Science Night

A place for scientists to tell their story.

About the show

Science! What is it? Who does it? Why does it matter? At the Science Night Podcast, we highlight the people doing the work, and give them a place to tell their stories. We also cover science news and discoveries to keep you up on all the amazing things that are happening.

Science Night on social media

Episodes

  • Eclipses, Amphibians, and the Future of Fusion

    April 10th, 2024  |  Season 3  |  35 mins 58 secs
    amphibians, astronomy, biology, eclipse, engineering, evolution, fusion, fusion energy, kstar, mammals, nuclear engineering, nuclear fusion, pppl, scicomm, science, solar eclipse, stellerator, tokamak

    Fusion energy week is happening during the first week of May! To get ready, Dr. Diem is talking about a new design that may improve the Stellarator design and a new record for the KSTAR. We're also talking about our experience during the 2024 solar eclipse, and we have a strange new milk that will be sure to haunt your dreams.

  •

    Legacy Collections, Featuring: Dr. Valerie DeLeon & Dr. Jason Mussell

    March 25th, 2024  |  Season 3  |  55 mins 56 secs
    anatomical collections, anatomy, body donation, legacy collections, scicomm, science

    Its Anatomy Connected 2024!!! James and Jason are in Toronto, but that doesn't mean we won't be churning out that sweet sweet content. This week, we're talking to Valerie DeLeon and Jason Mussell about the recently released recommendations for legacy collections from the American Association of Anatomy.

  •

    The Great Geoengineering Debate

    March 13th, 2024  |  Season 3  |  54 mins 49 secs
    big oil, carbon emissions, climate change, climate crisis, engineering, fossil fuels, geoengineering, moths, pollinators, scicomm, science

    This week Matt Sauers is back and we're looking we're looking at the shiny new technological idea that could turn back the clock on climate change...or it could fundamentally alter the atmosphere setting in motion a series of events that renders the planet unlivable. So let's ask the question, is it better to invest in solar engineering? Or would we be better served to put that time and effort into finding more sustainable types of energy. Plus we're also talking about some polluted pollinators that are covered in dinosaur juice exhaust.

  •

    A Lunar Odyssey

    February 28th, 2024  |  Season 3  |  38 mins 34 secs
    apollo 11, apollo 17, apollo mission, artemis mission, astronomy, moon, moon landing, nasa, odysseus, odysseus lander, physics, scicomm, science, space, space exploration, space travel

    This week we're going back to the moon! It's a very spacey episode as we talk about a dark matter mirrorverse, and the search for Planet IX, and in the second half we go on a Lunar Odyssey. Along the way, we talk about the problem with pre-print servers and the growing distrust of science by the general public.

  •

    Mouse Munchies, Featuring: Jamie Moffa

    February 7th, 2024  |  Season 3  |  56 mins 45 secs
    cannabis, engineering, munchies, neuroscience, scicomm, science, virtual reality, vr

    This week, we're joined by the host of the In Plain English podcast, Jamie Moffa! Together we talk about how cannabis affects hunger...in mice, and whether or not a new, tiny VR rig...designed for mice, is worth the hype. We also talk at length about the horrors of St. Louis pizza.

  •

    Alien Lights or Misinformation Fights?

    January 17th, 2024  |  Season 3  |  30 mins 36 secs
    astronomy, dart, esa, exoplanets, fusion, hera mission, iter, jwst, kstar, nasa, nuclear fusion, proxima b, proxima centauri, scicomm, science, tokamak

    This week we're attempting to answer the age-old question...if there is a possibility for a sensational story involving aliens, will social media just run with it? We're also checking our DARTs, and hearing about the newly upgraded KSTAR tokamak from our favorite fusioneer.

  •

    Knives Up

    December 13th, 2023  |  Season 3  |  32 mins 15 secs
    astronomy, diswasher, exoplanets, fluid dynamics, ocean current, oceanography, oceans, scicomm, science

    This week we're tackling what could be the most controversial and polarizing topic to date. How to properly load a dishwasher! Knives up or down? Where do you put your egg yolk-encrusted plates? All this and so much more in our Dishwasher Discourse. We're also in search of some Wandering Water and looking at an Expansive Exoplanet

  •

    It's An Alien Invasion!

    November 30th, 2023  |  Season 3  |  27 mins 27 secs
    alien, alien mummy, aliens, ancient aliens, anthropology, dark forest, et, extraterrestrials, game theory, hoax, nazca lines, scicomm, science, twilight zone, uap, ufo

    This week we're talking about some out-of-this-world science!! The aliens have arrived at Science Night! We're talking about ancient alien evidence, UAP FAQs, and we walk through a dark forest to talk about why we're so afraid of visitors from another planet.

  •

    Science & Seance: The Victorian Parlor

    October 11th, 2023  |  Season 3  |  44 mins 28 secs
    burned over district, fox sisters, medium, parlor games, psychic, revivalism, science, scifi, seance, spiritualism, victorian era, victorian parlor

    This week, as we head into the spooky season, the veil is beginning to thin, and we gather round the parlor table to summon the spirits, wherever they're at. That's right, we're talking about spiritualism and those wacky Victorians that came to count on mediums to help ease their grief.

  •

    Don't Call It A Comeback: The Season 4 Premier

    September 27th, 2023  |  Season 3  |  32 mins 34 secs
    biology, engineering, physics, robotics, scicomm, science, soft robotics, space, space travel

    Science Night returns with a new season, a new logo, but the same great scicomm!!! This week, we have three stories that don't appear to have an obvious application to our lives, but who knows what the future will bring. We're talking about projects that are created and funded for the sake of discovering something about our world...its science for science's sake. So join us as we talk about soft robots that get even softer as they melt into a puddle of toxic goo, a nano bead that can write on water, and why our squishy human bodies aren't quite ready to explore the stars.

  •

    The Science of Science Fiction 2023: Presented by Indiana Sciences

    September 6th, 2023  |  Season 3  |  50 mins 57 secs
    bethesda, fallout, gen con, portal, scicomm, science, science fiction, scifi, valve, video games

    This week, we have the recording of our annual presentation of the science behind our favorite sci-fi franchises. This year we talked about two video games, Portal and Fallout. We got moon dust, super mutants, and of course a big helping of plasma. Be sure to check out our friends at Indiana Sciences (indianasciences.org) for more fun scicomm.

  •

    Fun & Games: A GenCon Special

    August 30th, 2023  |  Season 3  |  40 mins 3 secs
    5 years to mars, anatomy, astronomy, biology, board games, flux, gaming, gencon, holotype, paleontology, physics, scicomm, science

    This week, we're bringing you our favorite moments from the best 4 days of gaming, GENCON!!!! We played games, made new friends, and spent lots of time walking the convention floor learning about games and the people who play them. Be sure to check out the page for this episode on our website for links to all the games we mention.

  •

    First Steps with Jerry DeSilva: Revisited and Remastered

    July 26th, 2023  |  Season 3  |  39 mins 10 secs
    bioanthro, biological anthropology, denaledi chamber, evolution, homo naledi, human evolution, naledi, paleoanthropology, rising star cave, scicomm, science

    With homo naledi, the rising star caves, and human evolution trending, we decided to revisit one of our favorite episodes. We're looking back at James' conversation with Dr. Jerry DeSilva, talking about the evolution of upright walking, science communication, and all kinds of bioanthro goodness.

  •

    Cave of Bones with Lee Berger

    July 19th, 2023  |  Season 3  |  34 mins 40 secs
    bioanthro, biological anthropology, denaledi chamber, evolution, homo naledi, human evolution, naledi, paleoanthropology, rising star cave, scicomm, science

    This week, we have the triumphant return of one of our favorite guests! Prof. Lee Berger is back to talk about some amazing new finds coming out of the Rising Star cave system. We're talking about symbolism, culture, and how it all applies to homo naledi. And don't miss Unknown: Cave of Bones, available right now on Netflix

  •

    Fins on Film: A Sharkfest Special

    July 12th, 2023  |  Season 3  |  19 mins 28 secs
    biology, cape cod, climate change, disney, disney plus, disney+, diving, film making, great white sharks, marine biology, nat geo, national geographic, photojournalism, seals, sharkfest, sharks, underwater photography, white sharks

    This week, Jason is talking to Brian Skerry, a photojournalist and film producer that specializes in underwater wildlife, about his new documentary "The Return of the White Shark! A film that you can see RIGHT NOW on Disney+ as part of National Geographic's Sharkfest!!!!!

  •

    Coconut Crabs and Famous Flyers

    June 28th, 2023  |  Season 3  |  17 mins 2 secs
    amelia earhart, aviation, coconut crabs, legends, myths, nikumaroro island, scicomm, science

    This week, we're continuing our Summer Scicomm adventure on Nikumaroro Island. What do coconut crabs have to do with a famous flyer? Why does this story keep popping up? How do regular people become legendary? We attempt to answer these questions and more!