Agricultural workers in the UK killed thousands of turkeys this week, seeking to block an outbreak of bird flu, while investigators tried to trace the source of the infection. In this hour of Science Friday, Ira and guests talk about the outbreak, and at plans for dealing with a future flu pandemic here. What should we do if faced by an outbreak of influenza on the scale of the 1918 epidemic?

We'll also hear about new experiments in the field of quantum optics. Scientists have managed to stop light, hold it trapped in a cloud of chilled atoms known as a Bose Einstein condensate, and then release it in a second cloud a short distance away. We'll talk about the work and its potential applications in information processing.

Call in with your questions and comments at 1-800-989-8255 (2-3 Eastern). Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.

Guests:
Arnold Monto
Professor, Epidemiology
University of Michigan School of Public Health
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Freda Scott-Park
Past President, British Veterinary Association
London, England, UK

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Lene Vestergaard Hau
Mallinkrodt Professor of Physics and of McKay Professor of Applied Physics
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

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This segment produced by Charles Bergquist