The Knowledge Archives

The Knowledge Archives

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The Knowledge Archives episodes

  • #69 Animal Imagination: a Stepping Stone to Ethics - David Peña-Guzmán | San Fransisco State University

    Dr. David Peña-Guzmán is an Associate Professor of Humanities at San Fransisco State University in the US. He researches the hidden world of intellect in animals, especially exploring the ethical implications this brings. Today, he explains the latest discoveries in this field and their philosophical implications.

    To learn more about his work, see his book (https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691220093/when-animals-dream) or other podcasts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG3K5FX9v8c).
    Timeline
    0:00 Introduction
    3:44 Background Info
    6:21 Animal Imagination
    15:13 Research Limitations
    20:33 Animal Rights
    27:58 Future Research Areas

    36 min
  • #68 Cyberbiosecurity: Novel Risks in a Connected World - Feras Batarseh | Virginia Tech

    Dr. Feras Batarseh is an Associate Professor of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. He researches the safety of AI applications, especially in fields like agricultural and drinking water production. Today, he explains the need to consider formerly different types of risks together.  

    To learn more about Dr. Batarseh's work, visit: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oQiAulIAAAAJ&hl=en  

    P.S. Some fancy words Dr. Batareh used:

    - Ag and water societies: the decision-makers involved with the agricultural and water treatment sectors.
    - Cybersecurity: assuring that digital resources (from intangible data to tangible hardware) are able to serve their intended purpose with minimal losses
    - National security: assuring the wellbeing of the citizens' of a nation in the face of threats, including military, financial, and healthcare disruptions.
    - Cyber-physical security: preventing unauthorised entry or exit from secured physical facilities, including by protecting the digital equipment and data needed to assure this.
    - Adversary: a criminal trying to launch cyberattacks.
    - State vs. non-state adversaries: individual(s) sponsored by governments to launch cyberattacks vs. individual(s) doing so without government aid.
    - Phishing attacks: pretending to represent a legitimate cause to get confidential data from individual(s). Ex: Getting passwords by pretending to be technical support for a company.
    - Metaverse: a digitally simulated environment (like in Virtual reality) that lets users mimic the real world by having very diverse/extensive experiences available.  

    18 min
  • #67 - 'Viral' Vaccines for Bat Viruses - Megan Griffiths | University of Glasgow

    Megan Griffiths is a PhD student at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. She researches an innovative tool for public health: self-spreading vaccines in wildlife. Today, she explains the history of vaccinating wildlife and how self-spreading vaccines work.  

    To learn more about Megan's work, visit: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Megan-Griffiths-13. 

    Timeline:

    00:00 Introduction
    02:38 Why We Vaccinate Animals
    04:50 Risks from Wild Animals
    05:52 Historical Case Studies
    08:19 Edible Vaccines
    10:59 Self-Spreading Vaccines
    14:18 Harmless Viruses
    16:03 Pros/Cons of Self-Spreading Vaccines  

    P.S. Some fancy words Megan used:

    - Clinical trials: carefully regulated tests to show taht a medicine is or isn't effective.
    - System: a group of organisms that interact
    - Antigen: a part of a virus that our immune system can recognise as dangerous. Like a 'red flag' marking danger.
    - Mutate: an organism changing its DNA, allowing it to have different capabilities.
    - Metabolism: the process of converting food to energy

    24 min
  • #66 Ethnobotany: World's Coolest Job - Josh Kellogg | Pennsylvania State University

    Dr. Josh Kellog is an assistant professor at the Department of Biomolecular Sciences at Pennsylvania State University in the US. He works as an ethnobotanist: working with indigenous cultures around the world to find drugs from nature. Today, he talks to us about his experiences on the ground and how the field has changed over the years.  

    To learn more about Dr. Kellogg's work, visit: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ebu0_H8AAAAJ 

    Timeline:

    00:00 Introduction
    03:38 Selecting Plants to Study
    06:03 Extracting Medicinal Compounds  
    09:03 Problem Solving with Pharmaceuticals
    12:42 His lab's work  
    14:49 History of Ethnobotany  
    18:53 Favourite Field Lessons
    23:23 Challenges for Indigenous Cultures
    25:28 Innovations in Ethnobotany
    29:13 Neglected Areas  

    P.S. Some fancy words Dr. Kellogg used:

    - Activity: how much a chemical can influence biological organisms
    - Bioassay guided fractionation: a process of repeatedly separating chemicals in a sample to isolate one desired chemical. Like a drug candidate.
    - Pathogenic: harmful to humans
    - US CDC: The US Centre for Disease Control. A government organisation to manage public health risks.
    - Penicillin: the first antibiotic drug to be produced at global scale.
    - Toxicology studies: Studies to test whether a certain substance is harmful to biological organisms and at what dose.
    - Clinical tries: a series of tests to prove that a drug is beneficial to patients.
    - Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A tool that chemists use to identify molecules by the magnetic properties of their electrons.
    - Mass spectrometry: A tool that chemists use to identify molecules by their atomic mass. 

    31 min
  • #65 From Soldiers to Cells: EVERYTHING That Affects Your Health - Patricia Huston | University of Ottawa

    Dr. Patricia Huston is an interdisciplinary scientist exploring public health, cellular biology, and our culture. She studies how all these influence healthy behaviours like being physically active. Today, we have an INCREDIBLY insightful conversation on the many layers of factors that affect your health!  

    To learn more about Dr. Huston's work, visit: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=KuQUs9MAAAAJ&hl=en. Also, you can read the paper of hers we discussed here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4048238 

    Timeline:

    00:00 Introduction
    02:02 Physical Inactivity & Disease
    04:44 Networks & Your Health
    10:50 Disease & Your Body
    18:55 Pros of Network Analysis
    23:40 Future Innovations  

    P.S. Some fancy words Dr. Huston used:

    - Chronic Disease: A disease that's present over a long time. Ex: Diabetes
    - Chronic low-grade inflammation: A persistent, but non-extreme inflammation in the body.
    - Network analysis: studying how groups of things interact together.
    - Macroenvironmental influences: Global phenomena out of our control that influence our lives. Ex: A pandemic.
    - Sympathetic response: our body's 'alert mode'. It involves us being stressed.
    - Macrophages: cells in our immune system that destroy harmful substances.
    - Coagulate: When blood clots (ex: to form a scar that seals a cut)
    - Adrenaline: a chemical that is released into our blood when we prepare to deal with threats.
    - Rube Goldsberg Machine: an overly complex machine to perform a simple task.
    - Longevity/life span: In common terms, how long your life is.
    - Microenvironment: in the context of this podcast, factors happening inside your body compared to outside your body.
    - Heart rate variability: How much change there is in your heart rate over time.
    - Electronic medical health records: government documents that collect all your health information in one place online.  

    31 min
  • # 64 Reverse Psychology - Polymeros Chrysochou | Aarhus University

    Dr. Polymeros Chrysochou is a professor of marketing and consumer studies at Aarhus University in Denmark. He studies how to persuade consumers to adopt healthy behaviours. Today, we talk about how to use something called 'normative statements' to be persuasive!  

    To learn more about Dr. Chrysochou's work, visit: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=10OpsRcAAAAJ 

    Timeline:

    00:00 Introduction
    01:09 Intro to Psychological Reactance
    03:08 Descriptions vs. Orders
    06:45 Reacting to Regulations
    09:46 Practical Lessons
    13:41 Neglected Areas of Work   

    P.S. Some fancy words Dr. Chrysochou used:

    - Affect: How negative vs. positive an emotion is
    - Normative statements: In an oversimplified way, statements about social proof / peer pressure.  
    - Descriptive norms: Describing social proof (what others think)
    - Injunctive norms: Telling you what you should do based on what others think
    - Reactance: A psychological theory that says we resist challenges to our freedom.  

    18 min
  • #63 - Dogs Diagnosing Diseases - Clara Wilson | Queen's University Belfast

    Clara Wilson is an animal psychologist at Queen's University Belfast in the UK. She studies how dogs can help humans with medical conditions. Today, we talk about how dogs' powerful sense of smell can be used to diagnose diseases like cancer, COVID-19, seizures, and more!  

    To learn more about Clara's work, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clara-wilson-990a61162/  

    Timeline:

    00:00 Introduction
    03:26 How dogs help humans
    07:54 How dogs detect diseases
    14:20 How dogs are trained
    19:00 Dogs vs. smell technology
    20:48 Which dogs are best?
    23:39 What's next in the field?
    19:22 Solutions to improve antifungals
    21:42 Neglected areas in the field   

    P.S. Some fancy words Clara used:

    - Service/Assistant Animal: An animal trained to help someone with a disability with a specific task, like navigation.
    - Medical Alert Dogs: Dogs using their sense of smell to detect medical conditions like seizures.
    - Olfactory epithelium: an area at the back of your nose that's responsible for sensing smells.
    - Olfactory Bulb: the part of the brain responsible for processing smell senses.
    - Olfaction: Smell
    - Blood plasma: the liquid part of blood
    - Hypoglycemic Unawareness: Being unable to tell when your blood sugar levels are dropping too much.
    - Valence: a psychological term for what everyday people call 'good' vs. 'bad'
    - Mass spectrometry: A technique to analyse the mass of different chemical compounds.

    31 min
  • #62 Meat Troubles: Changing Diets for a Better Planet - Chris Bryant | University of Bath

    Dr. Chris Bryant is a psychologist at the University of Bath in the UK. He studies how to get people to reduce animal product consumption. Today, we talk about the problem behind meat consumption, some solutions to change consumer's meat purchases, and what's next in this field!  

    To learn more about Dr. Bryant's work, visit: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=Wq7j88AAAAAJ&hl=en 

    Timeline:

    00:00 Introduction
    02:09 Problems with Meat
    05:44 Key Stats on Meat Problems
    09:16 Problematic Regions/Species?
    13:59 Barriers to reducing Meat Consumption
    17:23 Solutions to Reduce Meat Consumption
    23:54 Challenges in Current Research
    20:06 Solutions to improve antifungals
    22:26 Neglected areas in the field   

    P.S. Some Fancy Words Dr. Bryant used:

    - Tail docking: Cutting off an animal's tail. Ex: for a cow.
    - Eutrophication: the process of water getting excessive nutrients. This causes excess microorganisms to grow in it, killing other organisms in the water.
    - Antibiotic resistance: when bacteria develop resistance against our drugs, making bacterial infections harder to treat.
    - Prophylactically: To prevent a disease before it happens instead of to cure it afterwards.
    - Blue water: water from humans used in agriculture
    - Green water: water from precipitation that is used in agriculture
    - Beyond Meat: A popular plant-based meat
    - Randomised trials: randomly assigning a treatment (like eating plant-based meat) to one group of people and not to another. Then, observing changes in the two groups.
    - Cognitive dissonance: Mental discomfort from having beliefs conflicting with other information (like facts, others' opinions, social norms, etc.).
    - Effective animal advocacy: nonprofits advocating for the use of rationality and objective data to find the best charitable interventions for animal rights, instead of just 'good enough' interventions. 

    36 min
  • #61 Fungal Infections: Neglected and Growing - Marcio Rodrigues | Oswaldo Cruz Foundation

    Dr. Marcio Rodrigues is a Senior researcher at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil. He has decades of experience studying the growing concerns about fungal diseases. Today, we talk about why fungal diseases are neglected, challenging to cure, and growing in size.  

    To learn more about Dr. Rodrigues' work, visit https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marcio-Rodrigues-2.  

    Timeline:

    00:00 Introduction
    02:41 Humans and Fungal Diseases
    04:22 The Rise of Fungal Diseases
    06:02 Solutions to Fungal Diseases
    08:03 Fungi and Climate Change
    13:17 Intro to Antifungals
    18:06 Antifungals in agriculture
    20:08 Solutions to improve antifungals
    22:28 Neglected areas in the field  

    P.S. Some Fancy Words Dr. Rodrigues used:

    - Meningitis: A swelling of the tissues in/near the brain.
    - Mortality: the percent of people who catch an illness that die from it.
    - Candida auris: a species of fungi that we cannot treat with many antifungals
    - Antifungal: a drug that cures fungal infections
    - Resistant: An organism that develops 'defenses' against threats. Like micro-organisms developing resistance to human drugs.
    - Immunocompromised: An organism whose immune system isn't working as well as normal to protect against diseases. Ex: A patient in chemotherapy receives chemicals that kill immune cells (as well as cancer cells).
    - Pathogenic: A species that can cause harmful diseases to humans.
    - Organelles: Smaller parts of a cell.
    - Antibiotics: Drugs that cure bacterial infections.
    - Eukaryotic: Cells that have nuclei. Like animal cells and fungal cells.
    - Prokaryotic: Simple cells that don't have nuclei.
    - Cell: The smallest building block of larger tissues, organs, and organisms.
    - Cell membrane: The 'packaging' that encloses a cell.
    - Lipid: A type of 'fat' molecule.
    - Ergosterol: A chemical in fungi that serves a similar purpose to cholesterol in animals.
    - Cell wall: An additional layer of protection around cells on top of cell membranes.
    - Monoclonal antibodies: An antibody is a 'marker' our immune system uses to identify foreign 'attackers' like viruses. Monoclonal antibodies are antibodies that have been created by cloning a single cell several times.
    - Amphotericin B: A strong antifungal that is used for very serious fungal infections.
    - Lipid formulation: When a drug is blended into a capsule of fat molecules that are safe for us to consume.
    - Azoles: Five antifungal drugs that are very common to treat fungal infections.
    - Sporotrichosis: a fungal infection of the skin caused by touching fungal spores in natural environments like moss.
    - Paracoccidiodomycosis: A fungal disease that affects someone's lungs, but is hard to diagnose.
    - Histoplasmosis: A fungal disease that infects the lungs caused by inhaling spores in the soil or in animal feces. It is difficult to diagnose.
    - Subcutaneous: Referring to diseases that infect areas below the skin.
    - Chromoblastomycosis: A fungal disease of the skin that can last decades.  
    - Legion: an area of an organ that is damaged. Like a wound or an ulcer.
    - Mucormycosis: a rare, but serious fungal disease caused by molds that infects the skin.
    - Candida, Cryptococcus, Aspergillus - types of fungal species
    - Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections: A global nonprofit fighting fungal diseases. More details: https://gaffi.org 

    28 min
  • #60 Ewaste: Messy Across the Whole Periodic Table - Kees Baldé | United Nations University

    Dr. Kees Baldé is a Senior Programme Officer at the Sustainable Cycles Initiative at the United Nations University. Dr. Baldé has been monitoring the growing issue of global ewaste for almost a decade. Today, we talk about why our solutions to ewaste are inadequate and the global mess it creates.  

    To learn more about Dr. Baldé's work, visit https://unu.edu/experts/kees-balde.html 

    Timeline:

    00:00 Introduction
    02:30 E-waste in 2020
    03:40 Challenges in E-waste Management
    08:40 Solutions for E-waste
    12:48 E-waste Supply Chain
    16:40 Future Opportunities  
    19:58 E-waste vs. Plastic Waste  

    P.S. Some Fancy Words Dr. Baldé used:

    - Freon: A chemical used to absorb heat in refrigerators that is a greenhouse gas.
    - CRTs: Cathod Ray Tubes. An electronic component of old display screens used after the 1930s
    - Circular economy: An economy where no materials are wasted. Materials from old products are used to make new products.
    - Chemical recycling: breaking down plastics into their chemical building blocks (monomers) so they can be reused.
    - Printed circuit board: A common electronic component used in most computers. It is made by printing electrically-conductive elements like metal onto non-conductive materials like silicon.

    23 min

About The Knowledge Archives

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We're a team of students trying to gain unique insights by learning about as many different disciplines as possible! We're interviewing experts in many different industries to understand their…