leaf

Greetings Mayors! This week on CC Unplugged, Dustin Spencer, Luke Halliday, and Travis Bruno have come together to podcast while playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Join us while we talk about our towns, discuss some gaming news, and farm beetles like mad. It is quite the relaxing podcast, so tune in and give it a listen.

We also have a GIVEAWAY this week, with a classic up for grabs in the form of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Wii U Virtual Console. To enter, simply send an email to podcast@capsulecomputers.com answering our magical little question found within the podcast, with the subject line reading CONTEST: Mario 3 for Wii. Yes, I will make you rhyme for your freebie, so enter to win!

Now grab a shovel, Tell Your friends, and Prepare to get UNPLUGGED!

Richard Cogdell is the Director of the Institute for Molecular Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Glasglow, Scotland.

Richard was led to a career in studying bacterial photosynthesis by a desire to learn and understand basic photosynthesis, he "wanted to know how natured worked."

In 1995, Richard's research group, in collaboration with others, used protein crystallography to determine the three dimensional structure of a light-harvesting complex from the purple bacterium, Rhodospsedomas acidophilia.

This breakthrough led to two key elements in the understanding of bacterial photosynthesis. One, once you have established the structure you can understand its function. Two, this view of a light-harvesting complex attracted an interdisciplinary group of scientists from the fields such as chemistry, physics, mathematics and biology.

Richard's current challenge is to take the process of photosynthesis (using solar energy to make a fuel) and apply it to the world's energy needs in a sustainable manner.

To do this, Richard says "you must break photosynthesis down to it's four most basics steps", absorb solar energy, concentrate it, break it apart and make a fuel. These are the steps that must be duplicated if they are going to be successful at creating sustainable, renewable energy.

The first two steps, says Cogdell, are like a solar battery (easy to recreate). The hard part is finding ways to use renewable energy to drive the chemistry. That's the process Richard spends most of his time working on and he uses the concept of an artificial leaf to help explain this complex process to the public.

According to Cogdell, if the current rate of investment continues, it will be approximately five to six years before we see a small pilot system that demonstrates the feasibility of the process.

Richard emphasizes that if mankind wants to survive, we must find a way to convert solar energy into fuel because when fossil fuels run out so do we.

Learn with us- how to create durable and beautiful leaves from polymer clay for your fall decor and jewelry projects!

Electric and biofuel-powered cars offer solutions for a carbon-constrained world, but has early excitement about alternative fuel vehicles fizzled prior to the July 1 start date for Australia's carbon tax? Before the rubber really hits the road and hybrids and "plug-in" cars become mainstream, there’s still a myriad of issues to be addressed. Infrastructure is one, while research shows some biofuels may generate more problems than they solve. The shift to alternative fuel cars must come, says John Sterman, the Michael J Crouch Visiting Professor at the Australian School of Business, along with many other alternative modes of transport.

Joey Diaz invited me over to his house to talk about the daughter he barely ever mentions. As always with Joey Diaz, some of these stories are amazing. He's so honest and colorful, I could just sit and listen to him for days.

Chris "New Leaf" Neseman returns just in time to join us in spoiler-free talk about David Lapham's Stray Bullets, Jason and Gerry Conway, Desert Island and Smoke Signal #4, the Invincible Ultimate Collection volume five, Paul Pelletier and Incredible Hulk #610, Milestone Forever, Frank Miller's Dark Knight and Ronin, Brubaker's Captain America: Reborn and The Marvels Project, Stuart Immonen and New Avengers #1, Creepy #3 from Dark Horse, Omaha, the Cat Dancer and Blacksad, First Wave #2, Fantastic Four, Brandon Graham's King City from Image Comics and Tokyopop, John Arcudi and Peter Snejbjerg's A God Somewhere from Wildstorm, Unknown Soldier, Michael Turner, Black Comix, and a whole mess more!

Comments? Send us an email at insideprcomments@gmail.com, call us on the comment line on 206-337-0727, visit the Inside PR Blubrry site, or leave us a comment on the Inside PR show blog.

This week on Inside PR, Terry Fallis and David Jones discuss crisis communications and revisit Inside PR #33.

Show Notes

00:25 Terry opens the show.

01:39 Dave talks about the Age of Persuasion. The Age of Persuasion can be heard on CBC Radio One , Saturdays at 11:30 am and may be found in podcast form. The show is produced by Pirate Radio and Television and is owned by Terry O'Reilly.

04:17 Terry introduces the idea of pulling out old discussions.

05:21 Dave introduces the main topics of discussion; crisis communications and the cases of Sunrise Propane and Maple Foods.

07:59 Dave talks about the bad form of reviewing communications strategies from the sidelines.

12:24 Terry talks to crisis planning and communications strategy.

13:00 Dave introduces the crisis communications clip from IPR #33 on November 14, 2006.

13:35 Issues management and crisis management are defined.

15:07 Dave talks about the distinction between a crisis plan and a crisis communications plan.

17:28 Terry references the Tylenol crisis.

19:27 Dave talks about speed to communications.

21:17 Terry talks about owning the crisis.

22:14 Dave discusses repairing images in a time of crisis.

26:27 Terry talks about the use of SM in crisis communications.

26:52 Terry talks to training.

28:50 Terry wraps the show.

Our theme music is Streetwalker by Cjacks and is courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network; Roger Dey is our announcer.