Beltway Science

If ever there was an issue where there is more heat than light, it’s gun violence in the United States. Emotion is great, but it should fuel our desire to get the data right, and draw evidence-based conclusions. On the other hand, if no one is convinced by more or better data, how should we use it? How precise do you really need to be convinced there's a problem?

Ben Zalisko is on the sound board for this episode, but can't help pouncing on Asa's asteroid chatter. Sit down, Ben...

PLEASE rate/review/follow and contact us on twitter (@beltwayscience) or email us at [email protected]

Participants:

Dr. Laura Van Berkle, @Laura_VanBerkel

Dr. Asa Rubin, @asarubin2

Dr. Sujata Emani, @SassySujE

Dr. Ben Issacoff, @bpisaacoff

NPR story about the Department of Education’s faulty data:

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/08/27/640323347/the-school-shootings-that-werent

Secret Service “Mass Attack” report: https://www.secretservice.gov/forms/USSS_NTAC-Mass_Attacks_in_Public_Spaces-2017.pdf

Gun Violence Archive

https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/

https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/charts-and-maps

Gun Violence Statistics - National Institutes of Justice

https://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/gun-violence/pages/welcome.aspx

American Psychological Association Report on Gun Violence

https://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/gun-violence-prevention

2009 NIJ Report on School Shootings

https://www.nij.gov/journals/262/pages/critical-incidents-in-schools.aspx

National Criminal Justice Reference Service Report (2018) https://ovc.ncjrs.gov/ncvrw2018/info_flyers/fact_sheets/2018NCVRW_MassCasualty_508_QC.pdf

Pub Chatter:

Info about Ben’s NASA budget story https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/6/7/18656865/trump-moon-mars-tweet-artemis-whaaa

Asa’s asteroid chatter: https://www.livescience.com/65703-asteroid-psyche-probe-iron-mission.html

Sujata’s chatter about the first South-Asian American to preside over the House: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/446898-pramila-jayapal-becomes-first-south-asian-american-woman-to-preside-over-house

Laura’s arctic chatter: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/science/arctic-sea-ice-expedition-to-study-climate-change/?utm_term=.f32897d4a9bb&noredirect=on

Artificial Intelligence is a futuristic fantasy that's been around for decades. It is a banal technology with extraordinary results. It will eliminate and create jobs... probably, maybe, definitely not really. For chatter, mother nature is viscous, but you can always escape to a McDonalds embassy. BenZ can't resist talking T Rex.

Ben Isaacoff's take on the AI national strategy: http://spie.org/news/national-strategy-for-ai?SSO=1

Check out this old video of Ben Zalisko talking about Sue at the Field Museum: https://youtu.be/WhqBXSWuNr8

Participants:

Dr. Ben Issacoff, @bpisaacoff

Dr. Ben Zalisko, @benzalisko

Dr. Laura Van Berkle, @Laura_VanBerkel

Dr. Asa Rubin, @asarubin2

Genetic sequencing is an amazing tool to inform medical decisions and tell us how many Neanderthals are in our family tree, but how secure in that data? How could access to your genetic information be used against you, and what are the risks of infringement on your genetic privacy? Sujata, Ben Z, Laura, and Asa discuss how how much you should be worried about access to your genetic information and the policy implications.

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Genetic Security Overview: https://www.wired.com/story/the-us-urgently-needs-new-genetic-privacy-laws/

EEOC Genetic Discrimination: https://www1.eeoc.gov//laws/types/genetic.cfm?renderforprint=1

Future of Privacy Forum (‘Best practices’ article referenced in the pod):

https://fpf.org/2018/07/31/privacy-best-practices-for-consumer-genetic-testing-services/

Dr. Laura Van Berkel (@Laura_VanBerkel) chatted about the Women’s Voting Rights Exhibit at the National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/news/articles/women-s-voting-rights-exhibit-opens

Dr. Asa Rubin (@asarubin2) chatted about bilayer graphene: https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-twisted-graphene-became-the-big-thing-in-physics-20190430/

Dr. Ben Zalisko (@benzalisko) chatted about this IL state politics podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/il-informed/id1455535834

Dr. Sujata Emani (@SassySujE) chatted about self-assembling carbohydrates: https://cen.acs.org/biological-chemistry/Video-First-observations-self-assembling/97/i16

Labor rights for graduate student workers! Ben, Ben, Laura, and guest Matt McCune discuss the need for labor protections for early-career scientists and their quest to form recognized labor unions. We discuss the power imbalances that is imposing a mental health crisis on our next generation of scientists. Not a lot of disagreement on this pod; we get all Woody Guthrie on your ass. As always, we close with pub chatter and bad puns from Ben I.

Participants:

Dr. Ben Zalisko, @benzalisko

Dr. Matt McCune, @Matttuple

Dr. Laura Van Berkle, @Laura_VanBerkel

Dr. Ben Issacoff, @bpisaacoff

Links:

Subject overview: https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2018/06/push-graduate-student-unions-signals-deep-structural-shift-academia

Mizzou graduate workers union decision: https://www.courts.mo.gov/fv/c/Judgment_FINAL.pdf?l=CT13&di=3176008

Letter that Matt mentioned about evenings and weekend expectations: http://www.chemistry-blog.com/tag/carreira-letter/

Ezra Klein podcast about workism: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/work-as-identity-burnout-as-lifestyle/id1081584611?i=1000436045971

Laura’s book recommendation, “Rain”: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22822881-rain

Ben I’s chatter about coffee stockpile: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-coffee/swiss-government-says-coffee-not-essential-stockpiling-to-end-idUSKCN1RM226

Ben Z’s chatter about FAA approval for UAV delivery: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2019/04/27/google-wing-drone-beats-amazon-faa-approval/3591824002/

Asa, Laura, Sujata, and Ben discuss the supply and demand drivers of the opioid crisis. Dr. Rubin shares his experience at treatment facilities. We close with Happy Hour Chatter, as always.

@BeltwayScience

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Participants:

Asa Rubin, MD, Pathologist (@asarubin2)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Defense

Sujata Emani, PhD, Chemist (@SassySujE)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Energy

Ben Isaacoff, PhD, Physicist (@bpisaacoff)

2018-2019 Legislative Branch Fellow at the US Senate

Dr. Laura Van Berkel, PhD, Social Psychologist (@Laura_VanBerkel)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the National Science Foundation

Ben's astronaut herpes chatter: https://phys.org/news/2019-03-dormant-viruses-spaceflight.amp?__twitter_impression=true

Sujata's chatter about Lilly Singh on Late Night: https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-03-20/indian-canadian-youtube-star-lilly-singh-will-have-her-own-late-night-show-nbc

Laura's chatter about fantasy birding: https://deadspin.com/fantasy-birding-is-real-and-its-spectacular-1833374916

Asa's chatter has no link, just bruises.

Live at the AAAS National Convention in DC, where the theme was “Transcending Boundaries”, we discuss open science, a movement to provide free access to scientific publications and increasingly democratize science. What will this do the publishing industry and peer review, and who pays? As always, what is the status of the various policy solutions? As always we end with Pub Chatter and a plea for you to rate/review/subscribe/follow, so do that! Please!

@BeltwayScience

facebook.com/BeltwayScience

Participants:

Benjamin Zalisko, PhD, Biochemist (@benzalisko)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Defense

Sujata Emani, PhD, Chemist (@SassySujE)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Energy

Ben Isaacoff, PhD, Physicist (@bpisaacoff)

2018-2019 Legislative Branch Fellow at the US Senate

Asa Rubin, MD, Pathologist (@asarubin2)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Defense

Links:

96 Things Publishers Do:

https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2016/02/01/guest-post-kent-anderson-updated-96-things-publishers-do-2016-edition/

NAS report on Open Science:

http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/brdi/open_science_enterprise/

Ben Z’s heavy India/Pakistan chatter:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/pakistan-army-respond-full-force-india-attacks-190222104912458.html

Asa’s Alzheimer’s chatter:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4488989/

https://www.biospace.com/article/a-link-between-gum-disease-and-alzheimer-s-/

Ben I’s chatter about AI spice mixing:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/04/tech/ai-mccormick-seasoning/index.html

Sujata’s data day chatter:

https://olc.worldbank.org/content/data-day

FAKE NEWS! "scientists" explain FAKE NEWS tactics to hack our brains... Repetition, tribalism, repitition, memory, repetition... SAD! Many people want to "regulate" social media. No Covfefe!

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Links:

The psychology of believing misinformation:

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/10/5/16410912/illusory-truth-fake-news-las-vegas-google-facebook

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/misinformation-psychological-science-shows-why-it-sticks-and-how-to-fix-it.html

What government has done and what has been proposed:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/10/17208322/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-congress-testimony-regulation

A white paper from Sen Mark Warner: https://graphics.axios.com/pdf/PlatformPolicyPaper.pdf

Ben I's chatter, not a cure for cancer: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinseatonjefferson/2019/01/29/israeli-scientists-say-they-will-have-a-complete-cure-for-cancer-within-a-year/

Asa's chatter about the robotic arm: http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/4/26/eaau9354

Participants:

Host, Dr. Laura Van Berkel, PhD, Social Psychologist (@Laura_VanBerkel)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the National Science Foundation

Benjamin Zalisko, PhD, Biochemist (@benzalisko)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Defense

Ben Isaacoff, PhD, Physicist (@bpisaacoff)

2018-2019 Legislative Branch Fellow at the US Senate

Asa Rubin, MD, Pathologist (@asarubin2)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Defense

@BeltwayScience

facebook.com/BeltwayScience

Participants:

Ben Isaacoff, PhD, Physicist (@bpisaacoff)

2018-2019 Legislative Branch Fellow at the US Senate

Ben Zalisko, PhD, Biochemist (@benzalisko)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Defense

Sujata Emani, MD, Chemist (@SassySujE)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Energy

Dr. Laura Van Berkel, PhD, Social Psychologist (@Laura_VanBerkel)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the National Science Foundation

On this episode, we discuss the different levels of automated driving systems and what a fast-approaching world of self-driving cars could look like. What will this tech disrupt? What are the legal and moral challenges? As always, enjoy the fake ads and happy-hour chatter.

Links:

Issue overview: https://www.law.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2351/f/downloads/Stick-Shift-Autonomous-Vehicles-Driving-Jobs-and-the-Future-of-Work.pdf

City planning: http://www.transpogroup.com/assets/planning-for-autonomous-mobility.pdf

Chris Urmson Ted talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_urmson_how_a_driverless_car_sees_the_road?language=en

Sujata's dino chatter: https://www.livescience.com/64348-italian-alps-dinosaur.html

Ben Z's feather chatter: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0728-7

Ben I's chatter about space birth: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/space-childbirth-babies/579064/

Laura's chatter about mis-information: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/1/eaau4586

Space Debris, the Kessler Effect, and policy options to mitigate how much stuff we put into space, endangering our modern satellite infrastructure. Some highly speculative technologies for cleaning space debris are discussed. As always, stay for pub chatter at the 47:47 mark.

@BeltwayScience

facebook.com/BeltwayScience

Participants:

Benjamin Zalisko, PhD, Biochemist (@benzalisko)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Defense

Sujata Emani, MD, Chemist (@SassySujE)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Energy

Ben Isaacoff, PhD, Physicist (@bpisaacoff)

2018-2019 Legislative Branch Fellow at the US Senate

Asa Rubin, MD, Pathologist (@asarubin2)

2018-2019 Executive Branch Fellow at the Department of Defense

Great explainer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS1ibDImAYU&feature=youtu.be

Gravity movie intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBFgzvWJSMs

Navy dust cloud idea: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/navy-wants-to-thwart-space-debris-by-releasing-more-space-debris-133749344/

Lasers: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468896717300137

Asa’s chatter about: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-018-0103-6?WT.feed_name=subjects_hiv-infections

Story Ben Z mentioned about amyloid-beta: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07735-w

Ben I’s chatter about macromolecules from Genesis: https://osf.io/yj8xw/

Ben Z’s book recommendation: https://www.amazon.com/Wars-Reconstruction-Violent-Americas-Progressive/dp/1608195732

Should we use genetic engineering techniques to eradicate disease-carrying mosquito species in the wild? How do we weigh the moral necessity to cure disease with the risk of unpredictable, permanent damage to ecosystems?

Participants:

Dr. Ben Zalisko, Executive Producer (@benzalisko)

Dr. Laura Van Berkel

Dr. Asa Rubin (@asarubin2)

Chatter Links:

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter-glitch-liquid-water

https://twitter.com/i/moments/1067106086266769409

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07485-9

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