Archives

Today on Word of Mouth, some of the universal mysteries that have scientists throwing up their hands in defeat. And, just where does one fill up a car that runs on hydrogen power? We visit the first hydrogen fueling station in Massachusetts. Plus, Conor Oberst and Richie Valens point to folk music’s new directions, and a modern cowboy rides across America in search of fame.

(Photo by Marvin (PA))

Riding across America on horseback sounds like an old-fashioned adventure, maybe something out of a John Wayne movie. But when former ranch hand Bill Inman set off on a seven-month journey to cross the nation, he had more than one romantic notion in mind.

Yes, he looked forward to riding off into the sunset. But he also harbored more modern American dreams - he wanted to get famous. So Bill brought along a documentary filmmaker and asked his wife to drive ahead of him to field phone calls from the local media.

The AP got wind of the story, as did Fox News and dozens of newspapers across the country. Bill got e-mails from as far away as India and was greeted as a celebrity nearly everywhere he went. Reporter Jen Nathan caught up with Bill as he neared the end of his trail.

(Photo by zen Sutherland)

Today on Word of Mouth we’re looking at the things that make scientists want to tear their hair out - the mysteries that defy explanation, the unanswered questions that lie just outside the frontier of knowledge.

Science reporting tends to herald new explanations for things - the latest ideas on how the universe was formed, how our brains work, or uncovering a new species.

But Dr. Michael Brooks is more interested in what scientists don’t know. His new book is "Thirteen Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time." He was formerly the senior features editor at New Scientist magazine.

He joins Word of Mouth by phone from his home in England to discuss some embarassing problems for scientists, including dark matter and dark energy, cold fusion, the search for extraterrestrial life, the placebo effect, free will, and the evolutionary origins of death and sex.

(Photo by ~BostonBill~)

Back in 1905, gas stations were the newest thing. The first one in the world was built that year in St. Louis, Mo. These days, of course, there isn’t really anything special about a gas station. The latest U.S. census found there are more than 117,000 of them across the country. But a brand new station in Massachusetts has people buzzing again, because this one offers something most don’t - hydrogen.

The first hydrogen fueling pump in the country opened four years ago, at a gas station in Washington D.C. This week, number 62 opened at the hydrogen-power research and development company Nuvera, in Billerica, Mass. The first car that filled up there is part of the Hydrogen Road Tour - a first-ever convoy of fuel cell cars traveling cross-country to show consumers and politicians, that after long years in the lab, hydrogen technology is ready for the road.

Producer Shannon Mullen stopped by the grand opening earlier this week, and she has this story for Word of Mouth's "next green thing" series, which looks at the ways people and organizations are trying to make the world a greener place.

(Photo by Dave Barger)