Steffi Diem

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.

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

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!

Little Fires Everywhere

June 14th, 2023  |  Season 3  |  13 mins 39 secs

canada, climate action, climate change, climate crisis, fire season, global warming, scicomm, science, wildfires

This week we're starting our summer scicomm adventure by talking about the wildfires that are tearing through the True North and choking out the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Spoilers, it's climate change...it's always climate change

The End...For Now

May 31st, 2023  |  Season 3  |  38 mins 45 secs

ai, alpha fold, artificial intelligence, astrophysics, biochemistry, biomedical engineering, biomedicine, communication, democracy, engineering, neurology, physics, plasma, politics, protein synthesis, robotics, scicomm, science, soft robotics

It's time to say goodbye to season 3, but not before we bring you a little more scicomm. This week we're revisiting our first story from the relaunch era, but this time there's a wrinkle in the AlphaFold. It wouldn't be Science Night without something to make you simultaneously horrified and fascinate, this time it's a soft robot that can wrap your brain in its tentacles. Plasma remains a hot topic, and we couldn't pass up one last opportunity to talk about it with a solar selfie. Finally, we're riding out on a bit of a light-hearted topic...the downfall of democracy.

This may be the end of season 3, but there's still plenty of Science Night coming your way including some fun summer scicomm before the premiere of season 4 in the fall of '23. Make sure you're following us everywhere and subscribe to the show so you don't miss a thing!