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Science Friday

Music And Technology, Social Critters, Sleep And Genetics. Oct 19, 2018, Part 2

Science Friday

Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science, Life Sciences, Wnyc, Natural Sciences, Friday

4.4 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 October 2018

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Mark Ramos Nishita, more popularly known as Money Mark from the Beastie Boys, has created the “Echolodeon.” The custom-built machine converts original piano rolls, created from actual performances by greats like Debussy and Eubey Blake, into MIDI signals routed through modern-day synthesizers. Step aside, honeybees, there’s a new pollinator in town. We talk about the intricate life cycle of bumblebees, whose queens spend most of their life cycles solitary and underground, but then emerge in the spring to single-handedly forage for food, build a nest, and start colonies that eventually grow to number hundreds. Researchers study the behavior of bees and other social insects, and why ant, bee, and spider societies are more than just an amalgam of individuals—but collective behaviors that emerge from the masses. How did you sleep last night? If you’re one of the estimated one in three American adults who gets less than seven hours of sleep per night, you may not want to answer that one. As researchers cement the connection between sleep and health, others are still asking why some people have fewer problems sleeping, and others recover more easily from lost sleep. We'll talk about where our genes come into the picture when it comes to sleep.

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is Science Friday. I'm Ira Plato coming to you from the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks, California.

0:11.0

I'd like you to consider Beethoven's piano sonata number five. This beautiful piece of music may not seem on the face of it to have much to do with technology,

0:31.5

but the development of the piano forte, as they called it back then, was a hugely influential techy innovation, allowing pianists

0:40.2

to play expressively soft or loud and to fill a hall with the sounds of the keys.

0:46.5

The innovation, of course, didn't stop there.

0:49.0

For example, Dr. Robert Moog brought whole orchestras and strange space-age sounds into people's homes

0:55.5

with the Moog synthesizer, which you have right there on our stage.

0:59.0

We'll be using it in just a little bit.

1:00.9

And my next guest is a musical innovator in his own right, a tinker and maker who rips

1:07.2

apart keyboards and electronics and then rebuilds them in brainy new ways

1:12.0

and he's going to show us one of his creations tonight.

1:15.8

I know you've heard his music before too.

1:18.2

He opened up our program today.

1:20.3

He scored David Chang's new TV show,

1:22.7

Ugly Delicious.

1:24.2

His sounds can be heard on Beck's single,

1:27.3

Where It's at.

1:31.9

Yeah.

1:33.7

And he was most famously part of the Beastie Boys.

1:37.1

Please welcome.

1:37.9

You know him as Money Mark.

1:39.1

Welcome to Science Friday.

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