RP210 Talking With Your Hands

 RP210 Talking With Your Hands

Humans are social beings, driven to communicate. When the usual means of communicating—listening and talking—don't work, humans find another way. For deaf people, this is sign language.

Sign languages have been used since ancient times, but the first free school for deaf people wasn't founded until 1775, when one opened in France. Soon after, a public school for the deaf opened in Germany. More popped up, using different signs and philosophies.

In 1815, the American Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet traveled to Europe to learn how to educate deaf people. He studied in France and returned to the United States to found the first school for the deaf in America, the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons, in 1817. It's now called the American School for the Deaf. It was at this school that American Sign Language (ASL) emerged out of the combination of French Sign Language and signs the students had brought with them (particularly from Martha's Vineyard, a place in Massachusetts with a sign language of its own). Because of the strong French influence, ASL and modern French Sign Language share more than half of their vocabulary.

ASL communicates ideas very differently than spoken languages do. Each sign contains five elements: the shape of the hand, the direction of the palm, the location of the hand, the movement of the hand, and cues like facial expression, posture, or moving one's mouth. All these elements affect signs' meanings. Facial expression is very important, too, as it adds emotion. Making a sign for an emotion without expressing that emotion in your face can be sarcastic in ASL. Movements and expressions affect both grammar and issues like stress, intonation, and the flow of a conversation.

Amazingly, though ASL has existed for about 200 years, ASL's grammar has only been studied since the 1960s. Hearing people still have a lot to learn about this uncommon form of human communication.

RP209 Kidnapping a Computer

 RP209 Kidnapping a Computer

It's Sunday morning. You sit down at your desk, ready to put the finishing touches on a big project. You turn the computer on and wait for your desktop to appear. But instead of that familiar cat picture, you see something else entirely. A screen says your files are encrypted, and you can't access them. You have to pay $500 within four days, or your entire hard drive will be deleted.

You are a victim of ransomware.

Ransomware is a new type of computer virus. It used to be that cyber criminals would create viruses to cause trouble. They just wanted to "watch the world burn. "But somewhere along the line, these people learned that they could actually profit from their criminal behavior. Here's where ransomware comes in. Ransomware locks part of a computer's functions, and asks the victim for payment to open them again. Some ransomware prevents Windows from starting. Other types encrypt important files or stop certain apps from running. But ransomware will always ask for a ransom—there's always a way to "make it stop." That's how it got its name.

Victims of ransomware face a brutal choice: pay up, or kiss their files goodbye. Research from cybersecurity firms found that only around 5% of people actually consider paying. Yet that 5% still adds up to a lot of money. The FBI estimates that cyber criminals raised around $1 billion from ransomware attacks in 2016. The amount that victims are being asked to pay is also going up over time. Ransomware demanded an average payment of $294 in 2015. By 2016, that number had increased to $679.

You're probably thinking "ransomware sounds awful! How can I avoid being infected?" Luckily, there's a way: stop opening all of those emails from Nigerian princes and long-lost relatives! Most ransomware spreads via links or attachments in emails. Just be careful where you click, and you should be fine.

RP208 The Memory Eater

 RP208 The Memory Eater

Alzheimer's is a disease that takes people away before they die. It turns loved ones into strangers, homes into cages, and daily life into a series of unpleasant surprises. Alzheimer's disease is estimated to affect four million people in the U.S. and 26 million people worldwide, and we still don't know exactly what causes it or how to reverse it.

Alzheimer's symptoms are often confused with the normal aging process. Difficulty in forming new memories is usually the first symptom of Alzheimer's. People with Alzheimer's may remember the past clearly, but can't remember where they parked the car, why they drove to the mall, or what they spoke to their neighbors about three hours ago. As scientists continue to study the disease, however, it is becoming more and more clear that serious memory problems have little to do with age and everything to do with this dreadful disease. Recognizing the relation between memory loss and this serious medical issue could lead to detecting Alzheimer's earlier and managing it better.

People with Alzheimer's develop buildups called plaques in the spaces between nerve cells. They also develop twisted tangles of fibers inside brain cells. These plaques and tangles are not well understood yet, but they seem to kill nerve cells in the brain. Nerve cells transmit electrical impulses that control our thoughts, our movements, and our words. As they die, we slowly lose control of these processes. As a consequence, the brain shrinks.

As Alzheimer's progresses, patients lose their memories, their ability to move well, to carry on a conversation, and eventually to speak or take care of themselves at all. It is a long, painful process for patients and their loved ones, who can only watch as the patient retreats into a private, perhaps lonely world.

As populations age, Alzheimer's becomes a bigger problem. Research is ongoing. Perhaps soon doctors will be able to save patients' memories and lives.

RP207 Aleutian Islands

 RP207 Aleutian Islands

Between Russia and Alaska is a bird-watcher's paradise. Swinging out in an arc from underneath Alaska is a string of lush, beautiful islands called the Aleutians. These islands are the summer home of ten million migrating birds, and you can also find many seals, sea lions, otters, and wildflowers here. The scenery is stunning, but these islands are far off the beaten track.

The Aleutian Islands are part of the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire, meaning they are mostly volcanic. There are more than 300 islands in the chain, including 20 active volcanoes. The wet, cool weather makes the islands fertile ground for grasses, flowers, mosses, and sedges. Photos of the islands are often intensely green. However, there are very few trees on the Aleutians, especially no tall ones because the wind there is so strong that their trunks would snap.

The islands look like a bridge, and scientists believe that the island chain was probably used by early humans to migrate from Eurasia to North America. The humans who settled in the islands were called Aleuts by the Russians who first encountered them. They usually call themselves Unangax, "coast people." The Unangax did live by the coasts. They fished and hunted to gather their food. They built houses partly underground, to protect themselves from the cold and the fierce winds.

Beginning in the mid-18th century, Russians began sending traders and missionaries to the Aleutian Islands. This led to the slavery and near extermination of the Aleutian people. There are estimated to be only about 2,000 native Aleutians on the islands and perhaps 15,000 people of some Aleutian descent. With them goes their unique culture, which includes intricate tattooing, piercings, and other body art.

The Aleutian Islands, seemingly far from everywhere, are still relatively untamed and untrammelled. They have been designated as wilderness areas by the U.S. government, a status which should protect the islands' environments and help their human, plant, and animal populations recover.

RP206 Alphonse Mucha

 RP206 Alphonse Mucha

Alphonse Mucha wanted to be a serious painter. Well, first he wanted to be a serious singer, but when his voice broke, he turned to visual art. Born in 1860, he started working for a firm that made stage sets in 1879. Meanwhile, he practiced painting and applied to art schools. However, his stage and theater design experience would be far more useful than his art training.

Mucha finally got into art school in 1884. He painted portraits and other scenes, but painting wasn't a very good way to earn a living. To earn more money, Mucha made illustrations for books, magazines, and advertisements. In 1894, he made history with a poster.

Mucha got the poster job, an advertisement for the show Gismonda, unexpectedly. There was an emergency, and he volunteered to create the poster quickly. What he made turned the advertising world upside down. Mucha created a dramatic, vertically elongated poster with pastel colors, draping and floral details, and little text. This was a change from earlier, plainer, text-based posters. From then on, Mucha was in demand. His signature style came to define Art Nouveau: stylized figures, elongated shapes, natural curves, and plant imagery. Mucha's work often featured beautiful women in flowing robes.

For the next twenty years, Mucha made posters, illustrations, decorative panels, and even designed the facade and interior of a building. Most of these designs included natural symbols and patterns. Many were influenced by Asian silk-screen paintings.

For all his success, Mucha longed for respect as an academic painter. He began The Slav Epic around 1910. The twenty enormous paintings told the story of his native Czechoslovakia (formerly Moravia). He eventually gave this masterpiece to his country, which put it in storage for decades.

Mucha produced paintings after his success as an illustrator and designer, but they were never as popular as his other work. Still, his influence is far-reaching and long-lasting, lingering in every music or movie poster we see today.

RP205 Farming for the Future

 RP205 Farming for the Future

Farming has come a long way since seeds were first planted in Mesopotamia around 13,000 years ago. Biological, chemical, and technological inventions have increased production and decreased risk. Especially in the last sixty years, new machines, new chemicals, specialization, and government policies promoting production have turned farms into huge industrial businesses. Individual farms are larger, but the number of farms and farm workers has shrunk. We produce more food, so what's the problem?

The problem is the future. Many of the developments that make farms so productive right now are actually creating terrible problems for future generations. Chemicals and fertilizers are seeping into soil and groundwater. Soil is being depleted of nutrients. Communities are collapsing as human workers are no longer needed. Family farms can't compete against big agribusiness.

The sustainable agriculture movement wants to stop harmful industrial farming. It uses farmland in a way that doesn't use it up. Instead of maximizing production now, sustainable farms operate in a way that allows them to continue to farm for years to come. Sustainable agriculture seeks to protect the environment of farms and their surroundings, respect the health of farm animals, provide farmers with a fair wage, and ensure that workers are respected and paid fairly.

Sustainable farms do this in a few ways. They operate organically or minimize their use of chemicals and non-renewable resources. They keep waste products on their land instead of letting them spread. They grow and rotate diverse crops so that soil is replenished rather than depleted. They treat animals humanely and avoid giving them antibiotics and other drugs (that may pass to humans and the environment around the farm). They employ humans over machines whenever possible.

As the problems of industrial farming become clear, sustainable agriculture becomes more appealing. Countries are creating policies to promote it, and organizations are rewarding farms for operating sustainably. With farming, as with so much else, we are discovering that bigger, faster, and more is not necessarily better.

RP204 The World's First Bridal Show

 RP204 The World's First Bridal Show

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Indian weddings? It's probably the elegant designs painted on the bride's body. This is called the Mehndi ceremony, and some say it's the "oldest bridal shower in the world."

During the Mehndi ceremony, a bride's hands and arms are decorated with a colorful paste made from henna plants. Henna has been used for body decoration for thousands of years. The Egyptian Pharaoh Cleopatra, who lived from 69 B.C. to 30 B.C., is said to have used henna to paint her fingernails. The Mehndi ceremony is more recent, but it still traces its roots back to the 15th century.

The Mehndi ceremony takes place on the night before the wedding. It's known for being fun and relaxing, unlike many other wedding ceremonies, which are more formal. The ceremony is a chance for the bride to spend time with close family and friends. Traditionally, it would be the last chance before the bride leaves to live with her husband's family. Guest s of the ceremony come over to laugh, tell stories, sing, and dance. All the while, the bride's hands and arms are painted with elaborate henna designs. After the evening is over, the bride remains home until her wedding begins the next day.

Families approach the Mehndi ceremony differently. Sometimes the ceremony is very low-key: a few loved ones gather for a "girls' night in. "Other times, it is a big event, with an outside venue and a long guest list.

Who does the actual body painting? It used to be any neighborhood auntie with experience and a steady hand. But nowadays, brides tend to hire professionals to do the henna painting. These pros will paint peacocks, flowers, Islamic patterns, and representations of the bride and groom. Their designs are also getting more complicated and more beautiful over time. Some of them have even begun to use glitter and different colors of henna.