The Knowledge Archives

The Knowledge Archives

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 perspectives.

  1. 12/09/2022

    #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.

    #68 Cyberbiosecurity: Novel Risks in a Connected World - Feras Batarseh | Virginia Tech
  2. 07/06/2022

    #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.

    #66 Ethnobotany: World's Coolest Job - Josh Kellogg | Pennsylvania State University
  3. 06/07/2022

    #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.

    #65 From Soldiers to Cells: EVERYTHING That Affects Your Health - Patricia Huston | University of Ottawa
  4. 03/01/2022

    #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.

    #63 - Dogs Diagnosing Diseases - Clara Wilson | Queen's University Belfast
  5. 02/16/2022

    #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.

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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 perspectives.