2Scientists

Nanotubes...nanobots...nanonachos?! Terms you may have heard but what do

they mean and what do they do? We asked Maia Mombrú a graduate student in

chemistry at Universidad de la República de Uruguay in Montevideo.

She tells us about nanotubes in nature making butterflies bluer than blue,

and in our TVs making screens brighter than bright. In her own research she

is making these tiny particles to develop safer ways of delivering

radiotherapies.

What do you get if you cross an engineer with a love for tiny blood

vessels? Shayn Peirce-Cottler: a professor at the University of Virginia

studying the role of microvasculature in disease. She's looking at how we

can engineer treatments from raw materials including  fat cells from

liposuction!

We discuss novel technologies, Women in STEM, and midlife collaboration

crises.

No chinchillas were harmed in the recording of this podcast.

Tara Bracken is a specialist in Infectious disease and Global Health, a

champion of vaccines, a blogger and just all round great communicator of

many things science. We talk to her about tackling malaria, reaching out to

the vaccine hesitant and how keeps herself from just crawling under a table

and hiding from bad science.

...and we're feeling kind of queasy if we're honest. Les Shaw is a

researcher at the University of South Florida and he studies the resistance

of bacteria to antibiotics. Most of us have only known a world where many

infections can easily be treated with readily available treatments, but the

rise of resistant bugs such as MRSA is frighteningly common and threatens

to become a major health issue. How did we get here, and is there hope for

us in the future? Listen in to find out more.

We've all heard of "The Paleo Diet", but what did our paleolithic ancestors

actually eat? Well we found exactly the scientist to ask. Briana Pobiner

is a paleoanthropologist whose research centers on the evolution of human

diet. We discuss when and why humans started eating meat. We also had to

ask her about the dream job she has at the Smithsonian National Museum of

Natural History, where she helped put together the Human Origins exhibit.

Listen in to hear more about education, evolution and the history behind

our eating habits.

Sunlight, blue light, red light, sleep tight!

Virginie Gabel is a neuroscientist and a specialist in light and sleep

cycles. Why do we sleep less when we're older and why do screens ruin our

sleep? Why is our circadian rhythm important to our health, and how long

should a "disco nap" be?

These are all important questions we tackled with her over our coffee and

croissants.

In preparation for our 5th season we're offering you a little taste of

what's to come and giving some thanks to our supporters.

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Ph.D. is a marine biologist, policy expert, and

founder of Ocean Collectiv, a consulting group for ocean conservation

solutions that center social justice. She writes about how we can use the

ocean without using it up on the National Geographic blog and @ayanaeliza.

As a defender of science, after hearing about the march she knew she had to

get involved. Tune in to hear more about the overwhelming support science

has received from the public and how scientists can and should be doing

more to help influence the policies that affect all our lives.

Andrew Steele is an astrobiologist who is most at home hiding in his lab analyzing his data. Given that he is looking for life on other planets - so would we be! But Andrew is one of many scientists who realizes that hiding away is no longer an option. They need to be out there communicating their work to a public that deserves to hear about it.

The March for Science was a global celebration of science. Attended across the world by scientists and non-scientists from every background. It was a demonstration of support for a field of work that affects our health, our economies and our planet. It was a vote of confidence for the importance of evidence. We spoke to three special guests about what the march meant to them. In part I, meet Paul Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky - artist and friend of the sciences. Listen in to how he's inspired by researchers and mathematicians to bring their work to a wider audience.