Learn Real Good

Our bodies are made up of bazillions of cells, each one specialized to serve a function. Cells have an external structure to give it shape called a cytoskeleton. Researcher Claire Edrington is looking into the microtubules that make up cytoskeletons and how they can be grown in the lab. Katie and Vinny share facts about particle accelerators and giraffe necks.

Too much sugar in the blood can lead to all sorts of health problems, including diabetes, and we rely on insulin to properly process it in our bodies. But that’s not always possible for a variety of reasons. Emily McGaugh’s research looks into using stem cells to create not simply pancreatic cells but more specifically the insulin producing cells in the pancreas. Katie and Vinny talk about the Moon and chewing gum.

Sea Lamprey are an invasive species in the Great Lakes. Our guest Victoria Heath works in marine labs doing research into chasing them out of sensitive areas using sounds that don’t harm the environment. Vinny and Katie share the latest research about babies and moon dirt.

Talking to computers is tricky because people use a lot of context clues to figure out exactly what people mean. Computers like to take things literally so it’s a challenge for them to untangle any ambiguity or multiple meanings. Frederick Gietz is a computational linguist working on research to help computers understand how these messy humans use verbs. Katie and Vinny talk about mosquitofish and what happens to DNA in microgravity.

Pesticides can be found in so many of our waterways thanks to industrial farming. Monitoring the levels of pesticides in our water is important to ensure the health of our water supplies and everything that lives in them. MSc student Moira Ijzerman studies new ways to detect and measure their presence using a new type of material, biofilms. Vinny and Katie share facts about Mars and millipedes.

When you think of an earthquake, you think of a sudden destructive event that lasts minutes or even seconds. Our guest this week is Meghomita Das who studies “slow earthquakes”. Slow earthquakes release the same amount of energy but over a timescale of weeks or even months. We talk about what slow earthquakes can tell us about the Earth’s history and earthquake predictions. Katie and Vinny talk about the whales and the bees.

Fainting is an unpleasant and sometimes dangerous experience. We talk to Erin Williams about the cardiovascular system and research into new and simple tools, like swaying, to prevent fainting (aka: syncope). Vinny and Katie talk about wild animals getting drunk and nuclear missiles.

The world of sub-atomic physics is always fascinating and most people know that the CERN lab is where lots of the latest experiments run. Our guest this week is Ben Davis-Purcell who did his research as part of the ATLAS experiment running at CERN, examining the fundamental particles that make up our universe. Katie and Vinny talk about plant tubes and robots that fight fires.

Sea Cucumbers are amazing animals. They hang out all over the ocean and have a surprising defense mechanism. Em Lim studies their pee and how the nitrogen in their pee is perfect for growing seaweed. Vinny and Katie talk about embryos and sharks.

We don’t really think too much about how we read or speak but our brains are doing a lot of work to make that happen. Alex Cross studies how our minds learn and develop our language skills, specifically how school age kids learn to read, including those who struggle with reading. Vinny and Katie talk about the center of the galaxy and blood sugar.