Shows
Science Of The TimesThe Quantum Revolution: Lee Smolin’s Bold Theory to Unite PhysicsTheoretical physics has two theories at its core that are not straightforward to link – quantum mechanics and general relativity. Lee Smolin, one of the world’s greatest living theoretical physicists, has spent his career working out why the theory of quantum mechanics is incomplete and how it might link to general relativity. He is an advocate of versions of quantum loop gravity. His work to marry the two theories resulted in him developing the theory of cosmological natural selection. Join Syma and Tim as they talk to Lee about theoretical physics. His book is called Einst...2025-05-0832 minScience Of The TimesSpecial Edition- Can academia provide solutions to threats to biodiversity?Biodiversity is under threat, and there are many ongoing efforts to help save it, including from within universities. But are academic contributions doing any good? Our cohost Tim Coulson discussed this topic with Professor Dame EJ Milner-Gulland in the Oxford Martin School (OMS) in April. Thanks to Carlyn Samuel, OMS and the OMS team for hosting the debate and allowing us to record. 2025-05-021h 09Science Of The TimesShould we fear AI?Artificial intelligence is a modern-day technology that will impact the way we live much as past innovations like mastering fire, and inventing the printing press, home computers and the internet changed civilisation. But what exactly is it, how does it work, and what are the opportunities and risks of its continued development? We talk to Chris Summerfield about Artificial Intelligence and his fabulous new book, “These Strange New Minds: How AI Learned to Talk and What It Means” recently published by Penguin.https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/460891/these-strange-new-minds-by-summerfield-christopher/9780241694657Our sponsor for this episode is Grace and...2025-04-2555 minScience Of The TimesNatural and artificial genetic hybrids: dogs, coyotes and dire wolves. PART 2Colossal Bioscience has brought genetic variation back from the grave. It is a remarkable technological achievement, but is it species de-extinction? In this second part of this podcast we talk to Professor Peter Hudson FRS, a world-leading ecologist, who is concerned by Colossal’s claims and what they might mean.2025-04-1833 minScience Of The TimesNatural and artificial genetic hybrids: dogs, coyotes and dire wolves.Colossal Bioscience has brought genetic variation back from the grave. It is a remarkable technological achievement, but is it species de-extinction? We talk to Professor Bridgett vonHoldt, a world-leading dog geneticist, who was involved in Colossal Bioscience’s recent dire wolf de-extinction work that has caused some controversy. In part 2 of this podcast we talk a world-leading ecologist who gives us his - different - take.The link below is a genetics paper, not talking about de-extinction.https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.09.647074v12025-04-1738 minScience Of The TimesWill Zombie ants be the last of us?A bonus episode in which Tim and Syma discuss how the zombie ant-based creatures seen on popular dystopian future drama Last of Us are based on real fungi (Cordyceps) which infect ants - and then exploit the now zombie ants to produce more fungi, killing the ants in the process. Yes it’s a bit gruesome, but it’s science!2025-04-1605 minScience Of The TimesSPECIAL EDITION - Interview with David Baker 2024 Nobel Prize winner for ChemistrySyma and Tim are joined by Nobel Laureate David Baker, one of the winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on computational protein design. This follows the interview with Tim Jenkins, and Susana Vasquez in Episode 7 who worked with David. After the interview Tim asks Syma to explain in simple terms the process of protein design and what may be possible in the future.2025-04-1312 minScience Of The TimesDe-mything the hype around de-extinctionColassal says it has de-extincted an animal. Is this a dire wolf or a dire mistake? Join Tim and Syma on this short bonus edition!2025-04-1008 minScience Of The TimesSnake venom 'milkers' beware the proteins and not the snake!Proteins are the workhorses of life, with thousands overseeing and getting involved in reactions within our cells. Biologists have long dreamed of being able to make designer proteins to do specific tasks, and recently a team of scientists have made this happen. Syma and Tim talk to researchers who designed, and then made, a protein that neutralises a type of snake venom. In the first release we talk to Susana Vázquez and Tim Jenkins who were key members of the team, and in the second release, on Sunday, we chat with David Baker who was one of the re...2025-04-1041 minScience Of The TimesHow did dogs become our best friend?Dogs are people’s best friend, but how did that happen? Did we tame them or did they train us, or is it a bit of both? Join us as we discuss domestication with Greger Larson and Lachlan Scarsbrook2025-04-0239 minScience Of The TimesNot all birds are the sameNot all Birds are the same. In analyses of thousands of hours of bird song our guests, Nilo Merino Recalde and Ben Sheldon found predictable variation in the calls of great tits. Showcasing the power of AI in analyses of data from the natural world they show birds show cultural differences much like humans do.https://nilomr.github.io/2025-03-2639 minScience Of The TimesOSIRIS-REx 'Touch and go' and the emergence of life elsewhere in the cosmos!OSIRIS-REx is a space craft that visited the asteroid Bennu, returning samples to Earth in late 2023. The first exciting results from the analyses of these samples are just being published. In the first part of the Podcast we talk to Sara Russell about the mission and her recently published results, and then in the second Part we talk to Addy Pross on what the insights mean for the emergence of life elsewhere in the cosmos. Link to Sara's paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08495-6Link to Addy's book: https://www.amazon.co...2025-03-181h 12Science Of The TimesUnravelling the secrets of our genes.Tim and Syma’s guests are Gordon Sanghera and Lakmal Jayasinghe of Oxford Nanopore Technologies. They discuss how their elegant technology is transforming the ease with which we can now learn what information is contained in our genes and how this is being used already in hospitals to detect for example, cancers in children. Gordon gives his vision of what might be achievable in the future.2025-03-1148 minScience Of The TimesSmart Male Fish Get The Girls!Later in this episode, Tim flies solo in the wake of Syma's imminent departure for duties on the west coast of the US!Tim's guests are Ivan Vinogradov and Michael Jennions, both of the Australian National University, and co-authors of the scientific paper 'Paternity analysis reveals sexual selection on cognitive performance in mosquitofish".It would appear that smarter male fish are more likely to mate and produce more offspring! How on earth could this be true?!! Join Tim, Ivan and Michael to find out.Link to the paper - https://www.nature.c...2025-03-0530 minScience Of The TimesHello! Welcome to our new podcast.In this introductory episode, Syma and Tim introduce themselves and explain what subjects and ideas they hope to bring to their audience, and some of the things they will be covering in future episodes. Subscribe now for future episodes!2025-02-2630 min
Phase Space Invaders (ψ)Episode 14 - Syma Khalid: New ways to fight bacteria, the bacterial envelope, and kindness & openness in academiaSend us a textIn the fourteenth episode, Syma Khalid and I talk about the challenges we're faced with when trying to understand the environment of the bacterial cell envelope, and the outer membrane in particular. We discuss how the lessons taken from the computational study of these structures can inform the design of future antibacterial agents. Then, we move on to consider strategies for making the scientific environment of one's research group a place to thrive, develop, and live a happy and fulfilling life.2024-06-2523 min