Science Magazine Podcast

Latest Episodes:

What makes blueberries blue, and myth buster Adam Savage on science communication Feb 15, 2024

Show notes

Why squeezing a blueberry doesn’t get you blue juice, and a myth buster and a science editor walk into a bar

First up on the show this week, MythBusters’s Adam Savage chats with Science Editor-in-Chief Holden Thorp about the state of scholarly publishing, better ways to communicate science, plus a few myths Savage still wants to tackle.

Next on the show, making blueberries without blue pigments. Rox Middleton, a postdoctoral fellow at the Dresden University of Technology and honorary research associate at the University of Bristol, joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about how blueberries and other blue fruits owe their hue to a trick of the light caused by specialized wax on their surface.

In a sponsored segment from the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office, Erika Berg, director and senior editor of custom publishing, interviews professor Jim Wells about organoid therapies. This segment is sponsored by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

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

About the Science Podcast

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Holden Thorp

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.z7ye2st

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new kind of magnetism, and how smelly pollution harms pollinators Feb 08, 2024

Show notes

More than 200 materials could be “altermagnets,” and the impact of odiferous pollutants on nocturnal plant-pollinator interactions

First up on the show this week, researchers investigate a new kind of magnetism. Freelance science journalist Zack Savitsky joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about recent evidence for “altermagnetism” in nature, which could enable new types of electronics.

Next on the show, producer Meagan Cantwell talks with Jeremy Chan, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Naples Federico II, about how air pollution can interfere with pollinator activities—is the modern world too smelly for moths to do their work?

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

About the Science Podcast

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Meagan Cantwell; Zack Savitsky

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zz09cbu

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new way for the heart and brain to ‘talk’ to each other, and Earth’s future weather written in ancient coral reefs Feb 01, 2024

Show notes

A remote island may hold clues for the future of El Niño and La Niña under climate change, and how pressure in the blood sends messages to neurons

First up, researchers are digging into thousands of years of coral to chart El Niño’s behavior over time. Producer Kevin McLean talks with Staff Writer Paul Voosen about his travels to the Pacific island of Vanuatu to witness the arduous task of reef drilling.

Next on the show, host Sarah Crespi talks with Veronica Egger, a professor of neurophysiology at the Regensburg University Institute of Zoology, about an unexpected method of signaling inside the body. Egger’s work suggests the pulse of the blood—the mechanical drumming of it—affects neurons in the brain. The two discuss why this might be a useful way for the body to talk to itself.

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

About the Science Podcast

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kevin McLean; Paul Voosen

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.z1hqrn2

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A hangover-fighting enzyme, the failure of a promising snakebite treatment, and how ants change lion behavior Jan 25, 2024

Show notes

On this week’s show: A roundup of stories from our daily newsletter, and the ripple effects of the invasive big-headed ant in Kenya

First up on the show, Science Newsletter Editor Christie Wilcox joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about snake venom antidotes, a surprising job for a hangover enzyme, and crustaceans that spin silk.

Next on the show, the cascading effects of an invading ant. Douglas Kamaru, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Zoology & Physiology at the University of Wyoming, discusses how the disruption of a mutually beneficial relationship between tiny ants and spiny trees in Kenya led to lions changing their hunting strategies.

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

About the Science Podcast

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Christie Wilcox

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zd5mbue

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paper mills bribe editors to pass peer review, and detecting tumors with a blood draw Jan 19, 2024

Show notes

Investigation shows journal editors getting paid to publish bunk papers, and new techniques for finding tumor DNA in the blood

First up on this week’s episode, Frederik Joelving, an editor and reporter for the site Retraction Watch, talks with host Sarah Crespi about paper mills—organizations that sell authorship on research papers—that appear to be bribing journal editors to publish bogus articles. They talk about the drivers behind this activity and what publishers can do to stop it.

Next, producer Zakiya Whatley of the Dope Labs podcast talks with researcher Carmen Martin-Alonso, a graduate student in the Harvard–Massachusetts Institute of Technology Program in Health Sciences and Technology, about improving liquid biopsies for cancer. They discuss novel ways to detect tumor DNA circulating in the blood.

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

About the Science Podcast

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Zakiya Whatley; Richard Stone

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zahpt8h

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The environmental toll of war in Ukraine, and communications between mom and fetus during childbirth Jan 11, 2024

Show notes

Assessing environmental damage during wartime, and tracking signaling between fetus and mother

First up, freelance journalist Richard Stone returns with news from his latest trip to Ukraine. This week, he shares stories with host Sarah Crespi about environmental damage from the war, particularly the grave consequences of the Kakhovka Dam explosion.

Next, producer Kevin McLean talks with researcher Nardhy Gomez-Lopez, a professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology and pathology and immunology in the Center for Reproductive Health Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The two discuss signaling between fetus and mother during childbirth and how understanding this crosstalk may one day help predict premature labor.

Finally, in a sponsored segment from the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office, Erika Berg, director and senior editor for the Custom Publishing Office, interviews Andrew Pospisilik, chair and professor of epigenetics at the Van Andel Institute, about his research into how epigenetics stabilizes particular gene expression patterns and how those patterns affect our risk for disease. This segment is sponsored by the Van Andel Institute.

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

About the Science Podcast

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kevin McLean; Rich Stone

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.z5jiifi

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The top online news from 2023, and using cough sounds to diagnose disease Jan 04, 2024

Show notes

Best of online news, and screening for tuberculosis using sound

This week’s episode starts out with a look back at the top 10 online news stories with Online News Editor David Grimm. There will be cat expressions and mad scientists, but also electric cement and mind reading. Read all top 10 here.

Next on the show, can a machine distinguish a tuberculosis cough from other kinds of coughs? Manuja Sharma, who was a Ph.D. student in the department of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Washington at the time of the work, joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about her project collecting a cough data set to prove this kind of cough discrimination is possible with just a smartphone.

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

About the Science Podcast

Authors: Sarah Crespi; David Grimm

Audio credit for human infant cries: Nicolas Grimault, Nicolas Mathevon, Florence Levréro; Neuroscience Research Center, ENES and CAP team. UJM, CNRS, France.

Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.zpuo5vn

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices