A massive effort by African volunteers is ensuring artificial intelligence understands their native languages, and measuring 40,000 skeletons Our AI summer continues with a look at how to get artificial intelligence to understand and translate the thousands of languages that don’t have large online sources of text and audio. Freelance journalist Sandeep Ravindran joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss Masakhane , a volunteer-based project dedicated to spurring growth in machine learning of African l...
Jul 20, 2023•39 min
Science’s NextGen voices share their thoughts on artificial intelligence, how to avoid creating sociopathic robots, and a visit to a historic observatory as researchers pack their bags As part of a Science special issue on finding a place for artificial intelligence (AI) in science and society, Producer Kevin McLean shares voices from the next generation of researchers. We hear from students about how they think human scientists will still need to work alongside AI in the future. Continuing the ...
Jul 13, 2023•30 min
Worldwide survey kills the myth of “Man the Hunter,” and tightly constraining the electric dipole moment of the electron First up this week on the show, freelance science writer Bridget Alex joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss busting the long-standing myth that in our deep past, virtually all hunters were men and women tended to be gatherers. It turns out women hunt in the vast majority of foraging societies, upending old stereotypes. After that, we learn about a hunt for zero. Tanya Roussy , a ...
Jul 06, 2023•31 min
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 Ger...
Jun 29, 2023•48 min
On this week’s show: Euclid, a powerful platform for detecting dark energy, and a slithery segment on how snakes make scales First up on the show this week, we’re taking the hunt for dark energy to space . Staff Writer Daniel Clery joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss a new space-based telescope called Euclid, set to launch next month. Euclid will kick off a new phase in the search for dark energy, the mysterious force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe. Also on this week’s show, s...
Jun 22, 2023•29 min
A special issue on light pollution, and first aid for mental well-being First up this week, cleaning up the night skies. As part of a special issue on light pollution , host Sarah Crespi talks with Stefan Wallner , a researcher at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, about why light pollution is so difficult to measure and how coordination efforts between disciplines will help us darken the nights. Also on this week’s show, a mental health first aid course for scientists. Azmi Ahmad , a postdoctoral ...
Jun 15, 2023•23 min
A single-shot cat contraceptive, and a close look at “dry” chemistry First up this week: an innovation in cat contraception . Online News Editor David Grimm talks with host Sarah Crespi about a nonsurgical pregnancy prevention technique for cats and why such an approach has been a long-term goal for cat population control. Also on this week’s show, we hear about new insights into mechanical chemistry —using physical force to push molecules together. Science Editor Jake Yeston and Yerzhan Zholdas...
Jun 08, 2023•29 min
Body-based units of measure in cultural evolution, and how the geologic history of the United States can be used to find vital minerals First up this week, we hear about the advantages of using the body to measure the world around you. Producer Meagan Cantwell talks with Roope Kaaronen , a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki, about how and why cultures use body-based measurements, such as arm lengths and hand spans. Read the related commentary . Also on this week’s show, the Un...
Jun 01, 2023•29 min
Why it’s so hard to understand the tongue, a book on a revolutionary shift toward studying the female of the species, and using proteomics to find beer in a painting First on the show this week, Staff Writer Elizabeth Pennisi joins host Sarah Crespi to talk tongues: Who has them, who doesn’t, and all their amazing elaborations . We also have the first in a new six-part series on books exploring the science of sex and gender. For this month’s installment, host Angela Saini talks with evolutionary...
May 25, 2023•41 min
Cloning vigorous crops, and finding the first romantic kiss First up this week, building resilience into crops. Staff Writer Erik Stokstad joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss all the tricks farmers use now to make resilient hybrid crops of rice or wheat and how genetically engineering hybrid crop plants to clone themselves may be the next step. After that we ask: When did we start kissing? Troels Pank Arbøll is an assistant professor of Assyriology in the department of cross-cultural and regional...
May 18, 2023•33 min
A new approach promises to increase organ transplants but some question whether they should proceed without revisiting the definition of death, and what happens to rural lands when people head to urban centers First up this week, innovations in organ transplantation lead to ethical debates. Host Sarah Crespi talks with Staff Writer Jennifer Couzin-Frankel and several transplant surgeons and doctors about defining death, technically . Also in this segment: Anji Wall , abdominal transplant surgeon...
May 11, 2023•43 min
Builders of the largest scientific instruments, and how cracks can add resilience to an ecosystem First up this week, a story on a builder of the biggest machines. Producer Kevin McLean talks with Staff Writer Adrian Cho about Adrian’s dad and his other baby: an x-ray synchrotron. Next up on this episode, a look at self-organizing landscapes. Host Sarah Crespi and Chi Xu , a professor of ecology at Nanjing University, talk about a Science Advances paper on how resilience in an ecosystem can come...
May 04, 2023•41 min
Science’s editor-in-chief and an award-winning broadcast journalist discuss the struggles shared by journalism and science, and we learn about what makes something stand out in our memories First up on the show this week: Science Editor-in-Chief Holden Thorp talks with Amna Nawaz , an award-winning broadcast journalist and host of the PBS NewsHour , about the value of new voices in science and journalism and other things the two fields have in common. Next up, what makes something stand out in y...
Apr 27, 2023•32 min
What does it mean that we have so many more seamounts than previously thought, and finding REM sleep in seals First up on the show this week: so many seamounts. Staff News Writer Paul Voosen joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss a study that mapped about 17,000 never-before-seen underwater volcanoes. They talk about how these new submarine landforms will influence conservation efforts and our understanding of ocean circulation. Next up, how do mammals that spend 90% of their time in the water, get ...
Apr 20, 2023•39 min
Anchoring radiocarbon dates to cosmic events, why hibernating bears don't get blood clots, and kicking off a book series on sex, gender, and science First up this week, upping the precision of radiocarbon dating by linking cosmic rays to isotopes in wood . Producer Meagan Cantwell talks with Online News Editor Michael Price about how spikes in cosmic rays—called Miyake events—are helping archaeologists peg the age of wooden artifacts to a year rather than a decade or century. Next on the show, w...
Apr 13, 2023•42 min
Why some countries, such as China, vaccinate flocks against bird flu but others don’t, and male ants that are always chimeras First up this week, highly pathogenic avian influenza is spreading to domestic flocks around the globe from migrating birds. Why don’t many countries vaccinate their bird herds when finding one case can mean massive culls? Staff News Writer Jon Cohen joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the push and pull of economics, politics, and science at play in vaccinating poultry aga...
Apr 06, 2023•32 min
On this week’s show: How people in the past thought about their own past, and a detailed look at how Braille is read First up this week, what did people 1000 years ago think about 5000-year-old Stonehenge? Or about a disused Maya temple smack dab in the middle of the neighborhood? Contributing Correspondent Lizzie Wade joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how Mesoamerican sites are revealing new ways that ruins were incorporated into past peoples’ lives. Next up on this week’s show is a segment fr...
Mar 30, 2023•30 min
On this week’s show: Earth’s youngest impact craters could be vastly underestimated in size, and remaking a plant’s process for a creating a complex compound First up this week, have we been measuring asteroid impact craters wrong ? Staff Writer Paul Voosen talks with host Sarah Crespi about new approaches to measuring the diameter of impact craters. They discuss the new measurements which, if confirmed, might require us to rethink just how often Earth gets hit with large asteroids . Paul also s...
Mar 23, 2023•27 min
On this week’s show: Spotting volcanic activity on Venus in 30-year-old data, and giving context to increases in early onset colon cancer First up this week, a researcher notices an active volcano on Venus in data from the Magellan mission—which ended in 1994. News Staff Writer Paul Voosen joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss how to find a “fresh” lava flow in 30-year-old readings. Next up, a concerning increase in early onset colon cancer. Kimmie Ng , director of the Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer...
Mar 16, 2023•24 min
On this week’s show: Compassion fatigue will strike most who care for lab animals, but addressing it is challenging. Also, overturning ideas about ocean circulation First up this week: uncovering compassion fatigue in those who work with research animals—from cage cleaners to heads of entire animal facilities. Host Sarah Crespi and Online News Editor David Grimm discuss how to recognize the anxiety and depression that can be associated with this work and what some institutions are doing to help....
Mar 09, 2023•41 min
On this week’s show: Researchers are finding new ways to mitigate implicit bias in medical settings, and how toothed whales use distinct vocal registers for echolocation and communication First up this week: how to fight unconscious bias in the clinic. Staff Writer Rodrigo Pérez Ortega talks with host Sarah Crespi about how researchers are attempting to fight bias on many fronts —from online classes to machine learning to finding a biomarker for pain. Next up on the show: a close look at toothed...
Mar 02, 2023•31 min
On this week’s show: Portable MRI scanners could revolutionize medical imaging, and pheromones offer a way to control flies that spread disease First up this week: shrinking MRI machines . Staff Writer Adrian Cho talks with host Sarah Crespi about how engineers and physicists are teaming up to make MRI machines smaller and cheaper. Next up on the show, the smell of tsetse fly love . Producer Kevin McLean talks with Shimaa Ebrahim , a postdoctoral researcher in the department of molecular, cellul...
Feb 23, 2023•34 min
On this week’s show: The hunt for natural hydrogen deposits heats up, and why we need a space mission to an ice giant First up this week: a gold rush for naturally occurring hydrogen. Deputy Editor Eric Hand joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss drilling for hidden pockets of hydrogen , which companies are just now starting to explore as a clean energy option. Next up, big plans for a mission to Uranus. Kathleen Mandt , a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laborator...
Feb 16, 2023•30 min
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 Me...
Feb 09, 2023•32 min
On this week’s show: New clues to the chemicals used for mummification, and the benefits and barriers to smart toilets First up this week: What can we learn from a mummy factory ? Contributing Correspondent Andrew Curry talks with host Sarah Crespi about mummy chemistry and why we don’t know much about what was used to preserve these ancient bodies. Online News Editor Michael Price makes a special appearance. Next up, how having a smart toilet can contribute to your health. Seung-Min Park, an in...
Feb 02, 2023•29 min
On this week’s show: When deer are scarce these wolves turn to sea otters, and chemical weathering of silicates acts as a geological thermostat First up on this week’s show we have a story about a group of Alaskan wolves that has switched to eating sea otters as deer populations have dwindled. Science journalist Jack Tamisiea tells host Sarah Crespi about some of the recently published work on this diet shift, and wildlife biologist Gretchen Roffler weighs in on the conditions on the island wher...
Jan 26, 2023•26 min
Statisticians fight bad numbers used in medical murder trials, and the state of allergy science First up on this week’s show, we have a piece on accusations of medical murder. Contributing Correspondent Cathleen O’Grady joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss her story on how statisticians are weighing in on cases where nurses and doctors are convicted of murdering patients based on bad statistics . This segment was produced by Kevin McLean with sound design by James Rowlands. Also on this week’s sho...
Jan 19, 2023•39 min
Data on hazes and clouds may be key to understanding exoplanets, and NextGen letter writers share the upside of failure Hazes and clouds could keep exoplanets’ secrets hidden, unless researchers can re-create them here on Earth. After celebrating JWST and its ability to look far back in time and help us look for habitable exoplanets as the 2022 Science Breakthrough of the Year , News Intern Zack Savitsky talks with host Sarah Crespi about an overlooked problem with using telescopes to examine ex...
Jan 12, 2023•34 min
Keeping an eye on the largest hydroelectric project in the Amazon basin, and helping patients with deletions in their mitochondrial DNA We are starting off the new year with producer Kevin McLean and freelance science journalist Sofia Moutinho . They discuss a controversial dam in the Brazilian Amazon and how Indigenous peoples and researchers are trying to monitor its impact. Then, host Sarah Crespi speaks with Elad Jacoby , an expert in pediatric hematology and oncology at the Sheba Medical Ce...
Jan 05, 2023•27 min
On this week’s show: A rundown of our favorite online news stories, and some of our favorite moments on the podcast this year This is our last show of the year and it’s a fun one! Dave Grimm, our online news editor, gives a tour of the top online stories of the year , from playful bumble bees to parasite-ridden friars. Then, host Sarah Crespi looks back at some amazing conversations from the podcast this year, including answers to a few questions she never thought she’d be asking. Highlights inc...
Dec 22, 2022•33 min
