Everything you wanted to know about bug sex (but didn’t bother to ask) is explained in a new book. Insect expert Marlene Zuk describes how ants learn, why some crickets don’t chirp and how various bugs mate in Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love and Language from the Insect World.
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/15/139554957/sex-on-six-legs-when-insects-go-wild
Charles Higgins from the University of Arizona tells us how he uses insects to control robot motion. Steve Potter from the Georgia Institute of Technololgy explains how he grows neural circuitry in a Petri-dish and interfaces it with robots.
Michael Krasny talks with author and anthropologist Hugh Raffles about his book "Insectopedia," which explores the ties between human beings and insects. Raffles teaches anthropology at The New School and is also the author of "In Amazonia: A Natural History."
Forensic entomologiest Gavin Pitts joins the hosts to talk about the hemiptera order of insects, more commonly known as ‘true bugs.’ Assassin bugs, chagas disease, bat bugs and water bugs that take down reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals are all on topic! Plus: The Lesser of Two Evils – would you rather spend a few years in an Uzbekistan bug pit or trying to farm out a living under the Khmer Rouge?