SparkDialog

SparkDialog Podcasts is currently on break until February 6th with Season 3.  In the meantime, enjoy this best of episode about morality in robots.

Do we deserve a second chance on a new planet? How can we explore the stars, but maintain the integrity of space? Space ethics is a new field that many are beginning to consider. Today on the podcast, I am joined with Dr. Tony Milligan, author of Nobody Owns the Moon - the Ethics of Space Exploitation, to discuss everything from space mining to colonization.

Not too long ago, Edie Steinhoff had a really bad day. In a household accident, she lost all of the fingers on her hand. But her university community rallied around her to engineer her a new hand. The team, led by Dr. David Grow of New Mexico Tech, work with Edie to design a prosthetic that works for her. It's not often that you can see how your research immediately benefits those around you!

This is the story of the day Zombees were discovered in San Francisco. No, not the type that eat brains. We're talking about zombees - honeybees that have their bodies hijacked by parasites and are eaten from within. This is a very real threat to honeybees today in North America, and could affect our entire agricultural system. We talk to Dr. John Havernik about zombees and the citizen science project Zombee Watch.

What does the future of food hold in store for us? Are our current eating practices sustainable, or will a growing population paired with transportation issues force us to rethink how we eat? Today we talk to Max Elder from the Food Futures Lab about the future of food - everything from the evolution of our protein sources to GMOs to lab-grown meat.

AI and machine learning have become an increasingly prevalent part of our society. Companies use them to take snippets of information about you and to learn about your life, and even to make inferences about what you might do and what you believe. Today we talk to Dr. Rumman Chowdhury about the humanitarian and privacy concerns that result from the use of AI.

What was it like for women in the sciences at the beginning of the 20th century? Today we discuss one woman in particular – Ruby Payne-Scott. Ruby was a brilliant radio astrophysicist who also fought for equal rights for women in the workforce, and her career was shaped by WWII, her marriage, and when she had children. Today we are joined by Dr. Miller Goss, a radio astronomer, who wrote a book about Ruby’s life. We discuss what it was like for women 1oo years ago, and how far we have come.

What is it like to see a total solar eclipse? It’s hard to describe, but I hope that this podcast, with the cheers of pure joy from the people who saw it, might give you a little taste. We also talk about what science was done during the eclipse, from watching the oceans to watching the climate.

Science is all around us, but sometimes, it is easy to be intimidated by the formulas, math, and terminology.  That’s why today’s guest, Dr. Meenakshi Prabhune (or Minu for short), goes about teaching science using things we see in everyday life and things we can relate to – namely, animals.  Growing up in India, she had experiences hiding from geckos that frequently snuck into her house.  Later, this made her wonder – how do geckos climb walls?  She also saw snakes which made her question – why don’t snakes have legs?  By looking at animals, she tackles subjects such as biophysics and genetics in a way that everyone can relate to.

Minu also brings her passion for teaching science into her travels as well.  She points out that whenever we travel, there are many ways to learn more about science from the world around us.

Minu is a science communicator, and today, I interview her about the methods she uses in teaching science in her own science articles, found at Backpack Full of Questions.  This interview is part of a joint effort.  Minu also interviews me about my work on this podcast series.  Both of these interviews are appearing in a section called “Across the Bench” within Signal to Noise Magazine.  So after you listen to the podcast, head over to read her interview of me as well.

Autism has not always been well understood in the medical community. In fact, sometimes it was so poorly understood that people with autism suffered from misdiagnosis. Yet, these brave people fought their way in a world that constantly demanded they be normal. In today's podcast I talk to Anlor Davin, author of Being Seen, about her journey with autism, autism therapy, and about finding a balance of her own life through Zen meditation.