Fish Stories

The largest seafood market in the world, Tokyo's Tsukiji, awakens early as fish are auctioned off to impatient buyers who inspect the soon-to-be sushi with flashlights and machetes. Reporter Kelly Jones has this audio postcard. (5 minutes)

Out to Sea

Star Search

As scientists around the world rush to find out more about our universe, Living on Earth takes a look at one new telescope in South America. Spectrum Radio's Jean Kumagai reports on the new Apex Telescope located in the Chilean Andes.

Listening to Alaska

In an empty white room in a museum in Fairbanks, composer John Luther Adams has created a soundscape of geological and environmental scenes of Alaska. Amy Mayer reports.

Redefining a Region

There's change afoot in the nation's forests. Timber companies have begun making more money on land sales than timber sales, and developers are quick to buy remote tracts for second home and vacation resorts. Living on Earth's Ashley Ahearn takes a look at what this national trend means for the Moosehead Lake region in Northern Maine.

Recycling Nuclear Waste

The Bush administration wants to reverse a 30-year policy against reprocessing nuclear waste. The costly process was banned because it produces plutonium, which could be used to make weapons. But the government says new technology could make this "recycling" safe. Living on Earth's Jeff Young reports. (5:00)

Lost Mountain

Tóm lược bài nghe:
Author Erik Reece chronicles a year in the life of a mountain, destroyed by mountaintop removal strip mining. Reece tells Living on Earth host Jeff Young that the price we pay for inexpensive electricity powered by coal is offset by the cost of environmental degradation and injury to the lives of people who live and work in Appalachian coal country.

Bird Markets Pose Possible Risk for Avian Flu

Tóm lược bài nghe:
Government officials and the poultry industry are stepping up efforts to stop bird flu. Critics say there are some weak links in that defense. Living on Earth's Jeff Young reports. Wild birds are transmitters of the H5N1 virus. The federal government has recently launched a program to monitor migratory birds coming into the US and detect whether they are bringing bird flu with them. Host Jeff Young speaks with Hon Ip of the US Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center.

As Biotech Crops Spread, E.U. Is Found to Stand in the Way

Một bài nghe VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Natural Chickens

Four of the country's major chicken producers say they have drastically reduced the amount of antibiotics they use in their birds, and they're providing data to prove it. Host Steve Curwood speaks to Karen Florini of the advocacy group Environmental Defense about the struggle to get antibiotics out of U.S. factory farming practices.

Nanotechnology

Một bài nghe về công nghệ Nano. Tóm tắt:
Manipulating materials at the atomic level can have astronomic repercussions, both positive and negative. The problem is, no one really knows exactly what these effects may be. To find out where we stand in the world of nanotechnology, host Steve Curwood talks with David Rejeski, director of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnology at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Race Matters

A recent report by the Associated Press shows poverty and race are still major factors in deciding who inhabits the most polluted parts of the nation. Host Steve Curwood talks with David Pace who reported the story for the AP.

Environmental Refugees

Scholars predict fifty million people will be displaced within five years by rising sea levels, desertification, dried up aquifers, and other serious environmental change. The term "environmental refugees" has increasingly been invoked over the last two decades to describe growing waves of people displaced by environmental problems. Host Steve Curwood talks with Andrew Simms. He's the Policy Director of the New Economics Foundation in the United Kingdom and the author of a recent book entitled, "Environmental Refugees: The Case for Recognition".

Bush Nominates Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chairman

President Bush this week nominated economist Ben Bernanke [ber-NAN-key] to become the next chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Wal-mart to Reduce Its Environmental Footprint

Wal-mart has come out with a new environmental policy that could have sweeping changes and take away some negative attention the world's largest retailer has been getting for what critics have called limited health care, scant benefits, and poor treatment of workers. Host Steve Curwood talks with Andy Ruben, the VP of Corporate Strategy and Sustainability at Wal-mart.