On the Subject of Life*

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with John Moretti, a PhD student at the University of Texas at Austin who travels deep into caves to study ancient animals of the Pleistocene & Holocene.This podcast has no affiliation with the University of Texas or the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. However, it is part of my goal to make quality educational content with real experts accessible to the public for no charge whatsoever.Sources & Further Reading:“Ugly” Fossil Places Extinct Saber-Toothed Cat on Texas Coast:https://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/2024/...Moretti, J. A., & Johnson, E. (2023). Small rails from the late Quaternary of the Southern High Plains and their palaeoenvironmental context. Ibis, 165(4), 1280–1295.https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13212Moretti, J. A., Flores, D., Bell, C. J., Godwin, W., Hartstone‐Rose, A., & Lewis, P. J. (2024). The scimitar‐cat Homotherium from the submerged continental shelf of the Gulf Coast of Texas. The Anatomical Record.https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25461Scientists Closing in on Answers About ‘Lost’ Prehistoric Cats of Natural Bridge Caverns:https://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/2024/...Nogués-Bravo, D., Rodríguez, J., Hortal, J., Batra, P., & Araújo, M. B. (2008). Climate change, humans, and the extinction of the woolly mammoth. PLoS Biology, 6(4), e79.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio....Scientists take a step closer to resurrecting the woolly mammoth:https://www.npr.org/sections/health-s...John MorettiWebsite:https://www.jsg.utexas.edu/student/jo...Publications:https://www.researchgate.net/profile/...Instagram:  / stray_sabercat  Jason Bott & Podcast SocialsGoogle Scholar:https://scholar.google.at/citations?h...Twitter:https://x.com/JasonBott316244  Insta:/ heightsofhumanitypodcast 

TikTok:/ heightsofhumanity    Linkedin:/ jason-bott-a52944270  RSS:https://anchor.fm/s/ebd6a240/podcast/rssWebsite:https://www.heightsofhumanitypodcast.com

In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Mike Boylan-Kolchin, a research professor of Cosmology & Astrophysics at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Boylan-Kolchin's research delves deep into the origins of Galaxies within our universe, using data gathered from highly advanced telescopes to observe cosmic radiation left over from the formation of the universe. He also studies Dark Matter & Dark Energy, the former being hypothesized as the "glue" that holds galaxies together.

Mentioned Articles and Further Reading:

Vera C Rubin Observatory

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Qi Guo, Simon White, Raul E. Angulo, Bruno Henriques, Gerard Lemson, Michael Boylan-Kolchin, Peter Thomas, Chris Short, Galaxy formation in WMAP1 and WMAP7 cosmologies, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 428, Issue 2, 11 January 2013, Pages 1351–1365, https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sts115Michael Boylan-Kolchin, James S. Bullock, Manoj Kaplinghat, Too big to fail? The puzzling darkness of massive Milky Way subhaloes, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, Volume 415, Issue 1, July 2011, Pages L40–L44, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-3933.2011.01074.xMentioned Scientists:Carl Gebhardt

Deirdre Shoemaker

Neil deGrasse Tyson

⁠Dan Stanzione

⁠Mentioned Episodes:⁠Deirdre Shoemaker

Dan Stanzione⁠Dr. Boylan-Kolchin:⁠Google Scholar⁠ | ⁠Academic Profile⁠⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ Jason Bott & Podcast Socials⁠Google Scholar⁠ | ⁠Twitter ⁠| ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠TikTok⁠ | ⁠Linkedin⁠| ⁠RSS⁠ | ⁠Website

In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Alan Whittington, a research professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and director of the HAMsTER Lab at UTSA. Dr. Whittington specializes in studying heat and mass transfer and experimental rheology at extreme temperatures and pressures, which he and his team can create uniquely in their state-of-the-art laboratory. HAMsTER LabMentioned Articles and Further Reading:NSF Study on DeadlinesSweetman, A.K., Smith, A.J., de Jonge, D.S.W. et al. Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor. Nat. Geosci. 17, 737–739 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01480-8Tolbachik VolcanoStudy on Lunar Regolith BricksThermophysical Study of Moon RocksEuropan CryolavaMentioned Scientists:Doug HemingwayJim HeadBen EdwardsDan StanzioneMentioned Episodes:Doug HemingwayDan StanzioneDr. Alan Whittington:Google Scholar | Academic Profile | HAMsTER Lab | Twitter | LinkedinJason Bott & Podcast SocialsGoogle Scholar | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Linkedin| RSS | Website

Dr. Soderlund is always such a treat to chat with. I'm always in awe of how she effortlessly glides through and explains complex topics that bend and break my intuition of the physical sciences. This episode contains some extraordinary stuff, from metallic hydrogen and helium rain under Jupiter's thick clouds to sideways convection currents in Europa's massive sub-ice oceans.

Mentioned Publications and Further Reading:

Howell, S.M., Pappalardo, R.T. NASA’s Europa Clipper—a mission to a potentially habitable ocean world. Nat Commun 11, 1311 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15160-9Mark Hofstadter, et al., Uranus and Neptune missions: A study in advance of the next Planetary Science Decadal Survey, Planetary and Space Science, Volume 177, 2019, 104680, ISSN 0032-0633, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2019.06.004.

Soderlund, K. M. (2019). Ocean dynamics of outer solar system satellites. Geophysical Research Letters, 46, 8700–8710. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL081880Soderlund, K., Schmidt, B., Wicht, J. et al. Ocean-driven heating of Europa’s icy shell at low latitudes. Nature Geosci 7, 16–19 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2021Soderlund et al., The influence of magnetic fields in planetary dynamo models, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Volumes 333–334, 2012, Pages 9-20, ISSN 0012-821X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.03.038

Mentioned Scientists:

Don Blankenship

Doug Hemingway

Luc Lavier

Dave Stevenson

Corey Cochrane

Daphné Lemasquerier

Dr. Krista SoderlundGoogle Scholar | Profile

Jason Bott & Podcast SocialsGoogle Scholar | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Linkedin | RSS | Website

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Shuai Yan. Dr. Yan received his Doctorate Degree from the University of Texas at Austin, advised by Don Blankenship. He (at the time of this episode's release) has recently started as a Postdoc at the University of Washington where he plans to study Polar Geophysics & Glaciology through Geophysical observations and high-performance computer models.

Dr. Shuai has always impressed me in a multitude of ways. In the time I've known him, I've seen him not only obtain a PhD in his non-native language but mentor students (myself included) AND publish high-impact research along the way. He's taken part in multiple Antarctic expeditions, which he discusses in the podcast. In addition to Polar fieldwork, expect to learn about Subglacial Lakes & Hydrology, Aerogeophysics, how we use Radars to "x-ray" ice, and bits of wisdom on human nature, scientific outreach, and the potential future of mankind.

This podcast has no affiliation with the University of Texas or the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. However, it is part of my goal to make quality educational content with real experts accessible to the public for no charge whatsoever.

Mentioned Publications & Further Reading:Shuai Yan et al.; A newly discovered subglacial lake in East Antarctica likely hosts a valuable sedimentary record of ice and climate change. Geology 2022; 50 (8): 949–953. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G50009.1Benjamin A. Keisling et al.; Pliocene–Pleistocene megafloods as a mechanism for Greenlandic megacanyon formation. Geology 2020;; 48 (7): 737–741. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G47253.1Livingstone, S.J., Li, Y., Rutishauser, A. et al. Subglacial lakes and their changing role in a warming climate. Nat Rev Earth Environ 3, 106–124 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00246-9

Mentioned Scientists:

Dr. Benjamin Keisling

Dr. Don Blankenship

Mentioned Episode(s):

Dr. Benjamin Keisling | Ice Sheet Evolution, Sea Level, Climate Change & Isostatic Rebound

Dr. Shuai Yan

Google Scholar | Linkedin | Twitter

Jason Bott & Podcast Socials

Google Scholar | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok | Linkedin | Website

In this episode, I had the absolute honor of speaking with Dr. Dan Stanzione. Dr. Stanzione is the director of the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) and the Vice President for Research at the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Stanzione has served as the Primary Investigator (PI) for the development of countless multimillion-dollar supercomputer facilities/systems, such as Frontera, Lonestar 6, and most recently, Horizon & the LCCF. Dr. Stanzione and the supercomputer he helps build directly influence research across not only the University of Texas, but the whole of Academia.

This podcast has no affiliation with the University of Texas or the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. However, it is part of my goal to make quality educational content with real experts accessible to the public for no charge whatsoever.

Sources & Further Reading:

Stanzione, D., West, J., Evans, R. T., Minyard, T., Ghattas, O., & Panda, D. K. (2020). Frontera: The Evolution of Leadership Computing at the National Science Foundation. Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing. https://doi.org/10.1145/3311790.3396656

Guest Lecture at Rice University

Recent Guest Lecture

Krizhevsky, Alex, et al. “ImageNet classification with deep convolutional Neural Networks.” Communications of the ACM, vol. 60, no. 6, 24 May 2017, pp. 84–90, https://doi.org/10.1145/3065386.

Timeline of AI

Yifan Yao, Jinhao Duan, Kaidi Xu, Yuanfang Cai, Zhibo Sun, Yue Zhang,A survey on large language model (LLM) security and privacy: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, High-Confidence Computing, Volume 4, Issue 2, 2024, 100211, ISSN 2667-2952, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hcc.2024.100211.

Dr. Dan Stanzione

Website

Google Scholar

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-stanzione-88ba41/

Jason Bott & Podcast Socials:

Google Scholar

Twitter

https://www.instagram.com/heightsofhumanitypodcast/https://www.tiktok.com/@heightsofhumanity

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-bott-a52944270/

RSS: https://rss.com/podcasts/heightsofhumanity/

Website: https://www.heightsofhumanitypodcast.com

In this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Dr. Bruno Cucco. Dr. Cucco is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Texas at Austin where he specializes in the development of new materials for optoelectronic applications (i.e. solar energy, LEDs, etc).He uses computer models that use many-body methods and also new ab initio methodologies to simulate the optoelectronic properties of materials such as perovskites. These computer simulations help us further push the boundaries of what optoelectronics is capable of and are one of the main drivers behind the rapid development of solar power within the last two decades.This podcast is separate from the University of Texas and the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. However, this show is part of my goal to make quality educational content from real experts accessible to the public for no charge whatsoever.Sources & Further Reading:B. Cucco et al., Electronic structure and stability of Cs2TiX6 and Cs2ZrX6 (X = Br, I) vacancy ordered double perovskites. Appl. Phys. Lett. 1 November 2021; 119 (18): 181903. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0070104B. Cucco et al., Intrinsic Limits of Charge Carrier Mobilities in Layered Halide Perovskites. PRX Energy 3, 023012 – 28 June 2024. https://doi.org/10.1103/PRXEnergy.3.023012Intro to Perovskites: https://www.perovskite-info.com/introductionPhonons Explained: https://news.mit.edu/2010/explained-phonons-0706Donald C. Reynolds, Thomas C. Collins, Excitons, Semiconductor, Editor(s): Robert A. Meyers, Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology (Third Edition), Academic Press, 2003, Pages 687-708, ISBN 9780122274107, https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-12-227410-5/00237-4.Recent increase in the amount of awarded PhDs: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2024/02/05/number-of-doctoral-degrees-awarded-in-us-rebounds-to-all-time-high/Ice Crystal Fabrics: https://dlilien.github.io/project/fabric/Intro to Clathrates (aka Hydrates): https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/clathrate#:~:text=Clathrate%20is%20defined%20as%20a,at%20a%20fixed%20composition%20ratio.Dr. Bruno CuccoWebsite: https://brunocucco.webflow.io/aboutCV: https://brunocucco.webflow.io/curriculumGoogle Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0Cj_hzQAAAAJ&hl=pt-BRTwitter/X: https://x.com/BrunoCuccoJason Bott & Podcast SocialsGoogle Scholar: https://scholar.google.at/citations?hl=en&user=31Ae8UkAAAAJhttps://x.com/JasonBott316244https://www.instagram.com/heightsofhumanitypodcast/https://www.tiktok.com/@heightsofhumanityRSS: https://rss.com/podcasts/heightsofhumanity/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-bott-a52944270/Website: https://www.heightsofhumanitypodcast.com

In this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Dr. Benjamin Keisling. Dr. Keisling is a Glaciologist and Ice Sheet Modeler.

This podcast is separate from the University of Texas and the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. However, this show is part of my goal to make quality educational content from real experts accessible to the public for no charge whatsoever.

Articles, Sources, and Further Reading:

Milankovitch (Orbital) Cycles and Their Role in Earth’s Climate: https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/

Benthic δ18O records Earth’s energy imbalance: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01250-y

Glacial isostatic adjustment: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/glacial-adjustment.html

Total isostatic response to the complete unloading of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-15440-y

Greenland-Wide Seasonal Temperatures During the Last Deglaciation: https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL075601

Deglaciation of northwestern Greenland during Marine Isotope Stage 11: DOI: 10.1126/science.ade4248

Volcanism in Antarctica: 200 Million Years of Subduction, Rifting and Continental Break-up: https://doi.org/10.1144/M55-2019-29

The first physical evidence of subglacial volcanism under the West Antarctic Ice Sheet: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-11515-3

Dr. Keisling:

Academic Profile: https://www.jsg.utexas.edu/researcher/benjamin_keisling/

CV: https://apps.jsg.utexas.edu/profiles/files/cv/keisling-cv-utig-may22.pdf

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Qi-uGg8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Jason Bott and Heights of Humanity Podcast:

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.at/citations?hl=en&user=31Ae8UkAAAAJ

X: https://x.com/JasonBott316244

https://www.instagram.com/heightsofhumanitypodcast/

https://www.tiktok.com/@heightsofhumanity

Website: https://www.heightsofhumanitypodcast.com

In this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Dr. Kirstin "Kiki" Schulz. Dr. Schulz is a computational scientist and physical oceanographer at the Computational Research in Ice and Ocean Systems Group at the University of Texas at Austin. She holds her PhD in Physical Oceanography from the University of Rostock in Germany. During her PhD studies with PD Lars Umlauf at the Institute for Baltic Sea Research in Warnemuende, she investigated transport processes induced by tidal asymmetries in continental shelf regions.

In this episode, Dr. Schulz and I discuss the ongoing climate change in the Arctic, and how that might affect oceanographic processes like large-scale mixing, temperature/salinity gradients, internal wave action, stratigraphic ocean layers, warm water input from the Gulf Stream, and more. We also had some fun banter about Polar Bears, what it's like doing Research in the Arctic Ocean, the cost of running an icebreaker (ship), and much more.

Articles, Sources, and Further Reading:

Greenland Lake Seminar: https://ig.utexas.edu/utig-seminar-series/2024/utig-seminar-series-melisa-diaz-the-ohio-state-university/

The Eurasian Arctic Ocean along the MOSAiC drift in 2019–2020: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2023.00114

Thin and transient meltwater layers and false bottoms in the Arctic sea ice pack: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2023.00025

Winter Vertical Diffusion Rates in the Arctic Ocean: https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JC019197

Along-Slope Heat Loss of the Boundary Current in the Eastern Arctic Ocean: https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016375

Turbulent Mixing and the Formation of an Intermediate Nepheloid Layer Above the Siberian Continental Shelf Break: https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL092988

Dr. Schulz's Guest Lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2ANdKB34MI

Dr. Schulz:

Academic Profile: https://oden.utexas.edu/people/directory/Kirstin-Schulz/

CV: https://www.unicornatsea.de/resources/General/CV_KirstinSchulz.pdf

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.at/citations?hl=en&user=LwMZ5D4AAAAJ

Jason Bott and Heights of Humanity Podcast:

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.at/citations?hl=en&user=31Ae8UkAAAAJ

X: https://x.com/JasonBott316244

https://www.instagram.com/heightsofhumanitypodcast/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-bott-a52944270/

https://www.tiktok.com/@heightsofhumanity

Website: https://www.heightsofhumanitypodcast.com

In this episode, I spoke with Ayush Garg. Ayush is a Presidential Scholar at the University of Richmond and the Co-founder of AnswerThis, an AI tool that uses a database of over 250 million research papers and articles to deliver accurate peer-reviewed information in response to nearly any question you can think of.

In this episode, Ayush discusses the latest features of AnswerThis, his experience as a student-entrepreneur, what it's like to meet the president of Singapore, tips to succeed as a tech entrepreneur, the best way to use AI moving forward, and much much more.

*SPECIAL OFFER* Use the Code *HOH25* for 25% off EVERY MONTH of your AnswerThis Subscription (Can be stacked with student/faculty discount)

AnswerThis website: https://answerthis.io/

Timestamps:

What Is AnswerThis: 00:54

Presenting to the President of Singapore: 08:41

Balancing Academics and Entrepreneurship: 14:29

Awnserthis Demo: 23:48

Accuracy vs. Precision in AI: 38:47

Paid vs. Free Version: 55:14

ChatGPT Comparison: 01:06:09

Keeping Research a Human Endeavor: 01:18:41

Ayush's Entrepreneurship Advice: 01:29:14

Using AI for Coding: 01:53:00

Future Developments: 1:55:00

Where to Find Ayush: 1:58:00

Articles and Further Reading:

Number of Publications per Year: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/scientific-publications-per-million

Using AI to Search Literature: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01907-z

New Development in AI Search: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/396824

Visualization of AI Search Algorithm: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Samy-Abu-Naser/publication/45949867_Developing_Visualization_Tool_for_Teaching_AI_Searching_Algorithms/links/566bcc6808aea0892c4d4c2b/Developing-Visualization-Tool-for-Teaching-AI-Searching-Algorithms.pdf?_sg%5B0%5D=started_experiment_milestone&origin=journalDetail&_rtd=e30%3D

Ayush Garg:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayush4921

Personal Website: https://gargayush.com/

Github: https://github.com/ayush4921

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/techtitanofficial

Devpost: https://devpost.com/ayush510

Jason Bott and Heights of Humanity Podcast:

https://www.instagram.com/heightsofhumanitypodcast/

https://x.com/HofH_Podcast

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-bott-a52944270/

https://www.tiktok.com/@heightsofhumanity

www.heightsofhumanitypodcast.com