Verge of Discovery

041: Top 10 Episodes - Season 1 of Verge of Discovery Podcast Jun 06, 2016

Let's recap season one with the top 10 episodes of the very first season of Verge of Discovery Podcast.

040: Video Games and the Nature of Aging and Play with Dr. Bob De Schutter May 16, 2016

Bob De Schutter is a Belgian video game designer and researcher. He is best known for his work on the design of video games for players in middle through late adulthood. We discuss video games designed for older adults and why it might be the next frontier for game development.

039: Biomechanics of Riding and Balancing a Bicycle with Dr. Stephen Cain May 02, 2016

Dr. Stephen Cain is a research investigator in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. His research interests include: human/bicycle dynamics; the development and use of novel experimental methods and instrumentation to quantify changes in biomechanics that accompany learning, adaptation, or fatigue; human gait; human balance; sports biomechanics; and MEMS inertial sensor applications. He shares his passion for cycling with us and enlightens us in his field of biomechanics and how it relates to riding and balancing a bicycle.

038: Glycoimmunology and the Groundbreaking Research of Glycan Signatures with Dr. Maverakis Apr 11, 2016

Dr. Maverakis is an award-winning physician-scientist at the University of California, Davis. He introduces his field of glycoimmunology and describes how this field is wide open to new discoveries. Dr. Maverakis goes in further detail regarding characterization of immune glycome and glycan signature considerations in future treatments. He concludes our interview by sharing some of his advice and resources.

037: The Dangers of the Zika Virus and its Transmission with Dr. Sarkar Mar 28, 2016

Dr. Sarkar is Professor of Integrative Biology and of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin where he has taught since 1998. His laboratory focuses on spatial ecological planning and neglected tropical diseases including Chagas, Dengue, and Zika. Dr. Sarkar discusses his work on the modification of transmission models for dengue to perform risk analyses for the emerging threat of Zika. He also discusses Zika virus with its implications and transmission patterns in added detail.

036: The Future of Renewable Energy with Dr. Christopher Clack Mar 21, 2016

Dr. Christopher Clack is a mathematician and research scientist for the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at Colorado University at Boulder. He joins us to talk about his latest work of building an energy, well more specifically electric, simulator. Dr. Clack discusses how it allows us to seek out the most cost effective approach to rebuild the future energy system in a methodical calculated way. It is a model, so you can investigate almost infinite possibilities and display them for decision makers.

035: Visual Attention, Neural Networks and Computational Neuroscience with Dr. Rougier Mar 07, 2016

Dr. Nicolas Rougier is a full-time research scientist at the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control. During the past decades he’s been working extensively on visual attention in order to understand how we visually explore a scene. Dr. Rougier discusses his work and visual attention and computation neuroscience in particular. He also dives deeper into how seeing is mostly an illusion and that we do not process all visual information that passed through our eyes and we're making deliberate (consciously or not) choices on what we concentrate.

034: Part 2 - The Quantum Violation of the Pigenhole Principle and its Implications with Dr. Tollaksen Feb 29, 2016

Dr. Jeff Tollaksen joins us to discuss his groups’ latest discovery of the quantum violation of the pigeonhole principle. Dr. Tollaksen expands on how the field of physics has transformed from classical physics to quantum physics over the years. He explains how the culture has shifted from a deterministic view to a more capricious view with the acceptance of the quantum theory. We then discuss the quantum violation of the pigenhole principle and it's implications in more detail.

033: Part 1 - Why God Plays Dice and the Quantum Pigenhole Effect with Dr. Tollaksen Feb 22, 2016

Dr. Tollaksen details the discovery of the quantum pigenhole principle and describes the physics leading up to this discovery. Part one of a two part series.

032: LiFi is the future of WiFi with Dr. Haas Feb 15, 2016

Professor Haas received the PhD degree from the University of Edinburgh in 2001. He currently holds the Chair of Mobile Communications at the University of Edinburgh, and is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of pureLiFi Ltd as well as the Director of the LiFi Research and Development Center at the University of Edinburgh. He first introduced and coined LiFi. LiFi was listed among the 50 best inventions in TIME Magazine 2011.

031: Rockets and the Challenges of Space Travel with Dr. Vanstone Feb 08, 2016

Dr. Leon Vanstone is an aerodynamic engineer and a real life rocket scientist. Travelling really fast through the atmosphere generates a lot of heat due to friction from the air. Leon’s work looks at how to stop things that do this from melting. It’s pretty hard to travel fast enough to melt something unless you drop the object from space and so this problem usually only applies to rockets and re-entry vehicles. Leon discusses some of these challenges and tells us a bit more about orbital travel.

030: Big Data, Cloud Computing and Machine Learning with Dr. Ryoo Feb 01, 2016

Dr. Jungwoo Ryoo is the interim head of the division of business, engineering, and information sciences and technology (BEIST) and an associate professor of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) at the Pennsylvania State University-Altoona. He discusses his field of expertise in big data, cloud computing and machine learning. Dr. Ryoo dives deeper into the state of big data field and how we need more and more qualified interdisciplinary experts in the field to advance this industry into the future.

029: Brain 'Zaps' to Improve Language, Cognition & Motor Abilities with Dr. Mehta Jan 25, 2016

Dr. Jyutika Mehta is an associate professor at Texas Woman’s University and directs Neurophysiology lab in the department of Communication Science & Disorders. Her primary research interests are to study speech and language representation in normal and disordered brains.

028: Cognitive Neuroscience, Brain Scans and ADHD with Monica Rosenberg Jan 18, 2016

Monica Rosenberg is a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at Yale University. Monica discusses how applying cognitive neuroscience research can help identify and treat disorders like ADHD. She expands on how ability to sustain attention varies widely across individuals and researchers lack a standardized way to measure it. Monica dives deeper into her groups recent work introducing a new fMRI measure of sustained attention based on patterns of functional connectivity, or correlated activity across the brain.

027: The Undersea Internet Network with Dr. Starosielski Jan 11, 2016

Dr. Nicole Starosielski is the author of "The Undersea Network," a book on the undersea cable systems that carry almost all transoceanic internet traffic today. She discusses the history of the network and how it was started and how it developed into what it is today. Dr. Starosielski discusses the technology behind the network and why it is being used today. She also dives deeper into other factors such as security, longevity and reliability of the network and its future.

026: Macular Degeneration, Pigmentation and Alzheimer's with Dr. McKay Jan 04, 2016

Dr. Brian McKay is an associate professor at the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science at the University of Arizona. Dr. McKay joins the show to discuss age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and its potential causes. He dives deeper into the relationship between certain pigments and persons susceptibility to AMD or glaucoma and how they are related. Dr. McKay also shares with us his most recent results in which Alzheimer’s drug can potentially help us treat and even prevent future cases of AMD.

025: Predictive Policing, Space Travel and The Internet of Things with Dr. Perkowitz Dec 28, 2015

Dr. Sidney Perkowitz is Emeritus professor of physics at Emory University. He is a scientist and a writer. Dr. Perkowitz discusses some of his interests in science and technology and dives deeper in his most recent articles including predictive policing, the internet of things and space travel.

024: Mathematics in Social Media and Scientific Networks with Dr. Struppa Dec 21, 2015

Dr. Daniele Struppa introduces his work as a mathematician working primarily in the area of Fourier Analysis and it’s applications. He has recently become interested in some aspects of social media and how he can use mathematics to judge the “impact” of certain content in various networks and in scientific publications in particular. He expands on his findings and tell us a bit more about the best ways to diffuse knowledge and ideas through social media.

Bonus: What will be the greatest scientific discovery in the next ten years? Dec 18, 2015

What will be the greatest scientific discovery in the next ten years?

Is extending the human life the next big discovery?

023: Top 10 American Fears with Dr. Christopher Bader Dec 14, 2015

Dr. Christopher Bader is one of the principal investigators of the Chapman University Survey of American Fears. Dr. Bader starts our interview by discussing satanic panic back in the 80s/90s and how it peaked his interest in the overall study of fear. He then introduces his group’s work with the Chapman University Survey of American Fears. Dr. Bader dives deeper into finding of the study and how it affects our lives. Stay tuned for top 10 fears of 2015.

Bonus: What is the farthest human-made object? Dec 11, 2015

What is the farthest human-made object?

Bonus: Has any astronaut ever slept on the moon? Dec 09, 2015

Has any astronaut ever slept on the moon?

022: Tracking the Collective Behavior of Sheep with Dr. Francesco Ginelli Dec 07, 2015

Dr. Francesco Ginelli’s work is all about collective effects. The idea is that when you have a system composed of many units, certain collective properties of a system may emerge unexpectedly out of rather simple individual rules. Dr. Ginelli discusses his work in the study of collective behavior in animal groups and sheep in particular. He discusses the techniques of his study and what that means for our world as a whole.

Bonus: Is everyone's experience of color the same? Dec 04, 2015

Is everyone's experience of color the same?

Bonus: Is it possible that a technologically advanced civilization existed 100,000 years ago? Dec 02, 2015

Is it possible that a technologically advanced civilization existed 100,000 years ago?

021: The Importance of Sleep to Your Health and Well-being with Dr. Aric Prather Nov 30, 2015

Dr. Aric Prather introduces his field of work as a clinical-health psychologist. He stresses the fact that too much stress or not enough sleep is bad for us and we are starting to look inside the body to understand why, as well as understand who is especially vulnerable, who is resilient, and what types of interventions might be most effective. He also introduces and expands on his latest project that studied correlation between sleep and sickness. Dr. Prather concludes the interview by telling us a few fun facts about his work with sleep and what his work means for our future.

020: Ingestible Electronics, Tiny Batteries and Sensors with Dr. Chris Bettinger.mp3 Nov 23, 2015

Dr. Christopher Bettinger introduces his field of ingestible electronics. He expands on what these ingestible electronics are and what their purpose is in medical fields. Dr. Bettinger then goes in further detail about his specific work in powering these devices and some of the challenges that his group is facing today. He concludes the interview by sharing with us his vision of the future and what these technological advances mean for the world as a whole.

019: Biophysics, Charges, Forces and the Living World with Dr. Adrian Parsegian Nov 16, 2015

Dr. Adrian Parsegian discusses his field of work in biophysics. He begins by expanding on how our world is guarded by various forces from gravitational forces of our universe to electromagnetic forces and chemical bonding and charges in all of our biological systems. Scientists like Dr. Parsegian want to know how molecules are organized to make functional groups and further functioning objects from sugars, lipids, proteins etc. Dr. Parsegian expands on this merger of physical and biological systems and what it means for our world and our future. He concludes the interview by sharing with us one of his projects called “Gecko Hamaker”.

018: Environmental Engineering, Biochar and Oil Spill Cleanup with Julia Vidonish Nov 09, 2015

Julia Vidonish introduces her field of environmental engineering and her work in oil spill cleanup in particular. Julia expands on oil spills and it's implications and how her team is focusing on heavier constituents that are more difficult to clean up. She describes her group's vision to take contaminants and utilize them as a possible resource without damaging the environment. She concludes the episode by describing potential benefits of this new technology and how it affects our world as a whole.

017: Science and Technology Recap October 2015 Nov 06, 2015

Evgeniy Shishkin recaps new discoveries in Science and Tech for the month of October 2015. Topics include comets, volcanoes, water on mars, meat as carcinogen, personal hygiene and sickness. Episode is concluded with questions of the month and the recap of this months episodes.

016: Demystifying the Out-of-Body Experience with Luis Minero Nov 02, 2015

Luis Minero is currently the President of the IAC and Director of the California center. The IAC focuses mainly on the study of Conscientiology (study of the consciousness or soul, spirit, essence) and Projectiology (projections outside the body, OBEs). Luis introduces his field of work in out-of-body experiences and describes what they are. He describes that his experience with OBEs started at a young age and he continued to study and explore this field throughout his years. Luis also expands on what happens during out-of-body experiences and how this state can be induced and explored. Luis presents to us the studies that were conducted to verify the presence of this state and what benefits OBEs can have. Luis concludes the episode by sharing with us additional resources regarding OBEs and his advice.

015: Aquaponics, Global Ecology and Making a Difference with Dr. George Brooks Oct 27, 2015

Dr. George Benjamin Brooks Jr. introduces his field of aquaponics and discusses his work in the community. He tells us about the need for new disruptive innovations in aquaponics that will reduce costs, provide access to new markets and thereby increase access to healthy food. He also discusses the state of today's ecology and how new ways of bringing healthy food can positively influence our future. Dr. Brooks concludes by expanding on how new developments in aquaponics can improve social and economic outlooks on the local scale and world as a whole.

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