The Really Big Questions

What if you had an idea that you believed could change the world? What if that idea was a tornado machine? In this episode we ask, what drives some people to pursue an idea for their entire lives? Retired engineer Louis Michaud believes he has an idea that could solve the world's energy problems. He calls it an"Atmospheric Vortex Engine. " For 50 years, Michaud has been working on a device that he hopes someday will generate mile-high tornadoes from warm air heated by the sun or waste heat from power plants. The updraft would turn turbines and produce power. Lots of power, he believes. All he has to do is prove it. This story first appeared on The Adaptors, a new podcast hosted by TRBQ producer Flora Lichtman: www.TheAdaptors.org

You can vote when you’re 18 and drink when you’re 21. But when do you really become an adult? Psychologist Jeffrey Jensen Arnett says people in their early 20s are biologically and socially different from people in their 30s. He coined the term “emerging adulthood” to describe the years between adolescence and full adulthood. Producer Flora Lichtman met up with him to hear more. TRBQ is also on iTunes: ow.ly/zxuL7

These are the final words of Jennifer Michael Hecht's most recent book: "Choose to stay." Hecht argues against suicide as an escape from despair. She offers two reasons. Choosing to stay allows you the chance to be helpful to someone else. And, she says you owe your future self a chance at happiness. Hecht talks with Dean Olsher about her book, Stay: A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It. You can see Jennifer read her poem, "No Hemlock Rock (don't kill yourself)." http://youtu.be/43acsyyLw98

Maybe it’s a stuffed elephant. Could be a pepper shaker. Or perhaps a very special rock. Many adults have an object that’s particularly dear to them, but it’s not something that most people openly talk about. Unless you ask them. See photos of Blankie, Mr. Giraffe, and other special objects: http://trbq.org/trbq-podcast-15-things

Mary Roach wants you to give yourself away. But not yet. After you’re dead. She wrote a book called “Stiff,” in which she details what has happened over the years to bodies that were donated—willingly or unwillingly—to science. And, maybe a little surprisingly, the book has inspired lots of people to donate their bodies. TRBQ is also on iTunes: ow.ly/zxuL7

If you ever doubt that animals have the capacity to share, look no further than chimpanzees. Frans de Waal studies primates, and he teaches psychology at Emory University. He tells host Dean Olsher that looking at the way other primates share sheds light on the way humans act. TRBQ is also on iTunes: ow.ly/zxuL7

On the altar of a former cathedral turned recording studio, an ensemble of musicians begins to play. Their notes are piercing and sometimes dissonant. It’s not your typical cathedral music -- but then again, these aren’t your typical musicians. They’re robots. TRBQ is also on iTunes: ow.ly/zxuL7

The human instinct to tell stories is strong. So strong, in fact, that sometimes people see stories when they’re not there. Researchers in the 1940s showed people a very short animated move to demonstrate the point: Viewers couldn’t help making up stories as they watched. And it still works. We talk with a writer, a researcher and some middle school kids about triangles and circles on a screen and how the stories they conjure. TRBQ is also on iTunes: ow.ly/zxuL7

Storytelling is an integral part of human culture. It teaches, enlightens and connects. But according to author and playwright Anne Bogart, it can also be dangerous. Bogart believes stories have the potential to distract and deceive — yet she devotes her life to telling them. She just released a book called, “What’s the Story: Essays about Art, Theater and Storytelling.”