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MS - Cause and cure unknown
People are living longer and better with MS, but finding a cure or even a cause of the disease remains elusive

Multiple sclerosis affects 20,000 Ohioans, and 400,000 people nationwide.  There is no known cause or cure for MS, but researchers in Northeast Ohio are making progress on both fronts.  In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair looks at the roles of stem-cells and sunshine in our struggles against MS.
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The edge of extinction
A team of researchers and wildlife officials in Ohio are fighting an epidemic that threatens to wipe out bats in the Eastern U.S.

Bats are under siege.  A killer fungus has wiped out 90% of bats in parts of the Eastern U.S. and this year the epidemic hit Ohio.  Researchers and wildlife officials here are scrambling to save the remaining bats. In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair reports from the front-lines in the fight against White Nose Syndrome.
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Hunter-gatherer Web design
Much like our ancestors tracked game for survival, information foraging and scent tracking theories explain how we find information on the Web.

With the world at our fingertips, it’s hard to imagine life before the Internet.  But modern Web surfers and our hunter-gatherer ancestors have more in common than you might think when it comes to tracking down information. In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St. Clair looks at how Web designers borrow ideas from anthropology to make our wired world work better.
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Archiving nature's diversity
The new curator at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History has a passion for mining collections for hidden treasures

The Victorians had an unbridled passion for collecting critters.  As a result, thousands of dried bugs have sat since the 1800’s in museum basements around the world. And now Gavin Svenson, the new curator of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, is bringing thousands of century-old specimens of one insect in particular to Cleveland, making Ohio a world center for research on the enigmatic praying mantis. In this week’s Exploradio -  the science and art of archiving nature’s diversity.
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Advancing advanced energy
There's an uphill battle for emerging energy companies competeing with fossil fuels both in the marketplace and in government largesse

A new report by a new organization says 25,000 Ohio jobs were created during the recession in industries related to alternative energy. 

The group Advanced Energy Economy Ohio set up shop last September.

It’s the local chapter of a national organization trying to pull together, and lobby for, industries ranging from solar and wind, to smart grid technology designed to handle renewable energy sources, and even new forms of nuclear power. Kimberly Gibson heads up the Ohio chapter.
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Harvesting the energy of motion
An invention born on the Appalacian Trail harvests the energy of the human stride, the wave-power of Lake Erie, and the vitality of Tremont.

Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood is known for its trendy galleries, taverns, and restaurants.  The artsy district is home to Iron Chef Michael Symon’s Lolita and Rocco Whalen’s Fahrenheit -  and a technology start-up that feeds on the vitality of the neighborhood. In this week’s Exploradio, we meet an entrepreneur whose invention harvests energy while he hikes the streets of Tremont.
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Sound and emotion
Researchers at the Northeast Ohio Medical University are unlocking the secrets of our emotional responses to sound

A beautiful piece of music or a baby’s laugh can make us feel good. While scary sounds make us shake in our boots.  Scientists are discovering how the brain decides whether a sound should bring a smile, or makes your pulse race with fear, and how the brain can tell the difference. 
In this week’s Exploradio, we explore the connections between sound and emotion
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Akron's Mecca for medical innovation
The goal of the Austen Bioinnovation Institute in Akron is to make the city as famous for medical innovation as it was for tires

Emergency response training, medical device development, polymer biomaterials…
These are a few of the areas the Austen Bioinnovation Institute in Akron hopes to put its stamp on, as the 3-year-old think-tank settles into its new $13 million headquarters.  In this week’s Exploradio, we explore plans to make Akron the Mecca of medical innovation.
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New renewable energy
An innovative use of what's normally a green-house gas may become part of Ohio's renewable energy future

Regulations of Ohio’s oil and gas industry grabbed most of the headlines in last month’s passage of sweeping new energy legislation.  But Governor Kasich didn’t visit a drilling platform for the signing ceremony; he set up his desk in the basement of a small Akron startup. In this week’s Exploradio, we explore a new type of renewable energy in Ohio.
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Mosquito love
A Wooster researcher is an expert in insect sex, and is using that knowledge to fight a potentially deadly pest

Scientists are exploring ever more sophisticated ways to fight our oldest foe.  One Wooster researcher thinks the key to controlling mosquitoes can be found by unlocking the secrets of their reproduction. In this week’s Exploradio we meet a mosquito ‘love doctor' who studies the battle of the sexes on the molecular level.
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NASA powers Cleveland's clean bus
Hydrogen can send a space shuttle into orbit, and power a bus around Cleveland in a new partnership between RTA and NASA Glenn.

Hydrogen is the fuel NASA used to put people in space aboard the shuttle.  Now NASA Glenn plans to use it to move people around on the ground in Cleveland.  The plan is to install a hydrogen fueling station at the RTA garage in East Cleveland that will power a fuel cell bus.  Some people are worried about the safety of storing hydrogen at the facility.  In this week’s Exploradio  -  We discuss hydrogen fuel cells with Valerie Lyons, head of the in-space propulsion unit at NASA Glenn.
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A tour of maker culture
'Makers' are part of a new movement that combines high-tech with hands-on, as people rediscover the joys of making things.

Desktop publishing revolutionized the world of printing in the 1980’s. In the 90’s, digital recording changed the way music is made. Now, 3-D printers are making desktop manufacturing a reality.

In this week’s Exploradio, we take a tour of maker culture in Northeast Ohio.  It’s a movement that combines high tech with old fashioned do-it-yourself creativity.
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The battery's new brain
A young entreprenuer in Akron is building a better way to control the flow of power in and out of clean energy batteries

The batteries that store power in electric cars, electric lift trucks, or solar arrays can be … finicky.  Without proper care, batteries can drain rather than store power - they can fail, or even catch fire. In this week’s Exploradio, we meet a young entrepreneur whose product teaches batteries to behave.
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Where does it hurt?
A veteran nurse discovers that her experience as a mother of an autistic child helps her care for children unable to speak because of surgery

Scientific research is a process of discovery and refinement, and for a nurse at Akron Children’s Hospital, research reveals a better way to care for children in pain.    In this week’s Exploradio -  we meet a veteran nurse turned researcher who uses pictures when words fail.
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Back to dust to dust
The Wilderness Center operates the country's only nature preserve/cemetery. It combines habitat restoration with a final resting place for nature lovers

Innovation can sometimes mean taking away, rather than adding, technology.  One example is the growing trend of natural burial.  It’s a return to the practices of previous generations  -  no chemicals, metal caskets, or concrete vaults.  In this week’s Exploradio we visit a nature preserve in rural Ohio that’s funded by final wishes.
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Heart disease and our inner ecology
New research at the Cleveland Clinic shows for the first time that what happens in our gut determines a healthy or diseased heart

Cholesterol remains the leading indicator of heart disease. But a study by the Cleveland Clinic is putting the spotlight on a different cause of the killer. And for the first time, the research shows that what happens in your gut plays a leading role in what happens to your heart . In this week’s Exploradio - the link between heart disease and our inner ecology.
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