Science Night

The 2022 Science Night Halloween Spectacular!

October 28th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  43 mins 51 secs

This week, we're bringing you our annual Halloween Spectacular! Our intrepid hosts begin by talking about the cryptids! Specifically what they are, how they work, and their purpose in society. We then go in-depth with our favorite friend from the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the Jersey Devil. In the second half, we bring you a chilling tale from Pulp! From Beyond the Veil's own Cody Sullivan.

Informal Education with Dr. Kelly Salmon & Alyson Michael

October 12th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  51 mins 42 secs

biology, chaos theory, chemistry, climate change, creation, droplets, education, evolution, mathematics, narwhal, origins, scicomm, science, stem

This week we're talking to two instructors from the New Hampshire Academy of Science about informal STEM education and inspiring the future of science. In the news, we're talking about dynamic droplets and chaotic cetaceans.

SciNight Classics Presents: The Life & Work of Mary Leakey (Remastered)

September 28th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  32 mins 4 secs

australopithicus, biological anthropology, evolution, human evolution, laetoli, leakey, louis leakey, mary leakey, ninj, olduwai gorge, paleoantrhopology, paleontology, paranthropus, scicomm, science

This week we're looking back to the early days of the podcast. This remastered classic focuses on the life and work of the queen of paleoanthropology Mary Leakey. If you love this style of scicomm and want to hear more, let us know!

Brain Games with Drs. Mikaela Stiver & Zach London

September 14th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  52 mins 23 secs

arachnophobia, board games, brain, cns, dna, games, nervous system, neurology, neuroscience, pns, scicomm, science, spiders, table top games

This week we're talking to the team behind the creation of a new card game about cranial nerves and the boney openings that love them, Foramina! Mikaela Stiver and Zach London stop by to tell us what inspired the game and how they went about creating it. In the news, we're talking about doppelganger DNA & a spiderweb of misinformation.

The Art & Science of Beer with Sun King Brewing

September 7th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  58 mins 46 secs

beer, brewing, gencon, scicomm, science, sunking

This week we're finishing up our GenCon journey with a little help from our friends at Sun King Brewing. Join us as we learn about the blend of art and science that go into brewing beer.

The Relaunch Era Turns One!

August 31st, 2022  |  Season 3  |  53 mins 28 secs

scicomm, science

It's been a year since the Science Night podcast transformed into the show you've come to know and love. To celebrate we're looking back at our favorite moments from the relaunch era.

Gen Con: The Science of SciFi

August 24th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  41 mins 42 secs

ai, biology, epidemiology, evolution, fallout, fusion, games, gaming, mass effect, microbiology, parasites, physics, scicomm, science, scifi, ttrpg, video games

This week we have another special episode from our recent trip to Gen Con in Indianapolis, IN. This time, its some of the audio from both nights of the Science of SciFi panel presented by Indiana Sciences. First up, the Science Night crew talks about the science of the Mass Effect and Fallout series. In Night two, Dr. Bill Sullivan, Matt Sauers, and Rufus Cochran talk about parasites, physics-based traps, and AI. For the full audio and video from both nights make sure you head over to indianasciences.org.

Fresh and Foraged with Carolyn Dugas

August 17th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  45 mins 22 secs

astronomy, botany, coal, coal fire, food, foraging, geology, mushrooms, mycology, poison control, scicomm, science

This week we're talking to Carolyn Dugas, a forager and content creator who is teaching people to reconnect with the food in their backyards safely and sustainably. In the news, we're talking about underground infernos, space sausage, and poison control.

Gen Con: Games and the People That Make Them

August 10th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  40 mins 53 secs

critical care, d&d, gamer, gaming, gencon, genius games, indianapolis, indie games, indy, magic the gathering, mtg, nomnivore games, northstar games, rpg, scicomm, science, tabletop, ttrpg, warhammer

In the first of three Gen Con specials, we're sharing our thoughts on the Greatest Four Days in Gaming and sharing some of the sounds and conversations from the con floor. Be sure to check out our website for links to all the game makers featured in the episode.

The Simplicity of Complexity with Dr. Yasmeen Mezil

August 3rd, 2022  |  Season 3  |  56 mins 25 secs

anatomy, animals, art, brain fog, covid 19, sciart, scicomm, science

This week Dr. Yasmeen Mezil fills us in on her work as an anatomist and illustrator. She talks about her path in finding a way to combine the many facets of her life, and how to bring creativity into science. In the news, we're talking about some animal antics that have been in the headlines, and charting the foggy shores of "Covid brain".

Defending Truth with David Goldstein

July 20th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 11 mins

ai, alpha fold 2, archaeology, cern, chemistry, communication, disinformation, large hadron collider, misinformation, particle physics, physics, politics, quarks, scicomm, science

This week we're talking about disinformation, misinformation, and effective communication with David Goldstein, chief strategist at We Defend Truth. In the news, we're revisiting our favorite protein-analyzing AI, learning about quarks in their many forms, and talking about the dos and don'ts of finding things in the brave wilderness.

Open Heart Listening with Dr. Jen Ma

July 6th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  51 mins 40 secs

bioengineering, communication, computing, empathy, engineering, listening, physics, quantum computing, quantum physics, robotics, scicomm, science

Tonight, we welcome back Dr. Jen Ma to talk about her recent event where she brought together people with different viewpoints and have them actually listen to each other. It’s a great conversation about communication, empathy, and re-building our listening skills. We even got Jen to join us in the news segment to talk about synthetic skin and a return to the land of time crystals.

Biology Beyond the Binary with Camryn Martin

June 22nd, 2022  |  Season 3  |  49 mins 35 secs

asteroids, biology, engineering, gender, geology, green energy, hayabusa 2, nature, ocean currents, pride, scicomm, science, sexuality, space, super worms

This week we're talking to the host of the Nature is Gay podcast Camryn Martin. We talk about mating behaviors in nature, and how species after species don't fit in the "binary". In the news, we're covering terrific turbines, wonderful worms, and ancient asteroids.

Open Science with Prof. Lee Berger

June 8th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 1 min

anthropology, biology, dinosaurs, evolution, metabolism, paleontology, scicomm, science, sharks

This week we're extremely excited to bring you our conversation with the incredible Prof. Lee Berger. He shares stories from his work, and we talk about his efforts to include new people in his discipline and make his science more accessible to everyone. In the news, we talk about a sharcano, and dynamic dinos.

The Ballad of the Nine Inch Snails with Bea Ramiro

May 27th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  56 mins 4 secs

astronomy, biochemistry, biology, biomedicine, black holes, chemistry, china, climate change, comets, cone snails, epidemiology, field work, fusion energy, grad school, medicine, mollusks, monkey pox, nuclear fusion, physics, physilogy, scicomm, science, tritium

This week, we have the triumphant return of those marvelous mollusks, the cone snails! We're talking to Bea Ramiro from the Safavi Lab at the University of Copenhagen, who is looking at a potential medical use for cone snail venom. In the news, we hop aboard the de-hype train, talk about fusion fuel, sing a black hole song, and explore a secret garden. Plus a new line of cone snail merch at our website, scinight.com/merch!

Tik Talking About Teaching with Dr. Andre Isaacs

May 13th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 12 mins

bloodworm, chemistry, college, copper, data visualization, education, gallium, liquid metal, mentoring, mentors, open data, open science, open source, scicomm, science, students, teaching

This week we’re talking to chemist and tik tok star Dr. Andre Isaacs. We talked about mentorship, creating the proper learning environment, the importance of creating a more diverse and inclusive STEM landscape, and much much more. Plus we have a news segment covering oceans of open data, malleable metal, and creepy crawlers. Check out links to these stories and everything Dr. Isaacs talks about at scinight.com.