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Cleveland's ion engines power NASA's deep space dreams
Cleveland's NASA Glenn Research Center is building the ion engines that will capture an asteroid and someday take humans into deep space

NASA has set a goal to capture an asteroid and bring it to the moon for study. The engines to power that mission are being built at Cleveland’s  NASA Glenn Research Center. In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair explores the technology behind NASA’s deep space dreams.
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Cellular alchemy turns skin into brain cells
Stem cells may not be the only route for individualized therapy as new research shows a more direct route for cellular reprogramming.

Researchers in Cleveland have achieved a breakthrough in what’s known as cellular reprogramming - taking one type of cell and turning it into another type. They’re now able to turn skins cells directly into brain cells. In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair looks at how the discovery could be used to treat paralyzing diseases.
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For the love of vinyl: Tracking the way to Cleveland on Record Store Day
Vinyl records are seeing a resurgence thanks to a new generation of audiophiles, and new fixes to manufacturing LP's

To mark the seventh annual International Record Store Day, WKSU is offering you this encore presentation of Jeff St. Clair Exploradio on two Cleveland organizations that are working to infuse vinyl records with 21st technology:

The home of the Rock Hall has more than a museum to support its claim as a music city.  Cleveland also has one of the few remaining companies making vinyl records for a growing fan base of old-school audiophiles. In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair looks at how Gotta Groove Records keeps LP’s spinning in the digital age.
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Simulators replace patients and every body benefits
Today's surgeons are learning their craft on hi-tech simulators instead of practicing on real patients, and every body feels better

New doctors are spending a lot more time in front of computers than they did a decade ago. That’s because they’re learning new surgical skills using sophisticated teaching modules, before they practice on a real patient. In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair visits a Cleveland company that is the world leader in developing surgical simulators.    
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The church of innovation
Inspiration is built in to the Cleveland headquarters of one of the nation's top industrial design firms

A Cleveland company housed in a historic church is refining the art of product design. Over the past four decades Nottingham Spirk has designed everything from sweepers to medical devices, inspired by a revered teacher and profound architecture.  In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair visits a University Circle landmark that is home to one of the country’s top industrial design firms.
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Additive manufacturing comes of age
An old warehouse in Youngstown is home to the country's first manufacturing research institute under a new private/public initiative

A federal program to boost manufacturing in the U.S. is hitting the ground first in Northeast Ohio.  Youngstown’s National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute is the first of fifteen regional manufacturing centers being created under a White House initiative. In this Week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair explores the future of making things.
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Engineering a Chiari breakthrough
Engineers in Akron are developing the new science of neuro-hydrodynamics to better understand a rare and painful brain disorder

A pair of mechanical engineers at the University of Akron is studying the mechanics of the human body to help fight a rare brain disease. In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair takes us inside the new Chiari Research Center.
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Big Data and the new era in healthcare
A Cleveland start-up is developing tools to help hospital systems chart a course through a turbulent sea of healthcare data

The healthcare industry is undergoing huge changes as the Affordable Care Act introduces new business models that reward efficiencies. The shift to ‘outcome-based payments’ has hospital administrators experimenting with new tools to help cut costs. In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair looks at how a Cleveland start-up is harnessing ‘big data’ to guide the way in to the new era of healthcare.
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The future of seeing
A breakthrough lens design at Case Western Reserve University is based on the human eye and could change the world of optics

The human eye is a marvel of nature, but scientists in Cleveland have, for the first time, created a bio-inspired lens that can mimic nature’s design.  The new polymer lens is also being manufactured locally. In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair explores a technology that could change the way we see the world.  
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Citizens take to fields, forests, streams to do real science
Ohio Volunteers collaborate in a wide range of research projects in the growing citizen-science movement

Across the country, millions of non-scientists are conducting research through citizen-science initiatives. It’s a growing movement that is expanding the scope of research. In Cleveland, citizen scientists help monitor the health of streams and forests, track the spread of invasive species and, as WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair finds in this week’s Exploradio, help add to our understanding of urban wildlife.
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Northeast Ohio's biomedical cash infusion
The Greater Cleveland area leads the Midwest in the amount of money invested and the number of biomed companies attracting investor capital

Another sign that Northeast Ohio’s economy is on the rebound is the jump in investor capital flowing into the region’s biomedical sector. Greater Cleveland now leads the Midwest in the number of new biomedical companies created and the amount of money pouring into them.  Part of the reason is the work of BioEnterprise, a business attraction initiative founded in 2002. In this week’s Exploradio, instead of looking at research itself, we look at the money behind the research with the interim president of BioEnterprise Aram Nerpouni.  
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Vaccines 2.0
A breakthrough in vaccine technology could provide protection against cancer, arthritis, and AIDS, but funding new vaccine testing is a major hurdle

The Centers for Disease Control expects 145 million flu shots will be given out this season.   Those vaccines -- for the flu and more than a dozen diseases  from polio to hepatitis -- are a big part of our strategy for disease prevention. But developing vaccines for diseases like cancer, arthritis, or AIDS is proving more difficult. In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair finds that a new type of vaccine technology could change all that.
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Inside NASA Glenn
NASA Glenn's new director Jim Free is refining the center's core areas of technical expertise and expanding its connection to Northeast Ohio

Cleveland is home to one of 10 national research centers run by NASA.  NASA Glenn’s main mission is to support the agency’s goals of exploring deep space, maintaining the international space station and putting people back on the moon.  But in this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair finds the biggest impact of NASA Glenn lands closer to home.
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The dinosaur revolution
There's a revolution in dinosaur diversity -  new species are being named all the time, thanks in part to a  decades old movie.

Even though they've been extinct for 65 million years, scientists on average name a new dinosaur every week.   In this week’s Exploradio  -   we meet one man who’s added his share of discoveries to the modern dinosaur revolution.
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A new day at the zoo
The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is saying goodbye to its long-time director Steve Tayor who shares some of the changes he's seen over the decades

The long-time director of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo steps down next week after nearly a quarter-century of running the park.   In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair talks with Steve Taylor about how changes at the zoo during his tenure reflect a changing world.  
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Plug-in paint
A Medina start-up's unique electro-luminescent paint process puts a glow on custom hot-rods, cycles, and guitars

A Northeast Ohio startup has developed a plug-in paint that can light up any solid surface.  It’s being tested now for the growing custom hot-rod and motorcycle market. In this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair looks at how a local inventor’s determination brought his dream of electro-luminescent paint to light.
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