Teaching robots to smile, and the effects of a rare mandolin on a scientist ’s career
Robots that can smile in synchrony with people, and what ends up in the letters sectionFirst on this week’s show, a robot that can predict your smile. Hod Lipson, a roboticist and professor at Columbia University, joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how mirrors can help robots learn to make facial expressions and eventually improve robot nonverbal communication. Next, we have Margaret Handley, a professor in the department of epidemiology and biostatistics and medicine at the University of California San Francisco. She shares a letter she wrote to Science about how her past, her family, and a rare instrument relate to he...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - March 28, 2024 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts

Interventions that will increase and sustain the uptake of vaccines in low- and middle-income countries
Immunisation is a key component in the prevention of illness and the Cochrane review of interventions to improve coverage of childhood immunisation in low- and middle-income countries was updated for the second time in December 2023. We asked lead author, Angela Oyo-Ita from University of Calabar Teaching Hospital in Nigeria, to tell us about the latest findings in this podcast. (Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library)
Source: Podcasts from The Cochrane Library - March 27, 2024 Category: General Medicine Authors: Cochrane Source Type: podcasts

How to tame a toxic yet life-saving antifungal
In this episode:00:46 Modifying a fungal drug to make it less toxicAmphotericin B is a drug used to treat life-threatening fungal infections. But while it is effective against many fungal species, it is also extremely toxic to kidneys, meaning it is mostly used as a drug of last-resort. This week, a team has unpicked the mechanism behind the drug’s toxicity, allowing them to modify it and reduce side effects in human kidney cells. The researchers hope this new version of the drug could become a useful tool in fighting fungal diseases.Research article: Maji et al.09:00 Research HighlightsReconstructing woolly rhino DNA us...
Source: Nature Podcast - November 8, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Springer Nature Limited Source Type: podcasts

Dr. Howard Gurr talks with Dr. Kim Bullock about VR in therapy
to see the video of this podcast go to Dr. Howard Gurr Talks with Dr. Kim Bullock about Virtual Reality Therapy - YouTube.Dr. Bullock received her undergraduate degree with honors and distinction in physiology and psychology from the University of California, San Diego, Revelle College and her medical degree from George Washington University in Washington, DC. She completed an internship in internal medicine at Washington Hospital in D.C. and a psychiatry residency at Stanford University. She is a diplomat in the subspecialties of Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry and Lifestyle Medicine. She is currently appointed C...
Source: The Shrink Is In - November 6, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: DrGurr Source Type: podcasts

Reducing calculus trauma, and teaching AI to smell
How active learning improves calculus teaching, and using machine learning to map odors in the smell space   First up on this week’s show, Laird Kramer, a professor of physics and faculty in the STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University (FIU), talks with host Sarah Crespi about students leaving STEM fields because of calculus and his research into improving instruction.   We also hear from some Science staffers about their own calculus trauma, from fear of spinning shapes to thinking twice about majoring in physics (featuring Kevin McLean, Paul Voosen, Lizzie Wade, Meagan Cantwell, and FIU s...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - August 31, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts

Reducing calculus trauma, and teaching AI to smell
How active learning improves calculus teaching, and using machine learning to map odors in the smell space   First up on this week’s show, Laird Kramer, a professor of physics and faculty in the STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University (FIU), talks with host Sarah Crespi about students leaving STEM fields because of calculus and his research into improving instruction.   We also hear from some Science staffers about their own calculus trauma, from fear of spinning shapes to thinking twice about majoring in physics (featuring Kevin McLean, Paul Voosen, Lizzie Wade, Meagan Cantwell, and FIU s...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - August 31, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts

TWiV 1031: Death on the West Nile
TWiV notes the passing of virologist Michael BA Oldstone, a study to assess the performance of rapid antigen tests to detect symptomatic and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the presence of antibodies to type I interferons in ~40% of patients with West Nile virus encephalitis. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Rich Condit, and Alan Dove Subscribe (free): Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, RSS, email Become a patron of TWiV! Links for this episode MicrobeTV Discord Server MicrobeTV store at Cafepress Position in Rosenfeld Laboratory (pdf) XKCD on antivaxxers RFK Jr. CDC or FDA head? (Politico) Performance of rapid...
Source: This Week in Virology - MP3 Edition - July 30, 2023 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Source Type: podcasts

Putting organs into the deep freeze, a scavenger hunt for robots, and a book on race and reproduction
On this week’s show: Improvements in cryopreservation technology, teaching robots to navigate new places, and the latest book in our series on sex and gender   First up this week on the show, scientists are learning how to “cryopreserve” tissues—from donor kidneys to coral larvae. Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the latest in freezing and thawing technology.   Next up: How much does a robot need to “know” about the world to navigate it? Theophile Gervet, a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University, discusses a scavenger hunt–style experiment that involv...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - June 29, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts

Putting organs into the deep freeze, a scavenger hunt for robots, and a book on race and reproduction
On this week’s show: Improvements in cryopreservation technology, teaching robots to navigate new places, and the latest book in our series on sex and gender   First up this week on the show, scientists are learning how to “cryopreserve” tissues—from donor kidneys to coral larvae. Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the latest in freezing and thawing technology.   Next up: How much does a robot need to “know” about the world to navigate it? Theophile Gervet, a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University, discusses a scavenger hunt–style experiment that involv...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - June 29, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts

Do octopuses dream? Neural activity resembles human sleep stages
In this episode:00:46 Inside the brains of sleeping octopusesResearchers have probed the brains of octopuses and confirmed previous reports suggesting that these invertebrates have a two-stage sleep cycle similar to that seen in many vertebrates. The team suggests this system may have evolved independently in the two groups, as there are millions of years of evolutionary history between them. However, despite its presumed importance, it is a mystery why this system exists at all.Research article: Pophale et al.Nature Video: Do octopuses dream? Brain recordings provide the first clues10:37 Research HighlightsA huge volcano ...
Source: Nature Podcast - June 28, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Springer Nature Limited Source Type: podcasts

"Foolproof" with Sander van der Linden (BS 208)
Sander van der linden (click to listen, r click to download) This month's episode is an interview with Cambridge Psychology professor Sander van der Linden, author of Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity. We discuss the important topic of how techniques like appealing to emotion contribute to the spread of misinformation. Dr. Campbell reflects on why this topic is important.Our discussion began with the problem of the “Illusory truth” effect, which is the observation that the more often something is repeated the more likely people are to belie...
Source: the Brain Science Podcast and Blog with Dr. Ginger Campbell - May 26, 2023 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Ginger Campbell, MD Tags: Books Cognitive Science For Newbies Interviews Neuroscience Podcast Show Notes Psychology Source Type: podcasts

How the Australian wildfires devastated the ozone layer
00:47 Wildfire smoke’s chemical composition enhances ozone depletionSmoke from the devastating Australian wildfires of 2019-2020 led to a reduction in ozone levels in the upper atmosphere, but it’s been unclear how. Now, a team proposes that smoke’s particulate matter can enhance the production of ozone depleting chemicals, matching satellite observations during the Australian fires. The results spark concerns that future wildfires, which are set to grow more frequent with ongoing climate change, will undo much of the progress towards restoration of the ozone layer.Research article: Solomon et al.News & Views: Ho...
Source: Nature Podcast - March 8, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Springer Nature Limited Source Type: podcasts

Using sharks to study ocean oxygen, and what ancient minerals teach us about early Earth
On this week’s show: Shark tags to measure ocean deoxygenation, and zircons and the chemistry of early Earth First up this week: using sharks to measure ocean deoxygenation. Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall joins us to talk about a group of researchers putting data logging tags on sharks in order to study how climate change is affecting oxygen levels in some of the ocean’s darkest depths. Next up, what can 4-billion-year-old minerals teach us about chemistry on early Earth? Producer Meagan Cantwell talks to geochemist Dustin Trail about using minerals called zircons to deduce the chemical properties of the ...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - February 9, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts

Using sharks to study ocean oxygen, and what ancient minerals teach us about early Earth
On this week’s show: Shark tags to measure ocean deoxygenation, and zircons and the chemistry of early Earth First up this week: using sharks to measure ocean deoxygenation. Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall joins us to talk about a group of researchers putting data logging tags on sharks in order to study how climate change is affecting oxygen levels in some of the ocean’s darkest depths. Next up, what can 4-billion-year-old minerals teach us about chemistry on early Earth? Producer Meagan Cantwell talks to geochemist Dustin Trail about using minerals called zircons to deduce the chemical properties of the ...
Source: Science Magazine Podcast - February 9, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Science Magazine Source Type: podcasts

Highlights from Brain Science in 2022 (BS 203)
click to play; right click to download mp3 This month's episode (BS 203) celebrates the 16th Anniversary of Brain Science with the annual review episode. This is a listener favorite providing highlights and key ideas from the episodes of Brain Science that were posted in 2022. Topics included hearing, grief, emotion, embodied cognition, consciousness and more. Another highlight of 2022 was Dr. Campbell’s induction into the Podcast Hall of Fame.Note: This month's episode transcript is FREE Free audio mp3 free episode transcript Listen in your Favorite Audio...
Source: the Brain Science Podcast and Blog with Dr. Ginger Campbell - December 23, 2022 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Ginger Campbell, MD Tags: Cognitive Science Consciousness Embodiment For Newbies Neuroscience Podcast Show Notes Review Episode Source Type: podcasts