ScienceMatters:The Podcast of GT College of Sciences

The new dean of the Georgia Tech College of Sciences, Susan Lozier, is continuing her physical oceanography research as she takes the reins of her administrative duties in Tech Tower. She talks about her studies of “the global ocean conveyor belt,” her plans to get back to the ocean in 2020, and her commitment to mentorship.  

 Cosmologists use computers simulations to recreate the birth of stars and black holes. James “JC” Gumbart, an associate professor in the School of Physics, goes in the other direction: He uses powerful hardware and software to chart the possible paths of molecules like proteins in hopes of finding solutions to problems like antibiotic-resistant bacteria.    

Gardeners love peat moss; it’s great for growing. But Joel Kostka, professor in the School of Biological Sciences and the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, wonders if it serves as a warning sign for the impact of climate change on plants and microbes. He travels to a unique experimentation site in Minnesota to find answers to his questions.  

Georgia Tech science powers the technology behind TV and smartphone screens, thanks to breakthroughs in physics, chemistry, and materials science. Carlos Silva is adding to that legacy with his research into the next generation of semiconductors for electronic devices.    

School of Biological Sciences Associate Professor Lewis Wheaton uses his Cognitive Motor Control Lab to research the neurological processes involved when people cope with the loss of a limb, a stroke, or a traumatic brain injury that can impact motor skills.

Sally Ng is one of the top experts in the world on aerosol science, the study of tiny particles in our atmosphere and what they mean for our climate, and our health. Ng, an associate professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, describes her work testing air quality in the field, and in a special indoor lab that she designed.    

How can NASA stretch their fuel dollar for future missions to Jupiter and Saturn, and their potentially habitable moons? By using mathematical concepts that have been around for centuries. School of Mathematics Professor Rafael de la Llave is crunching the numbers for the space agency as it looks to save money during its next phase of exploration. 

The search for life elsewhere in the Solar System can start at the most inhospitable regions of Earth, like Iceland’s volcanic landscape, or frigid Antarctic waters. Amanda Stockton, assistant professor with the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, talks about her astrobiology work for NASA.  

How long has oxygen been in our planet’s atmosphere, and what could the answer mean for life on other planets? School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Professor Chris Reinhard researches the early Earth, and potential Earths outside our solar system.  

What can Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” teach us about paying attention? Are daydreamers really more intelligent and creative? Eric Schumacher, professor in the School of Psychology, talks about his research into the brain process known as cognitive control, and what it could mean for the future of communications, work, and education.      

When the Earth’s tectonic plates collide and slide, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Professor Zhigang Peng takes data from seismic sensors and creates “earthquake music.” The results can help scientists learn more about what goes on beneath the planet’s crust.

There’s more to meditation than just chanting mantras in your favorite yoga studio. Practitioners claim the benefits include better mental and physical health. Does the data back that up? School of Psychology Professor Paul Verhaeghen researches the science behind meditation.    

Glaucoma usually affects older people, but a form of the eye disease can strike younger patients, including children. That keeps School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Raquel Lieberman hard at work studying wayward proteins that may hold the key to new treatments for the second-leading cause of blindness.

One of the top algae scientists in the world, award-winning School of Biological Sciences Professor and Chairman Mark Hay, gives a grim prognosis for the world’s coral reefs. First of a two-part episode.

In Part Two of our podcast with School of Biological Sciences Professor and Chair Mark Hay, the scientists says some coral reefs damaged by climate change could heal themselves – if given the chance. 

His incessant curiosity inspires David Hu to search for the physics among water-walking geckos, bridge-building ants..and urinating zoo animals. Hu, an assistant professor in the School of Biological Sciences, has a joint appointment with the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. This conversation is an edited excerpt from the Uncommon Engineer podcast. (Our thanks to Steven McLaughlin, Dean of the College of Engineering.)

Kennda Lynch studies ancient lakes on Earth that serve as stand-ins for Mars’ formerly-flooded craters. The School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences postdoctoral researcher helps NASA look for potential landing sites on the planet, while also helping to build Georgia Tech’s astrobiology community. 

What is earthquake “music?” Can coral reefs devastated by climate change be saved? Does science support the supposed benefits of meditation? More tales of curiosity and discovery are coming in Season 2 of ScienceMatters, the podcast of the Georgia Tech College of Sciences.

Mostafa El-Sayed, Regents Professor and Julius Brown Chair in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, is working on a promising cancer treatment based on gold nanoparticles. His work is inspired by, and dedicated to, his late wife, who died from the disease.

School of Mathematics Professor Dan Margalit describes the beauty and creativity in his research area, topology, while we reveal its connection to the oldest of math jokes. Margalit also offers ways to help students overcome fear of mathematics.

What is “memory clutter”? Can we make it go away? Audrey Duarte, an associate professor in the School of Psychology, uses magnetic resonance imaging and special tests in her Memory and Aging Lab to discover what causes obstacles in the brain’s pathways as people age.

By day, she’s Jennifer Leavey, senior academic professional in the School of Biological Sciences. When she straps on a guitar, Leavey becomes Leucine Zipper, leader of the rock band Zinc Fingers. For a change of pace, ScienceMatters samples the band’s science-inspired songs. Leavey shares how the band uses music and other media to teach science.

Simon Sponberg, a professor with joint appointment in the School of Physics and the School of Biological Sciences, studies how animals move through their environments. Among his unusual research methods is placing moths on joysticks so they can “play” video games in virtual reality.

Possible scenarios for the birth of stars, galaxies, and black holes come alive in the data crunching and visualizations of John Wise, a professor in the School of Physics. Wise explains how his simulations and visualizations – some of which have won awards – help researchers “rewind” space and time back to the origins of the universe.

Massive whale sharks headline the Ocean Voyager exhibit at the Georgia Aquarium. Its tiniest residents are the ones that concern Nastassia Patin. The School of Biological Sciences postdoctoral researcher studies the exhibit's microbiome, and what she’s learning may help keep all aquariums clear and healthy.

The parasite that causes leishmaniasis, a scary flesh-rotting disease, is tough to beat, says School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor and Chair M.G. Finn. It usually ravages equatorial countries but is now in North America. Finn is teaming with Brazilian scientists to work on a potential vaccine.

Jenny McGuire, an assistant professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and the School of Biological Sciences, has a tough commute to her summer research site: an 80-foot drop into a deep, dark Wyoming cave. McGuire studies fossils to better understand climate change’s impact on animal and human populations.

ScienceMatters’ inaugural episode takes us back to the first day of the 2017-18 school year. As Georgia Tech welcomed students with a solar-eclipse-viewing, campus-wide party, School of Psychology researchers recreated the eclipse experience for a blind man by giving voice to data in real time.

Georgia Tech researchers help a blind man “hear” the 2017 solar eclipse, search for vaccines against deadly parasitic diseases, and rappel deep into caves in search of fossils. Here’s a preview of what’s to come in the inaugural season of ScienceMatters, the podcast of the Georgia Tech College of Sciences.

Why, indeed, does science matter? Former College of Sciences Dean and Sutherland Chair Paul Goldbart explains the need for evidence-based thinking. Also, the College adds a neuroscience degree, and School of Physics researchers help detect the collision of two neutron stars.

A festive solar-eclipse-watching party, a new emphasis on astrobiology, helping to prove Einstein right on gravitational waves – former dean Paul Goldbart recalls the highlights of his tenure at the helm of the College of Sciences.