Science Magazine Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Scientists become targets on social media, and battling space weather Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s show: Why it’s tougher than ever to be a researcher on Twitter, and a highlight from this year’s AAAS Annual Meeting

First up, Contributing Correspondent Cathleen O’Grady talks with host Sarah Crespi about the harassment that COVID-19 researchers are facing and a survey conducted by Science that shows more media exposure is linked to higher levels of abuse.

Next, producer Meagan Cantwell shares another interview from this year’s AAAS Annual Meeting. She talks with Delores Knipp, a research professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead aerospace engineering sciences department at the University of Colorado, Boulder, about what happens when our well-behaved Sun behaves badly.

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

[Image: SkyLab 4/NASA; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: solar flare image taken from Skylab 4]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Cathleen O'Grady

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adb2091

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

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The challenges of testing medicines during pregnancy, and when not paying attention makes sense Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s show: Getting pregnant people into clinical trials, and tracking when mice aren’t paying attention

First up, Staff Writer Jennifer Couzin-Frankel joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how scientists can overcome the lack of research on drug safety in pregnancy.

Next, Nikola Grujic, a Ph.D. student at the Institute for Neuroscience at ETH Zürich, talks about rational inattention in mice and how it helps explain why our brains notice certain things—and miss others.

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

[Image: Stefan Rotter/iStock; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: rodent peering out of a hole]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Jennifer Couzin-Frankel

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adb2037

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

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Monitoring wastewater for SARS-CoV-2, and looking back at the biggest questions about the pandemic Mar 10, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s show: We have highlights from a special COVID-19 retrospective issue on lessons learned after 2 years of the pandemic

First up, Contributing Correspondent Gretchen Vogel joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss what scientists have learned from scanning sewage for COVID-19 RNA. And now that so many wastewater monitoring stations are in place—what else can we do with them?

Next, we have researcher Katia Koelle, an associate professor of biology at Emory University. She wrote a review on the evolving epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2: What have been the most important questions from epidemiologists over the course of the pandemic, and how can they help us navigate future pandemic threats?

Check out the full COVID-19 retrospective issue on lessons learned from the pandemic.

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

[Image: Stephan Schmitz/Folio Art; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: partially constructed bridge over water filled with giant SARS-CoV-2 viral particles]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Gretchen Vogel

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adb1867

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

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A global treaty on plastic pollution, and a dearth of Black physicists Mar 03, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s show: The ins and outs of the first global treaty on plastic pollution, and why the United States has so few Black physicists

First up, Staff Writer Erik Stokstad joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the world’s first global treaty on plastics pollution–and the many questions that need answers to make it work. Read a related Policy Forum here.

Up next, we hear from some of more than 50 Black physicists interviewed for a special news package in Science about the barriers Black physicists face, and potential models for change drawing on a 2020 report that documents how the percentage of undergraduates physics degrees going to Black students has declined over the past 20 years.

In his excerpt, Willie Rockward, chair and professor of physics at Morgan State University, describes how a study group dubbed the “Black Hole” provided much-needed support for him and four colleagues who were part of the first cohort of Black graduate physics students at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Next, Fana Mulu-Moore, a physics and astronomy instructor at Aims Community College in Greeley, Colorado, explains her ‘life-changing’ transition from research to teaching, and how it has given her a sense of purpose.

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

[Image: Carl Campbell/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: sheaves of plastic wrap photographed against a black background]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Erik Stokstad

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adb1765

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

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Securing nuclear waste for 100,000 years, and the link between math literacy and life satisfaction Feb 24, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s show: Finland puts the finishing touches on the world’s first high-level permanent nuclear repository, and why being good at math might make you both happy and sad

First up, freelance science journalist Sedeer El-Showk joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss his visit to a permanent nuclear waste repository being built deep underground in Finland, and the technology—and political maneuvering—needed to secure the site for 100,000 years.

Also this week, Pär Bjälkebring, a senior lecturer in the department of psychology at the University of Gothenburg, talks with Sarah on the sidelines of the 2022 annual meeting of AAAS (publisher of Science) about the link between numeracy—math literacy—income, and life satisfaction. Bjälkebring took part in the AAAS panel Decision-Making with Large Numbers and Its Underlying Psychological Mechanisms on 19 February. Learn more about the 2022 AAAS meeting here.

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

[Image: Tapani Karjanlahti/TVO; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: photograph of a digging machine inside a giant cave]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Sedeer El-Showk

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ada1534

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

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COVID-19’s long-term impact on the heart, and calculating the survival rate of human artifacts Feb 17, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s show: A giant study suggests COVID-19 takes a serious toll on heart health—a full year after recovery, and figuring out what percentage of ancient art, books, and even tools has survived the centuries

First up, Staff Writer Meredith Wadman talks with host Sarah Crespi about a new study that looked at more than 150,000 COVID-19 patient records and found increases in risk for 20 different cardiovascular conditions 1 year after recovery.

Also this week we have Mike Kestemont, an associate professor in the department of literature at the University of Antwerp, talking about an estimate of how much of antiquity has endured.

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

[Image: Public domain; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: illuminated manuscript page showing a giant R, plus a person and some writing]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Meredith Wadman

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ada1311

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

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Merging supermassive black holes, and communicating science in the age of social media Feb 10, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s show: What we can learn from two supermassive black holes that appear to be on a collision course with each other, and the brave new online world in which social media dominates and gatekeeps public access to scientific information

First up, Staff Writer Daniel Clery talks with host Sarah Crespi about the possibly imminent merger of two supermassive black holes in a nearby galaxy. How imminent? We might see a signal as early as 100 days from now.

Also, this week we have a special section on science and social media. In her contribution, Dominique Brossard, professor and chair in the Department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, talks about the shift in the source of scientific information away from traditional publishers, newspapers, etc. to social media platforms, and what it means for the future of science communication.

Finally, we share some tweets about the relationship of social media and science communication submitted by young readers in our Letters section. You can read our picks here or check out all the submissions on Twitter at #NextGenSci.

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

[Image: NASA’S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: simulation of a pair of supermassive black holes on the cusp of merging]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Daniel Clery

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ada1028

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

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Building a green city in a biodiversity hot spot, and live monitoring vehicle emissions Feb 03, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s show: Environmental concerns over Indonesia building a new capital on Borneo, and keeping an eye on pollution as it comes out of the tailpipe

First up this week, Contributing Correspondent Dennis Normile talks with host Sarah Crespi about Indonesia’s plans for an ultragreen new capital city on the island of Borneo. Despite intentions to limit the environmental impact of the new urban center, many are concerned about unplanned growth surrounding the city which could threaten rare plants and animals.

Also this week, John Zhou, professor of environmental engineering at the University of Technology Sydney talks with Sarah about his Science Advances paper on reducing pollution from cars and trucks by live monitoring vehicle emissions using remote sensors.

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

[Image: Malinda Rathnayake/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: cars on the road in a city at sunset]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Dennis Normile

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Fecal transplants in pill form, and gut bacteria that nourish hibernating squirrels Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s show: A pill derived from human feces treats recurrent gut infections, and how a squirrel’s microbiome supplies nitrogen during hibernation

First up this week, Staff Writer Kelly Servick joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss putting the bacterial benefits of human feces in a pill. The hope is to avoid using fecal transplants to treat recurrent gut infections caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile.

Also this week, Hannah Carey, a professor in the department of comparative biosciences within the school of veterinary medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, talks with Sarah about how ground squirrels are helped by their gut microbes during hibernation.

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

[Image: Public domain; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: illustration of two 13-lined ground squirrels]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kelly Servick

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ada0494

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

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A window into live brains, and what saliva tells babies about human relationships Jan 20, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s show: Ethical concerns rise with an increase in open brain research, and how sharing saliva can be a proxy for the closeness of a relationship

Human brains are protected by our hard skulls, but these bony shields also keep researchers out. With brain surgeries and brain implants on the rise, scientists are getting more chances to explore living brains. Staff Writer Kelly Servick joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the ethics of doing research on patients undergoing intense medical procedures, and the kinds of research being done.

Also this week, Ashley Thomas, a postdoctoral researcher in the brain and cognitive science department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, talks about the meaning behind sharing saliva. Spend any time with a baby lately? Were you in awe—eager to cuddle, kiss, even change a diaper? Or were you slightly horrified by the drool and other fluids seeping out of this new human? Your feelings on the matter might depend on your closeness with the baby and—as Thomas and colleagues write this week in Science—the baby may notice which way you feel. According to their results, babies, like adults, seem to recognize sharing saliva—like sharing food and utensils or kissing—as a signal of close relationships.

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

[Image: Onfokus/Getty/iStockphoto; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

[alt: baby chewing on a cellphone]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kelly Servick

Episode page: http://www.science.org/content/podcast/window-live-brains-and-what-saliva-tells-babies-about-human-relationships

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

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