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Science
Friday > Archives > 2002 > June > June 21, 2002:
Hour Two: Stem Cells
/ Project Orion
| In the late 1950s, a group of researchers came up
with a daring plan for rocket propulsion using nuclear power.
Project Orion, as it was called, was a plan to throw small nuclear
bombs out the back of a rocket, and let the explosions take you
where you want to go. In this hour of Science Friday, Ira talks
with Freeman Dyson, one of the plan's authors, and with his son
George, who has written a history of the now abandoned project.
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Artist's conception of an Orion-type craft.
Image courtesy NASA.
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We'll also hear about new advances in stem cell research. Two papers
published this week have energized the stem cell community. One indicates
a possible route towards using stem cells to treat Parkinson's, while
the other offers the possibility that some mature stem cells may be
almost as versatile as the much-debated embryonic stem cells. We'll
find out more. Call in with your comments and questions at 1-800-989-8255,
and share your opinions online in our Listeners'
Lounge (registration
required).
Guests:
Catherine Verfaillie
Director, Stem Cell Institute
Professor, Department of Medicine
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
George Dyson
Author,
" Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship" (Henry Holt,
2002)
Bellingham, Washington
Freeman Dyson
Professor of Physics
Institute for Advanced Study
Princeton, New Jersey
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
Nature
Science Update: Stem Cell Hopes Double
NIH stem cell info
MEDLINE
Plus: Stem Cells
Salon
People | Freeman Dyson, frog prince of physics
Wired
6.02: Freeman Dyson's Brain
NASM
Space Artifacts: Project ORION Test Vehicle
SpaceRef
- Future Technology - Nuclear Propulsion
Propulsion
NASA:
Ideas Based On What We Know
This segment produced by: Charles
Bergquist
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