Science Magazine Podcast

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A rare condition associated with coronavirus in children, and tracing glaciers by looking at the ocean floor May 28, 2020

Show notes

First up this week, Staff Writer Jennifer Couzin-Frankel talks with host Sarah Crespi about a rare inflammatory response in children that has appeared in a number of COVID-19 hot spots.

Next, Julian Dowdeswell, director of the Scott Polar Research Institute and professor of physical geography at the University of Cambridge, talks with producer Meagan Cantwell about tracing the retreat of Antarctica's glaciers by examining the ocean floor.

Finally, Kiki Sanford interviews author Danny Dorling about his new book, Slowdown: The End of the Great Acceleration―and Why It’s Good for the Planet, the Economy, and Our Lives.

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

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[Image: Scott Ableman/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Jennifer Couzin-Frankel; Kiki Sanford

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How scientists are thinking about reopening labs, and the global threat of arsenic in drinking water May 21, 2020

Show notes

Online news editor David Grimm talks with producer Joel Goldberg about the unique challenges of reopening labs amid the coronavirus pandemic. Though the chance to resume research may instill a sense of hope, new policies around physical distancing and access to facilities threaten to derail studies—and even careers. Despite all the uncertainty, the crisis could result in new approaches that ultimately benefit the scientific community, and the world.

Also this week, Joel Podgorski, a senior scientist in the Water Resources and Drinking Water Department at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the global threat of arsenic in drinking water. Arsenic is basically present in all rocks in minute amounts. Under the right conditions it can leach into groundwater and poison drinking water. Without a noticeable taste or smell, arsenic contamination can go undetected for years. The paper, published in Science, estimates that more than 100 million people are at risk of drinking arsenic contaminated water and provides a guide for the most important places to test.

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

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[Image: Ian Aiden Relkoff/Wikipedia; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Joel Goldberg; David Grimm

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How past pandemics reinforced inequality, and millions of mysterious quakes beneath a volcano May 14, 2020

Show notes

Contributing Correspondent Lizzie Wade talks with host Sarah Crespi about the role of inequality in past pandemics. Evidence from medical records and cemeteries suggests diseases like the 1918 flu, smallpox, and even the Black Death weren’t indiscriminately killing people—instead these infections caused more deaths in those with less money or status.

Also this week, Aaron Wech, a research geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, joins Sarah to talk about recordings of more than 1 million earthquakes from deep under Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano, which hasn’t erupted in 4500 years. They discuss how these earthquakes, which have repeated every 7 to 12 minutes for at least 20 years, went undetected for so long.

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

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[Image: Ian Aiden Relkoff/Wikipedia; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Lizzie Wade

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Making antibodies to treat coronavirus, and why planting trees won’t save the planet May 07, 2020

Show notes

Staff writer Jon Cohen joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about using monoclonal antibodies to treat or prevent infection by SARS-CoV-2. Many companies and researchers are rushing to design and test this type of treatment, which proved effective in combating Ebola last year.

And Karen Holl, a professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, joins Sarah to discuss the proper planning of tree planting campaigns. It turns out that just putting a tree in the ground is not enough to stop climate change and reforest the planet.

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

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[Image: Ian Dick/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Jon Cohen

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Blood test for multiple cancers studied in 10,000 women, and is our Sun boring? Apr 30, 2020

Show notes

Staff Writer Jocelyn Kaiser joins Sarah to talk about a recent Science paper describing the results of a large study on a blood test for multiple types of cancer. The trial’s results suggest such a blood test combined with follow-up scans may help detect cancers early, but there is a danger of too many false positives.

And postdoctoral researcher Timo Reinhold of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research joins Sarah to talk about his paper on how the Sun is a lot less variable in its magnetic activity compared with similar stars—what does it mean that our Sun is a little bit boring?

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

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[Image: Solar Dynamic Observatory/NASA; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Jocelyn Kaiser

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From nose to toes—how coronavirus affects the body, and a quantum microscope that unlocks the magnetic secrets of very old rocks Apr 23, 2020

Show notes

Coronavirus affects far more than just the lungs, and doctors and researchers in the midst of the pandemic are trying to catalog—and understand—the virus’ impact on our bodies. Staff writer Meredith Wadman joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss what we know about how COVID-19 kills. See

all Science news coverage of the pandemic here, and all research papers and editorials here.

Also this week, staff writer Paul Voosen talks with Sarah about quantum diamond microscopes. These new devices are able to detect minute traces of magnetism, giving insight into the earliest movements of Earth’s tectonic plates and even ancient paleomagnetic events in space.

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

Episode page: https://www.sciencemag.org/podcast/nose-toes-how-coronavirus-affects-body-and-quantum-microscope-unlocks-magnetic-secrets-very

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[Image: Meteorite ALH84001/NASA; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Meredith Wadman; Paul Voosen

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How countries could recover from coronavirus, lessons from an ancient drought, and feeling tactile waves in the hand Apr 16, 2020

Show notes

Contributing Correspondent Kai Kupferschmidt talks with host Sarah Crespi about countries planning a comeback from a coronavirus crisis. What can they do once cases have slowed down to go back to some sort of normal without a second wave of infection? See all of our News coverage of the pandemic here. See all of our Research and Editorials here.

As part of a drought special issue of Science, Contributing Correspondent Lizzie Wade joins Sarah to talk about water management and the downfall of the ancient Wari state. Sometimes called the first South American empire, the Wari culture successfully expanded throughout the Peruvian Andes 1400 years ago.

Also this week, Yon Visell of the University of California, Santa Barbara, talks with Sarah about his Science Advances paper on the biomechanics of human hands. Our skin’s ability to propagate waves along the surface of the hand may help us sense the world around us.

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

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Authors: Sarah Crespi; Lizzie Wade; Kai Kuperferschmidt

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Does coronavirus spread through the air, and the biology of anorexia Apr 09, 2020

Show notes

On this week’s show, Staff Writer Robert Service talks with host Sarah Crespi about a new National Academy of Sciences report that suggests the novel coronavirus can go airborne, the evidence for this idea, and what this means for the mask-wearing debate. See all of our News coverage of the pandemic here. See all of our Research and Editorials here.

Also this week, Staff Writer Jennifer Couzin-Frankel joins Sarah to talk about a burgeoning understanding of the biological roots of anorexia nervosa—an eating disorder that affects about 1% of people in the United States. From genetic links to brain scans, scientists are finding a lot more biology behind what was once thought of as a culturally driven disorder.

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

Episode page: https://www.sciencemag.org/podcast/does-coronavirus-spread-through-air-and-biology-anorexia

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How COVID-19 disease models shape shutdowns, and detecting emotions in mice Apr 02, 2020

Show notes

On this week’s show, Contributing Correspondent Kai Kupferschmidt talks with host Sarah Crespi about modeling coronavirus spread and the role of forecasts in national lockdowns and other pandemic policies. They also talk about the launch of a global trial of promising treatments. See all of our News coverage of the pandemic here. See all of our Research and Editorials here.

Also this week, Nadine Gogolla, research group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, talks with Sarah about linking the facial expressions of mice to their emotional states using machine learning.

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

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[Image: Damien Roué/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

Authors: Sarah Crespi; Kai Kupferschmidt

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Why some diseases come and go with the seasons, and how to develop smarter, safer chemicals Mar 26, 2020

Show notes

On 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.

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

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About the Science Podcast

[Image: Let Ideas Compete/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

Authors: Joel Goldberg; Jon Cohen; Meagan Cantwell

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