Conversations with scientists Vivien Marx
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- Vetenskap
Scientists talk about what they do and why they do what they do. Their motivations, their trajectory, their setbacks, their achievements. They offer their personal take on science, mentoring and the many aspects that have shaped their work and their lives. Hosted by journalist Vivien Marx. Her work has appeared in Nature journals, Science, The Economist, The NY Times, The Wall Street Journal Europe and New Scientist among others. (Art: Justin Jackson)
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A chat with NSF director Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan
This podcast is with Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan who directs the US National Science Foundation. He talks about his nickname, about AI and data science, about training AI models, about transparency, about the language of collaboration, competitiveness, about talent. He says: "I think what we need as a nation is not only to unleash every ounce of talent in our country, the domestic talent, at full force and full scale. And we should welcome and aggregate and retain every ounce of global talent at full force and full scale." (Art: J. Jackson, Music: Golden Era by Steven Bedall and licensed from artist.io.)
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Science while parenting, part 1
Can you be a scientist and parent? Of course. But it's not always easy. Dr. Ying Diao is at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign in the chemical and biomolecular engineering department. She has a stack of awards, a lab and two children. She talks about her research, for instance a project focused on wearable electronics for plants with which one can track their growth and well-being. The idea came to her during her pregnancy. She talks about deciding to have children and the reactions of those around her. And she describes which conferences have lactation rooms and which do not. (Art: J. Jackson, Music: Bubbles by XiMo, licensed from artlist.io)
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Here’s some dirt
This episode is about dirt or, phrased more scientifically, soil. It’s about soil health, soil biodiversity and ecology. It’s a conversation with Dr. Ciska Veen, soil and ecosystems researcher at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology and Dr. Wim van der Putten, who heads terrestrial ecology at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. (Art: J. Jackson; Music: Jungle Jam by Evert Z, licensed from Artlist.io.)
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Persistence and success in science
Jean King, who is the dean of arts and sciences at WPI-Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, talks about what Nobel Laureate Katalin Karikó means to her and about persistence and success in science. (Art: J. Jackson; Music: Towers by sero, licensed from artlist.io)
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How to get big projects to soar: Anna Barker, Ellison Institute and former principal deputy director of the US National Cancer Institute
What good does it do to start a big research project? How do you get it to soar? Dr. Anna Barker has some answers about that from the past, the present and the future. She is chief strategy officer at the Ellison Institute, a think tank and research institute. Before that, she was the principal deputy director of the US National Cancer Institute and deputy director for strategic scientific initiatives there. One of her projects is The Cancer Genome Atlas, co-directed with Dr. Francis Collins. This episode will be about cancer. Cancer is upsetting, of course, but this episode might feel empowering. The podcast is also about academia, physics, information theory, big data, history and science policy. (Art: J. Jackson. Music: Michael Drake - Solstice licensed from artlist.io)
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Sneak-peek of SfN 2023
The Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, a big conference in neuroscience, is about to start. This year, it's in Washington. And here is a sneak peek of the meeting for you. Along with editors at Springer Nature, I got the chance to ask a bit about the meeting before it starts shortly. It was a mash up of a press conference of sorts and a wider discussion with colleagues from Scientific American and from Nature Neuroscience. In this podcast episode, you will hear questions from them and from me and responses by Dr. Oswald Steward, the president of the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) and Dr. Damien Fair who is the chair of the SfN Public Education and Communication committee. (Art J. Jackson) (Music: Billiard Balls by Raw, licensed from artlist.io)