"When Scientists Fail, It's Time To Call In The Gamers"

Journalism in the form of radio can be entertaining and sometimes more informative than news print. I found this radio broadcast on National Public Radio and decided to listen to it, at first, for its title. "When scientists fail, call in the gamers," it sounded exciting and interesting so I gave it a shot. That's one thing that no matter what form of media it is, is a constant lure. As it turns out, this broadcast was about scientists creating a three dimensional game that helps figure out the correct way to form a protein. The game was called "Fold It," and helped scientists predict the structure of a protein that causes aids in monkeys. This new technology can also be used to find new drugs and vaccines for other diseases such as the flu. This would be an interesting story no matter what means of media used, but the real hook was that in the beginning of the broadcast they played the sound effects from the video game. This really sucked me in and made me curious about the actual methods and outcomes in the game. The tones and inflections used by the host and the scientists who were interviewed really helped paint a picture of how important this milestone is. This importance may not have come out as easily in a newspaper article and in a newspaper article it is harder to pick out the humor and excitement in what they are saying. The scientists joked about how they popped open a bottle of champaign with colleagues over Skype, and their vocal inflections gave a better image of the situation than a newspaper could have. The broadcast was also a lot different than television broadcasts. On television, they can simply show you a model of what they are talking about and not have to go into as much detail, but on the radio they need to give you a mental image of what they are talking about. That's exactly what the scientists who were interviewed did. They compared the game to a three dimensional tetris, and by doing that it made it seem more familiar than just seeing something. All in all, I think the radio broadcast was informative and gave me a pretty good understanding of the technology they were talking about. I didn't have to rewind it and figure out what they were trying to say, because it was clear the first time and put into simple enough terms so that everyone listening could follow along.