What does it take for a website to keep growing? What makes a social network sticky? On this program, Terry Chay discusses social networks, viral marketing, and the Obama campaign.

There may be 20 billion neurons in your brain but that is not nearly enough to allow each cell to hold its own unique bit of information. On this program, Dr. Jason MacLean joined us to discuss Hebbian plasticity and the past, present, and future of research on neuronal networks.

The threat of a global pandemic resulting from a disease crossing over from animals to humans has become more likely in the hyperconnected world of today. On this episode, David Quammen discussed animal infections and the next human pandemic.

What can scientists learn from brain scans, and how can they avoid the Four Horsemen of the Brainscanpocalypse? Dr. Dorothy Bishop joins us to discuss the potential, and potential problems, of studies involving fMRI or other brain scanning techniques.

Is the scientific enterprise driven by the truth or by social good? How should the truth inform our world view? On this program, Terry Chay discussed the relationship between science and social activism, and the open web.

Why are some scientific discoveries, like the geologic age of the Earth, discounted by so many people? On this episode, Dr. Phil Plait discusses how science is presented in the media and why people sometimes believe very strange things.

The technological singularity is the idea of a vast increase in intelligence arising from technological advances. How will such a singularity affect global economics? On this program, Prof. James D. Miller discussed the economic impacts of a technological singularity.

Protein folding is an incredibly complex problem. To solve it, scientists use super computers and even online video games. On this episode, University of Chicago biophysicist Tobin Sosnick joins us to discuss this fascinating and confounding biological problem.

Why do humans have blood types? On this program, Laure Segurel talks about her work in finding out the origins of the ABO blood type. Alexei Kitaev also joins us to talk about quantum computing error correction.

Bletchley Park was the center of code breaking in the United Kingdom during World War II. On this program, Sinclair McKay joins us to discuss his book, The Secret Life of Bletchley Park.