Big Picture Science for 05/19/14 - We Can Rebuild It

Big Picture Science - We Can Rebuild It

What goes up must come down. But it’s human nature to want to put things back together again. It can even be a matter of survival in the wake of some natural or manmade disasters.

First, a portrait of disaster: the eruption of Tambora in 1815 is the biggest volcanic explosion in 5,000 years. It changed the course of history, although few people have heard of it.

Then, stories of reconstruction: assembling, disassembling, moving and reassembling one of the nation’s largest T. Rex skeletons, and what we learn about dinos in the process.

Also, the reanimation of Gorongosa National Park in Africa, after years of civil war destroyed nearly all the wildlife.

And a handbook for rebuilding civilization itself from scratch.

Guests:

• Gillen D’Arcy Wood – Professor of English, University of Illinois, author of Tambora: The Eruption That Changed the World
• Patrick Leiggi – Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, Montana
• Matt Carrano – Curator of dinosauria, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
• Greg Carr – Entrepreneur and philanthropist, president of Gorongosa National Park, in Mozambique
• Lewis Dartnell – Astrobiologist, University of Leicester, author of The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/We_Can_Rebuild_It

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.