Science Night

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!

A Fireside Chat with Kate Miller

December 14th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  37 mins 59 secs

ai, anthropology, artificial intelligence, astronomy, bio anthro, biological anthropology, black hole, epidemiology, fire, hominid, hominin, homo naledi, rising star cave, scicomm, science

This week we’re looking at three bits of science news with special guest Kate Miller. First we ask, “do we really need an ai diarrhea detector”? Then we watch a light show 8.2 billion years in the making. In the second half, we gather around the fire to talk about a new discovery from the Rising Star in South Africa.

How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love AI, Featuring: Rufus Cochran

November 30th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  57 mins 5 secs

ai, artificial intelligence, computer science, deep learning, machine learning, meta, scicomm, science, time

This week, Rufus Cochran from Indiana Sciences stops in to talk about AI, deep learning, and how it probably won't lead to the end of civilization as we know it. In the news, we're talking about the loss of the leap second and Meta's AI malarky. Be sure to follow Indiana Sciences on social media so you'll never miss out on their content.

A Scicomm Roundup Featuring: Dr. Yasmeen Mezil

November 16th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  41 mins 19 secs

ai, art, artemis, astronomy, bioshpere 2, sciart, scicomm, science, space

This week Dr. Yasmeen Mezil makes her triumphant return to the show! She joins James, Jason, and Steffi to talk about three scicomm stories. Join us as we cover a new Pew Research poll, a bash at the Biosphere, and a new sciart exhibition.

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.

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.

Let's Talk About Stress Baby

December 3rd, 2021  |  Season 3  |  48 mins 50 secs

ai, anthro, anthropology, anxiety, arc reactor, artificial intelligence, bees, bioanthro, biological anthropology, biology, birth, carion, childbirth, dartmouth, entomology, epigenetics, evolution, fusion energy, genetics, harvard, honey, inequality, racism, robot apocalypse, robotics, scavenger, spark, stress, university of vermont, uvm, vulture, vulture bees

STRESS! Everyone experiences it, and most of us aren't the greatest at dealing with it. The question our guest, Dr. Zane Thayer from Dartmouth College, is trying to learn more about stress. Mainly how a history of stress can lead to long-term health effects. You'll also learn a few tips for dealing with stress in a healthy way. The news segment will definitely build those stress levels as we talk about bees that will make you think twice about where your honey comes from and a new biological robot that will probably not herald the end to civilization as we know it.