Science Night

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 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!

Its the End of the World (As We Know It)

February 1st, 2023  |  Season 3  |  36 mins 43 secs

engineering, geology, liquid metal, naturalist, robotics, scicomm, science, soft robotics

This week Kirk Mona from the Strange by Nature podcast joins us to talk about podcasting, science communication, and what it takes to be a modern naturalist. In the news, we're talking about twisted metal, a core issue, and whether or not either of these stories will cause the downfall of civilization.

Fusion: Some Like It Hot

September 10th, 2021  |  Season 3  |  53 mins 32 secs

climate change, comparative anatomy, dog training, engineering, fish, fusion, fusion energy, grad school, green energy, nuclear engineering, pegasus iii, pegasus3, physics, renewable energy, robotics, scicomm, science, soft robotics

Science news has been hot over the last couple of weeks, with announcements of major advances in fusion energy, a green alternative to fossil fuel energy. In this episode we sit down with Dr. Steffi Diem, a plasma physicist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and director of the Pegasus III a fusion energy and plasma science experiment, to learn about the latest in fusion energy research and how she forged her own path in science. She’s also a dog agility trainer… you don’t want to miss this!