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Science Friday

Polling Science, Gar-eat Lakes. Jan 17, 2020, Part 1

Science Friday

Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Life Sciences, Natural Sciences, Wnyc, Friday, Science

4.4 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 17 January 2020

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Science Of Polling In 2020 And Beyond In today’s fast-paced digital culture, it is more difficult than ever to follow and trust political polls. Campaigns, pollsters, and media outlets each say that their numbers are right, but can report different results. Plus, the 2016 election is still fresh in the public’s mind, when the major story was how political polling got it wrong.  But despite how people may feel about the practice, the numbers suggest that polls are still working. Even as telephone survey response rates have fallen to around 5%, polling accuracy has stayed consistent, according to a new report published by the Pew Research Center. But things get even trickier when talking about online polls.  So how can polling adapt to the way people live now, with texting, social media, and connecting online? And will the public continue to trust the numbers? Ira talks with Courtney Kennedy, director of survey research at the Pew Research Center about the science of polling in 2020 and beyond. Kennedy also told SciFri three questions you should ask when you’re evaluating a poll. Find out more. Why Native Fish Matter The fish populations of the Great Lakes have changed dramatically in the years since invasive species first arrived. Bloodsucking sea lampreys have decimated native lake trout, and tiny alewives have feasted on the eggs and young of trout and other native species. But there’s good news too, as researchers roll out solutions to help manage invasive fish populations and maintain the diversity of species.  In this next installment of the SciFri Book Club, Fish ecologist Solomon David explains why the biodiversity of the Great Lakes matters more than ever, and how to appreciate these hard-to-see freshwater fish.  Planning For Spring Waters Along The Missouri In Missouri, people are looking towards repaired levees in the hopes of reducing future flood damage. Our Bodies Are Cooling Down 98.6 F is no longer the average healthy body temperature. Is improving health the culprit? Science journalist Eleanor Cummins reports the latest in science news.

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is Science Friday. I'm Ira Flato. Later in the hour, political polling and a look at the fish

0:06.8

of the Great Lakes. But first, take the back of your hand and touch it to your forehead,

0:12.2

just like your parents might have when they were trying to figure out if you were sick. Remember,

0:15.9

just like that? Okay. Do you feel warm? Maybe a little feverish? Hopefully not. Hopefully you feel right about

0:22.7

average. But what is average for the human body temperature? 150 years ago, the answer was

0:28.7

98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, 37 degrees Celsius. I'm sure we're all thinking about that now, too, right?

0:34.8

Well, not anymore. At least in the U.S., body temperatures,

0:39.1

healthy ones have been dropping for decades, and chances are good that you two are cooler than

0:45.7

you've been told you should be. What's going on here? Here to help explain the story,

0:50.0

plus other short subjects in science. Eleanor Cummins, freelance science journalist living in New York.

0:55.5

Welcome back.

0:56.1

Thanks for having me.

0:57.4

Okay, can't still quite wrap my head around this.

1:00.0

We're getting cooler.

1:01.2

Yeah, it's crazy to me too.

1:03.2

So a new study came out this week in a journal called E-Life,

1:06.2

and some scientists at Stanford evaluated 157 years of American temperatures.

1:12.3

So they went all the way back to the Civil War, and then they have some more recent data

1:15.5

sets, and they were comparing them.

1:17.0

And it looks like with each generation, we've gotten a little bit colder.

1:20.7

So what this means is that the average guy walking around today, like yourself, would

1:25.4

probably be about 1.06 degrees Fahrenheit colder than your

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