Science Vs

Science Vs is back March 19th. Fact you next week.

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The new coronavirus continues to spread around the world, and it’s already killed several people in the U.S. People are starting to worry that this will turn into a full-blown pandemic. So how many of us could ultimately get infected — and is it time to prepare for the worst? To find out, we talk to epidemiologists Dr. Cécile Viboud and Prof. Marc Lipsitch.

Here’s a link to our transcript: https://bit.ly/2IjUqW0 and our Hand Washing Song: https://player.gimletmedia.com/7osxva

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This episode was produced by Michelle Dang, Wendy Zukerman, Meryl Horn, and Rose Rimler. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell, with editing help from Caitlin Kenney. Fact checking help from Michelle Harris. Mix and sound design by Peter Leonard. Music written by Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, and Bobby Lord. Translation by Lisa Wang. A big thanks to all the researchers we got in touch with for this episode, including Dr. Catharine Paules, Dr. Miriam Haviland, Professor Matthew R. McKay, Dr. Jason McLellan, Daniel Wrapp, Professor William Arthur Petri, Professor Li Min, Professor Xiaokun Li, and Professor Raina MacIntyre. And special thanks to the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson.

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A new virus showed up in China late last year, and it’s making its way to other countries too. So what do scientists know about the virus so far? And how worried should we be? To find out we talk to infectious disease researchers Dr. Kristian Andersen and Dr. Catharine Paules, physician Dr. Hui, and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci.

We did an episode on a *fictional* pandemic, which you can find here: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-vs/49hok3/pandemic 

Check out the full transcript here: https://bit.ly/2S7JwXN

Selected references:

This episode was produced by Wendy Zukerman, Meryl Horn, Rose Rimler and Michelle Dang. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell and Caitlin Kenney. Fact checking by Lexi Krupp. Mix and sound design by Sam Bair. Music written by Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, and Bobby Lord. A big thanks to Dr. Paul Delamater, Dr. Vittoria Colizza, and Shan Li. Recording assistance from Margot Wohl and Randy Scott Carroll. Translation by Yuan Xue, John Deng, and Chiung H Chuang. And special thanks to Bobby Lord, the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson.

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This week — asteroids. Could a space rock really slam into us and destroy the world? And if we did spot one heading straight for us, is there anything we could do to stop it? We speak with asteroid researcher Dr. Alan Harris, astrophysicist Dr. Sergey Zamozdra, computational physicist Dr. Cathy Plesko, and physicist Dr. Andy Cheng. 

Check out the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2MrW1vp 

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Credits:

This episode was produced by Wendy Zukerman along with Lexi Krupp with help from Michelle Dang, Meryl Horn and Rose Rimler. We’re edited by Caitlin Kenney. Fact checking by Michelle Harris. Mix and sound design by Peter Leonard. Music written by Peter Leonard, Bobby Lord and Emma Munger. Recording assistance from Verónica Zaragovia, Sofi LaLonde, Lawrence Lanahan, and Kevin Caners. Translation help from Andrew Urodov and Dmitriy Tuchin. Thanks to all the scientists we spoke to: Dr. Carrie Nugent, Dr. Mark Boslough, Dr. David Kring, Dr. Daniel Durda, Dr. Kelly Fast and the other Dr. Alan Harris. A big thanks to Carl Smith at The Australian Broadcasting Corporation for suggesting this topic - Carl did a podcast series on a bunch of the Apocalypse scenarios! You can find it at the podcast Science Friction and search for the Apocalypse series. And thanks to the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. 

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American healthcare has big problems. Some say the solution is Medicare For All: one government plan for everybody. But others say government healthcare would be worse than what we already have. Who’s right? And how did things get this bad? We talk to health policy researchers Prof. Harold Pollack and Robin Osborn. 

Check out the full transcript here: https://bit.ly/38ye0cY 

Selected references: 

Credits:

This episode was produced by Rose Rimler with help from Lexi Krupp along with Wendy Zukerman, Michelle Dang, and Meryl Horn. We’re edited by Caitlin Kenney. Fact checking by Michelle Harris. Mix and sound design by Peter Leonard. Music written by Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, Bobby Lord, and Marcus Bagala. Recording assistance from Sofi LaLonde, David DesRoches, Dennis Maler, and James Delahoussaye. A huge thanks to all of the people with diabetes we spoke with-- thanks so much! Also big thanks to Dr. Irene Papanicolas, Prof. Steven Woolf, Dr. Kasia Lipska, Elizabeth Pfiester, Professor Kevin Schulman, Dr. Eric Schneider, Dr. Chris Pope, Cynthia Cox, Lois Rogers, and everyone else we spoke to for this episode. And special thanks to the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson.

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On today’s show, three f-ant-astic stories of survival, friendship and courage about some of the most underrated creatures in the animal queendom. Produced with our friends at Every Little Thing, another Gimlet podcast. We spoke with behavioral ecologist Dr. István Maák, biologist Dr. Erik Frank, entomologist Dr. Christina Kwapich, and biologist Prof Derrick Brazill. 

Check out the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/38cDgoU 

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Credits:

Science Vs is produced by Wendy Zukerman along with Meryl Horn, Rose Rimler, Michelle Dang, and Lexi Krupp. Every Little Thing’s piece was produced by Gabby Bulgarelli, Emily Forman, Phoebe Flanigan, Annette Heist and Flora Lichtman. This episode was edited by Caitlin Kenney and Jorge Just. Fact checking by Diane Kelly and Nicole Pasulka. Mix and sound design by Peter Leonard and Dara Hirsch. Music written by Dara Hirsch, Dan Brunelle, Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, Bobby Lord and erm, Wendy. A big thanks to Dr. Nathalie Stroeymeyt, Dr. Gema Trigos-Peral, Dr. Jack Neff, and recording help from Wojciech Oleksiak And special thanks to the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson.

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It’s been five years since the high profile shootings of several unarmed black teenagers and men launched the Black Lives Matter movement. Since then, police departments have been doing all kinds of things to respond to the deaths and protests. But do any of them work? To find out we speak with social psychologist Prof. Jennifer Eberhardt, psychologist Prof. Phillip Atiba Goff, public policy expert Dr. David Yokum, criminologists Dr. Lois James, and Dr. Stephen James. 

Check out the full transcript transcript here: http://bit.ly/2D23jAR 

Selected references: 

Credits:

This episode was produced by Meryl Horn with help from Wendy Zukerman, along with Rose Rimler, Michelle Dang, Lexi Krupp, and Kaitlyn Sawrey. We’re edited by Caitlin Kenney and Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Mix and sound design by Peter Leonard with help from Cedric Wilson. Music written by Peter Leonard, Benny Reid, Emma Munger, and Bobby Lord. A big thanks to Professor Lawrence Sherman, Dr. Joe Cesario, Dr. Sam Walker, Chuck Wexler, Dr. Peter Moskos, Dennis Flores, Hawk Newsome, Professor William Terrill, Dr. Arne Nieuwenhuys, Professor Franklin Zimring, Dr. Joan Vickers, and Dr. Justin Nix. Thanks to all police officers we spoke to- we really appreciate your help. And special thanks to Amber Davis, Chuma Ossé, Daniel Domke, Christina Djossa, the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson.

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A group of teenagers and college kids were fed up with the lousy healthcare in their neighborhood. So they decided to fight the system head on—a fight that still resonates today. Sid Davidoff, Mickey Melendez, and Cleo Silvers share their story. 

Check out the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/33QhYKX

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Not sleeping enough turning you into a monster? Cutting-edge science helps us understand why. And we sort through the fads to find out, what really works to get more ZZZs. We speak with lab coordinator Pam De Young, sleep researcher Dr. Brady Riedner, and circadian scientist Prof. Russell Foster. 

Check out the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2Ns26Zt 

Selected references: 

Credits:

This episode was produced by Rose Rimler and Lexi Krupp with help from Wendy Zukerman, along with Michelle Dang, Meryl Horn and Kaitlyn Sawrey. We’re edited by Caitlin Kenney. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Mix and sound design by Peter Leonard. Music written by Peter Leonard, Emma Munger, Bobby Lord, and Bach. Recording assistance from Dave Drexler, Tim Peterson, Zoe Sullivan, and Martin Wiggins. Sonification of EEG data came from Dr. Gerold Baier and Dr. Thomas Hermann. A big thanks to Dr. Amandine Valomon, Prof. James Krueger, Dr. Ari Shechter, Dr. Jade Wu, Dr. Bei Bei, Dr. Connor Sheehan, Dr. Jennifer Ailshire, Dr. Agostinho Rosa, and everyone else we spoke to for this episode, especially our frustrated sleepers. Thanks for calling in! And special thanks to Chuma Ossé, the Zukerman family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson.

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How should we feel about 5G? Is it a breakthrough technology that will revolutionize our world, or in a bid to get new gadgets, are we risking our health? To find out, we spoke with electrical engineer Prof. Jeff Andrews, biologist Prof. Henrik Mouritsen, radiology safety expert Prof. Chris Collins, and psychologist Prof. Rodney Croft. 

Check out the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2qd2MIR 

Selected references: 

Credits: This episode was produced by Meryl Horn with help from Wendy Zukerman, Lexi Krupp, Michelle Dang and Rose Rimler. We’re edited by Caitlin Kenney. Fact checking by Michelle Harris, Lexi Krupp, and Michelle Dang. Mix and sound design by Peter Leonard and Bobby Lord. Music written by Peter Leonard, Bobby Lord and Emma Munger. Recording assistance from Olivia Aldridge, Beth McMullen, and Mirjam Steger. A huge thanks to all the people we spoke to for this episode including: Dr. Sarah Loughran, Dr. Stefano Cucurachi, Professor Muriel Médard, Dr. Harish Krishnaswamy, Dr. Christopher Labos, Dr. Jordan Gerth, Dr. Arno Thielens, Prof. David Carpenter, Dr. Jerrold Bushberg, Dr. Patrick Mineault, Norman Carreck and ARPANSA. Extra thanks to Kaitlyn Sawrey, Shahzad Ahsan, Rachel Ward, the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson. 

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