Science Talk

By Scientific AmericanScience

Science Talk episodes

February 13, 2008 Fat Chance: Do Dietary Guidelines Actually Contribute to Obesity?
In this episode Albert Einstein College of Medicine public health researcher Paul Marantz questions whether dietary guidelines are counterproductive, and talks about the philosophy of recommendations based on population studies. We'll hear a Valentine's Day poem. Plus, we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Web sites mentioned on this episode include sciammind.com, sciamdigital.com, snipurl.com/sing-sciam, snipurl.com/paul-sciam, snipurl.com/paul2-sciam, snipurl.com/paul3-sciam.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
29 min
February 06, 2008 You Say Potato, I Say Cassava: Language, Culture and Perception
In this episode, University of California, Berkeley, linguist Alice Gaby talks about the relationships among language, culture, cognition and perception. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include geekcruises.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
25 min
January 30, 2008 Knock, Knock, Hal's There: Teaching Computers Humor; and the 50th Anniversary of America's First Satellite
In this episode, University of Cincinnati researchers Lawrence Mazlack and Julia Taylor discuss their efforts to improve human-computer communications by teaching computers about contextual humor. And Carl Raggio, formerly of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, talks about the efforts to launch Explorer 1, the first US satellite, which went into orbit on January 31st, 1958, exactly 50 years ago this week. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
27 min
January 23, 2008 What's The Matter?: Cold Dark Matter and the Milky Way's Missing Satellites
In this episode, Scientific American editor George Musser talks with Caltech Astronomer Josh Simon about dark matter, and about the efforts to try to locate the so-called missing satellites of the Milky Way--small galaxies that have yet to be found in the numbers that the cold dark matter theory predicts. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include: tinyurl.com/27g9op; www.astro.caltech.edu/~jsimon

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
29 min
January 16, 2008 Mindful Motion: Miguel Nicolelis and Mind-Powered Robots; and Creating Science Cities in Brazil and Beyond
In this episode, Scientific American editor Christine Soares talks with Duke University neuroengineer Miguel Nicolelis about his groundbreaking work in controlling robot movement using only thoughts, as well as efforts to create science cities in Brazil and national development through education, especially in science and technology. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include: www.weforum.org

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
24 min
January 09, 2008 Whose Phone Is It, Anyway: Did Bell Steal The Invention?
In this episode, journalist and author Seth Shulman talks about his new book, The Telephone Gambit, in which he produces compelling evidence that Alexander Graham Bell plagiarized a key element of the telephone. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include: sethshulman.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
25 min
January 02, 2008 Pay Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain: Sci Am's History of Debunking
In this episode, Scientific American editor-in-chief John Rennie talks about the magazine's history of involvement with efforts to debunk medical quakery and paranormal fakery, which included a fistfight between a Sci Am editor and Harry Houdini. And we'll hear an 1883 Sci Am editorial on the relative merits of the telephone and telegraph. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include: gutenberg.org; ssrn.com/abstract=970413

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
25 min
December 26, 2007 What's In A Latin Name: The Legacy of Linnaeus
In this episode, Harvard naturalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author EO Wilson talks about Linnaeus and the continuing effort to classify life on earth. From a talk given at the New York Botanical Garden on November 8th. Websites mentioned on this episode include: www.nybg.org; tinyurl.com/2botqy; eol.org

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
28 min
December 19, 2007 Here Comes the Sun--A Grand Plan for Solar Energy; and Sci Am's New Body
In this episode, Scientific American editor Mark Fischetti talks about an audacious new plan, featured in the January issue of Scientific American, for turning the US into a solar-powered country. And editor-in-chief John Rennie talks about a new Sci Am health publication, Scientific American Body. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this podcast include: www.sciam.com/sciambody; tinyurl.com/2vygvs; tinyurl.com/39spft; bccp.lbl.gov

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
27 min
December 12, 2007 Are There (Microbial) Aliens On Earth?
In this episode, theoretical physicist, cosmologist and astrobiologist Paul Davies ponders the question of whether life originated more than once on earth, and how to find examples of a second origin if it did. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this podcast include: www.sciam.com/sciammag or tinyurl.com/3b8voo; www.beyond.asu.edu; www.sciam.com/sciambody; www.mayoclinic.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
28 min

About Science Talk

From the publisher's feed

Science Talk is a podcast of longer-form audio experiments from Scientific American--from immersive sonic journeys into nature to deep dives into research with leading experts.