[Below is the original script. But a few changes may have been made during the recording of this audio podcast.]

A manmade volcano erupting continuously to shade the Earth until greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere are brought down. Thousands of mirrors boosted into geosynchronous orbit to block sunlight. Crewless ships wander the oceans spewing saltwater into the air to increase cloud cover.

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While the total mortality rate from unintentional injury increased in the US by 11 percent from 1999-2005, far larger increases were seen in some subgroups analyzed by researchers. Their analysis found that white women between 45 and 64 years old experienced a 230 percent increase in the rate of poisoning mortality over the study period. White men in this age group experienced an increase of 137 percent.

A new study may help end the controversy surrounding Lamarckian experimentalist Paul Kammerer. The study suggests that far from being a fraud, Kammerer may have discovered the field of epigenetics.

Dietary supplements claiming to help postmenopausal women with bone health may not be doing what they say, according to new research.

A Canadian researcher wrestles with bighorn mountain sheep to gauge their personalities. He is part of a team that traps the animals in a plywood enclosure on a mountaintop in the Rockies. The research team are trying to figure out if personality type has anything to do with how long a mountain sheep lives or how many offspring it produces.

Some of the first information about how fat causes hypertension have been identified by researchers who say the findings should one day help identify which obese people -- and maybe some thin ones too -- are at risk for hypertension and which drugs would work best for them.

Researchers are reporting development of a new electronic sensor that shows promise as a faster, less expensive, and more practical alternative than tests now used to detect DNA. Such tests are done for criminal investigation, disease diagnosis, and other purposes. The new lab-on-a-chip test could lead to wider, more convenient use of DNA testing, the researchers say.

To promote the common good, should helpers be rewarded, or should free riders be punished? Although the bulk of previous research has fingered punishment as the best enforcer, a new study published online today in Science found that rewards are more effective . [More]

Researchers have introduced the power of nanodiamonds as a novel gene delivery technology that combines key properties in one approach: enhanced delivery efficiency along with outstanding biocompatibility. The researchers engineered surface-modified nanodiamond particles that successfully and efficiently delivered DNA into mammalian cells. The delivery efficiency was 70 times greater than that of a conventional standard for gene delivery. The new hybrid material could impact many facets of nanomedicine.

Researchers analyzing YouTube "knockout" videos discovered that moderate-to-severe brain stem trauma stimulates a characteristic, involuntary rigid-forearm posture, dubbed the fencing response. This response was duplicated in animal models under experimental conditions. The presence of a visible, objective symptom of brain injury could be of use to athletic trainers and coaches in making return-to-play decisions after an athlete suffers an impact to the head.