Are We Alone - Written in Code

Genes – what are they good for? Absolutely… something. But not everything. Your “genius” genes need to be turned on – and your environment determines that. Find out how to unleash your inner-Einstein, and what scientists learned from studying the famous physicist’s brain.

Also, the bizarre notion that your children inherit not just your genes, but also the consequences of your habits – smoking, stress, diet, and other behaviors that turn the genes on.

Plus Francis Collins on affordable personal genomes, and a man who decoded his own DNA in under a week.

Listen to individual segments here:
Part 1 - David Shenk (part 1)
Part 2 - Dean Falk
Part 3 - David Shenk (part 2)
Part 4 - Francis Collins
Part 5 - Stephen Quake

Are We Alone - Written in Code: Dean Falk

Part 2 of Written in Code, featuring Dean Falk, anthropologist and Senior Scholar at the School For Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Are We Alone - Life of Brain

We should award frequent travel miles to your brain. After all, it’s evolved a long way from the days of guiding brachiation from tree-to-tree to become the three pounds of web-surfing, Sudoku-playing powerhouse it is today. But a suite of technologies may expand human brains further still.

From smart pills to nano-wires: discover the potential – and peril – of neuro-engineering to repair and enhance our cognitive function.

Also, how our brains got so big in the first place: a defense of the modern diet.

Listen to individual segments here:
Part 1 - Bill Leonard
Part 2 - Michael Gazzaniga
Part 3 - Ian Pearson
Part 4 - Steven Rose
Part 5 - Ed Boyden

Are We Alone - Life of Brain: Bill Leonard

Part 1 of Life of Brain, featuring Bill Leonard, department chairman and professor of Anthropology at Northwestern University.

Are We Alone - Life of Brain: Michael Gazzaniga

Part 2 of Life of Brain, featuring Michael Gazzaniga, neuroscientist and director of the University of California - Santa Barbara’s SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind. Author of Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique.

Are We Alone - Life of Brain: Ian Pearson

Part 3 of Life of Brain, featuring Ian Pearson, futurologist at Futurizon.

Are We Alone - Life of Brain: Steven Rose

Part 4 of Life of Brain, featuring Steven Rose, biologist and director of the Brain and Behavior Research Group at the Open University in London. Author of The Future of the Brain: The Promise and Perils of Tomorrow’s Neuroscience.

Are We Alone - Life of Brain: Ed Boyden

Part 5 of Life of Brain, featuring Ed Boyden, neuroscientist at MIT’s Media Lab and Department of Biological Engineering.

Eureka! - Stanislas Dehaene

Part 5, the final segment of Eureka!, featuring Stanislas Dehaene, cognitive neruoscientist at the the Collège de France in Paris, and author of Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention.

Seth Gets Wired

On the program "What Were You Thinking?" the company Neurofocus captures Seth's brain waves by electroencephalography (EEG) to determine whether he is paying attention. Let us know what you think the new field of "Neuromarketing..."

Seth with Quentin Baldwin at Neurofocus

Seth's brain is found to be operational

Seth models his new line of hip-hop headgear

Sam Wang writes about appearing on the show

Sam Wang was interviewed by Seth on the recent "Building Better Brains" show, and describes his interview and the show in his blog "Welcome to Your Brain".

Barbara Vance