Aug 4th, 2008 · She's a spider's spider — sophisticated, pretty (by her own account), authoritarian — and she says something profound about love and commitment. Melissa Block looks at the heroine of Charlotte's Web.
Jun 3rd, 2008 · There's scarcely anyone writing better about the natural world than Barbara Hurd. In this book, Hurd turns her lyrical powers of observation to shingle beaches, spider crabs, jelly fish, dead sailors and a few shore-locked subjects too.
May 12th, 2008 · Music legend and activist Neil Young has been bestowed with another honor. He's the inspiration for the scientific name of a trapdoor spider. Biologist Jason Bond, who discovered the new species, is such a big fan of the musician that the spider now bears Young's name.
May 10th, 2008 · A biologist at East Carolina University has named a new species of trapdoor spider after rocker Neil Young.
Mar 8th, 2008 · Gustavo Hormiga, an arachnologist and a taxonomist at George Washington University, has collected thousands of spiders and named more than a few. Jacki Lyden visits his lab to talk with him about the art and science of adding spider species to the tree of life.
Sep 25th, 2007 · The John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced 24 "Genius Grants" of $500,000 each. Robert Siegel talks with four of the winners: spider silk biologist Cheryl Hayashi; Yoky Matsuoka, leader in the field of neurorobotics; Dr. Linda Cooper, who studied how race, ethnicity and gender influence the doctor/patient relationship; and classically trained vocalist Dawn Upshaw.
Aug 31st, 2007 · Lake Tawakoni State Park in Texas has some new tenants: spiders lots of spiders. And they have spun a giant communal web. Several hundred yards along a nature trail have been taken over by the elaborate arachnid construction.
Jun 17th, 2007 · Host Liane Hansen speaks with James Kakalios, a professor at the University of Minnesota's School of Physics and Astronomy, and author of "The Physics of Superheroes." Lately he's been thinking about the unique strengths of Sandman in Spider-man 3.