This episode is presented by eBay.

Rob, everyone loves a deal and a bargain from time to time, don't they? Absolutely, mate. And you know where you can grab a great deal? Talk to me. Where? The eBay app. Yes, you are correct. You didn't need to talk to me. I already knew it. I love eBay. When you're buying, you can discover loads of hidden gems. there's so many items where you think I would have never found that anywhere else.

Then when you're buying, you can discover loads of hidden gems. There's so many items where you think I would have never found that anywhere else. Then when you're selling, it's so simple and most

importantly, free. It's free, Rob. When it's this easy to sell for free and there's great deals

on things you love. You can't help but say when it's eBay. It excludes vehicles and business

sellers.

Welcome to Science Talk, the weekly podcast of Scientific American for the seven days starting November 5, 2008. I'm Steve Murski. You may have heard that Barack Obama was elected president

of the United States. We'll look at science policy under Obama, plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news.

I was at a science journalist's conference in Palo Alto, California last weekend.

One of the speakers was Stanford University biologist Sharon Long.

She was a science advisor to the Obama campaign.

We sat down after her talk to discuss science in an Obama administration.

How did you wind up getting involved in the Obama campaign as a science advisor?

Well, first I began supporting Senator Obama as a candidate in the autumn of 2007.

And then in the winter, just past winter, perhaps it was February or March,

Harold Barmiss came to Stanford to give a talk.

And I saw him at his seminar, and he asked me, are you doing anything related to politics? And I said,

well, nothing except that I support Senator Obama. So he said, I would really like to talk with

you about something that I'm getting started. And we spoke briefly after that, after his talk,

and he asked me if I would join the advisory committee because he was just starting to put it together.

And so it's since that time.

I've been working with the committee.

...