Science in the News

Episode 28: We’re back with a new episode of Sit’N Listen, this time with guests Dr. Carl Bergstrom and Dr. Jevin West to discuss their book "Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World."

Introduction (00:00)

About the authors (00:50)

What is bullshit? (09:01)

Goodhard’s Law (13:39)

Graph reading pitfalls (20:46)

Correlation and causation (24:39)

Assessing scientific claims (34:23)

Combating public misinformation (39:50)

Conclusion (46:25)

For More Information:

Book: https://www.callingbullshit.org/

Course Lectures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2OtU5vlR0k&list=PLPnZfvKID1Sje5jWxt-4CSZD7bUI4gSPS

Carl Bergstrom: http://ctbergstrom.com/

Jevin West: https://jevinwest.org/

Tyler Vigen’s website on unrelated correlated variables: https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations.

Article in The Atlantic about the marshmallow test and confounding variables: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/06/marshmallow-test/561779/

This episode was written and produced by Edward Chen, Sanjana Kulkarni, Shantam Ravan, and Samantha Tracy. Special thanks to Justin Skycak for help with Zoom audio processing.

Feel free to send us any comments, questions, or topic suggestions at [email protected].

Episode 27: We’re back with a new episode of Sit’N Listen, this time with the second part of our two part series on Earth & Space.

This episode was written by: Samantha Tracy, Priya Veeraraghavan, and Edward Chen

A special thanks to the Sit’N Listen production team: Delphine Tripp, Chad Stein, Daniel Richard, Samantha Tracy, Priya Veeraraghavan, and Edward Chen

Feel free to send us any comments, questions, or topic suggestions at [email protected].

In the first episode on our Earth and Space Series, we heard a little bit about how research on Earth’s oceans has had major implications for the search for life in the cosmos. Here, we’ve published an extended interview with a pioneer in this area of exploration: Dr. Christopher German. Dr. German is a Senior Scientist who focuses on geochemistry at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. In this extended interview, you can hear more about Ocean Worlds, the search for life in our solar system, the technology that makes this possible, and how Dr. German was able to bring together the fields of oceanography and astrobiology.

You can learn more about Dr. German and his work at https://www.whoi.edu/profile/cgerman/ and NASA’s Ocean Worlds project at https://oceanworlds.whoi.edu/

This interview was recorded on April 14, 2021.

This episode was produced by Chad Stein.

Episode 26: We’re back with a new episode of Sit’N Listen, this time with the first part of our two part series on Earth & Space.

In this episode we will discuss:

How learning about our own oceans can teach us about life in space

The benefits of space-age technology, a little closer to home.

Space as a final frontier or future landfill

This episode was written by: Daniel Richard, Chad Stein, Delphine Tripp

A special thanks to the Sit’N Listen production team: Delphine Tripp, Chad Stein, Daniel Richard, Samantha Tracy, Priya Veeraraghavan, and Edward Chen

Feel free to send us any comments, questions, or topic suggestions at [email protected].

Show notes:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D1gBfXkg7hZ7vPxkDWLw9PD1RZ1TKb-wRODJSh9jmJ4/edit?usp=sharing

Pint-Sized Science, Season 2 Episode 5

Title:

How Our Bodies Respond to Viruses and What Sets SARS-CoV-2 Apart

Interviewee: Dr. Sara Cherry, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Interviewer: Hope Merens, PhD Student in Molecular Biology, Harvard University

Over the past year, COVID-19 has affected every aspect of our society. The cause of the pandemic, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, is one of many existing RNA viruses. But not every virus causes a pandemic. What makes SARS-CoV-2 so infectious? How does our body react to a SARS-CoV-2 infection, and how does this compare to other infections? And finally, what novel antiviral therapies are scientists working on to protect us from SARS-CoV-2 and future viruses? Join us this week on the Pint-Sized Science podcast as we discuss these questions with Dr. Sara Cherry, a leading professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Pint-Sized Science: Season 2, Episode 4

A Gynecologist and a Clinical Psychologist Walk Into an Interview: A Conversation about Painful Sex, Vulvodynia, and Inclusive Sexual Health

Interviewees: Dr. Caroline Pukall, Professor of Psychology at Queen's University at Kingston, and Dr. Andrew Goldstein, Director of the Centers for Vulvovaginal Disorders

Interviewer: Theodora Mautz, AB '19, Clinical Research Coordinator at the Centers for Vulvovaginal Disorders

**This episode features mature content and viewer discretion is advised.**

Why does sex hurt? In this episode, we interview two experts on chronic vulvar pain and explore the "biopsychosocial" aspects of conditions that fall under the umbrella category of vulvodynia (pain in the vulva). Join us as we talk about pain in the vulva, how these experts make research on sexual health inclusive both in terms of identity and preference, and in terms of global reach.

Note: occasionally, she/her pronouns and "woman/women" are used in this episode to describe people who have vulvodynia. However, we would like to emphasize that anyone with a vulva can suffer from vulvodynia, and both Dr. Pukall and Dr. Goldstein treat and seek to help people of all gender identities.

For more information on vulvodynia conditions and the research that Dr. Pukall and Dr. Goldstein conduct, please visit http://vulvodynia.com/conditions and https://www.sexlab.ca/

Pint-Sized Science: Season 2, Episode 3.

When it comes to the neutrino, scientists must go big or go home.

Interviewee: Lindley Winslow, Associate Professor of Physics, MIT.

Interviewer: Melis Tekant, PhD student in Physics, MIT.

To uncover the nature of the elusive building blocks of the universe, scientists must observe some of the rarest events. How does one accomplish this? With an international team of researchers, in a years long project, using a giant, underground, super-cooled crystal. Professor Lindley Winslow explains the science, the considerations that go into planning and carrying out such large scientific projects, and how she got interested in the field. She also talks about how she got the opportunity to act as a science advisor for the newest Ghostbusters movie!

For more information on Prof. Winslow's lab, please visit http://winslow.mit.edu/

Episode 25. This week, we talk with Suuba Demby, a junior at Harvard University majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology with a secondary in energy and environment. She joined Professor Doug Kwon's lab during the Fall 2020 semester. In this interview, Suuba discusses her experiences as an undergraduate student starting research during the pandemic. She also shares her thoughts on what has gone well, what hasn't, and what has had to change. (Recorded on November 20, 2020)

Produced by: Edward Chen

Featuring: Edward Chen, Suuba Demby

Episode 24: This week, we hear from Benjamin Martin, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Medical School working to understand how and why genes turn on and off. He shares how, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he helped to build an online scientific community that now has members all around the globe. He also discusses the process of converting a one-bedroom apartment into a virtual studio for his partner’s pilates business and teaching their dog to play hockey.

You can find Ben on Twitter @bmart87 and the Fragile Nucleosome community here: https://generegulation.org/fragile-nucleosome/

Episode 23: In this episode of Scientists at Home, we speak with Chelsea Powell, a post-doctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School. She discusses her experience of transitioning into a new job right before the shutdown, and shares important tips for incoming graduate students.

Recording date: 5 November 2020

Featuring: Wei Li, Chelsea Powell

Produced by: Wei Li, Chelsea Powell, A. Delphine Tripp