Science Night

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.

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.

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

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.

A Flexible Mind

May 3rd, 2023  |  Season 3  |  40 mins 33 secs

astronomy, astrophysics, blackhole, engineering, nanotech, nanowire, neuroanatomy, neurology, neuroscience, prefrontal cortex, scary barbie, scicomm, science, spaghettification

This week, we're building a flexible scicomm mind. First, we gather strands of a long shredded star pulled into not so dreamy house, it's a super-massive blackhole called Scary Barbie. Next, we'll weave a network of nanowires that seem to work a lot like living neurons Finally, we'll look at a project that is attempting to explain how our brains adapt to a changing world.

Dont forget to share, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts!

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.

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.

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.

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!