Science Magazine Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Podcast: Watching shoes untie, Cassini’s last dive through the breath of a cryovolcano, and how human bias influences machine learning Apr 13, 2017

Show notes

This week, walk like an elephant—very far, with seeds in your guts, Cassini’s mission to Saturn wraps up with news on the habitability of its icy moon Enceladus, and how our shoes manage to untie themselves with Online News Editor David Grimm.
Aylin Caliskan joins Sarah Crespi to discuss how biases in our writing may be perpetuated by the machines that learn from them.
Listen to previous podcasts.
Download the show transcript.
Transcripts courtesy of Scribie.com.
[Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Podcast: Giant virus genetics, human high-altitude adaptations, and quantifying the impact of government-funded science Apr 06, 2017

Show notes

This week, viruses as remnants of a fourth domain of life, a scan of many Tibetan genomes reveals seven new genes potentially related to high-altitude life, and doubts about dark energy with Online News Editor David Grimm.
Danielle Li joins Sarah Crespi to discuss her study quantifying the impact of government funding on innovation by linking patents to U.S. National Institutes of Health grants.
Listen to previous podcasts.
Download the show transcript.
Transcripts courtesy of Scribie.com.
[Image: artubo/iStockphoto; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Podcast: Killing off stowaways to Mars, chasing synthetic opiates, and how soil contributes to global carbon calculations Mar 30, 2017

Show notes

This week, how to avoid contaminating Mars with microbial hitchhikers, turning mammalian cells into biocomputers, and a look at how underground labs in China are creating synthetic opioids for street sales in the United States with Online News Editor Catherine Matacic.

Caitlin Hicks Pries joins Julia Rosen to discuss her study of the response of soil carbon to a warming world.

And for this month’s book segment, Jen Golbeck talks to Rob Dunn about his book Never Out of Season: How Having the Food We Want When We Want It Threatens Our Food Supply and Our Future.

Listen to previous podcasts.

Download the show transcript.

Transcripts courtesy of Scribie.com.

[Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Podcast: Teaching self-driving cars to read, improving bike safety with a video game, and when ‘you’ isn’t about ‘you’ Mar 23, 2017

Show notes

This week, new estimates for the depths of the world’s lakes, a video game that could help kids be safer bike riders, and teaching autonomous cars to read road signs with Online News Editor David Grimm. And Ariana Orvell joins Sarah Crespi to discuss her study of how the word “you” is used when people recount meaningful experiences.
Listen to previous podcasts.
Download the show transcript.
Transcripts courtesy of Scribie.com.
[Image: VisualCommunications/iStockphoto; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Podcast: The archaeology of democracy, new additions to the uncanny valley, and the discovery of ant-ibiotics Mar 16, 2017

Show notes

This week, what bear-mounted cameras can tell us about their caribou-hunting habits, ants that mix up their own medicine, and feeling alienated by emotional robots with Online News Editor David Grimm. And Lizzie Wade joins Sarah Crespi to discuss new thinking on the origins of democracy outside of Europe, based on archeological sites in Mexico.
Listen to previous podcasts.
Download the show transcript.
Transcripts courtesy of Scribie.com.
[Image: rpbirdman/iStockphoto; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Podcast: Human pheromones lightly debunked, ignoring cyberattacks, and designer chromosomes Mar 09, 2017

Show notes

This week, how Flickr photos could help predict floods, why it might be a good idea to ignore some cyberattacks, and new questions about the existence of human pheromones with Online News Editor David Grimm. And Sarah Richardson joins Alexa Billow to discuss a global project to build a set of working yeast chromosomes from the ground up.
Read Sarah Richardson’s research in Science.
Listen to previous podcasts.
Download the show transcript.
Transcripts courtesy of Scribie.com.
[Image: Drew Gurian; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Podcast: Breaking the 2-hour marathon barrier, storing data in DNA, and how past civilizations shaped the Amazon Mar 02, 2017

Show notes

This week, we chat about the science behind breaking the 2-hour marathon barrier, storing data in DNA strands, and a dinosaur’s zigzagging backbones with Online News Editor Catherine Matacic. And Carolina Levis joins Alexa Billow to discuss evidence that humans have been domesticating the Amazon’s plants a lot longer than previously thought. Read Carolina Levis’s research in Science. Listen to previous podcasts. [Image: Carolina Levis; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Podcast: Cracking the smell code, why dinosaurs had wings before they could fly, and detecting guilty feelings in altruistic gestures Feb 23, 2017

Show notes

This week, we chat about why people are nice to each other—does it feel good or are we just avoiding feeling bad—approaches to keeping arsenic out of the food supply, and using artificial intelligence to figure out what a chemical smells like to a human nose with Online News Editor David Grimm. And Stephen Brusatte joins Alexa Billow to discuss why dinosaurs evolved wings and feathers before they ever flew. And in the latest installment of our monthly books segment, Jen Golbeck talks with Bill Schutt, author of Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History.
Listen to previous podcasts.
[Image: Todd Marshall; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Podcast: Recognizing the monkey in the mirror, giving people malaria parasites as a vaccine strategy, and keeping coastal waters clean with seagrass Feb 16, 2017

Show notes

This week, we chat about what it means if a monkey can learn to recognize itself in a mirror, injecting people with live malaria parasites as a vaccine strategy, and insect-inspired wind turbines with Online News Editor David Grimm. And Joleah Lamb joins Alexa Billow to discuss how seagrass can greatly reduce harmful microbes in the ocean—protecting people and corals from disease. Read the research. Listen to previous podcasts. [Image: peters99/iStock; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Podcast: Saving grizzlies from trains, cheap sun-powered water purification, and a deep look at science-based policymaking Feb 09, 2017

Show notes

This week, we chat about why grizzly bears seem to be dying on Canadian railway tracks, slow-release fertilizers that reduce environmental damage, and cleaning water with the power of the sun on the cheap, with Online News Editor David Grimm. And David Malakoff joins Alexa Billow to discuss a package of stories on the role of science and evidence in policymaking[link TK]. Listen to previous podcasts. [Image: tacky_ch/iStockphoto; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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