Hurricane Katrina made landfall last August 25, first hitting Florida, then moving into the Gulf of Mexico, gaining strength as it barreled down on the Gulf Coast. The storm finally made landfall again on August 29th, bringing widespread destruction to parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.

But while last year's hurricane season was especially devastating, this year's season is off to a slow start. Tropical Storm Debby is moving across the Atlantic, but poses no threat to land. In this hour, well get an update on the 2006 season. Does a slow start to the hurricane season mean we won't see any big storms?

Plus, researchers report this week on a new way to make stem cells--one that doesn't need to destroy embryos. The new approach can take just a one or two cells from a developing embryo, leaving the rest capable of continuing to develop. The researchers said that the procedure was similar to that used during in vitro fertilization (IVF) to remove a single cell for preimplantation genetic diagnosis -- and that, in fact, cells removed for the diagnosis procedure could be used to generate stem cell cultures. Could this new approach settle ethical concerns surrounding this research?

Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (3-4 Eastern). Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.

Guests:
Robert Lanza
Vice President of Research and Scientific Development
Advanced Cell Technology
Worcester, Massachusetts

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James Elsner
Professor, Geography
Director, Hurricane Climate Institute
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida

Judith Curry
Professor and Chair, School of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia

Kevin Trenberth
Head, Climate Analysis Section
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Boulder, Colorado

Books/Articles Discussed:

"Human embryonic stem cell lines derived from single blastomeres." Nature advance online publication 23 August 2006 | doi:10.1038/nature05142.

(find books discussed on previous broadcasts)

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This segment produced by Karin Vergoth