Best Marc Airhart Podcasts (2024)

1
Is Cosmology in Crisis? 15:00

16d ago15:00

15:00

Over the past year and a half, data and images from the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, have been flooding in. And floating around in that sea of data (and from other instruments over the past 20 years) are at least three big problems: There appear to be too many big, bright galaxies, too soon after the Big Bang. No one can agree on how fast t…

1
A Once-in-Many-Centuries Event 12:52

2M ago12:52

12:52

Here in the U.S., many of us are eagerly awaiting the April 8th, 2024 total solar eclipse, the last of its kind to cross our paths (at least in the contiguous U.S.) until the year 2045. Austin, Texas, where we produce Point of Discovery, is right in the path of totality. And this eclipse feels even more special because the last total solar eclipse …

1
The Heartbeat of the Estuary 14:39

8M ago14:39

14:39

On today’s show we talk with Philip Souza, a Ph.D. student in the lab of Simon Brandl at the Marine Science Institute, and a Stengl-Wyer fellow. His research is focused on the sounds that fish along the Texas Gulf Coast make to attract mates or defend territory. He works in the Mission-Aransas Estuary near Port Aransas, whose oyster reefs and other…

1
I Know What You're Thinking 12:53

12M ago12:53

12:53

On today’s show we talk with Alex Huth, assistant professor of neuroscience and computer science at The University of Texas at Austin, and Ph.D. student Jerry Tang about a new system that can read a person’s thoughts in real time and produce a stream of continuous text. The system they developed, called a semantic decoder, relies in part on the kin…

1
Right Time, Right Place 12:04

1+ y ago12:04

12:04

For graduate student Olivia Cooper, the successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST, comes at the perfect time to help launch her career studying galaxy evolution. Cooper works with University of Texas at Austin associate professor Caitlin Casey on the biggest project in JWST’s first year—COSMOS-Web—which is designed to take the de…

1
Neutralizing Crazy Ants 15:35

2y ago15:35

15:35

Over the past 15 years or so, tawny crazy ants from South America have been popping up across the southeastern U.S. like paratroopers dropping in from an invading army. Where they take hold, they’re like an ecological wrecking ball and they cause headaches for homeowners. Podcast host Marc Airhart joined biologist Edward LeBrun in the Texas Hill Co…

1
A Physicist’s Search for Beauty 10:42

2y ago10:42

10:42

In addition to original interviews, today’s episode features excerpts from three interviews: On the Shoulders of Giants: Steven Weinberg and the Quest to Explain the World (2021), World Science Festival Physicist Steven Weinberg on His Search for a "Final Theory" (1993), Fresh Air The Bill Moyers Interview: Steven Weinberg (1990), Bill Moyers Our t…

1
Remembering Steven Weinberg 11:16

2y ago11:16

11:16

On Monday, March 21, UT Austin is hosting a memorial lecture in honor of Steven Weinberg, featuring his fellow Nobel Laureate, MIT’s Frank Wilczek. This event is free and open to the public, both in-person and virtually via Zoom. Find out more and register here. Donate to the Physics Theory Group, in memory of Steven Weinberg In addition to origina…

1
Frog Pandemic 11:06

2+ y ago11:06

11:06

Until COVID-19, few people alive today had experienced the chaos and destruction of a really bad pandemic, one that has at times ground businesses, schools and social lives to a near standstill and killed millions globally. But did you know that we aren’t alone in being battered by a global infectious disease? Frogs are also struggling through thei…

1
BONUS: Presenting the Texas Podcast Network 12:04

2+ y ago12:04

12:04

To hear the full TX512 show, go to the episode from July 21, 2021 titled “The Texas Podcast Network” Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2LENTUXmG4TTNhbc5mSNu2 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-texas-podcast-network/id1541588194?i=1000529545464 Google: https://txsci.net/tx512 Texas Podcast Network: https://www.utexas.edu/texas-…

1
The Case Against Spanking 39:34

3y ago39:34

39:34

Physical punishment, or spanking, is widely practiced in the U.S. and around the world, although it appears to be decreasing. Parents, caregivers and school administrators who use it say the goal is to prevent unwanted behaviors and teach children to make better choices. But does it actually work? And what long term effects does it have on the phys…

1
Do Sick Animals Socially Distance? 11:19

3y ago11:19

11:19

When we get sick, we change our social interactions—we keep away from others and we don’t share food. It turns out, humans aren’t the only species to do it. According to a new review in the journal Science, when highly social animals — such as ants, mice and bats — get sick, their social interactions change, too. For example, sick vampire bats groo…

1
Artificial Intelligence Revs Up Evolution’s Clock 10:42

3+ y ago10:42

10:42

Evolutionary biologists never have enough time. Some of the most mysterious behaviors in the animal kingdom—like parenting—evolved over thousands of years, if not longer. Human lifespans are just too short to sit and observe such complex behaviors evolve. But computer scientists are beginning to offer clues by using artificial intelligence to simul…

1
Ask the COVID-19 Experts 12:37

3+ y ago12:37

12:37

We asked you, dear listeners, to send us your most burning questions about COVID-19. And you didn’t disappoint. You asked: When will it be safe for my 12-week-old baby to meet her grandparents? Can you catch it twice? Is the virus mutating and will that make it harder to develop vaccines? In today’s episode, our three experts get to the bottom of t…

1
The Next 50 Years: Anybody Out There? 12:27

4y ago12:27

12:27

In these next few decades, will humans finally find life in space? We asked University of Texas at Austin astronomer Caroline Morley and her answer just might surprise you. Morley shares her vision for the future in this latest episode of our miniseries, The Next 50 Years. Check out more podcasts and essays in the Next 50 Years series: https://cns.…

1
The Next 50 Years: A Model of Life on the Atomic Scale 10:42

4y ago10:42

10:42

Can we simulate life — in all its messy complexity and at the scale of each individual atom — in a computer? Even the most powerful supercomputers today can only simulate a tiny portion of a single living cell for a few nanoseconds. Carlos Baiz is a biochemist at the University of Texas at Austin who says it might someday be possible to simulate an…

1
Science Amid the Social Distance 27:43

4y ago27:43

27:43

Daily life has changed for many of us due to the coronavirus pandemic. During this unusual time, when it’s harder to connect physically with important people in our lives, it can be helpful to step back and spend a little time thinking about the things that still bind us together, like the wonder of the natural world and the hope that scientists of…

1
The Next 50 Years: An A.I. Designed to Make Life Better 10:12

4y ago10:12

10:12

Artificial intelligence is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives. But will AI have mostly positive or negative impacts on society? Some potential unintended consequences include home service robots that accidentally break your fine china, or systems that increase the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Peter Stone co-leads the Good …

1
The Next 50 Years: Your Perfect Meal and Exercise Plan 7:14

4y ago7:14

7:14

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be able to follow a specific diet or exercise plan and others fail? The answer might have to do with factors unique to each person, like their microbiomes and genetics. Geneticist Molly Bray is working toward a future where each person gets a diet and exercise plan optimized just for them. She shares h…

1
The Next 50 Years: A Global Census of Life 9:41

4+ y ago9:41

9:41

We know absolutely nothing about roughly 80 percent of the different types of life on Earth. Biologist David Hillis aims to discover all those missing species—by some estimates 5 to 10 million—possibly in the next few decades. Sound impossible? He shares his vision for how this would work in this first episode of our new miniseries, The Next 50 Yea…

1
Coming Soon: A New Podcast Miniseries 6:53

4+ y ago6:53

6:53

If you've been listening to our podcast for a while, you probably have noticed that we haven't had a new episode for a few months. We’ve taken that time to step back and reflect on our show, both what has changed over the last few years (we’re now in our fifth year of production – yay!) and where we're going in the future. In this month’s episode, …

1
You Belong Here: What It Takes for Success in College 15:44

4+ y ago15:44

15:44

Why do so many first-year students struggle in college? Who is most likely to fail? And what can professors and staff do to help them get over the hump? “I didn't know what was going on. And I just felt out of place as a whole,” said Ivonne Martinez, a first-year student at UT Austin who was in danger of failing Freshman Calculus. “I was like, What…

1
Confronting RSV, a Shape-Shifting Killer 10:42

4+ y ago10:42

10:42

Virtually everyone contracts RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) as a child, but few people have even heard of it. It’s actually one of the leading causes of infectious disease deaths in infants. Now a team of researchers, including molecular biologist Jason McLellan, are using a radically new way to develop a potential vaccine against RSV. This meth…

1
Better AI Vision to Help Save Lives 8:25

5y ago8:25

8:25

Kristen Grauman, professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, and her team have taught an artificial intelligence agent how to do something that usually only humans can do—take a few quick glimpses around and infer its whole environment. That will be a critical skill for search and rescue robots that can enter a dangerous sit…

1
A Machine That Understands Language Like a Human 10:42

5y ago10:42

10:42

One thing that sets humans apart from even the smartest of artificially intelligent machines is the ability to understand, not just the definitions of words and phrases, but the deepest meanings in human speech. Alex Huth, a neuroscientist and computer scientist, is trying to build an intelligent computer system that can predict the patterns of bra…

1
A Love Letter from Texas Scientists to the Periodic Table 16:07

5y ago16:07

16:07

We’re celebrating the 150th anniversary of the periodic table. Join us as we tour the cosmos, from the microscopic to the telescopic, with four scientists studying the role of four elements—zinc, oxygen, palladium and gold—in life, the universe and everything. Emily Que is a chemist who helped capture, for the first time on video, zinc fireworks th…

1
All in the (Scientific) Family 11:41

5y ago11:41

11:41

Scientists often talk about the people who mentored them, and the students and postdocs they supervise, in ways that sound like a family. Today, in the second of a two-part conversation, we listen in on two members of a well-known scientific lineage: Bill Press, a professor of computer science and integrative biology at the University of Texas at A…

1
Bringing Real Science to the Big Screen 9:24

5+ y ago9:24

9:24

What’s it like for a scientist to work as an advisor on a major Hollywood film? In this first of a two-part conversation, Kip Thorne talks with his former graduate student Bill Press about the impact that a film like Interstellar can have on the public, balancing scientific accuracy and entertainment and what winning the Nobel Prize really says abo…

1
Recap: A Big Week in Science 42:51

5+ y ago42:51

42:51

The first week of October is like a science-lover’s World Series: Each year, the spotlight falls on high-impact science, when day after day, a series of Nobel Prizes and other prestigious awards are announced all in one week. This has been an especially exciting week for us here in UT Austin’s College of Natural Sciences. For the second year in a r…

1
Of Fruit Flies, Nobel Prizes and Genetic Discoveries that Change the World 10:30

5+ y ago10:30

10:30

Last year, University of Texas at Austin alumnus Michael Young won the Nobel prize for discovering the molecular mechanism behind circadian rhythms. Circadian clocks are critical for the health of all living things, acting as the internal timekeepers in plants and animals that help to synchronize functions like eating and sleeping with our planet’s…

1
Can We Build Machines that are Less Biased Than We Are? 8:21

5+ y ago8:21

8:21

Think about some of the most important decisions people make – who to hire for a job, which kind of treatment to give a cancer patient, how much jail time to give a criminal. James Scott says we humans are pretty lousy at making them. “I think there is room for machines to come into those realms and improve the state of our decisions,” said Scott. …

1
Which Mental Superpower Would You Choose? 13:44

6y ago13:44

13:44

What if people who lost a particular brain function—say, an Alzheimer's patient who can no longer make new memories—had the same option as many people who’ve lost limbs or other body parts—the chance to use technology to supplement what’s no longer there? Or what if you could boost a healthy person's brain, essentially giving them mental superpower…

1
James Allison Eases Off the Brakes 10:35

6y ago10:35

10:35

Forty years ago, when James Allison had just gotten his PhD in biochemistry, he was intrigued by this far-out idea that was floating around about a new way to treat cancer. The idea—dubbed cancer immunotherapy—was to train the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells—the same way this system already goes after bacteria and viruses. He was one of…

1
When Science Communication Doesn’t Get Through 12:10

6y ago12:10

12:10

Climate change, vaccinations, evolution. Scientists sometimes struggle to get their message across to non-scientists. On the latest episode of the Point of Discovery podcast, what communications research can teach us about why science communication sometimes backfires, and what scientists can do about it. Today’s episode features Emma Dietrich, a P…

1
A Score to Settle with Cancer 13:20

6y ago13:20

13:20

Jonathan Sessler was a college student when he was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Fortunately, he was also a chemistry major. After surviving radiation therapy, relapsing and then surviving extremely high doses of what he calls “rat poison” (a.k.a. chemotherapy), his oncologist challenged him: “You’re a chemist. Find new cancer drugs.” In…

1
BONUS: Full Conversation with Three STEM Deans 24:06

6+ y ago24:06

24:06

We recently invited three leaders in science and engineering at the University of Texas at Austin to talk about the lack of diversity in their respective fields – and ways to tackle the problem. We featured highlights from their conversation in the previous podcast. The episode you’re listening to right now is the full conversation. To hear the sho…

1
Tackling Science and Engineering's Diversity Problem 13:16

6+ y ago13:16

13:16

The STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and math – have real work to do in terms of diversity. Right now, women make up only about 30 percent of the STEM workforce – and people identifying as black or Hispanic make up just 11 percent. What are the barriers to entry -- or the obstacles to staying in -- STEM? And how can we make sure smart…

1
The Language Brokers 8:27

6+ y ago8:27

8:27

Millions of children in the U.S. play a vital, but often overlooked, role in their families. These children of immigrants, known as “language brokers,” help their parents translate job applications, medical documents and bills into their native language. They also help them navigate a completely alien culture. Researchers like Su Yeong Kim, in the …

1
Cosmic Car Wreck 7:55

6+ y ago7:55

7:55

Astronomers have long been able to watch the universe’s blockbuster special effects unfold in dazzling 3D Technicolor. But until now, it’s been like watching a silent movie. Today that all changes. Scientists announced this morning that they have for the first time ever detected both light and gravitational waves from a massive explosion in space c…

1
Does This Look Like Cancer? 8:39

6+ y ago8:39

8:39

A team of scientists and engineers led by Livia S. Eberlin at The University of Texas at Austin has invented a powerful tool that rapidly and accurately identifies cancerous tissue during surgery, delivering results in about 10 seconds. The MasSpec Pen is an innovative handheld instrument that gives surgeons precise diagnostic information about wha…

1
When Will We Have Quantum Computers? 7:59

7y ago7:59

7:59

Quantum computers might sound like science fiction. A fully functioning quantum computer could complete calculations in a matter of seconds that would take a conventional computer millions of years to process. Science fiction or not, they’re already here. Scientists at Google, Microsoft, IBM and elsewhere are building and studying them. At this poi…

1
Can Sound Save a Fish? 9:33

7y ago9:33

9:33

Gulf Corvina look pretty ordinary—they’re a couple of feet long and silvery. Yet the sounds they make—when millions get together to spawn—are a kind of wonder of the natural world. It’s also why they are in danger. Gulf Corvina live in only one place in the world—the Gulf of California. A decade ago, the Mexican government asked marine biologist Br…

1
Keeps Us on Our Toes 5:26

7y ago5:26

5:26

Worried that smart robots are taking over the world? You’ll be relieved to know they still have a long way to go. That is unless you’re an artificial intelligence researcher like Peter Stone. One big challenge facing robots that walk and run is that they fall over a lot. Take for example the annual RoboCup competition in which small human-like robo…

1
The Science of Relationships 17:26

7y ago17:26

17:26

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re speaking with Lisa Neff, a researcher studying what makes happy, healthy romantic relationships tick. Neff is an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. She answers several burning questions, including: What are the health benefits of rom…

1
Resetting the Alcoholic Brain 10:56

7+ y ago10:56

10:56

Adron Harris, director of the Waggoner Center for Alcoho and Addiction Research at The University of Texas at Austin, and his team mapped the differences in gene expression between an alcoholic's brain and a non-alcoholic's brain. They found that, as a person becomes dependent on alcohol, thousands of genes in their brains are turned up or down, li…

1
The Mighty Copepod 7:05

7+ y ago7:05

7:05

These teeny shrimp-like critters at the bottom of the ocean food web seem totally unimportant. But throw in an oil spill and some well-intentioned human intervention and they can have a huge impact, right up to the top of the food web, including sea turtles, dolphins and humans. Meet the mighty copepod. About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery i…

1
Evolution Inspires Anthrax Cure 10:04

7+ y ago10:04

10:04

This fall marks the 15th anniversary of the U.S. anthrax letter attacks that sickened dozens of people and killed five. At the time, there was no effective treatment for a late stage infection. The attacks accelerated work already underway at the University of Texas at Austin. Brent Iverson, George Georgiou and Jennifer Maynard borrowed a page from…

1
The Last First Planetary Mission 8:30

7+ y ago8:30

8:30

The New Horizons spacecraft brought humanity face to face with the last unexplored planet in our solar system: Pluto. What we're learning is amazing. But, time and again, the mission almost didn't happen. University of Texas at Austin alumnus Alan Stern describes the challenges, and the joys, of the last first mission to a planet. For a complete tr…

1
Bacterial BFFs or Frenemies? 5:45

7+ y ago5:45

5:45

About how long would you say the microbes living in your gut have been there? You might be surprised by what researchers discovered when they compared the microbes in our guts with those of our closest relatives, the great apes. Tell Us What You Think Take our short survey at: http://txsci.net/utpodcastsurvey About Point of Discovery Point of Disco…

1
Looking Forward ... and Back: Podcast Updates 2:51

8y ago2:51

2:51

This summer, we're celebrating a milestone: one year of telling you science stories from the frontlines here at the University of Texas at Austin. In this episode, we give a sneak peek at upcoming shows, recap some highlights from the past year and invite you, the listener, to take a quick survey to let us know how we're doing. The survey is at: ht…

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