Arqus Knowledge Pills

We are celebrating this month's milestone with the 20th episode of the Arqus Knowledge Pills. Thank you for listening and a special thanks to all the participants so far!

Our guest in this episode is José Manuel González Méijome, Professor of Optometry and Vision Sciences at the University of Minho. He introduces us to myopia, a very common disease that currently affects more than 20% of the world's population - a number that is on the rise! By 2050, this visual impairment could affect 50% of the population. The professor explains what it is and how it can be treated. We also study the effects of screen work and blue light on myopia and Professor Méijome gives us some advice to see better for longer.

For the 19th episode of the Arqus Knowledge Pills, we welcomed an expert on “social tipping”, Jordan Everall. He is a member of the research group “Social Complexity & System Transformation” at the University of Graz. 

Social tipping processes describe how social, political, economic or technological systems can move rapidly into a new system state if cascading positive feedback mechanisms are triggered.

During the episode, we discuss his research on rapid social change and its connection to climate change. Jordan explains also how to quantify inequality and how these topics are all connected before he answers the tricky question: "Is it still possible to save the Earth?”

In the 18th episode of the Arqus Knowledge Pills, we go underwater! Professor of Veterinary Pathology at the University of Padua, Sandro Mazzariol, explains the human impact on Cetaceans. He takes us through a marine mammal rescue and declares his favourite species of whale as alien.

Sandro graduated in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Padova in 2002. His main research fields are the study of marine mammals pathology and, in general, of free-ranging and captive wildlife, focusing on anthropic impaction and related diseases. In particular, he studies forensic diagnostic techniques to confirm any human-induced injuries or mortality and the existing relationships between pollutants and tissue changes. 

For this 17th episode of the Arqus Knowledge Pills podcast, we head to the planet Mars! The professor Cathy Quantin-Nataf, specialist in space exploration at the University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, takes us along on her exciting Mars expeditions with both the American and the European Space Agencies, NASA and ESA respectively. In her podcast "Is there life on Mars?", she explains the interest of exploring this planet, the difficulties it involves and tells us about her role in these missions as a professor and researcher.

In the 16th episode of the Arqus Knowledge Pills, we explore the topic of romantic love together with Victor de Munck, Professor of Sociocultural, Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at Vilnius University. Victor addresses the question “Can romantic love end?” and gives us an overview of how the traditional model of monogamous romantic love has been challenged by contemporary lifestyles. Is love a constraint to our freedom? Could polyamory be the modern-day solution? Discover what his research conducted him to answer!

Philosophy is one of the oldest academic disciplines, its origins dating back more than two thousand years. In the 15th episode of the series Arqus Knowledge Pills “Is philosophy relevant nowadays?”, Sebastian Rödl, Professor for Practical Philosophy at Leipzig University, talks about the relevance it still has today and why we should not look for its “usefulness”.

Sebastian shares his experience working in this field, describing it as a rollercoaster ride between moments of pure joy as well as deep frustration. And he explains what it takes to study philosophy – the most important prerequisite being an unquenchable thirst for complete understanding.

In this episode, Alberto Fernández, from the University of Granada, explains how to foster creativity in Artificial Intelligence, what amazing things they are already capable of and how we should deal with the enormous possibilities that Artificial Intelligence offers today, and in the near future. In the podcast, Alberto also talks about his interests in reading a novel or listening to a song that was not devised by a human being, and whether his research work has made him more creative in his everyday life.

Olfaction is of great importance for our psychological well-being. Psychologist Anna Oleszkiewicz from the University of Wrocław explains in this episode how our sense of smell and our state of mind are connected. Anna investigates how olfactory input influences our ability to function socially and psychologically. Also, she works on improving the so-called “Sniffin’ Sticks” tests, which are an essential tool in the field of olfactory training: approximately 5 % of the general population has a dysfunctional sense of smell and a further 20 % has a severe olfactory impairment. Anna’s goal is to bring medical knowledge on human olfactory processing and psychological science closer together.

Joana Azeredo is an Associate Professor at the University of Minho Department of Biological Engineering (Portugal). In this podcast episode, Joana explains how and why she researches a special kind of virus that can kill potentially dangerous bacteria. These viruses are of great therapeutic interest and can be used to control infectious diseases. Joana Azeredo's team recently also stood out by creating a “virus bank” to treat diseases caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, one of the biggest health problems worldwide.

Teaching and learning are two fundamental concepts for those who do research and work at the university. But how is it possible to improve them, taking into account the differences in the fields of study? One of the tools available is the "Challenge-based learning program", a working method that allows you to analyze a subject from different perspectives, thanks to different expertise. Klaudijus Melys, from the University of Vilnius, tells us about it.