American Scientist Podcast

An interview with Jeff Dean, head of artificial intelligence at Google, about the major advances and concerns facing current artificial intelligence research, and how it interfaces with human society.

Young women have a low risk of heart disease, and sex differences in this bodily system could help explain why.

A new pharmaceutical specifically for postpartum depression is approved and a large, ongoing study may yield insight into depression generally, informing future treatment.

An interview with Ulrich Parlitz, a biomedical physicist, on using artificial intelligence to predict the propagation of the heart's electrical signals in order to make defibrillation safer.

An interview with Anna Marie Skalka, whose primary research focus has been understanding viruses’ many functions -- both harmful and helpful.

Studying the neurons of a most elusive and delicate animal, hydra, required a new trap, which worked... at least for a little while. Here's our interview with Jacob Robinson, a neuroengineer at Rice University, whose team developed that trap.

At age 31, astrophysicist Gene Parker, now 91, mathematically described what we now call the "solar wind." This August, NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe -- the first mission named after a living person -- to study the Sun and solar wind, seeking to solve a sixty-year-old mystery.

Reading from "The People Vs Tech: How the Internet Is Killing Democracy (and How We Save It)," author Jamie Bartlett tells one story of Donald Trump's campaign's digital strategy and their collaboration with Facebook in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.

Mapping "star stuff" onto the periodic table -- an interview with Jennifer Johnson, a professor of astronomy at the Ohio State University who studies the history of the Milky Way and its stars.

An interview with the TESS mission's Sara Seager, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at MIT who focuses on theoretical models of atmospheres and interiors of all kinds of exoplanets as well as novel space science missions.

An interview with Jamie Bartlett on his new book, "The People Vs. Tech: How the Internet is Killing Democracy (and How We Save It)."

Our voices reveal many cues about sex, gender, and sexual orientation, but science doesn't support the stereotypes.

The bioinspired engineering it takes just to study the cells lining the human gut

A zoologist and a composer combine efforts, setting a scientific talk about the eastern coyote to a soundtrack.

Your sensory experience of food doesn't end when you swallow.

New developments in anti-viral therapies may be able to prevent some future pandemics.

The first 3D imaging of the intricate cardiac conduction system provides new detail for researchers and surgeons.

For thousands of years, humanity has been computing the exact timing of eclipses. We're close. But with a little more data, we could be even closer still.

How all that fake news -- designed to sway public opinion, sway your vote, pile on insults -- gets around.

An interview with a biologist who studies physiological mechanisms of complex social behavior about new research on the hormones that affect bird behavior.

A discussion of three different experiences at three different Marches for Science, as well as some lessons learned in taking the next steps in advocating for science-based policy.

An interview with a microbiologist about research on using the belly's bacteria to avoid the symptoms of lactose intolerance.

A discussion about how to address the uncertainty about science's role in our federal government and the consequences of political interference.

A new form of carbon is harder than diamond and can be used to make diamonds, too.

Even though they are far smaller than the shortest wavelength of visible light, tiny biological objects can finally be imaged in multiple hues.