Six Big Science Debates; Missions to Map Planets; Breaking Down Barriers: Women in Science

Last week, the National Academy of Sciences and other institutions released a report titled Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering. Maria Zuber, head of the department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was one of the members of the committee that prepared that report. We talk to her about the findings and recommendations of the committee. She also discusses her research mapping Mars, Mercury and the Moon. Scientific American reporter JR Minkel chats about his web article called That's Debatable: Six Debates at the Frontier of Science. Plus, we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include www.nap.edu; www.tinyurl.com/qa6bz; www.sciam.com/news; www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0005726E-214A-1514-A14A83414B7F013F

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