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666 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Science’s Breakthrough of the Year, and tracing poached pangolins
14 december 2023 · 32 min
Top science from 2023, and a genetic tool for pangolin conservation Lees meer
First up this week, it’s Science’s Breakthrough of the Year with producer Meagan Cantwell and News Editor Greg Miller. But before they get to the tippy-top science find, a few of this year’s runners-up. See all our end-of-year coverage here.
Next, Jen Tinsman, a forensic wildlife biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss using genetics to track the illegal pangolin trade. These scaly little guys are the most trafficked mammals in the world, and researchers can now use DNA from their scales to find poaching hot spots.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Meagan Cantwell; Greg Miller
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zk0pw91
About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast
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Farm animals show their smarts, and how honeyguide birds lead humans to hives
7 december 2023 · 38 min
A look at cognition in livestock, and the coevolution of wild bird–human cooperation Lees meer
This week we have two stories on thinking and learning in animals. First, Online News Editor David Grimm talks with host Sarah Crespi about a reporting trip to the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology in northern Germany, where scientists are studying cognition in farm animals, including goats, cows, and pigs. And because freelance audio producer Kevin Caners went along, we have lots of sound from the trip—so prepare yourself for moos and more.
Voices in this story:
Christian Nawroth
Annkatrin Pahl
Jan LangbeinNext, audio producer Katherine Irving talks with Claire Spottiswoode, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Cambridge, about her research into cooperation between honeyguide birds and human honey hunters. In their Science study, Spottiswoode and her team found honeyguides learn distinct signals made by honey hunters from different cultures suggesting that cultural coevolution has occurred.
Read a related Perspective.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; David Grimm; Katherine Irving
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zr3zfn1
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Basic geoengineering, and autonomous construction robots
30 november 2023 · 35 min
Raising the pH of the ocean to reduce carbon in the air, and robots that can landscape Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall discusses research into making oceans more alkaline as a way to increase carbon capture and slow climate change. But there are a few open questions with this strategy: Could enough material be dumped in the ocean to slow climate change? Would mining that material release a lot of carbon? And, would either the mining or ocean changes have big impacts on ecosystems or human health?
Next, we hear from Ryan Luke Johns, a recent Ph.D. graduate from ETH Zürich, about why we want robots building big rocky structures from found materials: It reduces energy costs and waste associated with construction, and it would allow us to build things remotely on Mars.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Warren Cornwall
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.z66mytn
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Exascale supercomputers amp up science, finally growing dolomite in the lab, and origins of patriarchy
23 november 2023 · 55 min
A leap in supercomputing is a leap for science, cracking the dolomite problem, and a book on where patriarchy came from Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, bigger supercomputers help make superscience. Staff Writer Robert F. Service joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how the first exascale computer is enabling big leaps in scientists’ models of the world.
Next, producer Meagan Cantwell talks with the University of Michigan’s Wenhao Sun, professor of materials science and engineering, and graduate student Joonsoo Kim. They discuss solving the centuries-old problem of growing the common mineral dolomite in the lab.
Finally, books host Angela Saini is back but this time she’s in the hot seat talking about her own book, The Patriarchs: The Origins of Inequality. Science Books Editor Valerie Thompson and host Sarah Crespi chat with Angela about what history, archaeology, and biology reveal about where and when patriarchy started. See our whole series of books podcasts on sex, gender, and science.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Valerie Thompson; Angela Saini; Robert Service
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adn0660
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AI improves weather prediction, and cutting emissions from landfills
16 november 2023 · 22 min
What it means that artificial intelligence can now forecast the weather like a supercomputer, and measuring methane emissions from municipal waste Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, Staff Writer Paul Voosen joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about how artificial intelligence has become shockingly good at forecasting the weather while using way fewer resources than other modeling systems. Read a related Science paper.
Next, focusing on municipal solid waste—landfills, compost centers, garbage dumps—may offer a potentially straightforward path to lower carbon emissions. Zheng Xuan Hoy, a recent graduate from the new energy science and engineering department at Xiamen University Malaysia, discusses his Science paper on this overlooked source of methane and some plausible solutions for reducing these emissions.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Paul Voosen
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adm9783
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The state of Russian science, and improving implantable bioelectronics
9 november 2023 · 35 min
First up on this week’s show: the future of science in Russia. We hear about how the country’s scientists are split into two big groups: those that left Russia after the invasion of Ukraine and those that stayed behind. Freelance journalist Olga Dobrovidova talks with host Sarah Crespi about why so many have left, and the situation for those who remain. Lees meer
Next on the show: miniature, battery-free bioelectronics. Jacob Robinson, a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University, discusses how medical implants could go battery-free by harvesting energy from the human body and many other potential innovations in store for these internal medical devices.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Olga Dobrovidova
LINKS FOR MP3 META
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adm8195
About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast
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Turning anemones into coral, and the future of psychiatric drugs
2 november 2023 · 39 min
Why scientists are trying to make anemones act like corals, and why it’s so hard to make pharmaceuticals for brain diseases Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, coaxing anemones to make rocks. Newsletter Editor Christie Wilcox joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the difficulties of raising coral in the lab and a research group that’s instead trying to pin down the process of biomineralization by inserting coral genes into easy-to-maintain anemones.
Next on the show, a look at why therapeutics for both neurodegenerative disease and psychiatric illness are lagging behind other kinds of medicines. Steve Hyman, director of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute, talks with Sarah about some of the stumbling blocks to developing drugs for the brain—including a lack of diverse genome sequences—and what researchers are doing to get things back on track.
Finally, in a sponsored segment from the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office, associate editor Jackie Oberst discusses with Thomas Fuchs, dean of artificial intelligence (AI) and human health and professor of computational pathology and computer science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the potential and evolving role of AI in health care. This segment is sponsored by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Christie Wilcox; Sarah Crespi
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adm6756
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Making corn shorter, and a book on finding India’s women in science
26 oktober 2023 · 33 min
First up on this week’s show, Staff Writer Erik Stokstad joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about why it might make sense to grow shorter corn. It turns out the towering corn typically grown today is more likely to blow over in strong winds and can’t be planted very densely. Now, seedmakers are testing out new ways to make corn short through conventional breeding and transgenic techniques in the hopes of increasing yields. Lees meer
Next up on the show, the last in our series of books on sex and gender with Books Host Angela Saini. In this installment, Angela speaks with Nandita Jayaraj and Aashima Dogra about their book Lab Hopping: A Journey to Find India’s Women in Science.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi, Angela Saini, Erik Stokstad
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl5269
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The consequences of the world's largest dam removal, and building a quantum computer using sound waves
19 oktober 2023 · 30 min
Restoring land after dam removal, and phonons as a basis for quantum computing Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, planting in the silty soil left behind after a dam is removed and reservoirs recede. Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the world's largest dam removal project and what ecologists are doing to revegetate 36 kilometers of new river edge.
Next up on the show, freelance producer and former guest Tanya Roussy. She talks with Andrew Cleland, a professor at the University of Chicago, about a Science paper from this summer on using the phonon—a quantum of sound energy—as the basis of quantum computers.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi, Tanya Roussy, Warren Cornwall
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl4219
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Mysterious objects beyond Neptune, and how wildfire pollution behaves indoors
13 oktober 2023 · 42 min
The Kuiper belt might be bigger than we thought, and managing the effects of wildfires on indoor pollution Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, the Kuiper belt—the circular field of icy bodies, including Pluto, that surrounds our Solar System—might be bigger than we thought. Staff Writer Paul Voosen joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the distant Kuiper belt objects out past Neptune, and how they were identified by telescopes looking for new targets for a visit by the New Horizons spacecraft.
Next up on the show, the impact of wildfire smoke indoors. Producer Kevin McLean talks with Delphine Farmer, a chemist at Colorado State University, about an experiment to measure where particulates and volatile organic compounds end up when they sneak inside during a wildfire event.
Finally, in a sponsored segment from the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office, Jackie Oberst, associate editor for custom publishing, discusses with Jens Nielsen, CEO of the BioInnovation Institute—an international life science incubator in Copenhagen, Denmark—about the next big leap in biology: synthetic biology. This segment is sponsored by the BioInnovation Institute.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi, Paul Voosen, Kevin McLean
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl3178
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How long can ancient DNA survive, and how much stuff do we need to escape poverty?
5 oktober 2023 · 36 min
Pushing ancient DNA past the Pleistocene, and linking agriculture to biodiversity and infectious disease Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, Staff Writer Erik Stokstad brings a host of fascinating stories, from the arrival of deadly avian flu in the Galápagos to measuring the effect of earthworms on our daily bread. He and host Sarah Crespi start off the segment discussing just how much stuff you need to avoid abject poverty and why measuring this value can help us balance human needs against planetary sustainability.
Other stories from Erik mentioned in this segment:
● Elephant trunk’s ‘stunning’ microscopic musculature may explain its dexterity | Science
● ‘Mind-boggling’ sea creature spotted off Japan has finally been identified | ScienceNext up on the show, as part of a special issue on ancient DNA, freelance producer Katherine Irving talks with Love Dalén, a professor of evolutionary genomics at the Centre for Palaeogenetics at Stockholm University. They talk about the longevity of ancient DNA and what it would take to let us see back even further. See the whole ancient DNA special issue here.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi, Erik Stokstad, Katherine Irving
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl1587
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Visiting utopias, fighting heat death, and making mysterious ‘dark earth’
28 september 2023 · 51 min
A book on utopias and gender roles, India looks to beat climate-induced heat in cities, and how ancient Amazonians improved the soil Lees meer
First up on this week’s show: the latest in our series of books on sex, gender, and science. Books host Angela Saini discusses Everyday Utopia: In Praise of Radical Alternatives to the Traditional Family Home with ethnographer Kristen Ghodsee, professor of Russian and Eastern European studies at the University of Pennsylvania. See this year’s whole series here.
Also this week, as part of a special issue on climate change and health, host Sarah Crespi speaks with Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar, a freelance journalist based in Mumbai, India. They talk about how India is looking to avoid overheating cities in the coming decades, as climate change and urbanization collide.
Finally, we hear about how ancient Amazonians created fertile “dark earth” on purpose. Sarah is joined by Morgan Schmidt, an archaeologist and geographer at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. They discuss recent research published in Science Advances on the mysterious rich soil that coincides with ancient ruins, which may still be produced by modern Indigenous people in Brazil.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi, Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar, Angela Saini
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl0606
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Reducing cartel violence in Mexico, and what to read and see this fall
21 september 2023 · 37 min
The key to shrinking cartels is cutting recruitment, and a roundup of books, video games, movies, and more Lees meer
First up on this week’s show: modeling Mexico’s cartels. Rafael Prieto-Curiel, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna, joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how modeling cartel activities can help us understand the impact of potential interventions such as increased policing or reducing gang recruitment.
Lisa Sanchez, executive director of México Unido Contra la Delincuencia, talks with Sarah about just how difficult it would be to make the model results—which show that reducing recruitment is key—a reality.
Next on the show, Science books editor Valerie Thompson and books intern Jamie Dickman discuss a huge selection of science books, movies, video games, and even new exhibits—all due out this fall. See the complete roundup here.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi, Valerie Thompson, Jamie Dickman
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk9453
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Why cats love tuna, and powering robots with tiny explosions
14 september 2023 · 34 min
Receptors that give our feline friends a craving for meat, and using combustion to propel insect-size robots Lees meer
First up on this week’s episode, Online News Editor David Grimm joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about why despite originating from a dry, desert environment cats seem to love to eat fish.
Next on the show, bugs such as ants are tiny while at the same time fast and strong, and small robots can’t seem to match these insectile feats of speed and power. Cameron Aubin, a postdoc at Cornell University who will shortly join the University of Michigan, discusses using miniscule combustion reactions to bring small robots up to ant speed.
Finally in a sponsored segment from the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office, Jackie Oberst, associate editor for custom publishing, discusses with Bobby Soni, chief business officer at the BioInnovation Institute, an international life science incubator in Copenhagen, Denmark, what it takes to bring a product from lab to market and how to make the leap from scientist to entrepreneur. This segment is sponsored by the BioInnovation Institute.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi, David Grimm
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk8409
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Extreme ocean currents from a volcano, and why it’s taking so long to wire green energy into the U.S. grid
7 september 2023 · 33 min
How the Tonga eruption caused some of the fastest underwater flows in history, and why many U.S. renewable energy projects are on hold Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, we hear about extremely fast underwater currents after a volcanic eruption. Producer Meagan Cantwell talks with sedimentary geologist Michael Clare and submarine volcanologist Isobel Yeo, both at the U.K. National Oceanography Centre. They discuss the complex aftermath of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption, including fast and powerful ocean currents that severed seafloor cables.
Watch a related video on last year’s eruption by Meagan: How the Tonga volcanic eruption rippled through the earth, ocean and atmosphere.
Next on the show, an unexpected slowdown in connecting renewable power to the electrical grid. Freelance journalist Dan Charles joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how problems with modeling energy flow in the electrical grid are holding up wind and solar power projects across the country.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi, Meagan Cantwell; Dan Charles
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk7170
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Reducing calculus trauma, and teaching AI to smell
31 augustus 2023 · 38 min
How active learning improves calculus teaching, and using machine learning to map odors in the smell space Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, Laird Kramer, a professor of physics and faculty in the STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University (FIU), talks with host Sarah Crespi about students leaving STEM fields because of calculus and his research into improving instruction.
We also hear from some Science staffers about their own calculus trauma, from fear of spinning shapes to thinking twice about majoring in physics (featuring Kevin McLean, Paul Voosen, Lizzie Wade, Meagan Cantwell, and FIU student and learning assistant Carolyn Marquez).
Next on the show, can a computer predict what something will smell like to a person by looking at its chemical structure? Emily Mayhew, a professor in the department of food science and human nutrition at Michigan State University, talks about how this was accomplished using a panel of trained smellers, and what the next steps are for digitizing the sense of smell.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi, Kevin McLean; Meagan Cantwell; Paul Voosen; Lizzie Wade
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk6142
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The source of solar wind, hackers and salt halt research, and a book on how institutions decide gender
24 augustus 2023 · 52 min
A close look at a coronal hole, how salt and hackers can affect science, and the latest book in our series on science, sex, and gender Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, determining the origin of solar wind—the streams of plasma that emerge from the Sun and envelope the Solar System. Host Sarah Crespi talks with Lakshmi Pradeep Chitta, a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, about how tiny jets in so-called coronal holes seem to be responsible. Sarah also talks with Science Editor Keith Smith about the source of the data, the Solar Orbiter mission. Read a related Perspective.
Next, two stories on unlikely reasons for slowing science. First, cyberattacks on telescopes scramble ground-based astronomy in Hawaii and Chile, with Diverse Voices Interns Tanvi Dutta Gupta and Celina Zhao. Also, we hear about an unparalleled water crisis in Uruguay that has left scientists high and dry, with science journalist María de los Ángeles Orfila.
Finally, in this month’s books segment in our series on science, sex, and gender, host Angela Saini talks with author and political scientist Paisley Currah about his book, Sex Is as Sex Does: Governing Transgender Identity, on why and how government institutions categorize people by sex and gender.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi, Angela Saini; María de los Ángeles Orfila; Celina Zhao; Tanvi Dutta Gupta
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk4714
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What killed off North American megafauna, and making languages less complicated
17 augustus 2023 · 48 min
Ancient wildfires may have doomed Southern California’s big mammals, and do insular societies have more complex languages? Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, what killed off North America’s megafauna, such as dire wolves and saber-toothed cats? Online News Editor Mike Price joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the likely culprits: climate or humans, or one that combines both—fire. They discuss how the La Brea Tar Pits are helping researchers figure this out. Read the related Science paper.
Next up, do languages get less complex when spoken in multilingual societies? Olena Shcherbakova, a doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, joins Sarah with a broad look at how the complexity of languages changes under different social and linguistic environments.
In a sponsored segment from the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office, Jackie Oberst, associate editor for custom publishing, discusses with Trine Bartholdy, chief innovation officer at the BioInnovation Institute, an international life science incubator in Copenhagen, Denmark, about the continued disparity in women’s health research and funding and ways in which these challenges are being overcome. This segment is sponsored by the BioInnovation Institute.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
Authors: Sarah Crespi, Mike Price
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk3475
About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast
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Why some trees find one another repulsive, and why we don’t know how much our hands weigh
10 augustus 2023 · 27 min
First up on this week’s show, we hear about the skewed perception of our own hands, extremely weird giant viruses, champion regenerating flatworms, and more from Newsletter Editor Christie Wilcox. Christie also chats with host Sarah Crespi about her work on a daily newsletter and what it takes to do it 5 days a week. Read more newsletters and sign up for your daily dose of Science and science. Lees meer
Next on the show, AAAS Intern Andrew Saintsing learns about why trees are repulsive—to one another. Michael Kalyuzhny, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin, discusses his Science paper on why trees of the same species avoid living close together in diverse habitats such as rainforests.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi, Andrew Saintsing, Christie Wilcox
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk2064
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Tracing the genetic history of African Americans using ancient DNA, and ethical questions at a famously weird medical museum
3 augustus 2023 · 36 min
Bringing together ancient DNA from a burial site and a giant database of consumer ancestry DNA helps fill gaps in African American ancestry, and a reckoning for Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, ancient DNA researchers and ancestry giant 23andMe joined forces to uncover present day ties to a cemetery at the Catoctin Furnace ironworks in Maryland, where enslaved people were buried. Contributing producers and hosts of the Dope Labs podcast Titi Shodiya and Zakiya Whatley spoke with authors Éadaoin Harney and David Reich about the historical significance of this work and how it may help some African American communities recover parts of their lost genealogy. Our News team also covered the paper here.
Next we have a conversation with Staff Writer Rodrigo Pérez Ortega about Philadelphia’s famously creepy Mütter Museum. He talks to producer Kevin McLean about his recent story on the ethics of showcasing the various medical curiosities that the museum is known for.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi, Kevin McLean, Titi Shodiya, Zakiya Whatley, Rodrigo Pérez Ortega
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk1038
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Researchers collaborate with a social media giant, ancient livestock, and sex and gender in South Africa
27 juli 2023 · 49 min
On this week’s show: evaluating scientific collaborations between independent scholars and industry, farming in ancient Europe, and a book from our series on sex, gender, and science. Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, a look behind the scenes at a collaboration between a social media company and 17 academics. Host Sarah Crespi speaks with Michael Wagner, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication who acted as an impartial observer for Meta’s U.S. 2020 election project. Wagner wrote a commentary piece about what worked and what didn’t in this massive project, which will spawn more than 15 papers, three of them out this week in Science.
Then, producer Meagan Cantwell speaks with Silvia Valenzuela Lamas about her talk about how sociopolitical changes shaped livestock in ancient Europe. Her talk was part of a session on migrations and exchanges in ancient civilizations from this year’s AAAS Annual Meeting.
Also this week, the latest in our book series on sex, gender, and science. Host Angela Saini talks with author Amanda Lock Swarr about her book: Envisioning African Intersex: Challenging Colonial and Racist Legacies in South African Medicine.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
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Adding thousands of languages to the AI lexicon, and the genes behind our bones
20 juli 2023 · 39 min
A massive effort by African volunteers is ensuring artificial intelligence understands their native languages, and measuring 40,000 skeletons Lees meer
Our AI summer continues with a look at how to get artificial intelligence to understand and translate the thousands of languages that don’t have large online sources of text and audio. Freelance journalist Sandeep Ravindran joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss Masakhane, a volunteer-based project dedicated to spurring growth in machine learning of African languages. See the whole special issue on AI here.
Also this week on the show, Eucharist Kun, a Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin, and colleagues used machine learning to take skeletal measurements from x-rays stored in the UK Biobank. Kun discusses links from these body proportions to genes, evolution, and disease.
Finally, in a sponsored segment from the Science Custom Publishing Office, Erika Berg, director and senior editor of custom publishing, interviews Aysha Akhtar, co-founder and CEO of the Center for Contemporary Sciences, about how the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act 2.0 along with advances in technology are clearing the way for alternatives to animal testing in the development of new drugs. This segment is sponsored by Michelson Philanthropies.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Sandeep Ravindran
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj7646
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The AI special issue, adding empathy to robots, and scientists leaving Arecibo
13 juli 2023 · 30 min
Science’s NextGen voices share their thoughts on artificial intelligence, how to avoid creating sociopathic robots, and a visit to a historic observatory as researchers pack their bags Lees meer
As part of a Science special issue on finding a place for artificial intelligence (AI) in science and society, Producer Kevin McLean shares voices from the next generation of researchers. We hear from students about how they think human scientists will still need to work alongside AI in the future.
Continuing the AI theme, we learn about instilling empathy to get better decisions from AI. Researcher Leonardo Christov-Moore, a neuroscientist at the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, discusses his Science Robotics piece on the importance of feelings for future iterations of AI with host Sarah Crespi.
Finally, the status of the Arecibo Observatory. Sarah talks with Contributing Correspondent Claudia López Lloreda in Puerto Rico about scientists wrapping up their work at the facility, and the uncertain future of both their work prospects and the site itself.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kevin McLean; Claudio Lopez Lloreda
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj7011
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Putting the man-hunter and woman-gatherer myth to the sword, and the electron's dipole moment gets closer to zero
6 juli 2023 · 31 min
Worldwide survey kills the myth of “Man the Hunter,” and tightly constraining the electric dipole moment of the electron Lees meer
First up this week on the show, freelance science writer Bridget Alex joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss busting the long-standing myth that in our deep past, virtually all hunters were men and women tended to be gatherers. It turns out women hunt in the vast majority of foraging societies, upending old stereotypes.
After that, we learn about a hunt for zero. Tanya Roussy, a recent Ph.D. graduate in quantum physics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, discusses her work trying to constrain the electric dipole moment of the electron. She also talks about why the dipole moment being zero could be just as interesting as not zero to people studying the big mysteries of the universe—such as why matter and antimatter didn’t wipe each other out at the beginning of the universe. Read a related commentary.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Bridget Alex
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj5600
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Putting organs into the deep freeze, a scavenger hunt for robots, and a book on race and reproduction
29 juni 2023 · 48 min
On this week’s show: Improvements in cryopreservation technology, teaching robots to navigate new places, and the latest book in our series on sex and gender Lees meer
First up this week on the show, scientists are learning how to “cryopreserve” tissues—from donor kidneys to coral larvae. Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the latest in freezing and thawing technology.
Next up: How much does a robot need to “know” about the world to navigate it? Theophile Gervet, a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University, discusses a scavenger hunt–style experiment that involves bringing robots to Airbnb rentals.
Finally, as part of our series of books on sex, gender, and science, host Angela Saini interviews author Dorothy Roberts, a professor of law and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, about her book Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Angela Saini; Warren Cornwall
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj4684
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A space-based telescope to hunt dark energy, and what we can learn from scaleless snakes
22 juni 2023 · 29 min
On this week’s show: Euclid, a powerful platform for detecting dark energy, and a slithery segment on how snakes make scales Lees meer
First up on the show this week, we’re taking the hunt for dark energy to space. Staff Writer Daniel Clery joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss a new space-based telescope called Euclid, set to launch next month. Euclid will kick off a new phase in the search for dark energy, the mysterious force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe.
Also on this week’s show, snakes reveal a new way to pattern the body. Athanasia Tzika, a senior lecturer in the genetics and evolution department at the University of Geneva, talks about her Science Advances paper on the novel way snakes organize their scales.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Daniel Clery
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Why it’s tough to measure light pollution, and a mental health first aid course
15 juni 2023 · 23 min
A special issue on light pollution, and first aid for mental well-being Lees meer
First up this week, cleaning up the night skies. As part of a special issue on light pollution, host Sarah Crespi talks with Stefan Wallner, a researcher at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, about why light pollution is so difficult to measure and how coordination efforts between disciplines will help us darken the nights.
Also on this week’s show, a mental health first aid course for scientists. Azmi Ahmad, a postdoctoral fellow at Yale School of Medicine, joins Sarah to discuss steps for supporting mental health day to day and during a crisis.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj2212
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Contraception for cats, and taking solvents out of chemistry
8 juni 2023 · 29 min
A single-shot cat contraceptive, and a close look at “dry” chemistry Lees meer
First up this week: an innovation in cat contraception. Online News Editor David Grimm talks with host Sarah Crespi about a nonsurgical pregnancy prevention technique for cats and why such an approach has been a long-term goal for cat population control.
Also on this week’s show, we hear about new insights into mechanical chemistry—using physical force to push molecules together. Science Editor Jake Yeston and Yerzhan Zholdassov, a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry at the City University of New York, join Sarah to discuss why pushing things together works and how it might herald an era of solvent-free chemistry. Read a related commentary article.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; David Grimm; Jake Yeston
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj0996
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How we measure the world with our bodies, and hunting critical minerals
1 juni 2023 · 29 min
Body-based units of measure in cultural evolution, and how the geologic history of the United States can be used to find vital minerals Lees meer
First up this week, we hear about the advantages of using the body to measure the world around you. Producer Meagan Cantwell talks with Roope Kaaronen, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki, about how and why cultures use body-based measurements, such as arm lengths and hand spans. Read the related commentary.
Also on this week’s show, the United States starts a big hunt for useful minerals. Staff Writer Paul Voosen joins me to discuss the country’s Earth MRI project, which seeks to locate rare earth elements and other minerals critical to sustainable energy and technology within its borders.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Meagan Cantwell; Paul Voosen
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi9883
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Talking tongues, detecting beer, and shifting perspectives on females
25 mei 2023 · 41 min
Why it’s so hard to understand the tongue, a book on a revolutionary shift toward studying the female of the species, and using proteomics to find beer in a painting Lees meer
First on the show this week, Staff Writer Elizabeth Pennisi joins host Sarah Crespi to talk tongues: Who has them, who doesn’t, and all their amazing elaborations.
We also have the first in a new six-part series on books exploring the science of sex and gender. For this month’s installment, host Angela Saini talks with evolutionary biologist Malin Ah-King about her book The Female Turn: How Evolutionary Science Shifted Perceptions About Females.
Finally, detecting beer in early 19th century Danish paintings. Heritage scientist Fabiana Di Gianvincenzo of the Heritage Science Laboratory at the University of Ljubljana talks about her Science Advances paper on using proteomics to dig out clues to artistic practices of the day and how they fit in with the local beer-loving culture.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Angela Saini; Elizabeth Pennisi
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi8592
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The earliest evidence for kissing, and engineering crops to clone themselves
18 mei 2023 · 33 min
Cloning vigorous crops, and finding the first romantic kiss Lees meer
First up this week, building resilience into crops. Staff Writer Erik Stokstad joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss all the tricks farmers use now to make resilient hybrid crops of rice or wheat and how genetically engineering hybrid crop plants to clone themselves may be the next step.
After that we ask: When did we start kissing? Troels Pank Arbøll is an assistant professor of Assyriology in the department of cross-cultural and regional studies at the University of Copenhagen. He and Sarah chat about the earliest evidence for kissing—romantic style—and why it is unlikely that such kisses had a single place or time of origin.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Erik Stokstad
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi7436
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Debating when death begins, and the fate of abandoned lands
11 mei 2023 · 43 min
A new approach promises to increase organ transplants but some question whether they should proceed without revisiting the definition of death, and what happens to rural lands when people head to urban centers Lees meer
First up this week, innovations in organ transplantation lead to ethical debates. Host Sarah Crespi talks with Staff Writer Jennifer Couzin-Frankel and several transplant surgeons and doctors about defining death, technically. Also in this segment:
Anji Wall, abdominal transplant surgeon and bioethicist at Baylor University Medical Center
Marat Slessarav, consultant intensivist and donation physician at the London Health Sciences Centre and assistant professor in the department of medicine at Western University
Nader Moazami, surgical head of heart transplantation at New York University Langone Health
Next up, what happens to abandoned rural lands when people leave the countryside for cities? Producer Kevin McLean talks with Gergana Daskalova, a Schmidt Science Fellow in the Biodiversity, Ecology, and Conservation group at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, about how the end of human activities in these places can lead to opportunities for biodiversity.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. Additional music provided by Looperman.com
About the Science Podcast
[Image: Martin Cathrae/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: partially collapsed old barn with podcast overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kevin McLean; Jennifer Couzin-Frankel
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi6336
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Building big dream machines, and self-organizing landscapes
4 mei 2023 · 41 min
Builders of the largest scientific instruments, and how cracks can add resilience to an ecosystem Lees meer
First up this week, a story on a builder of the biggest machines. Producer Kevin McLean talks with Staff Writer Adrian Cho about Adrian’s dad and his other baby: an x-ray synchrotron.
Next up on this episode, a look at self-organizing landscapes. Host Sarah Crespi and Chi Xu, a professor of ecology at Nanjing University, talk about a Science Advances paper on how resilience in an ecosystem can come from the interaction of a plant and cracks in the soil.
Finally, in a sponsored segment from the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office, Jackie Oberst, assistant editor for custom publishing, discusses challenges early-career researchers face and how targeted funding for this group can enable their future success. She talks with Gary Michelson, founder and co-chair of Michelson Philanthropies and Aleksandar Obradovic, this year’s grand prize winner of the annual Michelson Philanthropies and Science Prize for Immunology.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: Hong’an Ding/Yellow River Estuary Association of Photographers; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: red beach from above with podcast overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kevin McLean; Adrian Cho
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/science.adi5718
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The value of new voices in science and journalism, and what makes something memorable
27 april 2023 · 32 min
Science’s editor-in-chief and an award-winning broadcast journalist discuss the struggles shared by journalism and science, and we learn about what makes something stand out in our memories Lees meer
First up on the show this week: Science Editor-in-Chief Holden Thorp talks with Amna Nawaz, an award-winning broadcast journalist and host of the PBS NewsHour, about the value of new voices in science and journalism and other things the two fields have in common.
Next up, what makes something stand out in your memory? Is an object or word memorable because it is unique or expressive? Are there features of things that make them memorable, regardless of meaning? Wilma Bainbridge, an assistant professor in the department of psychology at the University of Chicago, joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss her Science Advances paper on teasing apart the features of memorability.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: madabandon/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: array of lemons with podcast overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Holden Thorp
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi4383
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Mapping uncharted undersea volcanoes, and elephant seals dive deep to sleep
20 april 2023 · 39 min
What does it mean that we have so many more seamounts than previously thought, and finding REM sleep in seals Lees meer
First up on the show this week: so many seamounts. Staff News Writer Paul Voosen joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss a study that mapped about 17,000 never-before-seen underwater volcanoes. They talk about how these new submarine landforms will influence conservation efforts and our understanding of ocean circulation.
Next up, how do mammals that spend 90% of their time in the water, get any sleep? Jessica Kendall-Bar, the Schmidt AI in Science postdoctoral fellow at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, is here to talk about her work exploring the sleep of elephant seals by capturing their brain waves as they dive deep to slumber.
Finally, in a sponsored segment from Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office, Jackie Oberst, assistant editor for the Custom Publishing office, interviews Friedman Brain Institute Director Eric Nestler and Director of Drug Discovery Paul Kenny, two experts on addiction from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. This segment is sponsored by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
[Image: Rob Oo/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: two female elephant seals looking at the camera with podcast overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Paul Voosen
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi3256
About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast
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More precise radiocarbon dating, secrets of hibernating bear blood, and a new book series
13 april 2023 · 42 min
Anchoring radiocarbon dates to cosmic events, why hibernating bears don't get blood clots, and kicking off a book series on sex, gender, and science Lees meer
First up this week, upping the precision of radiocarbon dating by linking cosmic rays to isotopes in wood. Producer Meagan Cantwell talks with Online News Editor Michael Price about how spikes in cosmic rays—called Miyake events—are helping archaeologists peg the age of wooden artifacts to a year rather than a decade or century.
Next on the show, we have a segment on why bears can safely sleep during hibernation without worrying about getting clots in their blood. Unlike bears, when people spend too much time immobilized, such as sitting for a long time on a flight, we risk getting deep vein thrombosis—or a blood clot. Johannes Müller-Reif of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry talks with host Sarah Crespi about what we can learn from bears about how and why our bodies decide to make these clots and what we can do to prevent them.
Stay tuned for an introduction to our new six-part series on books exploring science, sex, and gender. Guest host Angela Saini talks with scholar Anne Fausto-Sterling about the books in this year's lineup and how they were selected.
We’ve been nominated for a Webby! Please support the show and vote for us by 20 April.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: Thomas Zsebok/iStock/Getty; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: brown bear lying in a cave with podcast overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Meagan Cantwell; Mike Price; Angela Saini
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi2236
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Why not vaccinate chickens against avian flu, and new form of reproduction found in yellow crazy ants
6 april 2023 · 32 min
Why some countries, such as China, vaccinate flocks against bird flu but others don’t, and male ants that are always chimeras Lees meer
First up this week, highly pathogenic avian influenza is spreading to domestic flocks around the globe from migrating birds. Why don’t many countries vaccinate their bird herds when finding one case can mean massive culls? Staff News Writer Jon Cohen joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the push and pull of economics, politics, and science at play in vaccinating poultry against bird flu.
Next up, a crazy method of reproduction in the yellow crazy ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes). Hugo Darras, an assistant professor in the Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution at Johannes Gutenberg University, talks about how males of this species are always chimeras—which means their body is composed of two different cell lines, one from each parent. Read a related perspective.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: The Wild Martin; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: Queen and worker yellow crazy ants with podcast overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Jon Cohen
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi0665
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How the Maya thought about the ancient ruins in their midst, and the science of Braille
30 maart 2023 · 30 min
On this week’s show: How people in the past thought about their own past, and a detailed look at how Braille is read Lees meer
First up this week, what did people 1000 years ago think about 5000-year-old Stonehenge? Or about a disused Maya temple smack dab in the middle of the neighborhood? Contributing Correspondent Lizzie Wade joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how Mesoamerican sites are revealing new ways that ruins were incorporated into past peoples’ lives.
Next up on this week’s show is a segment from the AAAS meeting on reading science and Braille. We hear from Robert Englebretson, an associate professor of linguistics at Rice University, about filling in a gap in reading science research when it comes to how Braille is read, written, and learned.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: S. Crespi/Science; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: Maya building with podcast overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Lizzie Wade
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi0106
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New worries about Earth’s asteroid risk, and harnessing plants’ chemical factories
23 maart 2023 · 27 min
On this week’s show: Earth’s youngest impact craters could be vastly underestimated in size, and remaking a plant’s process for a creating a complex compound Lees meer
First up this week, have we been measuring asteroid impact craters wrong? Staff Writer Paul Voosen talks with host Sarah Crespi about new approaches to measuring the diameter of impact craters. They discuss the new measurements which, if confirmed, might require us to rethink just how often Earth gets hit with large asteroids. Paul also shares more news from the recent Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas.
Next up, pulling together all the enzymes used by a plant to make a vaccine adjuvant—a compound used to boost the efficacy of vaccines—in the lab. Anne Osbourn, a group leader and professor of biology at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, England, talks about why plants are so much better at making complex molecules, and an approach that allows scientists to copy their methods.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: NASA/JPL; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: Itturalde crater in Bolivia with podcast overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Paul Voosen
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh9195
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An active volcano on Venus, and a concerning rise in early onset colon cancer
16 maart 2023 · 24 min
On this week’s show: Spotting volcanic activity on Venus in 30-year-old data, and giving context to increases in early onset colon cancer Lees meer
First up this week, a researcher notices an active volcano on Venus in data from the Magellan mission—which ended in 1994. News Staff Writer Paul Voosen joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how to find a “fresh” lava flow in 30-year-old readings.
Next up, a concerning increase in early onset colon cancer. Kimmie Ng, director of the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, is here to talk about how these early colon cancers—those diagnosed before age 50—are different from those diagnosed later in life. We also talk about what needs to be learned about diet, environment, and genetics to better understand this condition.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: NASA; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: Maat Mons volcano on Venus with podcast symbol overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Paul Voosen
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh8158
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Compassion fatigue in those who care for lab animals, and straightening out ocean conveyor belts
9 maart 2023 · 41 min
On this week’s show: Compassion fatigue will strike most who care for lab animals, but addressing it is challenging. Also, overturning ideas about ocean circulation Lees meer
First up this week: uncovering compassion fatigue in those who work with research animals—from cage cleaners to heads of entire animal facilities. Host Sarah Crespi and Online News Editor David Grimm discuss how to recognize the anxiety and depression that can be associated with this work and what some institutions are doing to help.
Featured in this segment:
Preston Van Hooser
Megan LaFollette
Anneke Keizer
Next up on the show, a segment from the annual meeting of AAAS (which publishes Science) on overturning assumptions in ocean circulation. Physical oceanographer Susan Lozier, dean of the College of Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, talks with producer Kevin McLean about the limitations of the ocean conveyor belt model, and how new tools have been giving us a much more accurate view of how water moves around the world.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: Global sea surface currents and temperature with podcast symbol overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kevin McLean; David Grimm
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh4938
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Battling bias in medicine, and how dolphins use vocal fry
2 maart 2023 · 31 min
On this week’s show: Researchers are finding new ways to mitigate implicit bias in medical settings, and how toothed whales use distinct vocal registers for echolocation and communication Lees meer
First up this week: how to fight unconscious bias in the clinic. Staff Writer Rodrigo Pérez Ortega talks with host Sarah Crespi about how researchers are attempting to fight bias on many fronts—from online classes to machine learning to finding a biomarker for pain.
Next up on the show: a close look at toothed whale vocalization. Though we have known for more than 50 years that toothed whales such as orcas, sperm whales, and dolphins make diverse and useful sounds, how these noises are produced by their bodies has not been well understood. Coen Elemans, a professor in biology and head of the sound communication and behavior group at the University of Southern Denmark, joins Sarah to talk about using endoscopy and high-speed cameras as well as tissue samples and tracking data to learn how they achieve such amazing feats of sound.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: Thumy Phan; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: looking through glasses at a distorted face in what looks like a medical setting with podcast overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Rodrigo Pérez Ortega
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh3706
About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast
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Shrinking MRI machines, and the smell of tsetse fly love
23 februari 2023 · 34 min
On this week’s show: Portable MRI scanners could revolutionize medical imaging, and pheromones offer a way to control flies that spread disease Lees meer
First up this week: shrinking MRI machines. Staff Writer Adrian Cho talks with host Sarah Crespi about how engineers and physicists are teaming up to make MRI machines smaller and cheaper.
Next up on the show, the smell of tsetse fly love. Producer Kevin McLean talks with Shimaa Ebrahim, a postdoctoral researcher in the department of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at Yale University, about understanding how tsetse flies use odors to attract one another and how this can be used to prevent the flies from transmitting diseases such as African sleeping sickness.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: GEOFFREY ATTARDO/UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: tsetse fly with podcast symbol overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kevin McLean; Adrian Cho
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh3128
About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast
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Earth’s hidden hydrogen, and a trip to Uranus
16 februari 2023 · 30 min
On this week’s show: The hunt for natural hydrogen deposits heats up, and why we need a space mission to an ice giant Lees meer
First up this week: a gold rush for naturally occurring hydrogen. Deputy Editor Eric Hand joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss drilling for hidden pockets of hydrogen, which companies are just now starting to explore as a clean energy option.
Next up, big plans for a mission to Uranus. Kathleen Mandt, a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, shares what a mission to Uranus could tell us about the formation of our Solar System and all these exoplanets we keep finding.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: Austin Fisher; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: Uranus illustration with podcast symbol overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Eric Hand
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh1873
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Using sharks to study ocean oxygen, and what ancient minerals teach us about early Earth
9 februari 2023 · 32 min
On this week’s show: Shark tags to measure ocean deoxygenation, and zircons and the chemistry of early Earth Lees meer
First up this week: using sharks to measure ocean deoxygenation. Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall joins us to talk about a group of researchers putting data logging tags on sharks in order to study how climate change is affecting oxygen levels in some of the ocean’s darkest depths.
Next up, what can 4-billion-year-old minerals teach us about chemistry on early Earth? Producer Meagan Cantwell talks to geochemist Dustin Trail about using minerals called zircons to deduce the chemical properties of the early hydrothermal pools where life began.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: David Salvatori/VWPICS/Alamy Stock Photo; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: Underwater photo of mako shark with podcast symbol overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Warren Cornwall; Meagan Cantwell
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Visiting a mummy factory, and improving the IQ of … toilets
2 februari 2023 · 29 min
On this week’s show: New clues to the chemicals used for mummification, and the benefits and barriers to smart toilets Lees meer
First up this week: What can we learn from a mummy factory? Contributing Correspondent Andrew Curry talks with host Sarah Crespi about mummy chemistry and why we don’t know much about what was used to preserve these ancient bodies. Online News Editor Michael Price makes a special appearance.
Next up, how having a smart toilet can contribute to your health. Seung-Min Park, an instructor in the Department of Urology at Stanford University School of Medicine, wrote this week in Science Translational Medicine about the powers of data-collecting toilets to improve health and the psychological and ethical barriers to adopting a smart toilet of your very own.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
[Image: Portugal2004/iStock; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: toilet with podcast symbol overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Andrew Curry; Michael Price
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg9654
About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast
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Wolves hunting otters, and chemical weathering in a warming world
26 januari 2023 · 26 min
On this week’s show: When deer are scarce these wolves turn to sea otters, and chemical weathering of silicates acts as a geological thermostat Lees meer
First up on this week’s show we have a story about a group of Alaskan wolves that has switched to eating sea otters as deer populations have dwindled. Science journalist Jack Tamisiea tells host Sarah Crespi about some of the recently published work on this diet shift, and wildlife biologist Gretchen Roffler weighs in on the conditions on the island where this is happening.
Also on this week’s show: Chemical weathering and the global carbon cycle. Sarah speaks with Susan Brantley, Evan Pugh university professor in the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute and Department of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, about how weathering of silicates in rocks pulls carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They talk about how this temperature-sensitive process could increase as Earth warms, as well as the potential and limitations of this effect on the global carbon budget.
Take the podcast audience survey here.
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
About the Science Podcast
[Image: Landon Bazeley; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: Wolf pup pulling a sea otter carcass up a rocky beach with podcast symbol overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kevin McLean; Jack Tamisiea
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Bad stats overturn ‘medical murders,’ and linking allergies with climate change
19 januari 2023 · 39 min
Statisticians fight bad numbers used in medical murder trials, and the state of allergy science Lees meer
First up on this week’s show, we have a piece on accusations of medical murder. Contributing Correspondent Cathleen O’Grady joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss her story on how statisticians are weighing in on cases where nurses and doctors are convicted of murdering patients based on bad statistics. This segment was produced by Kevin McLean with sound design by James Rowlands.
Also on this week’s show: Allergies are on the rise and this increase is linked with climate change. Sarah speaks with Kari Nadeau, Naddisy Foundation endowed professor of medicine and pediatrics at Stanford University, about her review in Science Translational Medicine on the status of allergy science, and how recommendations have changed from when to give children peanuts to opting for sublingual exposure therapy.
Take the podcast audience survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TLKCHC8
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
[Image: bobtphoto/iStock; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: ragweed field with podcast symbol overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kevin McLean; Cathleen O’Grady
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg7524
About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast
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Peering beyond the haze of alien worlds, and how failures help us make new discoveries
12 januari 2023 · 34 min
Data on hazes and clouds may be key to understanding exoplanets, and NextGen letter writers share the upside of failure Lees meer
Hazes and clouds could keep exoplanets’ secrets hidden, unless researchers can re-create them here on Earth. After celebrating JWST and its ability to look far back in time and help us look for habitable exoplanets as the 2022 Science Breakthrough of the Year, News Intern Zack Savitsky talks with host Sarah Crespi about an overlooked problem with using telescopes to examine exoplanets’ atmospheres.
What was your greatest mistake? In a chat with producer Kevin McLean, Letters Editor Jennifer Sills shares stories from NextGen Voices about failures that led them in unexpected directions in their science careers.
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This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
[Image: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
[alt: exoplanet with cloudy and hazy atmosphere with podcast symbol overlay]
Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kevin McLean; Jennifer Sills; Zack Savitsky
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg6078
About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast
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A controversial dam in the Amazon unites Indigenous people and scientists, and transplanting mitochondria to treat rare diseases
5 januari 2023 · 27 min
Keeping an eye on the largest hydroelectric project in the Amazon basin, and helping patients with deletions in their mitochondrial DNA Lees meer
We are starting off the new year with producer Kevin McLean and freelance science journalist Sofia Moutinho. They discuss a controversial dam in the Brazilian Amazon and how Indigenous peoples and researchers are trying to monitor its impact.
Then, host Sarah Crespi speaks with Elad Jacoby, an expert in pediatric hematology and oncology at the Sheba Medical Center and Tel Aviv University, about the many wonders of mitochondria. In a recent Science Translational Medicine paper, his team took advantage of the fact that mitochondria are almost exclusively inherited from our mothers to transfer mothers’ mitochondria into their children as treatment for mitochondrial genome deletions.
Take our audience survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TLKCHC8
This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
[Image: Dado Galdieri/Hilaea Media; Music: Jeffrey Cook]
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Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kevin McLean; Sofia Moutinho
Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg5434
About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast
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