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Mairhart@austin.utexas.edu (Marc Airhart)

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AI for the Rest of UsAI for the Rest of UsLive with Kara SwisherKara Swisher, the one-of-a-kind tech reporter, podcaster and book author, dropped by The University of Texas at Austin’s Cactus Café for a spirited conversation with a live audience about her concerns over the concentration of power in a few big tech companies, the capacity of tech to be used as both a tool and a weapon, her embrace of self-driving cars and her belief that AI will never replace human creativity. Swisher is the host of the podcast On with Kara Swisher and the cohost of the Pivot podcast with Scott Galloway, both distributed by New York...2024-10-1031 minAI for the Rest of UsAI for the Rest of UsIs it Time to Regulate AI?Today on AI for the Rest of Us, we’re talking about AI and the law. What are the biggest risks of AI that are not currently regulated? Do the makers of AI chatbots like ChatGPT owe something to content creators whose material was scraped to train the models? What kinds of things could we do to make AI safer and more useful for everyone? And could too much regulation stifle innovation and US competitiveness?Matthew Murrell is a lawyer and lecturer in The University of Texas School of Law who is teaching a new class on th...2024-09-1226 minAI for the Rest of UsAI for the Rest of UsThe Algorithm Will See You NowToday on AI for the Rest of Us, we’re talking about AI in healthcare. There are a lot of wild claims about what AI can do to help make us healthier—so how can we figure out what’s real and what’s hype? And are there some potential pitfalls with these new technologies?Scott Graham is an associate professor of rhetoric at the University of Texas at Austin and author of the book The Doctor and the Algorithm: Promise, Peril and the Future of Health AI. He uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to study communica...2024-08-1524 minAI for the Rest of UsAI for the Rest of UsIntroducing: AI for the Rest of UsWe’re celebrating the launch of “AI for the Rest of Us”, a podcast to help get you up to speed on the essentials of artificial intelligence. Every two weeks, we’ll sit down with UT faculty experts and get them talking, in simple terms, about how AI might transform healthcare, work, the ways we learn and how we make big decisions. About AI for the Rest of UsAI for the Rest of Us is a joint production of The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Natural Sciences and College of Liberal Art...2024-05-2902 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryFrog PandemicUntil 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 their own pandemic that, according to biologist Kelly Zamudio, has several eerie parallels with COVID-19. Perhaps our own encounters with a pandemic will give us new sympathy for our slimy, bug-eyed friends.A 2019 study in Science found that a ch...2022-01-1311 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryBONUS: Presenting the Texas Podcast NetworkTo 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-podcast-network Music for today’s show was produced by:Podington Bear - https://www.podingtonbear.com/ About Point of DiscoveryPoint of Discovery is a production of the University of Te...2021-08-1612 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryThe Case Against SpankingPhysical 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 physical and mental health of people who are punished this way?In today’s special episode, we’re teaming up with Ike Evans, producer of the Into the Fold podcast, to jointly interview one of the world’s expert...2021-05-1239 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryArtificial Intelligence Revs Up Evolution’s ClockEvolutionary 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 simulate the life and death of thousands of generations of animals in a matter of hours or days. It’s called computational evolution. One behavior that’s long baffled biologists is called mobbing, in which a gang of hyenas team up to steal prey from muc...2020-10-1210 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryAsk the COVID-19 ExpertsWe 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 these questions, and more. Meet our experts: Professor Lauren Ancel Meyers is an epidemiologist and leader of the UT COVID-19 Modeling Consortium. Her team recently found that the virus was circulating in C...2020-08-2012 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryThe Next 50 Years: Anybody Out There?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.utexas.edu/news/tags/the-next-50-years Scientists from across UT Austin are joining forces in the hunt for life on other planets. Astronomers, geoscientists, chemists, biologists and aerospace engineers have pooled resources to form the UT...2020-06-0712 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryThe Next 50 Years: A Model of Life on the Atomic ScaleCan 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 entire living cell for hours or longer. But he says there are two big catches. Baiz shares his vision for the future in this latest episode of our miniseries, The Next 50 Years. Check out more...2020-04-2810 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryScience Amid the Social DistanceDaily 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 offer us as we take on societal challenges. We’ve put together a compilation from our previous episodes that we hope will help you find some solace right now: in rediscovering life, the people we'r...2020-03-2727 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryThe Next 50 Years: An A.I. Designed to Make Life BetterArtificial 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 Systems initiative at the University of Texas at Austin, which is trying to hash out guiding principles for building AI systems that are more likely to have a positive impact and fewer unintended consequences. He shares his team’s vision for the future in th...2020-03-1010 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryComing Soon: A New Podcast MiniseriesIf 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, producer and host Marc Airhart chats with senior editor Christine Sinatra about the podcast. We also share some exciting news: we’re kicking off a new miniseries called The Next 50 Years. The...2019-12-1806 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryYou Belong Here: What It Takes for Success in CollegeWhy 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 am I doing? And that kind of made me panic.” In today’s show, math professor Uri Treisman and chemistry professor David Laude describe ways they support students through th...2019-09-2015 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryBetter AI Vision to Help Save LivesKristen 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 situation—like a burning building—and relay information back to firefighters or other personnel. To see an animation of how the new AI agent creates a full view of the world from just a few glimpses, go to our pr...2019-06-1708 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryA Machine That Understands Language Like a HumanOne 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 brain activity in a human listening to someone speaking. If a computer could begin to extract the same kinds of meaning from a set of words as a human does, that might help explain how the human brain itself makes sense of...2019-04-2610 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryA Love Letter from Texas Scientists to the Periodic TableWe’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 that burst from an egg when it’s fertilized by sperm. Astronomer Michael Endl is searching for chemical signs of life in the atmospheres of exoplanets. Kate Biberdorf (a.k.a. Kate the Chemist) found new ways to speed up...2019-03-0616 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryBringing Real Science to the Big ScreenWhat’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 about a scientists’ worth. (BTW, Interstellar star Matthew McConaughey is also a UT Austin alum) Special thanks to the family of Bryce DeWitt and Cécile DeWitt-Morette for their involvement in bringing Dr. Thorne to Austin for the i...2019-01-2209 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryRecap: A Big Week in ScienceThe 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 row, one of our alumni (James Allison) nabbed the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine. What’s more, the Nobel Prizes given in the categories of physics and chemistry this year were also celebrated by sci...2018-10-0542 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryOf Fruit Flies, Nobel Prizes and Genetic Discoveries that Change the WorldLast 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 daily rhythm of light and dark. In today’s episode, Young reveals the series of lucky events that launched him into the forefront of circadian rhythm research, what’s really going on in your body when you experience jet lag and how insigh...2018-09-2710 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryWhich Mental Superpower Would You Choose?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 superpowers, like the ability to become a Kung Fu master by downloading new skills directly to your brain? Scientists are now working on brain-machine interfaces, systems that connect the human brain to a computer to do something...2018-06-2813 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryJames Allison Eases Off the BrakesForty 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 the few people who actually believed it could work. In today’s episode, Allison—an alumnus of the University of Texas at Austin and the chair of immunology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston—talk...2018-05-2110 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryWhen Science Communication Doesn’t Get ThroughClimate 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 PhD student in the Ecology, Evolution and Behavior graduate program at the University of Texas at Austin and a member of Austin Science Advocates. It also features Anthony Dudo, an associate professor in the Moody College of Communication at UT Austin who studies the science of science co...2018-04-1212 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryA Score to Settle with CancerJonathan 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 the four decades since, he’s founded two companies, one of which commercialized a blockbuster drug for leukemia and was sold for $21 billion. The other is working to develop a drug he invented to treat ovarian cancer, based on large molecules that deliver p...2018-03-0213 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryBONUS: Full Conversation with Three STEM DeansWe 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 shorter, highlights episode, go to: https://soundcloud.com/point-of-discovery/tackling-science-and-engineerings-diversity-problem About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all...2018-01-2524 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryTackling Science and Engineering's Diversity ProblemThe 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, creative thinkers and problem solvers from diverse backgrounds feel welcome and included in these fields? We invited three leaders in science and engineering to a discussion about these issues to find out what places like the University of Tex...2018-01-2513 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryThe Language BrokersMillions 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 Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, are debating whether being a language broker is good for children, or not. About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of T...2017-12-1408 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryCosmic Car WreckAstronomers 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 caused by the collision of two super-dense neutron stars. On today’s show, we talk to astrophysicist Pawan Kumar about what this breakthrough means for his field. Image: Artist’s illustration of two merging neutron stars. (Credit: NSF/LIGO/Sonoma State Un...2017-10-1607 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryDoes This Look Like Cancer?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 what tissue to cut or preserve, helping improve treatment and reduce the chances of cancer recurrence. The research is described in the Sept. 6 edition of the journal Science Translational Medicine. Learn more: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/scientists-new-device-accurately-identifies-cancer-in-seconds About Point of Discovery 2017-09-0708 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryWhen Will We Have Quantum Computers?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 point, they’re not very powerful. But Scott Aaronson, a theoretical computer scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, believes in the next few years, one of these teams may achieve something called quantum supremacy—the first demonstration of a quantum computer doing someth...2017-07-1107 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryCan Sound Save a Fish?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 Brad Erisman and his colleagues to study the Corvina. They were worried that heavy fishing might cause the population to collapse. When Erisman put a microphone in the water for the first time, he was blown aw...2017-04-2409 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryKeeps Us on Our ToesWorried 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 robots play soccer. Even with the best minds in computer science behind them, they’re about as graceful as toddlers. Now neuroscientist Michael Mauk thinks he has a solution. It could put robots one step closer to the ul...2017-03-1505 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryThe Science of RelationshipsIn 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 romantic relationships? How can newlyweds avoid communication breakdowns that result from external stress? and, Do optimists make better partners? Neff is recruiting volunteers for a new study focusing on the romantic relationships of seniors, called Relationship Experiences Across the Lifespan. She is spec...2017-02-1117 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryResetting the Alcoholic BrainAdron 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, like a dimmer switch on a lightbulb, compared to the same genes in a healthy person's brain. The scientists are now using an innovative technique to find drugs that can, in a sense, turn those switches back to their original settings and...2017-01-2210 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryThe Mighty CopepodThese 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 is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us...2016-12-1507 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryEvolution Inspires Anthrax CureThis 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 Mother Nature's playbook to develop the world's first treatment for late stage inhalation anthrax. Tell Us What You Think Take our short survey at: http://txsci.net/utpodcastsurvey About Point of Discovery Point...2016-10-2110 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryThe Last First Planetary MissionThe 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 transcript of this episode, visit our show page at: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/the-last-first-planetary-mission-audio Tell Us What You Think Take our short survey at: http://txsci.net/utpodcastsurvey About Point of Discovery2016-09-1208 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryBacterial BFFs or Frenemies?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 Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via...2016-08-0305 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryWhy is CGI in the Movies Still So Hard?As the summer movie season kicks into high gear, we talk with a scientist about some of the challenges in simulating the way everyday objects behave on the big screen. Etienne Vouga's computer simulations have helped bring to life a wizard's hair in The Hobbit and clothing in Tangled. To see examples of some of his simulations, go to: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/why-is-cgi-in-the-movies-still-so-hard About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes...2016-05-3107 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryHere's What Research Did for Me, Student StoriesAs the College of Natural Sciences’ Freshman Research Initiative celebrates its 10th anniversary, we speak to students and scientists about how doing research as freshmen and sophomores impacted them. About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: ww...2016-04-1007 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryJekyll and Hyde BacteriaTo study diseases, biologists often make models, for example, a rat with a disorder similar to Alzheimer's. With a good model, they can tinker with different variables and see if anything halts the disease, without the ethical limits of experimenting on actual humans. But scientists studying an especially nasty bacterium that tends to invade and breed out of control in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis (CF) kept hitting dead ends in their search for a good model. Pigs and rats that were genetically engineered to have the same gene defect that causes CF in humans...2016-03-2006 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoverySaving the BeesAs bees sharply decline around the world, two researchers are taking very different approaches to understand -- and potentially reverse -- this troubling trend. One is studying the microbes that live inside bees and help protect them against infections. The other is studying the links between changing landscapes and bee health. Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our...2016-02-1908 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryPyramid ProbeWhat would you do if you had Superman's x-ray vision? In today's episode of the Point of Discovery Podcast, we talk to a physicist about how he's using his superhuman powers to explore the insides of ancient Mayan pyramids without digging. This cool infographic shows how it works: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/pyramid-probe Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 ...2016-01-0107 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryThe Race for Dark EnergyWhat is the mysterious force that seems to be pushing the universe apart faster and faster? Scientists are racing to find the answers and along the way, might get a step closer to finding the "theory of everything." Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss ...2015-11-1610 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryThe Case of the Missing FolateWhen Richard Finnell first met her, Rachel was a nine-year-old girl with severe developmental delays. Her condition seemed to be caused by a deficiency in a critical B vitamin called folate. Yet she had plenty of folate circulating in her blood. Somehow it was vanishing before it got to her brain and spine. Eventually Finnell made a surprising discovery. He's now using new genetic tools like CRISPR to better understand her condition and test possible therapies. Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to...2015-10-1508 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryCocktail Party EffectHow do we manage to follow a conversation with a friend in the middle of a noisy room? Neuroscientists, like Nace Golding, are still working out the details—but what they've learned so far is pretty amazing. Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at https://soundcloud.com/point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss Qu...2015-09-0308 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryFun With ChemistryMeet chemistry lecturer Kate Biberdorf, founder of the wildly popular outreach program Fun With Chemistry. Learn more at: http://www.cm.utexas.edu/outreach/funwithchem Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at https://soundcloud.com/point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss Questions or comments about this episode or our series in general? Email...2015-06-2906 minPoint of DiscoveryPoint of DiscoveryBeauty and the YeastDespite a billion years of evolution separating us from the baker’s yeast in our refrigerators, hundreds of genes from an ancestor that we share live on nearly unchanged in us both, say biologists at The University of Texas at Austin. Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at https://soundcloud.com/point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/so...2015-06-0107 min