Steve Grand tells Jim Fleming about Norns – virtual pets that live and breed in desktop computers. He says the Norns give us a way to explore questions about what it means to be alive and what rights and responsibilities "living" creatures have.
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Audio
Have you ever heard that space is a vaccuum? That space is totally silent? Well, neither of those things is exactly true. Thanks to the research of physicist Don Gurnett, we now know there are thin layers of gas in space that produce all kinds of interesting waves — including sound waves. In this segment, we talk with Gurnett about his research and listen to some downright strange and wondrous sounds from both near and deep space.
J.R. Thornton was once a serious tennis player on the junior circuit. Then he moved to China and spent a year training with the Beijing National Team, where he discovered just how different the life of an aspiring champion could be. His novel "Beautiful Country" reveals the incredibly difficult demands on young athletes in China.
Journalist Susan Orlean set out to discover why this night is so special to Americans and tells Steve Paulson about some of her Saturday night excursions.
Rolf De Heer talks about the experience of collaborating with the aboriginal people of Ramingining and how extraordinary the process was.
Sarah Lewis talks about her book, "The Rise: Creativity, The Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery."
Michael Paterniti travels to the highlands of Spain to track down one of the world's greatest cheesemakers.
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