Nice to Know - Conversations with Everyday Scientists

Turns out, pigeons are way more interesting than your average street critter. Their ability to navigate has been known and used by people for centuries, but we still don't know how they are able to sense the earth's magnetic fields.

Greg Nordmann (@GregNordmann) is a PhD student in the lab of David Keays (@keays_lab) at the IMP in Vienna (@IMPvienna), where he is trying to answer this question, by studying the pigeon brain's response to magnetic stimuli.

Check out keayslab.org for more about Greg's (and the rest of the Keays lab's) research!

For all the latest updates about Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or Instagram @nicetoknowapodcast. Got a question? Email me at [email protected].

Dr Nadine Gloss is an anthropologist/sociologist studying the sociology of sex work and sex work activism. Despite sex work being the "oldest job", there are many barriers in place that treat sex workers unfairly compared to other industries. Nadine shares her experience in observing and participating in sex work activism, debunking common tales about who does sex work and why, and why, at the end of the day, they deserve the same working rights as any other job.

For more information about sex work activism, see the Network of Sex Work Projects: https://www.nswp.org/


For more information on Nice To Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences, Instagram @niceotknowapodcast or email me at [email protected]

Dr Iromi Wanigasuriya is a molecular biologist studying epigenetics, or how our genes are regulated, in embryos. We talk about sex differences in gene expression, but also in medical research and for being an international student.

For more info on the gender gap in medical studies, I encourage you to check out this article, by Kelly Burrowes in The Conversation > https://theconversation.com/gender-bias-in-medicine-and-medical-research-is-still-putting-womens-health-at-risk-156495
You can follow Iromi on Twitter or Instagram @ciromiw and her adorable Cavoodle @oliverwooof

For more information about Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences, Instagram @nicetoknowapodcast or email [email protected]

Prof Sommer Gentry is a mathematician working in the area of Operations Research, and her husband, Prof Dorry Segev, is a transplant surgeon and epidemiologist. Together, they use their research to improve organ transplant policies in the USA, with the goal of improving the health and equity of healthcare for people requiring organ transplantation.

Sommer (@shelikesmath) is a Professor of Mathematics at the US Naval Academy, and Dorry (@Dorry_Segev) is Professor of Surgery and Associate Vice Chair for Research at John Hopkins Medicine. If you liked this episode, you'll love their YouTube Documentary, 'The Right Match' > check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttMQECKQ3DQ&t=75s

For more information about Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences, instagram @nicetoknowapodcast or email [email protected]

A brief monologue / verbal essay on some interesting things I learned while reading about the evolution of human ageing.

See https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00239-019-09896-2

For more information about Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences, instagram @nicetoknowapodcast or email [email protected]

Michael Borg (@dr_borg) is a developmental biologist and expert in the molecular workings of plant reproduction. 

In this episode, he tells me how different organisms reset their DNA in order to start again with the next generation. We also talk more broadly about why we should care about plants and study biology in general. 

For more information about Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or Instagram @nicetoknowapodcast. You can also get in touch via [email protected]

Dan Quintana (@dsquintana) combines biology, neuroscience and endocrinology (the study of hormones) to study how the so-called "cuddle hormone" oxytocin influences behaviour. Turns out, it's more than just cuddling!!

Dan is also co-host of the podcast Everything Hertz: https://everythinghertz.com/about
You can also check out his blog (https://www.dsquintana.blog/) and his free book on how to Twitter for scientists: https://t4scientists.com/

For more information on future episodes of Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or Instagram @nicetoknowapodcast

A selection of my favourite Nice to Know moments from Season 1, covering episodes 10 - 18.

Timestamps:

01:26 Ep. 10: Proteins & PhD Life with Dr Rhiannon Morris

02:51 Ep.11: Cancer, COVID, and Childcare with Dr Margs Brennan

04:34 Ep. 12: Doing Tai Chi with Drones with Design Researcher Joseph La Delfa

06:35 Ep. 13: Negative Results to Positive Interactions with Dr Bernhard Hochreiter

07:48 Ep. 14: TEAbacco, and use of other illicit drugs, with Dr Cheneal Puljevic

09:16 Ep. 15: Ancient Mesopotam-a-what? with Céline Debourse

11:09 Ep. 17: 40g of Fibre with Hamdi Jama

13:10 Xmas Special 2020: Studying Climate Change at the North Pole with Bruce Vaughn

Season 2 starts soon! For more information on Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or Instagram @nicetoknowapodcast. You can also email me at [email protected]

A selection of my favourite Nice to Know moments from Season 1, covering episodes 1 - 9.

Timestamps:

01:33: Ep. 1: Fat, immunity, and winning the Nobel Prize with Dr Hatoon Baazim

03:45: Ep. 2: From cocktails to chemistry with Giovanni Di Mauro

05:09: Ep. 3: Empathising with neuropsychologist Kate Bray

06:10: Ep. 4: Bone-eating cells and Blue Monday with Dr Julia Brunner

07:57: Ep. 5: 23 and me and Dr André Rendeiro

09:41: Ep. 6: Squids dealing with climate change with Dr Casey Zakroff

11:43: Ep. 7: Seeing the light - nanophotonics & social change with Dr Idris Ajia

13:32: Ep. 8: Into the Unknown Gut Stuff with Dr Amy Shepherd

15:10: Ep. 9: Philosophy? Technology? Quantum Physics with Philip Taranto

Episodes 10-17 coming next week, followed by Season 2!
For more information on Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences or Instagram @nicetoknowapodcast. You can also email me at [email protected]

Climate change - we all know that it's happening, but how do we actually know this scientifically? Bruce Vaughn studies glaciers up at the North Pole, looking at ice cores to study how our climate has changed over the Earth's history. We talk about how this is done, and also how we are now entering uncharted territory of atmospheric CO2, warming, and what we as a species can do about it. 

Bruce Vaughn runs the stable isotope lab at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) at the University of Colorado. 

Find out more about climate change and what you can do as an individual via the Arctic Arts Project: https://www.arcticartsproject.com/about/