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podcast 20: stunt science

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Jun 302011

It resembles real science, depending on how close you look – but in fact, real science is off learning lines and chain-smoking, while someone else jumps up and flails about dramatically for the cameras. Science for effect, for show, or for fun. Sometimes for money. Frequently for column inches. We’ve all seen frothy ‘science’ stories in the news and wondered why ‘scientists’ even bothered. Join us for our 20th podcast as we try to get to the bottom of a [read on...]

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podcast 19: arsenic life

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Jun 142011

Stop press! Long-suffering Californian bacteria thrive in the presence of arsenic, the absence of aliens and an abundance of public dirty laundry! Join Neil, Pete and Jonathan for a free-ranging, entry-level discussion of the controversy, the science and the implications of the ‘arsenic life’ story, from last December’s online publication and quickfire trial by blogging to the recent formal publication with bundled criticisms. It’s a flame war for the twenty-teens. Get involved. Featuring music by Lamb and My Morning Jacket.

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podcast 18: lasers

Posted by nerd alert at 18:35 podcast No Responses »

Jun 012011

Lasers. How cool are they? How dangerous are they? How fast can they make data travel? How do they work? Do they hurt? Join Jonathan, George, Neil and special guest Nicky, as we go from the origins to the future of this funky physical phenomenon. Featuring laser pointers, free-electron laser weapons, laser discs, GASERs, fast Fourier transforms and laser-themed music from Super Furry Animals, Autechre and (yes) Major Lazer.

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podcast 17: vaccines

Posted by nerd alert at 12:28 podcast No Responses »

May 202011

Join Jonathan, Pete and George as we thrash out the best and the worst, the old and the new, of vaccines. We look back to their crude but brilliant origins and the work of Jenner, Pasteur and Koch, and we discuss last week’s Nature paper on HIV vaccination. What the hell does ‘attenuation’ actually mean? Plus, hear about Jonathan’s new role as a lab rat in a vaccine trial… Includes stonking tunes from Sufjan Stevens and Tower of Power – [read on...]

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podcast 16: sex by numbers

Posted by nerd alert at 06:56 podcast No Responses »

Apr 282011

It’s our sexteenth podcast! Oh yes, we went there. Because it *is* all about sex, baby. Jonathan discusses noisy social monkey sex. Pete takes a stand against the sexploitation of bonobos. Neil talks quantitatively about Mormon polygamy. Somehow, Raëlians get involved, and there’s music from James and Zomby. The papers we discuss are available online in the journals Biology Letters (bonobos and speed dating*) and Evolution and Human Behaviour (mormons). *One of these is not actually discussed in the [read on...]

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podcast 15: placebo and free will

Posted by nerd alert at 08:03 podcast 3 Responses »

Mar 092011

On this show we delve into the phenomenon of placebo, from ethics to effects, and also discuss whether free will exists. Is it possible to link these topics with any lucidity? Only you can decide, with your own free… Ahem. Listen and find out! Featuring Jonathan, Blake, Neil and Peter with music from Radiohead and Aronas.

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podcast 14: the flu fighters

Posted by nerd alert at 17:16 podcast No Responses »

Feb 092011

We’re deep in flu season and it’s time to call in the nerds! Blake, Pete and George explore a few new findings in flu science, from the risks for unborn babies to the patterns of transmission in the school yard. Can flu make your baby crazy? Does it matter if you’re friends with Mr Sneezy? Can Facebook help in the flu fight? How many dollar bills can you touch before you die of something horrible? All this plus music from Wild [read on...]

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podcast 13: measures, methods, madness

Posted by nerd alert at 22:38 podcast 1 Response »

Feb 032011

What’s in a kilogram? How the hell do you teach scientific method? Are women’s tears the opposite of viagra? These and other questions will be less than completely answered as Blake, Peter and George discuss the measurement of mass, the method of Mastermind and yet another overstretched fMRI result. Expect shrinking standard units, coloured pegs, wet movies, weird control solutions and blind moles, plus music from Caribou, Okkervil River and James Blake.

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podcast 12: extrasensory suspicions

Posted by nerd alert at 02:35 podcast 4 Responses »

Jan 272011

In our first podcast for 2011, it’s psi vs the stats! A discussion of the recent paper reporting evidence for ESP turns into an entertaining debate about the scientific method itself. Join Blake, Peter, George and special guest Tim for the usual mix of loose banter and, er, incisive commentary – with a special dose of on-air experimentation and extrasensory statistics. Despite being (graciously) offered the chance to edit at will, the show’s (absent) producer decided to trust his presenters’ instincts [read on...]

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podcast 11: science wars

Posted by nerd alert at 08:02 podcast No Responses »

Dec 022010

It’s Fight Club meets Journal Club! From Golgi vs Cajal (1906) through to Deisseroth vs Logothetis (2010) and beyond, this week we look at what happens when scientists disagree. Do the feathers really fly? Does science win or lose? Join us in our final, gloves-off podcast for 2010. For further reading, check out Golgi’s Nobel lecture, our blog post on fMRI and brain reading and the to-and-fro in Nature (requires subscription) between Karl Deisseroth’s team and Nikos Logothetis. Thanks for listening this [read on...]

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