The Academic Minute

Academic Minute
  • 4.3 (28)
  • EDUCATION
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Astronomy to Zoology academicminute.substack.com

  1. 1D AGO

    Akihisa Terakita, Osaka Metropolitan University - How Eye-Less Corals See the Light

    How do eyeless corals see light? Akihisa Terakita, professor in the Graduate School of Science at Osaka Metropolitan University, dives in to find out more. Akihisa Terakita and Mitsumasa Koyanagi are Professors at Osaka Metropolitan University’s Graduate School of Science with interest in photoreception. Professor Mitsumasa Koyanagi and myself were lead authors for a study of light-sensing proteins, opsins, in corals. We obtained new insights into how corals and their symbiotic light-sensitive algae interact. Most animals use retinal to absorb light, which forms a chemical bond with opsin, known as a Schiff base. Whether this bond carries a positive charge determines if the opsin absorbs visible light or UV. For visible light absorption, the positive charge is stabilized by negatively charged amino acids. However, reef-building corals lack these amino acids. Our team found that Acropora tenuis corals use chloride ions from the environment instead. This suggests an association between environmental pH and light absorption. Under low pH conditions, the amount of positively charged particles increases, promoting the formation of positively charged Schiff bases and favoring visible-light detection. High pH means the opposite, favoring UV light. This pH-dependent relationship is important for the coral’s partnership with algae. As the algae perform photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is consumed, raising the pH, which in turn, regulates the coral’s light sensing. It’s a fascinating example of how symbiosis works in the complex reef ecosystem. Read More: [Osaka Metropolitan University - Research News] - How eye-less corals see the light This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit academicminute.substack.com

    3 min

  2. 2D AGO

    Tara McAllister, New York University - High-Tech Help for Speech Therapy

    Speech therapy can be crucial for some children, so how do we improve outcomes? Tara McAllister, associate professor of communicative sciences and disorders at New York University, studies this. Tara McAllister is a linguist and speech-language pathologist in NYU’s Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders. Her research aims to understand how speech skills are acquired in both typical and clinical populations, and why developmental speech patterns resolve in some children but persist in others. As director of the Biofeedback Intervention Technology for Speech (BITS) Lab at NYU, she has overseen multiple clinical trials measuring the efficacy of acoustic and ultrasound biofeedback in the treatment of speech sound disorder. Dr. McAllister is also active in technology development for speech therapy applications and oversees the team that released staRt, an iOS and web app to make biofeedback intervention widely accessible. Millions of children see a speech therapist for help pronouncing certain speech sounds, especially the English ‘r’ sound. Over the years, studies have suggested that technology-enhanced training could help children overcome their speech difficulties faster, but it had never been tested in a large-scale randomized trial.Our study provided ten weeks of speech therapy to over 100 children aged 9-15 with persisting difficulty pronouncing the “r” sound. Participants were randomly assigned to receive treatment with traditional methods, where the clinician models speech sounds to imitate, or treatment with visual biofeedback, where the learner sees a real-time visual display of their speech. This study included two types of biofeedback. In ultrasound biofeedback, a probe held beneath the chin is used to visualize the shape and movements of the tongue during speech. In visual-acoustic biofeedback, participants see a real-time visual display of the acoustic spectrum of their speech, represented as a wave-like shape on a computer screen. While viewing these displays, children can adjust the positioning of their tongue in their mouth to try to match a display representing the correct pronunciation.We found that children in all treatment conditions made significant progress, but the rate of progress was 2.4 times faster with biofeedback than with traditional treatment. This provided the first-ever gold-standard evidence that biofeedback does outperform traditional speech therapy methods. We think this finding is important because speech therapists are managing ever-growing caseloads, and students who get stuck on ‘r’ can create a real bottleneck. Biofeedback can help resolve these speech difficulties more efficiently, reducing frustration and freeing up resources for other children with communication needs. Read More:[NYU Steinhardt] - Children Receiving Biofeedback Speech Therapy Improved Faster Than with Traditional Methods This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit academicminute.substack.com

    3 min

  3. 3D AGO

    Pablo Moyano Fernandez, Washington University in St. Louis - Concrete, the Future for Affordable Housing

    Can concrete play a role in affordable housing in the future? Pablo Moyano Fernandez, associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis, examines. Pablo Moyano Fernández is an Associate Professor and founder of the Performative Concrete Hub (PCH). He brings extensive experience in architecture, having worked with international and national firms with a strong focus on construction. His teaching and research explore the performative qualities of concrete in building enclosures, structural systems, and other applications, leveraging innovative fabrication methods and novel concrete technologies.Through advanced studios and seminars, he investigates concrete’s potential across multiple scales—examining its impact on design, assembly, formwork innovation, and architectural expression. His research, supported by multiple grants, is complemented by built projects that demonstrate concrete as a resilient and sustainable building material. He recently designed and built Avis Spiralis, a bird blind structure constructed using an innovative casting method he developed.Pablo served as the faculty design leader for Washington University’s 2017 Solar Decathlon team, which developed CRETE House, a precast concrete home featuring an innovative enclosure system. The project earned second place in the Architecture Contest.His recent publications include “To Spur the Construction of Affordable, Resilient Homes, the Future Is Concrete” for The Conversation—a widely read article with over 30,000 reads—and scholarly work in The Plan Journal:“Opus Luteum: Incorporating a Third Dimension to Tilt-Up Concrete Wall Panels” (TPJ, Vol. 10 [2025], No. 1) and “Opus Versatilium: A Meta-Vernacular Approach for Contemporary Load-Bearing Walls” (TPJ, Vol. 9 [2024], No. 1), which was nominated for TPJ Best Paper of the Year 2024. Wood remains the dominant material for single-family homes in the U.S., but it is often seen as “disposable”—lacking long-term durability and performing poorly under extreme weather such as flooding, hurricanes, and tornadoes. As these events grow more frequent, the vulnerabilities of wood construction become increasingly concerning. Over 90% of new American homes use dimensional lumber for framing and plywood or OSB panels for enclosure. While light-frame wood construction is affordable, well supported by building codes, and familiar to builders, it burns easily, deteriorates with moisture, and is vulnerable to pests, mold, and wind damage. These weaknesses raise serious concerns about long-term resilience of homes. Concrete offers a compelling alternative. It’s strong, durable, low-maintenance, and inherently resistant to fire, flood, pests, and severe weather. Yet concrete homes remain rare in the U.S., largely due to the reliance on labor-intensive cast-in-place methods, where formwork alone can account for up to 60% of construction costs. My research focuses on precast concrete as a sustainable and affordable option. Unlike cast-in-place, precast components are made off-site in controlled settings, improving quality while reducing waste, construction time, and long-term cost. In 2017, I co-led the team that created CRETE House, a prototype that withstood impacts equivalent to an F5 tornado. Building on that success, I designed the Compact House—a modular precast system for affordable and resilient housing. Each unit is made of structural “rings” forming an airtight, energy-efficient shell. These rings can be mass-produced, shipped on standard trailers, and assembled in a single day. The open-source system allows any precast producer to adapt the molds, encouraging local production and cost efficiency. Designed for lifespans exceeding 100 years, the Compact House reduces utility costs, maintenance, and insurance premiums. It represents a shift from short-term, disposable construction toward long-term resilience and equity—demonstrating that the future of affordable housing can be sustainable, durable and widely accessible. Read More:[The Conversation] - To spur the construction of affordable, resilient homes, the future is concrete Performative Concrete Hub CRETE House Using Concrete in a Smarter, More Sustainable Way Roman-inspired concrete used in St. Louis bird blind | STLPR This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit academicminute.substack.com

    3 min
  4. Robert Krencik, Houston Methodist Research Institute - Tiny Capsules, Big Hope: A New Tool to Repair the Brain From Within

    3D AGO

    Robert Krencik, Houston Methodist Research Institute - Tiny Capsules, Big Hope: A New Tool to Repair the Brain From Within

    Repairing the brain after an injury can be crucial. So how do we do it? Robert Krencik, associate professor in the department of neurosurgery and center for neuroregeneration at the Houston Methodist Research Institute, thinks small. Dr. Krencik received his PhD in neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and conducted research as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California-San Francisco. At Houston Methodist, his research focuses on understanding the functional relationship of human astrocytes and neural networks in normal and injured states. His laboratory employs novel human pluripotent stem cell-based technologies to answer vital biological questions and to accelerate progress in promoting neuroregeneration in the human brain. The adult human brain has a very limited ability to repair itself after injury and disease, including neurodegeneration. One promising therapeutic strategy to help recovery is to target broad underlying issues—like neuroinflammation. Inflammation of the brain can worsen symptoms and accelerate disease progression. To address this, our team—together with Rice University—developed a new system to deliver anti-inflammatories directly to the brain. The system we created is called AstroCapsules. These are tiny hydrogel spherical capsules, about the size of a grain of sand, that contain human astrocytes inside of them. Astrocytes are star-shaped support cells that help maintain healthy function of the nervous system, and we can produce these from human pluripotent stem cells in the laboratory. In this study, we bioengineered the astrocytes to release an anti-inflammatory protein, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist. Our idea was that, if AstroCapsules were implanted into a specific region of the brain, the cells could help block damaging inflammatory signals in the microenvironment. The purpose of the hydrogel is to act as a protective shell, allowing the astrocytes to do their job without being attacked by the immune system and not allowing them to migrate away from the target site. We tested this approach by combining AstroCapsules with experimental models of the human brain in the lab, known as brain organoids, and by implantation directly into the mouse brain using neurosurgical procedures. This technology addresses several major challenges in cell-based therapy. It’s stable, localized, and avoids immune rejection. The most exciting part is how it combines neuroscience and bioengineering to create smart materials that can interact with the brain in a controlled and targeted way. This technology is in early stages, but AstroCapsules could become a more precise and long-lasting treatment for inflammation in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Read More:[Science Direct] - Delivery of cytokines via encapsulated human astrocytes for neural immunomodulation [Houston Methodist NewsRoom] - Tiny treatment system helps fight back against neuroinflammation in the brain This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit academicminute.substack.com

    3 min

  5. 4D AGO

    Tomas R. Guilarte, Florida International University – Can We Detect Alzheimer’s Disease Decades Before Symptoms Start?

    Can we detect Alzheimer’s disease decades before symptoms start? Tomas R. Guilarte, Dean of the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work and professor of cognitive neuroscience and imaging at Florida International University, looks into how this might be done. Tomás R. Guilarte, Ph.D., joined FIU in 2016 after serving as the Inaugural Leon Hess Endowed Chair Professor and Chairman of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) at Columbia University School of Public Health in the City of New York. Prior to Columbia University, he received his Ph.D. and was a professor with tenure in the EHS department at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health where in 2018 he was inducted into the prestigious Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars. His current research explores the impact of environmental pollutants on brain health and neurodegenerative disease, specifically Alzheimer’s disease. His research has been continuously funded for more than 24 years by grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. He has garnered more than $40 million in research funding and has received many awards since arriving at FIU including: 1) the Hispanic Organization of Toxicologists (HOT) Distinguished Toxicologist Award (2018), which celebrates a toxicologist of Hispanic origin for his or her outstanding professional achievements; 2) In 2019, he was selected by NBC News as Top 20 Latino Making a Difference in the United States; 3) he received the Metal Specialty Section Career Achievement Award (2020) by the Society of Toxicology (SOT), the largest professional organization of toxicologists in the world with members from over 70 countries; 4) In 2020, he was inducted into the Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine of Florida; 5) In 2022, he received the SOT Translational Impact Award which recognizes a scientist whose recent outstanding translational research has improved human and/or public health in an area of toxicological concern within the last 10 years. As dean of the FIU Stempel College, he has transformed the educational and research enterprise and increased ranking and reputation. In 2016, FIU Stempel College was not ranked by U.S. News & World Report and today the school is ranked No. 35 amongst public universities. He led the launch of a fully Online Master of Public Health (MPH) which ranks No. 11 by PublicHealth.org and has catapulted the NIH research funding of the college to No. 15 amongst public schools of public health, according to the Blue Ridge Institute of Medical Research. In the last 5 years, FIU Stempel College has secured $131.8 million in research grants. One of his most proud achievements has been the continuous rise of the First Time In College (FTIC) 4-year graduation rate from 52% in 2016 to 85% in 2025. Alzheimer’s disease develops silently for years before symptoms such as memory loss or confusion appear. By then, the brain has already sustained major damage. My team, which includes doctoral student Daniel Martínez Pérez, has been studying a protein called TSPO, long linked to brain inflammation. What we discovered in an Alzheimer’s mouse model is that TSPO rises much earlier than anyone thought – long before symptoms begin. Using advanced imaging in a mouse model of familial Alzheimer’s, we saw TSPO spike in the hippocampus as early as six weeks of age – the equivalent of a human teenager. The increases occurred in microglia. These are the brain’s immune cells that cluster around amyloid plaques – the tell-tale plaques that develop in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. We then confirmed these results in human brain tissue donated by carriers of the “paisa” mutation. Carriers of this mutation, who mainly live in Colombia, South America develop symptoms in their 30s and 40s and die in their 50s. Even in advanced stages, TSPO remained elevated around plaques. This means TSPO could serve as an early warning sign of disease activity. But it also raises new questions: is TSPO fueling brain damage, or fighting it? Could targeting it with drugs slow progression? To find out, we are now using an Alzheimer’s mouse model in which we have genetically removed the TSPO gene to see the impact on Alzheimer’s progression. We are also expanding our studies to late-onset Alzheimer’s, which accounts for the vast majority of cases. The goal is simple: if we can delay progression by even five years, millions of people could live longer, fuller lives – and the global impact of Alzheimer’s could be dramatically reduced. Read More:[Springer Nature] – Amyloid-β plaque-associated microglia drive TSPO upregulation in Alzheimer’s disease[FIU News] – Can we detect Alzheimer’s disease decades before symptoms start?Daily Mail Article This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit academicminute.substack.com

    3 min

  6. FEB 6

    Minji Kim, Flagler College – The Psychology of Mukbang: How Food Media Affects Us

    On Flagler College Week: Do you like to watch others eat? Minji Kim, assistant professor of communication, explores the psychology behind an online trend. MinJi Kim, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Flagler College, where her teaching in courses such as Media Literacy, Social Media Management, and Health Communication is deeply informed by her research on how media shapes health decisions and societal well-being. Beyond the classroom, MJ serves as Social Media Director for the Department of Communication and leads the User Research Lab, mentoring students in consumer psychology, user experience, and digital marketing analytics. She is also an active member of the editorial board of the Korean Journal of Communication and professional associations including the Korean American Communication Association, American Marketing Association, and Public Relations Society of America, where she advances cross-cultural dialogue and inclusive scholarly exchange. Mukbang (this Korean term meaning “eating broadcast”) has exploded from a small trend in South Korea into a worldwide phenomenon. Whether it’s a single piece of fruit or a feast of noodles and desserts, millions of viewers tune in to watch.For some, it feels like eating together. For others, it’s pure entertainment. But what does watching someone else eat actually do to us?In my research, we explored how both the type of food and the portion size in these videos shape viewers’ responses. The patterns were striking. When people watched mukbang videos featuring healthy, low-calorie foods like fruit, they reported more positive feelings and higher emotional engagement. But when the food was relatively unhealthy and high-calorie, like macaron ice cream, the reactions were less upbeat. Portion size mattered, too. Seeing bigger servings nudged viewers to snack more themselves, even when they were not hungry.And here’s the twist: small servings of indulgent foods were fun to watch, but watching someone finish large portions often made viewers uncomfortable. Overindulgence on screen can be unsettling, even when it’s just to entertain.Mukbang, then, is more than just a quirky online trend. It shows how media can quietly shape our emotions, spark cravings, and influence what we choose to eat—reminding us that what we watch can end up on our plates. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit academicminute.substack.com

    3 min

  7. FEB 5

    Ashley Ryder, Flagler College – Doing More with Less: Leveraging SoTL in Sport Management Programs

    On Flagler College Week: Educators often have to do more with less, so how can we still make it work? Ashley Ryder, assistant professor of sport management, examines one way. Dr. Ashley Ryder is an Assistant Professor of Sport Management at Flagler College. Her teaching and research interests focus on sport ethics, sociology, and pedagogy, with a particular emphasis on reflective and experiential learning practices in higher education. She is passionate about bridging the gap between theory and application, supporting faculty development, and fostering authentic classroom engagement. The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, or SoTL, is the systematic study of teaching and learning processes aimed at improving student outcomes. It encourages educators to move beyond intuition and tradition by using evidence-based practices to enhance learning. Especially at a teaching-focused institution – where faculty often have to do more with less – SoTL bridges the gap between teaching and scholarship by transforming classroom experiences into opportunities for research, growth, and innovation. At its core, SoTL invites all faculty members to be intentional and reflective educators. In sport management, SoTL plays a particularly vital role. Our field is rooted in experiential and project-based learning, from facility management simulations to ethics debates and marketing campaigns. Because the sport industry is constantly evolving, SoTL provides a structured, research-informed way to assess and improve these teaching methods, ensuring students are prepared for the real-world challenges of the profession. One current SoTL project takes place in a sport ethics class. This project involves collecting focus group data and reflective essays to evaluate the semester-long project of a public forum debate. This structured yet approachable format requires students to argue both sides of current ethical issues in sport, helping them explore multiple perspectives, think critically, and communicate effectively and respectfully; skills that are crucial in both sport and professional settings. Preliminary findings demonstrate that debate-based learning strengthens collaboration as well as listening, public speaking and research skills. By reflecting on teaching methods and listening to student feedback, I’ve chosen to introduce in-class debate training sessions to help students feel more confident and better prepared. This process of continual reflection and improvement is at the heart of SoTL. Through the study of our own teaching, we not only improve student learning but also cultivate our own development as teachers. Read More:[World Scientific] – Innovative Pedagogical Practices in Sport Management Education[High Tops Media] – Teaching Innovations in Sport Management This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit academicminute.substack.com

    3 min

  8. FEB 4

    Joshua Behl, Flagler College – Innocent — But Will It Be Believed?

    On Flagler College Week: What if you make a mistake when giving an alibi? Joshua D. Behl, associate professor of criminology, examines this scenario. Dr. Joshua Behl received his Ph.D. from the University of Florida in August of 2016 where he also received his BA and MA. Dr. Behl’s research interests are found at the intersection of psychology and the law. Using criminological, psychological, and sociological theories, he has researched the topics of witness behavior, alibis, and jury decision-making. Dr. Behl applies this research to real world cases in his work as a trial consultant. Most importantly, he is the proud husband of his wife, Taylor, and father to his daughter, Luna. Consider this: the police come to your door and ask where you were on a Monday evening approximately six months ago. Without much thought, you reply, “I was at home with my family eating dinner.” You have just offered the police an alibi. These statements are seemingly innocuous. Those who are innocent should have an alibi – or a claim that they were elsewhere at the time of the crime. However, that claim is a lot easier to generate than it is to support. And even when you can support it, convincing a court to believe it can be even more difficult. In our research, we explore the complex task of accurately remembering what you were doing and with whom on a day and time that may have been inconsequential. And what happens when you may make a mistake in that memory retrieval. What if you misremembered the day of the week and suggested you were at home with your family, but in reality, you were at a friend’s birthday party? Would the police view this as a simple mistake or an attempt at deceit? How will jurors view this lapse in memory? Claiming to be elsewhere during the time of the crime is not a new phenomenon; however, the field of alibi research is still somewhat young. While researchers have established an understanding of some basic concepts related to alibi use, there are many other factors we do not yet understand. We hope our research will inspire a new generation of researchers to focus on alibis and corroborating evidence, pushing the field to build on this foundation and expand the reach and understanding of the topic. However, one thing is clear: what you remember, what you can prove, and what will be believed rarely align as neatly as one would imagine. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit academicminute.substack.com

    3 min
See All (1K)

4.3
out of 5
28 Ratings

About

Astronomy to Zoology academicminute.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Academic Minute
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1K
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Academic Minute
  • Show Website
    The Academic Minute

More From WAMC Northeast Public Radio

You Might Also Like