Parsing Science: The unpublished stories behind the world’s most compelling science, as told by the researchers themselves.

How do our brains respond when people behave in unpredictable ways? In episode 80, Jordan Theriault from Northeastern University discusses his research into a set of brain regions which, when activated by a variety of social tasks, can provide insights into how we judge the moral objectivity or subjectivity of others' unexpected claims.

What's that on your breath? In episode 79 of Parsing Science we talk with Neil Garg from UCLA about his research into the fundamental chemistry necessary for the creation of a small, electronic test of marijuana that works by way of a simple electrochemical oxidation process similar to that used in an alcohol breath test. His open access article “Electrochemical Oxidation of Δ9 [delta 9] ‐Tetrahydrocannabinol: A Simple Strategy for Marijuana Detection,” which he published with Evan Darzi on April 24, 2020 in the American Chemical Society journal Open Letters. 

A Marijuana Breathalyzer - Neil GargA Marijuana Breathalyzer - Neil GargA Marijuana Breathalyzer - Neil Garg A Marijuana Breathalyzer - Neil GargA Marijuana Breathalyzer - Neil GargA Marijuana Breathalyzer - Neil Garg {{svg_share_icon}}Click bottom of waveform to add your commentsSubscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | RSS jQuery(document).ready(function ($){var settings_ap7650 = { design_skin: "skin-wave" ,autoplay: "off",disable_volume:"default" ,loop:"off" ,cue: "on" ,embedded: "off" ,preload_method:"metadata" ,design_animateplaypause:"default" ,skinwave_dynamicwaves:"off" ,skinwave_enableSpectrum:"off" ,skinwave_enableReflect:"on",playfrom:"off",default_volume:"default",disable_scrub:"off",soundcloud_apikey:"" ,skinwave_comments_enable:"on",settings_php_handler:window.ajaxurl,skinwave_mode:"alternate",skinwave_wave_mode:"canvas",pcm_data_try_to_generate: "on","pcm_notice": "off","notice_no_media": "on",design_color_bg: "111111",design_color_highlight: "FF4C65",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_number: "3",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_padding: "1",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_reflection_size: "0.25",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_mode:"normal",preview_on_hover:"off",skinwave_comments_playerid:"7650",embed_code:""

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Websites and other resources

Twitter account for Neil's research group

Patent application

Neil's TEDxUCLA talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs95YQLpSj0

 

Select media and press

 

EurekAlert | Science Daily | Technology Networks | Lab Manager

 

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Hosts / Producers

Doug Leigh & Ryan Watkins

How to Cite

Leigh, D., Watkins, R., & Garg, N.. (2020). Parsing Science - A Marijuana Breathalyzer. doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.12693167

 

Music

What’s The Angle? by Shane Ivers

Transcript

Coming soon!

What if mosquitos weren't just annoying bugs, but instead were bio-inspiring features? In episode 78, we talk with Richard Bomphrey from the University of London’s Royal Veterinary College about how mosquitoes can detect surfaces using the airflow caused by the movement of their own wings … and the autonomous drones he developed to mimic them.

What impact did Black politicians have during the Reconstruction? In episode 77, Trevon Logan from The Ohio State University's Department of Economics discusses his research into the election of Black politicians after the Civil War ended in 1865, which led to increased tax revenues that were put toward public schools and land ownership reform. White Southerners, however, reversed that progress just 12 years later, augmenting the systematic disenfranchisement of African Americans that remains today. His open-access article "Do Black politicians matter? Evidence from Reconstruction,” was published in March of 2020 in The Journal of Economic History.

A Taxing History of Racism - Trevon LoganA Taxing History of Racism - Trevon LoganA Taxing History of Racism - Trevon Logan A Taxing History of Racism - Trevon LoganA Taxing History of Racism - Trevon LoganA Taxing History of Racism - Trevon Logan {{svg_share_icon}}Click bottom of waveform to add your commentsSubscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | RSS jQuery(document).ready(function ($){var settings_ap7597 = { design_skin: "skin-wave" ,autoplay: "off",disable_volume:"default" ,loop:"off" ,cue: "on" ,embedded: "off" ,preload_method:"metadata" ,design_animateplaypause:"default" ,skinwave_dynamicwaves:"off" ,skinwave_enableSpectrum:"off" ,skinwave_enableReflect:"on",playfrom:"off",default_volume:"default",disable_scrub:"off",soundcloud_apikey:"" ,skinwave_comments_enable:"on",settings_php_handler:window.ajaxurl,skinwave_mode:"alternate",skinwave_wave_mode:"canvas",pcm_data_try_to_generate: "on","pcm_notice": "off","notice_no_media": "on",design_color_bg: "111111",design_color_highlight: "FF4C65",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_number: "3",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_padding: "1",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_reflection_size: "0.25",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_mode:"normal",preview_on_hover:"off",skinwave_comments_playerid:"7597",embed_code:""

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Websites and other resources

Trevon's website and Twitter

Thread on Reddit's r/science forum regarding this research

Interview with Trevon on Question Lane podcast about this study

Article in OSU's student paper The Lantern on Trevon's NBER paper

Columbia University & Slavery project's "William Archibald Dunning: Father of historiographic racism Columbia’s legacy of academic Jim Crow"

Trevon's TEDxColumbus discussion on residential segregation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InPU6sg0cqo

 

 

 

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Bonus Clips

Clips available include ...

Full episode with available download

Prior work on segregation & lynchings

Dataset on Black politicians

W.E.B. Du Bois & Booker T. Washington

Focus on local taxes

US land distribution policies

Black Reconstruction politicians

Foner's Directory of Black Officeholders

The craft of historians

Doing economic history

Why % enslaved is not instrumental

Why do some of us choose to remain ignorant of information that - though perhaps unpleasant - could help us make better informed decisions in the future? In episode 76, Emily Ho from Northwestern University’s Department of Medical Social Sciences discusses her research into why we keep our heads in the sand about important information for a variety of psychological and economic reasons. Her article "Measuring information preferences,” was published on March 13, 2020 with David Hagmann and George Loewenstein in the journal Management Science.

When Ignorance is Bliss - Emily HoWhen Ignorance is Bliss - Emily HoWhen Ignorance is Bliss - Emily Ho When Ignorance is Bliss - Emily HoWhen Ignorance is Bliss - Emily HoWhen Ignorance is Bliss - Emily Ho {{svg_share_icon}}Click bottom of waveform to add your commentsSubscribe: iTunes | Google Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | RSS jQuery(document).ready(function ($){var settings_ap7505 = { design_skin: "skin-wave" ,autoplay: "off",disable_volume:"default" ,loop:"off" ,cue: "on" ,embedded: "off" ,preload_method:"metadata" ,design_animateplaypause:"default" ,skinwave_dynamicwaves:"off" ,skinwave_enableSpectrum:"off" ,skinwave_enableReflect:"on",playfrom:"off",default_volume:"default",disable_scrub:"off",soundcloud_apikey:"" ,skinwave_comments_enable:"on",settings_php_handler:window.ajaxurl,skinwave_mode:"alternate",skinwave_wave_mode:"canvas",pcm_data_try_to_generate: "on","pcm_notice": "off","notice_no_media": "on",design_color_bg: "111111",design_color_highlight: "FF4C65",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_number: "3",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_padding: "1",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_reflection_size: "0.25",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_mode:"normal",preview_on_hover:"off",skinwave_comments_playerid:"7505",embed_code:""

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Websites and other resources

Emily's website and Twitter feed

Take Emily's Information Preferences Scale yourself! 

Select media and press

 

Carnegie Mellon University | British Psychological Society | Futurity | Eurekalert | phys.org | Technology Networks | The Doctor Will See You Now

 

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Bonus Clips

Clips available to patrons include ...

Full episode with available download

In episode 75, Daniel Field from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge discusses his research into a 66.7-million-year-old bird fossil which mashes up features from chickens, turkeys, and ducks, providing the best evidence so far for understanding when groups of modern birds first evolved and began to diverge.

Very few animals can combine information to adjust their predictions in a flexible way by using domain-general intelligence as humans do. In episode 74, Amalia Bastos from the University of Auckland discusses her research demonstrating that kea parrots can make predictions based in probabilities, and adjust those predictions based on physical and social information.

Are drivers of more expensive cars really the jerks we make them out to be? In Episode 73, Courtney Coughenour and Jennifer Pharr from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas discuss their research into what differentiates drivers who are likely to yield for pedestrians in crosswalks from those who don't.

Are wild tigers now extinct in Laos? In episode 72, Akchousanh "Akchou" Rasphone from Oxford's  Wildlife Conservation Research Unit discusses her research which concludes that improvised snares appear to have decimated the country's wild tiger population, a species whose worldwide population is now estimated to be around 200.

Why is it that we treat various species of animals so differently? In episode 71, Verónica Sevillano with the Autonomous University of Madrid's Department of Social Psychology and Methodology discusses her research applying social psychology and conservation biology to understand the relationships people have with animals.