Orbitals

We need antibiotics, we rely on them. Much of humanity has survived because of them. But they could also lead to our demise if we're not careful. Antibiotic resistance isn't some far-off threat, it's already a part of our guts and our society, and it's not going away.

This week on Orbitals join host Samantha Jones, antimicrobial drug discovery researcher Dr. Peg Riley, and Chemical and Engineering News reporter Kerri Jansen to learn about how scientists are trying to tackle antibiotic resistance, and the power that we hold as consumers.

Written and hosted by Samantha Jones, PhD

Today the Periodic Table is nicely filled out with 118 elements, but don't be fooled--the search is on for element 119. The question is, do we have the tools to discover it? And, if we do, what might it be like? In this episode of Orbitals, we celebrate the International Year of the Periodic Table by chatting about the exciting possibilities with IUPAC executive director Dr. Lynne Soby and researcher Dr. Dawn Shaughnessy, who has five elemental discoveries on her CV.

Written and hosted by Samantha Jones, PhD

We sat down for a conversation with Dr. Frances Arnold, 2018 Nobel laureate in chemistry for the directed evolution of enzymes. We asked how one rises to such eminent heights, and got answers spanning topics from the price of gas during the Carter administration to whether to pursue a career in diplomacy. Don't miss this one--Dr. Arnold is the most fascinating person we've ever met.

Many great minds have contemplated the question of how to get to Mars. In this episode of Orbitals, we learn how to get back home. With guest Jerry Sanders, we talk about how NASA plans to turn resources it finds in space into rocket fuel to power its exploration of the solar system.

In this episode, we try to track down the chemical underpinnings of pine mouth syndrome: a persistent bitter taste some people experience after eating pine nuts. But despite searching everywhere from the species of pine tree to our own genes, the cause remains elusive.

That expiration date on your pill bottle or nasal spray or autoinjector doesn't mean exactly what you think it means. Join Alexa Billow in her quest to discover what those numbers actually tell you.

Music in this episode: Shines Through Trees, Blammo, Blanks, Chimera, Curious, Floating 1045, Lola, SilverSilver, Smack 1069 (all from Podington Bear)