Science Night

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.

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.

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.

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 Festival of Fusion: The 2022 Year in Review

February 8th, 2023  |  Season 3  |  39 mins 59 secs

arc, climate change, climate crisis, east, fusion, fusion energy, iter, jet, nuclear fusion, physics, scicomm, science, sparc, step, tokamak

We're back with another look back at the year in fusion energy. Join us as our friendly fusioneer Steffi Diem and special guest Arturo Dominguez talk about the highlights and high temps from an exciting year.

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.

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.

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!

The Interface of Science and Policy with Dr. Alma Cristal Hernandez-Mondragon

April 29th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  1 hr 5 mins

astronomy, biology, climate change, dartmouth, frogs, jpl, mating calls, mexico, nasa, physics, policy, scicomm, science, scipolicy, scorpions, snakes, space, the three body problem, theoretical physics, three body

This week we're featuring a conversation with Dr. Alma Cristal Hernandez-Mondragon, a science policy advocate from Mexico City that is paving the way for a generation of science advocates in Mexico. In the news, we're talking about troubling transmissions, frog tinder, and anti-venom achievements.