McGill Podcasts » Freaky Fridays

Wonder why you keep hearing about so many new infectious diseases? How do we manage them? Come explore the perpetual arms race between humans and microbes as we both battle for survival in our modern world.

This Freaky Friday explores the fascinating field of brain development (assembly) and what happens when it goes wrong, in particular in the spinocerebellar ataxia SCA6.

By Bill Coish (Physics, McGill). How can we realistically use large scale quantum mechanical effects to our advantage? Check out these interviews in Nature and on CBC Radio 1 where Dr. Coish talks about quantum information science.

By Roberta Palmour (Genetics, McGill). How do specific personality traits themselves predispose to particular types of mental illness? Listen to Roberta Palmour’s interview on CBC about personality disorders and her work with monkeys’ personality traits.

By Jennifer A. Bartz (Psychology, McGill). Oxytocin is widely known as the “love hormone” released during birth and breastfeeding to bond a mother and child, but it’s released other times, too. Like during an orgasm. Or a romantic date. Oxytocin supposedly overflows us with positive feelings about one another. Or does it? Read more about [...]

By Emily Bamforth (Ph.D. candidate, Redpath Museum and Biology, McGill). Is a Pterodactyl really a dinosaur? Could ‘Jurassic Park’ actually happen? Come and find what you may not have known about society’s favorite prehistorical creatures. Check out this interview on CBC Radio 1

The applications of radiation are as wide as the myths surrounding it. In this lecture, Arman Sarfehnia will discuss what radiation is, and look at a brief history of radiation, how it was discovered and what role it has played in our lives. The applications of radiation in diagnostic radiology and radiation oncology will be [...]

What is aging? Recent animal studies have shown that clioquinol — an 80-year-old drug once used to treat diarrhea and other gastrointestinal disorders — can reverse the progression of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases. According to Dr. Siegfried Hekimi, clioquinol acts irectly on a protein called CLK-1, often informally called “clock-1,” and might slow down [...]

McGill Psychology prof John Lydon delivers a Freaky Friday lecture on the science of close relationships: what are the physiological and psychological mechanisms that keep us in “love” ?

Not only do some birds sing but they sing cleverly. Female birds prefer males that sing ‘prettier songs', but sometimes they have a strange definition of ‘pretty'. Neeltje Boogert discusses some amazing facts about animal communication.

How and why has science found its special place in popular films? What is the scientific significance of films like Avatar, Gattaca, and Tron?

Genetic engineering is the direct human manipulation of an organism’s genetic material in a way that does not occur under natural conditions. It involves the use of recombinant DNA techniques, but does not include traditional animal and plant breeding or mutagenesis. Learn about the genetic modification in experimental mice being used for research purposes.

Find out about the evolution of this baby black hole, and learn why, contrary to popular myth, a black hole is not a cosmic vacuum cleaner. What does it mean to be “sucked” into a black hole? Does the CERN reactor have anything to do with it?

Find out the origins of the planet’s oldest rocks and how they are linked to meteorites and the start of life on earth.

This lecture considers the public and scientific reaction to the UFO phenomenon from the perspectives of personality, psychology and the philosophy of science.

Hypnosis is an interesting tool for understanding how the mind works in terms of attention and suggestion. But can it be used therapeutically?

This lecture reviews the evidence about “Close Encounters,” the most controversial aspect of the UFO phenomenon, in which humans allegedly encounter and interact with extra-terrestrial beings. Donderi will review several well-documented close encounter cases and describe his own involvement in interviewing witnesses. He will illustrate a psychological science approach to these observations by describing two [...]

Expert mycologist Suha Jabaji speaks about the world of fungi and their integral relationship with the health of the planet in this Freaky Friday presentation.

Dr. Angelika Meschede speaks about the amazing world and diversity of bats, how vampire bats really feed, and how they may one day help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

In this Freaky Friday presentation, McGill psychology professor Don Donderi explains how and why he came to study the UFO phenomenon, and describes the chronology of the popular, official, and scientific viewpoint on the matter. He also reviews two UFO cases he has personally investigated.

In his second lecture on UFOs, Donderi reviews the UFO evidence in detail and outlines the relationship between the evidence and the psychology of perception, motivation and belief. He also covers the interactions between skeptics like Carl Sagan and non-skeptical scientists and scholars like James E. McDonald and C.G. Jung. Finally, in keeping with the [...]

Bruno Tremblay from McGill’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences examines the truth and fiction of melting arctic glacial ice.

Presented by Matthew de Courcy-Ireland in honour of the late William Moser, Professor Emeritus at the McGill Department of Mathematics and Statistics, this lecture looks at some of the surprises to be found when dealing with mathematical probability.

There is a deeply ingrained assumption that humans are fundamentally different from other animals. To what degree, and in what ways is this true? Through the classic film Planet of the Apes André Costopoulos reflects on what makes us human.

Dr. Christopher Buddle, McGill’s foremost spider expert, elaborates on the how Arachnids are misunderstood and under-appreciated.

What is a perfect storm? To an atmospheric scientist, it is a storm in which several factors come together to make it especially catastrophic. The 1998 Ice Storm was a perfect storm and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was another.

McGill paleontologist Hans Larsson tells us why sharks have been misunderstood as relentless man-eaters.

Dr. David Bird from the Avian Science and Conservation Centre at McGill discusses reproduction in birds.