Lynne Cox has made a name for herself as a long distance swimmer. She’s swam the English Channel, the waters of the Bering Strait, and bared frigid temperatures in the Antarctic Ocean. But it was during an early morning workout when she was a teenager that Cox had one of her most memorable experiences: an encounter with a baby gray whale. Lynne Cox shares her story Living on Earth's Ashley Ahearn.

A growing number of scientists, engineers, and architects work on the assumption that most design problems have their solutions somewhere in nature - if we can only find the right microbe, beetle or flower. KQED’s Andrea Kissack reports on the concept, and limitations, of biomimicry.

Living on Earth’s Bruce Gellerman reports on a new frontier in the search for clean biofuels. Scientists are investigating the guts of termites and other animals for microbes and enzymes that can help break down wood and other plant material.

Scientists have isolated adult stem cells in human hair follicles. Tobin Hack reports that these cells are surprisingly similar, but far less controversial, than their embryonic stem cell brothers.

Youth Radio’s Jennifer Obakhume hails from Los Angeles and comments on the culture shock of her first visit to a farm.

Most pet owners would tell you it’s quite obvious that their pets feel pleasure. But scientific proof of pleasure sensation in animals has been lacking. Host Steve Curwood talks with animal behavioral scientist Jonathan Balcombe. He’s the author of “Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good.”

Some of the most creative ideas about how to reforest developing countries come from a Kenyan woman. Wangari Maathai is the leader of the Green Belt tree-planting movement and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. In the first part of a two-part interview, host Steve Curwood talks with Wangari Maathai about her most recent work and about some of the events that helped shape her vision.