Category Archives: Science

Science Podcasts: Quest To Detect Gravitational Waves, First Hypothesised By Einstein (Nature)

Nature PodcastIn 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) facilities in the US directly detected ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves. These waves were produced by the final spiral of two oribiting black holes that smashed into each other, sending ripples across the universe.

In this Podcast Extra, Benjamin Thompson speaks to Cole Miller from the University of Maryland about the quest to detect gravitational waves, which were first hypothesised by Albert Einstein back in 1916.

Top Science Podcasts: Earthworm Study, Bias In Health Algorithms & “Dr. Space Junk” (ScienceMag)

scimag_pc_logo_120_120 (1)This week in ScienceHelen Philips, a postdoctoral fellow at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research and the Institute of Biology at Leipzig University, and colleagues published the results of their worldwide earthworm study, composed of data sets from many worm researchers around the globe. 

Sarah also talks with Ziad Obermeyer, a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, about dissecting out bias in an algorithm used by health care systems in the United States to recommend patients for additional health services.

Finally, in the monthly books segment, books host Kiki Sanford interviews author Alice Gorman about her book Dr. Space Junk vs The Universe: Archaeology and the Future. Listen to more book segments on the Science books blog: Books, et al.

To read more: https://www.sciencemag.org/podcast/worldwide-worm-survey-and-racial-bias-health-care-algorithm

Top Science Podcasts: Quantum Computing, Speediest Ants & Altering The “Deaf” Gene (Nature)

Nature PodcastListen to the latest from the world of science, with Nick Howe and Shamini Bundell. This week, a milestone in quantum computing, and rethinking early mammals.

In this episode:

00:43 A quantum computing milestone

A quantum computer is reported to have achieved ‘quantum supremacy’ – performing an operation that’s essentially impossible for classical computers. Research Article: Arute et al.News and Views: Quantum computing takes flightEditorial: A precarious milestone for quantum computingNews: Hello quantum world! Google publishes landmark quantum supremacy claim

08:24 Research Highlights

The world’s speediest ants, and the world’s loudest birdsong. Research Highlight: A land-speed record for ants set in Saharan dunesResearch Highlight: A bird’s ear-splitting shriek smashes the record for loudest song

10:19 The mammals that lived with the dinosaurs

Paleontologists are shifting their view of Mesozoic era mammals. News Feature: How the earliest mammals thrived alongside dinosaurs

18:00 News Chat

A Russian researcher’s plans to edit human embryos, and ‘prime editing’ – a more accurate gene editing system. News: Russian ‘CRISPR-baby’ scientist has started editing genes in human eggs with goal of altering deaf geneNews: Super-precise new CRISPR tool could tackle a plethora of genetic diseases

Neuroscience Podcast: “Consciousness Theories” And “Biased Childhood Memories” (ScienceMag)

We don’t know where consciousness comes from. And we don’t know whether animals have it, or whether we can detect it in patients in comas. Do neuroscientists even know where to look? A new competition aims to narrow down the bewildering number of theories of consciousness and get closer to finding its biological signs by pitting different theories against each other in experimental settings. Freelance journalist Sara Reardon talks with host Sarah Crespi about how the competition will work.

Science Mag Podcast ConsciousnessIn our second segment, we talk about how we think about children. For thousands of years, adults have complained about their lack of respect, intelligence, and tendency to distraction, compared with previous generations. A new study out this week in Science Advances suggests our own biased childhood memories might be at fault. Sarah Crespi talks with John Protzko of the University of California, Santa Barbara, about how terrible people thought kids were in 3800 B.C.E. and whether understanding those biases might change how people view Generation Z today.

To read more: https://www.sciencemag.org/podcast/trying-find-mind-brain-and-why-adults-are-always-criticizing-kids-these-days

Top Science Podcasts: Child Mortality Rates, Evolving New Genes & Vaping Deaths (Nature)

Nature PodcastListen to the latest from the world of science, with Benjamin Thompson and Shamini Bundell. This week, investigating child mortality rates at a local level, and building genes from non-coding DNA.

In this episode:

00:43 A regional view of childhood mortality

Researchers map countries’ progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Developmental Goals. Research Article: Burstein et al.World View: Data on child deaths are a call for justiceEditorial: Protect the census

07:22 Research Highlights

Astronomers identify a second visitor from beyond the solar system, and extreme snowfall stifles animal breeding in Greenland. Research Highlight: The comet that came in from interstellar spaceResearch Highlight: Extreme winter leads to an Arctic reproductive collapse

09:22 Evolving genes from the ground up

Natural selection’s creative way to evolve new genes. News Feature: How evolution builds genes from scratch

15:43 News Chat

A spate of vaping-related deaths in the US, and Japan’s import of the Ebola virus. News: Scientists chase cause of mysterious vaping illness as death toll risesNews: Why Japan imported Ebola ahead of the 2020 Olympics

Thoughts On Aging: Should Some Older People Be Allowed To Change Their Legal Age?

From an Aeon.co online article by Bioethicist Joona Räsänen:

BioEthicsAge change should be allowed when the following three conditions are met. First, the person is at risk of being discriminated against because of age. Second, the person’s body and mind are in better shape than would be expected based on the person’s chronological age (that is, the person is biologically younger than he is chronologically). Third, the person does not feel that his legal age is befitting.

Let’s say that on average you are in better shape than other people of your age. You are more able than them: quicker, sprightlier, livelier. You feel and identify as younger than your official age. However, despite all your youthful energy, you are also discriminated against because of your greater age. You cannot get a job – or, if you do, you might earn less than some of your younger coworkers simply due to your advanced years. The question is, should you be allowed to change your ‘official’ age in order to avoid this discrimination and to better match how you identify and feel?

To read more: https://aeon.co/ideas/older-people-should-be-allowed-to-change-their-legal-age?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ae6b281c0d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_10_07_04_28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-ae6b281c0d-70852327

Top Science Podcasts: Estimating Earthquake Risk, And Difficulties For Deep-Learning (Nature)

Nature PodcastThis week, a method for predicting follow-up earthquakes, and the issues with deep learning systems in AI.

In this episode:

00:47 Which is the big quake?

A new technique could allow seismologists to better predict if a larger earthquake will follow an initial tremor. Research Article: Real-time discrimination of earthquake foreshocks and aftershocksNews and Views: Predicting if the worst earthquake has passed

07:46 Research Highlights

Vampire bats transmitting rabies in Costa Rica, and why are some octopuses warty? Research Article: Streicker et al.Research Article: Voight et al.

10:03 Problems for pattern-recognition

Deep-learning allows AIs to better understand the world, but the technique is not without its issues. News Feature: Why deep-learning AIs are so easy to fool

16:31 News Chat

We roundup the 2019 Nobel Prizes for science. News: Biologists who decoded how cells sense oxygen win medicine NobelNews: Physics Nobel goes to exoplanet and cosmology pioneersNews: Chemistry Nobel honours world-changing batteries

New Books On Aging: “Lifespan: Why We Age — and Why We Don’t Have To” By David A. Sinclair And Matthew D. LaPlante (2019)

From a Nature.com online review:

Lifespan-cover-imageLifespan, by geneticist David Sinclair and journalist Matthew LaPlante, provides a vision of a not-too-distant future in which living beyond 120 will be commonplace. For Sinclair and LaPlante, the answer lies in understanding and leveraging why we age…

Lifespan is entertaining and fast-paced — a whirlwind tour of the recent past and a near future that will see 90 become the new 70. In a succession of colourfully titled chapters (‘The demented pianist’, ‘A better pill to swallow’), Sinclair and LaPlante weave a masterful narrative of how we arrived at this crucial inflection point. Among the historical figures evoked are a sixteenth-century Venetian proponent of caloric restriction, Luigi Cornaro, and the twentieth-century ‘father of information theory’, Claude Shannon.

To read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02667-5?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20190912&utm_source=nature_etoc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20190912&sap-outbound-id=34E4EBDF3E516F09DA62FA13A7FD9F1CDB19356F&utm_source=hybris-campaign&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=000_AGN6567_0000014844_41586-Nature-20190912-EAlert&utm_content=EN_internal_32879_20190912&mkt-key=005056B0331B1EE88A92FE6D6D25F179

Top Science Podcasts: Modelling Embryonic Development, Baby Sea Turtles, “Nature” News

Nature PodcastListen to the latest from the world of science, with Benjamin Thompson and Shamini Bundell. This week, modelling embryonic development, and an analysis of male dominated conferences.

In this episode:

00:44 Imitating implantation

Researchers have created a system that uses stem cells to model the early stages of pregnancy. Research article: Zheng et al.News and Views: Human embryo implantation modelled in microfluidic channels

08:03 Research Highlights

Traces of baby turtle tracks, and Titan’s explosive past. Research Highlight: A baby sea turtle’s ancient trek is captured in a fossilResearch Highlight: Giant explosions sculpted a moon’s peculiar scenery

09:36 ‘Manferences’

Nature investigates the prevalence of conferences where most of the speakers are male. News Feature: How to banish manels and manferences from scientific meetings

15:41 News Chat

An update on India’s latest moon mission, drugs that may reverse biological age, and this year’s Breakthrough Prize winners. News: India loses contact with its Moon lander minutes before touchdownNews: First hint that body’s ‘biological age’ can be reversedNews: First-ever picture of a black hole scoops US$3-million prize

Health Technology: First Successful Tele-Robotic Heart Surgery Performed

From an InterestingEngineering.com online article:

CorPath GRX robot“Remote procedures have the potential to transform how we deliver care when treating the most time-sensitive illnesses such as heart attack and stroke. The success of this study paves the way for large-scale, long-distance telerobotic platforms across the globe, and its publication in Lancet’s EClinicalMedicine demonstrates the transformative nature of telerobotics,” said in a press statement Mark Toland, President and Chief Executive Officer of Corindus Vascular Robotics.

A surgeon in India has performed a series of five percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures on patients who were on operating tables 32 kilometers (20 miles) away from him. The event marks the first long-distance heart surgery.

The operation was performed in patients who have atherosclerosis, a condition where plaque builds up in the blood vessels and restricts blood flow. In this special remote procedure, a robot called the CorPath GRX robot and controlled by the surgeon inserted a small instrument called a stent in order to open blood vessels in the heart.

To read more: https://interestingengineering.com/first-long-distance-heart-surgery-performed-through-a-robot?_source=newsletter&_campaign=JerqNzW7B80q5&_uid=46dBBxnxd7&_h=0c209d493fa27bb2c39469a873cbbd733289c833&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=mailing&utm_campaign=Newsletter-07-09-2019