As women of childbearing age have become heavier, the trade-off between maternal and child health created by variation in gestational weight gain has become more difficult to reconcile. The Weight Gain During Pregnancy podcast looks at some of the key findings and recommendations for the Institute of Medicine report.

In this podcast the National Cancer Policy Board of the Institute of Medicine examines the psychosocial consequences of the cancer experience, specifically on breast cancer in women because this group has the largest survivor population (over 2 million) and this disease is the most extensively studied cancer from the standpoint of psychosocial effects.

The ocean has absorbed a significant portion of all human-made carbon dioxide emissions. This benefits human society by moderating the rate of climate change, but also causes unprecedented changes to ocean chemistry. Carbon dioxide taken up by the ocean makes the water more acidic and leads to a suite of chemical changes collectively known as ocean acidification. The long term consequences of ocean acidification are not known, but are expected to result in changes to many ecosystems and the services they provide to society. This podcast gives an overview of the current state of knowledge, explores gaps in understanding, and identifies several key findings.

This podcast provides a historical overview of the emergence of school meal programs and provides recommendations to update the nutrition standard and the meal requirements for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. The recommendations reflect new developments in nutrition science, increase the availability of key food groups in the school meal programs, and allow these programs to better meet the nutritional needs of children, foster healthy eating habits, and safeguard children's health.

The ocean has greater affects on human health than the average person realizes. This report brief discusses the health and medical hazards, benefits, and potential found in the ocean's depths.

Given the popularity of the World Cup, the Sounds of Science revisits a 2002 IOM workshop reports on head injury in young soccer players. This podcast addresses the biology of concussion, when to return a concussed player to the field, studies of soccer and football players, and the policy issues relevant to head injuries in youth sports.

This podcast examines the relationship between land development patterns and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the United States to assess whether petroleum use, and by extension greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, could be reduced by changes in the design of development patterns.

Reducing the intake of sodium is an important public health goal for Americans. Since the 1970s, an array of public health interventions and national dietary guidelines has sought to reduce sodium intake. However, the U.S. population still consumes more sodium than is recommended, placing individuals at risk for diseases related to elevated blood pressure.

Teachers make a difference. The success of any plan for improving educational outcomes depends on the teachers who carry it out and thus on the abilities of those attracted to the field and their preparation. Yet there are many questions about how teachers are being prepared and how they ought to be prepared. Yet, teacher preparation is often treated as an afterthought in discussions of improving the public education system. This podcast provides an overview of the teacher preparation landscape and identifies the need for a data collection model to provide valid and reliable information about teacher preparation programs.

Given current demographic trends, nearly one in five U.S. residents will be of Hispanic origin by 2025. This major demographic shift and its implications for both the United States and the growing Hispanic population make Multiple Origins, Uncertain Destinies a most timely podcast. This report from the National Research Council describes how Hispanics are transforming the country as they disperse geographically.

Why is communicating chemistry so difficult relative to other scientific disciplines? The Chemical Sciences Roundtable will hold a workshop on May 26-27, 2010 to examine science content, especially chemistry, on television, on the internet, in museums, and in other informal educational settings. The workshop will explore how the public obtains scientific information and discuss methods chemists can use to improve and expand their efforts to reach a general, non-technical audience. This podcast introduces the issue and frames the discussion.

Burning coal in electric utility plants produces, in addition to power, residues that contain constituents which may be harmful to the environment. The management of large volumes of coal combustion residues (CCRs) is a challenge for utilities, because they must either place the CCRs in landfills, surface impoundments, or mines, or find alternative uses for the material. This study focuses on the placement of CCRs in active and abandoned coal mines.

This podcast introduces the Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences, which organizes events and exhibitions for the public that explore the relationships among culture and the sciences, engineering, and medicine. Learn more about one of their upcoming events, the Visual Culture and Evolution Online Symposium, which brings together scientists, artists, and a number of other experts to reflect on the ways in which the idea of evolution has impacted visual culture, and vice versa.

The United States spends approximately four million dollars each year searching for near-Earth objects (NEOs). The objective is to detect those that may collide with Earth. What is the true threat that we are facing and what can we do about it?

Regardless of how we decide to pay for health care, we now have the tools and knowledge necessary to improve the performance of the U.S. health care system and reduce costs. Kevin Finneran, Editor-in-Chief of Issues in Science and Technology, discusses some of the strategies we could take based on the article Better U.S. Health Care at Lower Cost by Arnold Milstein and Helen Darling in the Winter 2010 issue.

This podcast offers a look at issues that are increasingly important in an interconnected world. It discusses the importance of foreign languages and cultural knowledge on national security and global competitiveness and it describes the challenges faced by the U.S. educational system and the federal government in trying to address those needs.

Description: We depend heavily on energy for a variety of modern goods and services. Yet the provision and use of that energy comes with many costs to society that are not reflected in the market price. In 2005 alone, the hidden costs of energy amounted to about $120 billion dollars in damages to human health and the environment. This podcast discusses where the key external costs that are associated with the production, distribution, and use of energy come from.

A mismatch between the federal government's revenues and spending, now and in the foreseeable future, requires heavy borrowing, leading to a large and increasing federal debt. That increasing debt raises a serious challenge to all of the goals that various people expect their government to pursue. This podcast assesses some of the options and possibilities for setting the nation back on a path to a sustainable federal budget.

What if you could clearly define in dollars saved, crashes averted, and better technology implemented the benefits of attending an conference. When it comes to the benefits of attend the Transportation Research Board's Annual Meeting, the Utah Department of Transportation can.

Early childhood mathematics is vitally important for young children's present and future educational success. Unfortunately, many children's potential in mathematics is not fully realized, especially those children who are economically disadvantaged. This is due, in part, to a lack of opportunities to learn mathematics in early childhood settings or through everyday experiences in the home and in their communities. Relying on a comprehensive review of the research, this podcast introduces the critical areas that should be the focus of young children's early mathematics education, explores how well they are currently being incorporated in early childhood settings, and identifies some of the changes needed to improve the quality of mathematics experiences for young children.