Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-does-the-way-we-think-affect-our-choices-about-vaccines/  or watch at: https://youtu.be/UNkZcX-tYTM

Summary: Researchers want to explore whether the way people think is connected to vaccine hesitancy.

Abstract: Vaccines save millions of lives each year. Yet there are more and more people who are unsure about getting them. Why is that? So far, studies have looked at issues related directly to vaccines. But we think it might be something else. Could it have to do with how people's minds work? To find out, we asked 356 people different questions about what and how they think, and what they believe. 

What did we discover? People who like to trust their feelings and believe in supernatural things are more likely to be against vaccines. But those who think carefully and have some scientific knowledge generally trust vaccines. It seems the way our minds work can affect what we think about vaccines. This is important to remember when we talk about the importance of vaccines.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com

Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/why-are-women-hunters-important/  or watch at: https://youtu.be/bXcOQ94P63Q

Summary: Researchers investigated the role of women hunting in foraging societies.

Abstract: Have you heard that women should make dinner for their family? Or that only men should work outside the home? Unfortunately, many people believe in these ideas about gender roles. It makes it hard to look at new situations without bias.

For a long time, scientists have thought that in foraging societies, men are hunters and women are gatherers. We questioned these ideas. We investigated how often women take part in hunting, what they hunt, and how they hunt. We found that women do hunt intentionally in a lot of foraging societies. They sometimes hunt with different tools than men. We also found women are more flexible in whom they hunt with. They often take dogs and children with them. We can use this information to rethink our historical biases about the role of women in hunting.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com

Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-can-humans-and-ai-work-together-to-detect-deepfakes/  or watch at: https://youtu.be/jcYwojytZbk

Summary: Researchers wanted to test whether humans or AI programs were better at detecting deepfake videos.

Abstract: Fake news is not new on the internet, and people often change images and videos for a joke. However, deepfakes aren’t only meant to make you laugh. Instead, they can spread misinformation or discredit a person or a group. As more deepfakes find their way onto the internet, we need to find the best way to detect these harmful videos. We tested whether the leading AI model or humans were better at detecting deepfakes online. We found that humans and the AI model were each good at identifying certain types of deepfakes. Maybe we could merge the abilities of both AI and humans to create the best deepfake detection model!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com

Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-does-dark-energy-affect-galaxies/ or watch at: https://youtu.be/OpMe1Gyqey4

Summary: Researchers found a way to quantify the effect dark energy is having on our universe.

Abstract: Scientists have known for a while that the universe is expanding, and it’s doing so faster and faster. This strange phenomenon is caused by something we call dark energy. To understand this better, we need to think about a special number called the Cosmological Constant. It helps us describe how things move in space. 

In our research, we aimed to uncover how dark energy causes objects like stars and galaxies to interact. As an example, we’ve been studying our neighbor galaxy – Andromeda. By looking at how it moves and at its mass, we can see how dark energy affects it.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com

Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/what-are-the-benefits-of-growing-multiple-crop-species-together/ or watch at: https://youtu.be/dGIoWE18w8U

Summary: Researchers tried to determine if intercropping is a good technique for growing food by comparing it to sole cropping.

Abstract: Did you know there are different ways to grow food? One way is sole cropping, which occurs when a field only has one species of crop. Another method is intercropping, which is when many species are grown together in the same field. We wanted to compare sole cropping and intercropping. We found that intercropping produces less of each type of crop on a field than sole cropping. But intercropping produces more diverse food choices. It also can save land space and reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed to grow food. That is why intercropping is an important agricultural technique to consider for the future.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com

Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-does-your-address-affect-your-chances-of-being-evicted/  or watch at: https://youtu.be/Y3GuYt-hcV0

Summary: Researchers found that renters with longer travel times to court are more likely to receive judgments in favor of their landlord, often leading to eviction.

Abstract: he idea of losing your home is scary. If a renter struggles to pay their landlord, the landlord may start the legal process of eviction. The renter has the opportunity to present their case in court, but they typically must show up in person and on time. And if they don’t? In some places, the landlord will receive a default judgment. This allows them to move forward with the eviction. 

We wondered about renters traveling to the courthouse using public transportation. Does their travel time affect their probability of receiving a default judgment? We studied 200,000 eviction cases across fifteen years in Philadelphia, PA. We found that renters with longer travel times to the courthouse are more likely to receive a default judgment in favor of their landlord. But this effect was not present during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because renters could attend their court hearing virtually, via video call. Our findings show that the location and accessibility of a courthouse can affect the outcomes of individual cases.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com

Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-can-nanoparticles-help-coral-reefs/ or watch at: https://youtu.be/sVOTF1mBi-0

Summary: Scientists made tiny nanoparticles to help prevent bleaching and keep coral reefs healthy.

Abstract: Did you know that coral reefs are like incredible underwater cities built by corals? They protect coastlines and provide homes for many marine species, including tiny algae that live inside the coral. These algae have a special deal with the coral – they share nutrients and give the coral its colorful beauty. But there's trouble! Rising ocean temperatures from climate change stress the corals. This makes coral lose their colorful algae partners in a process called coral bleaching. It's bad news for both the corals and the reefs.

We made a drug for the algae to help fight the harmful effects of stress. The algae are small, so we made ceria nanoparticles that the algae can easily absorb. This protected the algae from harm, even when seawater temperatures were warm!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com

Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-can-super-recognizers-help-police-investigations/  or watch at: https://youtu.be/W_aMwbbMWpQ

Summary: Researchers used real police materials to test the abilities of super-recognizers to identify criminals.

Abstract: Did you know that some people are really good at remembering and matching faces? They are called super-recognizers. Police want to use super-recognizers to help with their cases. They could sort through camera recordings of crimes and identify criminals. But their abilities have never been tested using real police material.

First we used tests to identify super-recognizers. Then we used real police material to see if super-recognizers could identify criminals. We found that the tests could indeed identify super-recognizers. Super-recognizers did a good job at finding criminals. Much better than regular people! We can use this information to help solve crimes and keep people safe.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com

Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-do-some-fungi-turn-insects-into-zombies/ or watch at: https://youtu.be/lL24Va5Py1o

Summary: Scientists wanted to explore the mechanisms behind host behavior manipulation by zombie-making fungi.

Abstract: Did you know that certain fungi can turn insects into zombies, just like in the movies? These "zombie-making" fungi control the insects’ behavior and make their hosts do strange things like walking a long way, climbing tall plants, and hanging onto high surfaces. This is so the fungi can make their infectious spores spread further. There are many types of zombie-making fungi, and most have evolved independently. Yet they change the insects’ behavior in a similar way. How do they do this and why is it so common? 

We reviewed previous studies on zombie-making fungi to search for an answer. These fungi use both mechanical and chemical processes to control their hosts. And while the changed behavior is very similar, the ways they achieve it vary greatly among the different species of zombie-making fungi. Each one has its own unique way of manipulating insects to change the same behaviors! We believe these same behaviors are changed by all these different fungal species because these manipulations are the best way to infect as many other hosts as possible.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com

Read this article at: https://www.sciencejournalforkids.org/articles/how-well-can-a-computer-think/ or watch at: https://youtu.be/Y96gVN_1vX0

Summary: Researchers treated a computer program called GPT-3 like a participant in a psychology experiment to learn about how it “thinks”.

Abstract: What do chatbots, voice assistants, and predictive text have in common? They all use computer programs called language models. Large language models are new kinds of models that can only be built using supercomputers. They work so well that it can be hard to tell if something was written by a person or by a computer! 

We wanted to understand how a large language model called GPT-3 worked. But we wanted to know more than whether GPT-3 could answer questions correctly. We wanted to know how and why. We treated GPT-3 like a participant in a psychology experiment. Our results showed that GPT-3 gets a lot of questions right. But we also learned that GPT-3 gets confused very easily. And it doesn’t search for new information as well as people do. Knowing how and why large language models come up with wrong answers helps us figure out how to make even better versions in the future.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sciencejournalforkids.substack.com