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Caltech Letters

Caltech Letterssoundcloud.com
What would it sound like if the scientists producing some of the latest research also produced podcasts about their work? Listen to Caltech Letters Podcasts to find out! In all our shows, you'll hear Caltech researchers blending science and storytelling to bring you the latest findings in their fields as well as a window into how science works, breaks, and moves forward. We believe communicating our research honestly reveals how scientists view their own work, and helps us all understand how to consume science with the right amount of passion, skepticism, and confidence. You can find other Caltech Letters content here: https://caltechletters.org/ Caltech Letters is not a publication of the California Institute of Technology.
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Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

NMT4: Jane Panangaden

In Chapter 4 of "Not My Thesis," Jane Panangaden explains the abstract world of pure math and the delights of exploring it, as well as her work advocating for tenants' rights in Pasadena. While dividing her time between writing proofs and legislation, Jane grapples with how we apply our skills, technical or otherwise, to bring a different world into existence. She asks us to consider: why do math? You can find out more about the Pasadena Tenants Union, including the ordinance they wrote, here (h...

May 07, 202146 min

NMT 3: Mia de los Reyes

In Chapter 3 of Not My Thesis, Mia de los Reyes discusses the galaxies lurking in the empty parts of space, the constraint of light, and how she’s helped expand the membership of the scientific community. Astronomy, Mia reminds us, may not always be useful. But it is certainly cool. You can find more information about galaxies eating each other here (https://www.universetoday.com/108696/vampire-galaxy-sucks-star-forming-gas-from-its-neighbors/) and read about our collision with Andromeda here (h...

Aug 07, 202051 min

Biosphere 7: Mistakes

How does evolution give rise to new features of living things? Mistakes drive the vast diversity of life on earth through mutations (random errors in the information carrying molecules of a cell). A core question of evolutionary biology is how hard it is to make useful, new biological components via these random mutations and natural selection. Joined by special guest Heidi Klumpe, Caltech graduate student and host of the Not My Thesis podcast (https://caltechletters.org/podcasts/not-my-thesis/)...

Jul 24, 202042 min

Biosphere 6: Aggression and Fear

In the current pandemic, many normally harmless activities like grocery shopping are suddenly frightening. But is fear a necessary, or even good, function of our nervous system? Where does it originate from in the brain? Can we directly control emotions like fear, and what consequences would that have for the human experience? Tomás Aquino, a fellow Caltech grad student and neuroscientist friend, joins us this week to discuss these questions and the double-edged role of fear in the graduate scho...

May 08, 202034 min
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