Science Magazine Podcast Folgen

On this week’s show: The best of our online stories, what we know about the effects of cannabinoids, and the last in our series of books on race and science First, Online News Editor David Grimm brings the top online stories of the year—from headless slugs to Dyson spheres. You can find out the other top stories and the most popular online story of the year here. Then, Tibor Harkany, a professor of molecular neuroscience at the Medical University of Vienna’s Center for Brain Research, talks with host Sarah Crespi about the state of marijuana research. Pot has been legalized in many places, and many people take cannabinoids—but what do we know about the effects of these molecules on people? Tibor calls for more research into their helpful and harmful potential.  Finally, we have the very last installment of our series of books on race and science. Books host Angela Saini talks with physician and science fiction author Tade Thompson about his book Rosewater. Listen to the whole series. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. [Image: Biodiversity Heritage Library/Flickr/Public Domain; Music: Jeffrey Cook] [alt: illustration of a wombat] Authors: Sarah Crespi; David Grimm; Angela Saini Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every year Science names its top breakthrough of the year and nine runners up. Online News Editor Catherine Matacic joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss what Science’s editors consider some of the biggest innovations of 2021. Also this week, Books Editor Valerie Thompson shares her list of top science books for the year—from an immunology primer by a YouTuber, to a contemplation of the universe interwoven with a close up look at how the science sausage is made. Books on Valerie’s list: Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive by Phillip Dettmer Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow Listen to last year’s books round up. List of this year’s top science books for kids.   This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. [Image: Valerie Altounian/Science; Music: Jeffrey Cook] [alt: golden protein confetti] Authors: Sarah Crespi; Catherine Matacic; Valerie Thompson   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Geoscientists are turning to fiber optic cables as a means of measuring seismic activity. But rather than connecting them to instruments, the cables are the instruments. Joel Goldberg talks with Staff Writer Paul Voosen about tapping fiber optic cables for science. Also this week, host Sarah Crespi talks with Sylvie Roke, a physicist and chemist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, and director of its Laboratory for fundamental BioPhotonics, about the place where oil meets water. Despite the importance of the interaction between the hydrophobic and the hydrophilic to biology, and to life, we don’t know much about what happens at the interface of these substances. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. [Image: Artography/Shutterstock; Music: Jeffrey Cook] [alt: oil droplets and water] Authors: Sarah Crespi; Paul Voosen; Joel Goldberg Episode page: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.acx9771 About the Science Podcast: https://www.science.org/content/page/about-science-podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices