Science Magazine Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The hunt for a quantum phantom, and making bitcoin legal tender Dec 22, 2023

Show notes

Seeking the Majorana fermion particle, and a look at El Salvador’s adoption of cryptocurrency

First up on the show this week, freelance science journalist Zack Savitsky and host Sarah Crespi discuss the hunt for the elusive Majorana fermion particle, and why so many think it might be the best bet for a functional quantum computer. We also hear the mysterious tale of the disappearance of the particle’s namesake, Italian physicist Ettore Majorana.

Next in the episode, what happens when you make a cryptocurrency legal tender? Diana Van Patten, professor of economics in the Yale University School of Management, discusses the results of El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin in 2021.

This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.

About the Science Podcast

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Zack Savitsky

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zjvhsy8

About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast

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Science’s Breakthrough of the Year, and tracing poached pangolins Dec 14, 2023

Show notes

Top science from 2023, and a genetic tool for pangolin conservation

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 Dec 07, 2023

Show notes

A look at cognition in livestock, and the coevolution of wild bird–human cooperation

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 Langbein

Next, 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 Nov 30, 2023

Show notes

Raising the pH of the ocean to reduce carbon in the air, and robots that can landscape

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 Nov 23, 2023

Show notes

A leap in supercomputing is a leap for science, cracking the dolomite problem, and a book on where patriarchy came from

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 Nov 16, 2023

Show notes

What it means that artificial intelligence can now forecast the weather like a supercomputer, and measuring methane emissions from municipal waste

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 Nov 09, 2023

Show notes

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.

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 Nov 02, 2023

Show notes

Why scientists are trying to make anemones act like corals, and why it’s so hard to make pharmaceuticals for brain diseases

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 Oct 26, 2023

Show notes

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.

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 Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

Restoring land after dam removal, and phonons as a basis for quantum computing

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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