American Scientist Podcast

Over two decades of research, veterinarian and professor of medicine Ed Breitschwerdt of North Carolina State University has shown that these bacteria can infect humans and other mammals, causing a variety of perplexing symptoms.

Because penguins have been around for over 60 million years, their fossil record is extensive. Fossils that Dr. Ksepka and his colleagues have discovered provide clues about migration patterns and the diversity of penguin species. Dr. Ksepka goes into more depth about how his research is piecing together the evolutionary puzzle of penguins and other related bird species.

In American Scientist 's first Google Hangout On Air, managing editor Fenella Saunders talks with Prof. Dr. Peter Gruss, president of the Max Planck Society, a nonprofit research organization that has promoted research at its own institutes since 1948, about growing basic research and the various ways to do so.

Dr. Darlene Taylor uses molecular engineering to develop what she calls smart materials- substances that can sense and respond in some way to a change in their environment. Perhaps the most exciting use for smart materials is helping to deliver powerful drugs to specific target sites deep inside the body without affecting other tissues along the way.

Dr. Antonio Baines is an associate professor in the Department of Biology at North Carolina Central University, an adjunct professor in the Department of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a cancer researcher. Dr. Baines research focuses on understanding a gene called Ras, and its role as a molecular target in pancreatic cancer. His resea...

Most scientists will tell you that one of the inspirations for their work is to somehow benefit mankind, whether thats through new medicines or a better understanding of the formation of the universe. But how can scientists ensure that mankind knows about their work? Science author and journalist Dennis Meredith discusses how scientists can become better communicators of their research.

Dr. Ron Alterovitz, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, talks about current and future research and challenges involving robots used in clinical and home environments.

Dr. Ilse Ipsen, a professor in the Department of Mathematics at North Carolina State University, goes in-depth about how mathematicians can use the Monte Carlo method, and other tools, to wrestle with the deluge of data emerging from the wide variety of scientific research areas.

Dr. Sukanta Basu, an associate professor at North Carolina State University, talks about the benefits and challenges of wind power and what it could mean for the future of renewable energy.

Karl Wegmann, a geologist at North Carolina State University, may change how people view earthquake risks in the eastern Mediterranean. He has also helped date the age of stone tools on Crete, artifacts that suggest that we Homo sapiens were not the first of our lineage to build or use boats.

Current therapies are very good at keeping HIV under control, but they never completely cure it. David Margolis, a physician and researcher at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, studies the molecular biology of HIV infections. In this podcast, Margolis speaks with associate editor Elsa Youngsteadt about what it will take to cure a person (or a mouse) of HIV.

Southern Appalachian forests are a global biodiversity hotspot. But theyre also rich with coal. Duke University ecologist Emily Bernhardt led a recent study that documents the long-term, widespread effects of surface coal mining on the regions waterways.

Duke University geneticist Misha Angrists genome is a public document, thanks to his participation in Harvard's Personal Genome Project. Angrist reflects on the medical and ethical implications of the project in his 2010 book, Here is a Human Being: At the Dawn of Personal Genomics.