 17th century painting and found microbes that could degrade and others that could protect the painting. Robert Kesseler, the Director of the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (who was not a part of that study), discusses why microbes like to munch on paintings and what can be done to protect these works of art.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there, Ira here. You know, the end of the year is right around the corner, and we want to hear your favorite science stories of 2018.
0:08.6	What affected you the most? Or was there an interesting discovery that you're still talking about?
0:14.9	We want to hear from you. Record a voice memo with your name, city, and what your top story is, and email it to Voices at
0:22.8	Science Friday.com. That's a voice memo, your name, city, and what the top story is, email it
0:28.8	to Voices at Science Friday.com. This is Science Friday. I'm Ira Flato. Coming up,
0:36.4	our picks for best science books of the year. Looking for that special gift for someone who likes to read books. Well, we want to hear what you have to suggest. Also, you can tell us by calling us. You can make the call, but only if you make the call. 844-724-8255.
0:56.1	That's 844.
0:59.0	SciTalk or tweet us at SciFri.
1:02.9	First, when you go to the museum to see a popular exhibit,
1:05.7	sometimes you have to fight through the crowds, right,
1:07.7	to get up front to see all the details.
1:13.5	But there's another group also scurrying around trying to get a closer look at these pieces of art.
1:14.6	The microbes, fungi, bacteria, even lichens like to grow on paintings and monuments, and they can
1:21.8	do damage to these artwork.
1:23.6	So how do you protect a painting from these microbes?
1:26.9	Well, you call in a biologist, and that's my next guest.
1:30.2	Robert Kessler is a cell biologist, director of the Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute in Suitland, Maryland.
1:37.7	Welcome to Science Friday.
1:39.4	Thank you, Iris.
1:40.4	A pleasure to be here.
1:41.3	Oh, it's nice to have you.
1:42.7	There are microbes crawling around everywhere.
	...

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