This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
For the past several months I've been working on a television show for The Weather Channel.
Hacking the Planet is the brainchild of my friend John Rennie, former editor in chief of Scientific American, and it features me and Cara Santa Maria, senior science correspondent for The Huffington Post.
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As host, John flies around the globe, talking to researchers who study threatening weather conditions - hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning - with an eye toward developing strategies for early prediction or possibly even prevention.
Throughout each 30-minute episode, he checks in with me and Cara via Google Hangouts. We have spirited discussions about the plausibility of their methods - and also the risks.
As I often say: Unforeseen consequences are very hard to predict. Let's call that Malow's Law.
We laugh a lot and Cara and I suggest new avenues for John to explore.
Having collaborated virtually for several months, the three of us finally got to sit down together at the ScienceOnline conference in January. We turned on a video camera and had a fun conversation about the show and working together.
Hacking the Planet is produced by Castle Pictures. It can be seen on The Weather Channel on Thursdays at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central. It also airs on Sundays (and possibly other times). Check your local listings.
This week's show is a good one - about cloud seeding. Let me know what you think.