Tag Archives: Science Podcasts

Science: Coronavirus Pandemic Update And Nonanimal Testing Methods (Podcast)

science-magazine-podcastsOn this week’s show, host Joel Goldberg gets an update on the coronavirus pandemic from Senior Correspondent Jon Cohen. In addition, Cohen gives a rundown of his latest feature, which highlights the relationship between diseases and changing seasons—and how this relationship relates to a potential coronavirus vaccine.

Also this week, from a recording made at this year’s AAAS annual meeting in Seattle, host Meagan Cantwell speaks with Alexandra Maertens, director of the Green Toxicology initiative at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, about the importance of incorporating nonanimal testing methods to study the adverse effects of chemicals.

Top New Science Podcasts: Musical Memory, Ancient Artifacts Along Europe’s Shores (ScienceMag.org)

science-magazine-podcastsOn this week’s show, host Joel Goldberg talks with science journalist Andrew Curry about archaeological finds from thousands of years ago along the shores of Northern Europe. Curry outlines the rich history of the region that scientists, citizen scientists, and energy companies have helped dredge up.

Also this week, from a recording made at this year’s AAAS annual meeting in Seattle, host Meagan Cantwell speaks with Elizabeth Margulis, a professor at Princeton University, about musical memory. Margulis explains what research tells us about how our brains process music, and dives into her own study on how Western and non-Western audiences interpret the same song differently.

Podcasts: “Radioactive” Actress Rosamund Pike As Marie Curie And “Neural Highways” (Nature.com)

nature-podcastsListen to the latest from the world of science, brought to you by Benjamin Thompson and Nick Howe. This week, Nautre speaks to Rosamund Pike about her experience portraying Marie Skłodowska Curie, and we find out how science in Russia is changing after years of decline.

In this episode:

01:43 Radioactive

British actor Rosamund Pike tells us about her new film, and her experience of portraying double Nobel-Laureate Marie Curie. Arts Review: Marie Curie biopic should have trusted pioneer’s passion

10:17 Research Highlights

The neural circuitry involved in stopping, and a jelly-like substance that cleans paintings. Research Highlight: A neural highway to human motor controlResearch article: Mastrangelo et al.

12:27 Russian science

Decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian science may be having a revival. News Feature: Russia aims to revive science after era of stagnationEditorial: The price of Russia–China research collaborations

 

 

Health Podcasts: What Science Has Learned Of “Coronavirus / Covid-19”

nature-podcastsIn this Podcast Extra, we hear from epidemiologists, genomicists and social scientists about how they’re working to tackle the coronavirus and what they’ve learned so far.

Top New Science Podcasts: 100-Million-Year-Old Bird In Amber And Viking Dental Hygiene (Nature)

nature-podcastsHear the latest science news, brought to you by Shamini Bundell and Nick Howe. This week, a newly discovered bird species from the time of the dinosaurs, and microbes hundreds of metres below the ocean floor.

In this episode:

00:44 A tiny, toothy, ancient bird

Researchers have found a perfectly preserved bird fossil trapped in amber, with some rather unusual features. Research Article: Xing et al.News and Views: Tiny bird fossil might be the world’s smallest dinosaur

08:09 Research Highlights

Dental hygiene in the time of the Vikings, and wildebeest bones feed an African ecosystem. Research Article: Bertilsson et alResearch Article: Subalusky et al.

10:21 Deep sea life

Scientists have uncovered traces of life 750m below the ocean’s surface. Research article: Li et al.

17:31 News Chat

Updates on the Coronavirus outbreak, and peer review in predatory journals. News: Coronavirus: latest news on spreading infectionNews: Labs rush to study coronavirus in transgenic animals — some are in short supplyNews: Hundreds of scientists have peer-reviewed for predatory journals

New Science Podcasts: Dogs’ Cold Noses Sense Heat, Coronavirus And The Search For Alien Life

And finally, from a recording made at this year’s AAAS annual meeting, host Meagan Cantwell talks with Jill Tarter, chair emeritus at the SETI Institute, about the newest technologies being used to search for alien life, what a positive signal would look like, and how to inform the public if extraterrestrial life ever were detected.

New Science Podcasts: Faster Image ID, Crafting Crystals And Coronavirus / Covid-19 Update (Nature)

Nature PodcastsListen to the latest from the world of science, with Benjamin Thompson and Nick Howe. This week, improving computers’ image identification, and a new method for growing crystals.

In this episode:

00:44 Upgrading computer sight

Researchers have designed a sensor that allows machines to assess images in nanoseconds. Research Article: Mennel et al.News and Views: In-sensor computing for machine vision

06:51 Research Highlights

Calorie restriction’s effects on rat cells, and the dwindling of sandy seashores. Research Highlight: Old age’s hallmarks are delayed in dieting ratsResearch Highlight: Sandy beaches are endangered worldwide as the climate changes

08:53 Crafting crystals

To understand the structure of materials, researchers often have to grow them in crystal form. A new method aims to speed up this process. Research article: Sun et al.

14:48 News Chat

Coronavirus outbreak updates, and climate change’s role in the Australian bush fires. News: Coronavirus: latest news on spreading infectionNews: Climate change made Australia’s ‘unprecedented’ bushfires 30% more likely

Top Science Podcasts: A Greater Mayan Empire & Costs Of Illegal Fishing

But was this new ruler of a Maya city really from a separate culture? New techniques being used at the Tikal and Teotihuacan sites have revealed conflicting evidence as to whether Teotihuacan really held sway over a much larger region than previously estimated.

Sarah also talks with Rashid Sumaila, professor and Canada research chair in interdisciplinary ocean and fisheries economics at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. You may have heard of illegal fishing being bad for the environment or bad for maintaining fisheries—but as Sumaila and colleagues report this week in Science Advances, the illegal fishing trade is also incredibly costly—with gross revenues of between $8.9 billion and $17.2 billion each year.

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Science Podcasts: Fruit Fly Neural Circuits, Fuzzy Moth Acoustics And Metallic Glass (Nature)

Nature PodcastsThis week, the brain pathways of egg laying in fruit flies, preventing fractures in metallic glass, moth’s fuzz as superior acoustic camouflage and a coronavirus update.

In this episode:

00:46 Working out the wiring behind fruit fly behaviour

Researchers have identified a neural circuit linking mating and egg laying in female fruit flies. Research Article: Wang et al.

06:01 Research Highlights

Ancient, cave-dwelling cockroaches, and hairy moths dampen sound. Research Highlight: Cockroaches preserved in amber are the world’s oldest cave dwellers; Research Highlight: Stealth flyers: moths’ fuzz is superior acoustic camouflage

07:57 Making better metallic glass

Metallic glasses have many desirable properties, but these materials are prone to fracturing. Now, a new manufacturing process may have overcome this issue. Research article: Pan et al.News and Views: Metallic glasses rejuvenated to harden under strain

13:47 News Chat

Coronavirus outbreak updates, a survey shows Indian bird numbers are in decline, and the genomes of New York rats. News: Coronavirus: latest news on spreading infectionNews: Hundreds of bird species in India are decliningNews: Genomes reveal how New York City’s rats thrive in the urban jungle

Top New Science Podcasts: Bacteria Building Bricks, Solar Cells That Turn ‘Waste Heat’ To Electricity

Science Magazine PodcastsOn this week’s show, Staff Writer Robert F. Service talks with host Sarah Crespi about manipulating microbes to make them produce building materials like bricks—and walls that can take toxins out of the air. 

Sarah also talks with Paul Davids, principal member of the technical staff in applied photonics & microsystems at Sandia National Laboratories, about an innovation in converting waste heat to electricity that uses similar materials to solar cells but depends on quantum tunneling. And in a bonus segment, producer Meagan Cantwell talks with Online News Editor David Grimm on stage at the AAAS annual meeting in Seattle.

They discuss how wildfires can harm your lungs, crime rates in so-called sanctuary states, and how factors such as your gender and country of origin influence how much trust you put in science.