NEW! Now Hear This: The PopSci Podcast

Art by Jonathon Riley, with Janina Koppel and NASA Art by Jonathon Riley, with Janina Koppel and NASA

What's a podcast? Simply put, a podcast is a multimedia file that can be downloaded to your MP3 player or computer. PopSci's podcasts are like little variety shows, complete with music, informative interviews, and sometimes even photos and video. Each week, we'll talk to experts about the stories shaping the future of technology, from the frontlines of the "wired" war in Iraq to San Francisco's plan to turn dog droppings into electricity–and everything in between.

Who´s this Coulton guy, and why does he have such a funny title? Our podcaster is an ace interviewer, a comedic tour de force and an accomplished singerâ€songwriter, best known for stirring ballads like â€Womb With a View†and catchy rock ditties like â€Code Monkey."

How do I get started? To subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, simply click the purple "iTunes Link" icon. If you use another program to download podcasts, paste in the link to our RSS feed to subscribe. Or you can click the "Download MP3" icon for a direct link to the audio file.

Episode 1: MyLifeBits

In the future, will everyone have photographic memories? Gordon Bell discusses his quest to digitally capture all the events of his life for a project called MyLifeBits. He predicts that advances in miniaturization and data storage will soon allow us all to have total recall.

Episode 2: The Return of 3-D

This week, Coulton interviews Joshua Greer, CEO of Real D-a company that hopes to revolutionize the way we watch movies through enhanced 3-D technology. If Greer´s ideas catch on, Hollywood may never work in two dimensions again.

Episode 3: Iraq Tech

How wired is the U.S. military, really? In this week's episode, writers Noah Shachtman and David Axe discuss the challenges of fighting the first networked war.

Episode 4: Blood Rains

Could India´s red rains have been caused by†aliens?

Episode 5: The LAPD´s Spy Toys

Ace reporter Coulton sleuths out secrets about the Los Angeles police department´s high-tech crime fighting devices-and discovers that they also use grappling hooks.

Episode 6: Web Toll

Is there an end in sight to free Internet as we know it? Yes-if Big Telecomm has its way.

Episode 7: Poo Power

An inside look at San Francisco´s plan to turn waste methane, from dog droppings, into a viable source of energy.

Episode 8: DIY Projector

PopSci photographer and DIY madman John Carnett explains how he built a rolling LCD projector for his backyard.

Episode 9: Patenting the Body

In this episode of the PopSci podcast, Jonathan Coulton talks to writer Rebecca Skloot about a curious aspect of intellectual-property law: patents that could make it illegal to talk about medical conditions you already have.

Episode 10: The Smell of War

Hear how the U.S. military is prepping soldiers for war with simulations of the noxious odors of combat.

Episode 11: The Roach Whisperer

Meet the Belgian brainiac behind the world's first robot roaches, designed to lead pesky bugs out of hiding-and your apartment building.

Episode 12: Grow Your Own Organs

Jonathan Coulton talks to Dr. Anthony Atala of Wake Forest University about man-made internal organs-and something called "skin pockets."

Episode 13: Green Cars

Writer Billy Baker discusses the X-Prize race for the 100-mpg car.

Episode 14: Are We Getting Safer?

Jonathan Coulton finds out just how much homeland security tech has improved since 9-11.

Episode 15: The Future of Robots

Will robots have human intelligence by 2029? Coulton talks with big-thinking futurist Ray Kurzweil about his surprising prediction

Episode 16: Coulton Gets a Second Life

Jonathan Coulton enters a virtual world and learns what it's like to be schizophrenic.

Episode 17: The Worm Whisperer

A brilliant zoologist + marine worms + Jell-O = a new understanding of the underground world

Episode 18: The Invisibility Cloak

Can high-tech metamaterials make one of science's most far-flung fantasies a reality?

Episode 19: Catching the Cybercrooks

It's 2006: Do you know what your computer is doing?

Episode 20: Studying Language With Birds

Erich Jarvis is breaking new ground in the study of human language. His learning tool of choice? Zebra finches.

Episode 21: Floating Chernobyl

A nuclear reactor at sea: Worst idea ever?

Episode 22: John Hodgman and the Furry Lobster

Funnyman John Hodgman (of "Daily Show" fame) visits Lunar Base One and talks...lobsters.

Episode 23: Giant Yellow Jacket Nests

What made a swarm of yellow jackets in Alabama build an enormous nest inside a '55 Chevy pickup truck?

Episode 24: Meet Ed Sutt, Creator of PopSci's Innovation of the Year

Jonathan's back after conquering a bout of space madness to chat with the man behind the HurriQuake Nail

Episode 25: An Elemental Fascination

Mr. Coulton finds a kindred spirit in Theo Gray, PopSci's science-whiz columnist and the man behind the Periodic Table Table. For more, see popsci.com/periodictable

Episode 26: MIT's Disco Dance Floor

Jonathan gets down with Mike Anderson, one of the MIT students behind the LED-powered homemade disco floor