Flowspark Media

Sciencentric

Science EN ↓ 36 episodes

Welcome to Sciencentric, your portal to captivating content at the intersection of science, society, and the natural world! Founded in 2018 by filmmaker, journalist, and host Eric R Olson, Sciencentric seeks to bridge the divide between progress and Nature...innovation and conservation...all wrapped up in an entertaining and sometimes humorous package. Join us on a journey of curiosity and discovery, where we unravel the wonders of the world around us.

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Flowspark Media

Episodes

#12 Video Games & Psychology's Replication Crisis with Dr. Pete Etchells 18.10.2019 1:03:37

There is a growing body of scientific literature about video games. Not how their made, but how they impact our brains and our lives. Researchers are looking at questions like: do violent video games make us more violent in real life? Can games be addictive? Or, how much time sitting in front of the screen is really good for us? Our guest in this episode, psychology professor Pete Etchells, has ta...

#11 How to Use Your Brain with Neuroscientist Henning Beck 04.08.2019 46:40

We may marvel at the precision and efficiency of computers, wishing our brains operated in much the same way. We’d remember everything perfectly, we’d never feel bored or get distracted, we’d have laser-like focus, we’d be on all the time…. But not so fast, says our guest, neuroscientist Henning Beck. Henning is a writer, speaker, consultant and author of the forthcoming book “Scatterbrain: How th...

#10 Hacking the Code of Life with Molecular Biologist Nessa Carey 26.06.2019 43:31

In this episode, we’re talking about the most exciting thing to happen in biology in the last ten years--the development of the CRISPR-CAS9 gene-editing system, more commonly known as CRISPR. It’s a molecular tool that allows scientists to make precise changes to DNA, even within living cells. In the near future, CRISPR will have an impact on pretty much everything--from medicine to conservation t...

#9 Vanishing Fish with Marine Biologist Daniel Pauly 05.06.2019 1:00:16

Daniel Pauly is a professor of marine biology at the University of British Columbia and principal investigator of the Sea Around Us Project, which seeks to understand the impact that fisheries have on the world’s oceans. His new book, "Vanishing Fish: Shifting Baselines and the Future of Global Fisheries", is a kind of greatest hits of his essays over the years. He is perhaps most famous for the e...

#8 Getting Cultured with Author Katherine Courage 29.04.2019 31:59

The gut microbiome is the collection of microbes living in our digestive tract and concentrated in the large intestine. Science is revealing that a healthy microbiome has a number of important benefits related to digestion, weight loss, the immune system and even our mood. What we eat has big impact on the health of our gut microbes. In this episode, we speak with science writer Katherine Harmon C...

#7 Trump's Wall and the Environment with Journalist John Platt 03.04.2019 34:45

One of the most polarizing political issues of the day is President Trump’s proposed border wall. An Executive Order he signed in 2017 calls for a “contiguous, physical wall or other...impassable...barrier” along the entire U.S. Mexico border. The idea being that an unbroken, impassable wall would help deter illegal immigration and drug trafficking. According to a visual survey by USA Today, only...

#6 Talking De-extinction with Journalist Torill Kornfeldt 15.03.2019 36:23

Who can forget the classic 1993 movie Jurassic Park? In that film, scientists extracted dino DNA from mosquitoes trapped in amber fossils and used it to bring back all kinds terrifying creatures--from the mighty T-rex to overgrown velociraptors. Fast forward to 2019 and we’ve yet to create dinosaurs, or any other creatures, by extracting ancient DNA. It turns out DNA molecules degrade pretty quick...

#5 Solving a Red Wolf Mystery with Biologist Elizabeth Heppenheimer 07.03.2019 27:53

About six years ago, a wildlife biologist noticed a pack of mysterious creatures living on Galveston Island, a barrier island off the Gulf Coast of Texas. The creatures looked an awful lot like coyotes, but also red wolves, an ancient coyote-wolf hybrid that had been extinct in the wild for nearly 40 years. Eventually, scientists collected DNA samples from the mystery creatures, tested and analyze...

#4 Questioning the Mortality Plateau with Biologist Saul Newman 21.12.2018 34:11

As adults, our odds of dying doubles about every eight years. However, a high-profile paper published in Science this summer seems to tell a different story; past age 80 those increasing odds slow down and almost completely level off past 100, In this episode, we speak with Saul Newman, a biologist at the Australia National University in Canberra, who says this "mortality plateau" probably isn't r...

#3 Is Big Chicken a Symbol of the Anthropocene? 14.12.2018 30:39

Is the broiler chicken an icon of the anthropocene--an era when humans are are radically altering the biology and geology of the planet? A new paper out of the UK says so and we take a look at the authors' argument. Support us on Patreon: bit.ly/2GjxdoL Check our list of recommended science books: bit.ly/2zOIiYU Links: How chickens became the ultimate symbol of the Anthropocene https://theconversa...

#2 Everything We Know about the CRISPR Babies 08.12.2018 37:20

We explore the latest news out of China that a scientist has created genetically-modified babies using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system. Support us on Patreon: https://bit.ly/2GjxdoL Check our list of recommended science books: https://bit.ly/2zOIiYU Links: The He Lab YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0MrOF3n_8ZrklRxAm4zoA_zBiG7mvMU4 Why Are Scientists So Upset About the...