The Show About Science

Mark Hersam is a professor of Chemistry and Materials Science Engineering at Northwestern University. He joins Nate in The Show About Science studio to talk about nanotechnology, carbon nanotubes and how a pencil and some scotch tape led to the Nobel Prize winning discovery of graphene. This video on graphene from The Verge Science was really helpful when researching this episode: https://www.thev...

On this episode of The Show About Science, we’re teaming up with Lindsay and Marshall, the hosts of Tumble, to listen back to some of their favorite moments from Season 4 of the show. This episode shares the stories behind the science and features clips from Rob Dunn (“Discover the Wildlife of Your Home”), Anne Hilborn (“The Secret to Cheetahs’ Super Speed”), Erika Rader (“What Would Earth Be Like...

Laura Prugh is an Associate Professor of Quantitative Wildlife Sciences at the University of Washington. There, she studies the dynamics of wildlife populations and communities, with a particular interest in facilitation, trophic interactions, and indirect effects. She joins Nate on this episode of The Show About Science to talk about mesopredators, apex predators and what we can learn by studying...

Hey Show About Science fans! I've been working hard on a new podcast and I want to share a few episodes with you. It's called The Show About Politics and I know you're going to love it. If you do, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. On March 15, 2019, tens of thousands of students around the world skipped school to protest their governments inaction on climate chan...

Hey Show About Science fans! I've been working hard on a new podcast and I want to share a few episodes with you. It's called The Show About Politics and I know you're going to love it. If you do, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Governor Jeb Bush is the son of former President George H. W. Bush and younger brother of former President George W. Bush. Jeb joins N...

Hey Show About Science fans! I've been working hard on a new podcast and I want to share a few episodes with you. It's called The Show About Politics and I know you're going to love it. If you do, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Author Cynthia Levinson joins Nate on this episode of The Show About Politics to tell the story of the youngest known child to be arre...

It's time for a field trip! On this episode, Nate heads out of the studio to visit three scientists who work at The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. First, Nate interviews Terry Gosliner, who studies sea slugs and the coral reefs they call home. Next, Nate chats with Lauren Esposito, a scorpion biologist whose interest in entomology started at a very early age. Then Nate visits the...

"Do House-Elves Clean Your Brain While You Sleep?" That's the title of an exciting new article featured in Frontiers for Young Minds by Ken Paller. Ken is a professor at Northwestern University where he designs experiments that can provide insights into memory and our conscious experiences. On this episode, he visits The Show About Science Studios to talk about his article, cognitive neu...

Nate returns to the Coal+Ice stage with his second guest, Sylvia Earle, for another live taping of The Show About Science. Dr. Earle is an oceanographer, explorer, and author working to protect the ocean and its wildlife. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at Fort Mason in San Francisco on September 15, 2018. Special thanks to Tom Corwin, Marlene Saritzky, and everyone at the Co...

Captain Don Walsh is a retired U.S. Navy submarine captain, who in addition to his work as an oceanographer has made 40 expeditions to the Arctic. On January 23, 1960, he and Jacques Piccard descended to the deepest point in the world, the Mariana Trench. Nate was able to interview Walsh in front of a live audience on September 15, 2018 as part of the Coal+Ice Festival in San Francisco. The Coal+I...

Shannon Bennett is the Chief of Science and the Harry W. and Diana V. Hind Dean of Science and Research Collections at the California Academy of Sciences. When Shannon Bennett traveled to Liberia in college, she never guessed the experience would launch her lifelong fascination with microbiology. She shares that story with Nate on the first ever live episode of The Show About Science. This episode...

After graduating with his PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, John Crassidis went to work at the NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center. Now he's a professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he builds satellites and researches the massive amount of man-made space junk. He joins Nate on this episode to talk about the trash orbiting the earth, and what might be done to clean...

Milo Cress was 9 when he started the Be Straw Free project. Now 17, Milo's research and activism have convinced organizations like Starbucks and the Shedd Aquarium to stop offering customers plastic straws. Milo joins Nate on this episode of The Show About Science to talk about his interests in the environment and conservation, and explains how kids can act to change the world. Hosted by Simplecas...

In outer space, there are objects so powerful that nothing can escape their gravitational pull. They're called black holes. Bob McNees is a physicist at Loyola University who studies gravity, general relativity, and the physics of black holes. Bob joins Nate on this episode of The Show About Science to talk about quantum mechanics, the work of Stephen Hawking, and of course, black holes. Hosted by...

CryptoKitties is a game centered around breedable, collectible, and oh-so-adorable creatures called CryptoKitties! CryptoKitties is one of the world’s first games to be built on blockchain technology—the same breakthrough that makes things like Bitcoin and Ethereum possible. The creator of CryptoKitties, Dieter Shirley, joins Nate on this episode to talk about creating games on the blockchain. Fin...

Verd has been growing food for as long as he can remember, beginning in his family’s backyard garden in Oak Park, Illinois. At age sixteen, he left home to live and work on a communal farm in Austin, Texas, where he stayed for ten years and met his future wife, Jeanne. In 2005, Verd and Jeanne started The Organic Gardener Ltd., a company that creates beautiful and productive organic edible gardens...

Manatees are large marine mammals found in shallow coastal waters near Florida, Brazil, and the west coast of Africa. Manatees are occasionally called sea cows, because, like cows, they are slow, peaceful, and graze on plants. Sheri Barton is a Senior Biologist at the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Florida, where she studies these fascinating creatures. On this episode of The Show About...

Did you know that there are tiny microbes that call our bodies home? These microorganisms live on and inside of us. You can even take a test to learn which ones make up your microbiome. Stefan Green is a microbial ecologist who runs the DNA Sequencing Lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Stefan joins Nate to talk about what the microbiome is and why these tiny little microbes are so impor...

Jesse Schell is a video game designer and a professor of entertainment technology at Carnegie Mellon University. He is also the creator of “Happy Atoms,” a game that helps kids learn how atoms bond to form new molecules. Jesse joins Nate on this episode to talk about how “Happy Atoms” uses technology like augmented reality to teach kids about chemistry. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. Se...

When organs like kidneys and livers fail, it can be scary—especially for kids. But the science of regenerative medicine, where new organs are created from a patient's own cells and tissue, is a promising new field in medicine. Dr. Anthony Atala is the Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and he joins Nate on this episode to talk about how new organs can be created in the...

Last summer, Nate was walking to the train when he spotted a giant wasp carrying a cicada. Later he discovered that the insect he saw was a cicada killer wasp. These insects will paralyze cicadas with their venomous sting, but luckily rarely sting humans. Blake Newton is an entomologist at the University of Kentucky. He joins Nate on this episode of The Show About Science to talk about these fasci...

David Shoesmith is a professor of electrochemistry and corrosion science at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He joins Nate on this episode of The Show About Science to explain why metal rusts and how it corrodes. They also talk about an experiment that you can conduct at home to see rust form. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our colle...

Kids can do amazing things. And if you need proof of that, look no further than this episode of The Show About Science! First up is kid inventor Allie Weber, the host of the YouTube channel Tech-nic-Allie Speaking. After that is the story of Sophia Spencer, who inspired the hashtag #BugsR4Girls and co-authored a research paper for Annals of the Entomological Society of America. Finally, Nate chats...

What can we learning from studying teeth? As it turns out, quite a bit! Dr. Tanya Smith is working to understand how teeth grow, why they vary, and how this information can advance the field of human evolutionary biology. Dr. Smith joins Nate on this episode to talk about her work. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of persona...

J Steele-Louchart is a Perceptual Navigation Instructor with World Access for the Blind. Blind from the age of 12, J began teaching himself Perceptual Navigation based on materials published online by World Access For The Blind Lead Founder and President Daniel Kish. Now J teaches others how to see the world around them using their ears and a technique called flash sonar. He joins Nate on this epi...