Podcasts about austin's college

In these next few decades, will humans finally find life in space? We asked University of Texas at Austin astronomer Caroline Morley and her answer just might surprise you. Morley shares her vision for the future in this latest episode of our miniseries, The Next 50 Years. Check out more podcasts and essays in the Next 50 Years series: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/tags/the-next-50-years Scientists from across UT Austin are joining forces in the hunt for life on other planets. Astronomers, geoscientists, chemists, biologists and aerospace engineers have pooled resources to form the UT Center for Planetary Systems Habitability, a cross-campus, interdisciplinary research unit. Learn more: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/university-welcomes-new-center-for-planetary-habitability Have a question about COVID-19? We have experts on all aspects of the pandemic and the virus that causes it. Record your question and email it to us here: utexasscience@gmail.com Please keep your recordings to 20 seconds or less if you can. We’ll answer as many as we can on the next Point of Discovery podcast. Music for today’s show was produced by: Podington Bear - https://www.podingtonbear.com/ Chuzausen - https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chuzausen About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Can we simulate life — in all its messy complexity and at the scale of each individual atom — in a computer? Even the most powerful supercomputers today can only simulate a tiny portion of a single living cell for a few nanoseconds. Carlos Baiz is a biochemist at the University of Texas at Austin who says it might someday be possible to simulate an entire living cell for hours or longer. But he says there are two big catches. Baiz shares his vision for the future in this latest episode of our miniseries, The Next 50 Years. Check out more podcasts and essays in this series: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/tags/the-next-50-years Music for today’s show was produced by: Podington Bear - https://www.podingtonbear.com/ Chuzausen - https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chuzausen About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Daily life has changed for many of us due to the coronavirus pandemic. During this unusual time, when it’s harder to connect physically with important people in our lives, it can be helpful to step back and spend a little time thinking about the things that still bind us together, like the wonder of the natural world and the hope that scientists offer us as we take on societal challenges. We’ve put together a compilation from our previous episodes that we hope will help you find some solace right now: in rediscovering life, the people we're closest with and the universe. To listen to the full episodes that we drew these excerpts from, or to read the transcripts, visit the links below. Beauty and the Yeast: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/beauty-and-the-yeast The Science of Relationships: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/the-science-of-relationships Can Sound Save a Fish?: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/can-sound-save-a-fish Eyewitness to a Cosmic Car Wreck: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/eyewitness-to-a-cosmic-car-wreck A Love Letter from Texas Scientists to the Periodic Table: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/a-love-letter-from-texas-scientists-to-the-periodic-table Music for today’s show was produced by: Podington Bear - https://www.podingtonbear.com/ About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Artificial intelligence is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives. But will AI have mostly positive or negative impacts on society? Some potential unintended consequences include home service robots that accidentally break your fine china, or systems that increase the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Peter Stone co-leads the Good Systems initiative at the University of Texas at Austin, which is trying to hash out guiding principles for building AI systems that are more likely to have a positive impact and fewer unintended consequences. He shares his team’s vision for the future in this latest episode of our miniseries, The Next 50 Years. Check out more podcasts and essays in this series: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/tags/the-next-50-years Learn about the Good Systems initiative: https://bridgingbarriers.utexas.edu/good-systems/ Peter Stone also chaired the first technical report of the AI100 Study: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/experts-forecast-the-changes-artificial-intelligence-could-bring-by-2030 Music for today’s show was produced by: Podington Bear - https://www.podingtonbear.com/ Chuzausen - https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chuzausen About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

If you've been listening to our podcast for a while, you probably have noticed that we haven't had a new episode for a few months. We’ve taken that time to step back and reflect on our show, both what has changed over the last few years (we’re now in our fifth year of production – yay!) and where we're going in the future. In this month’s episode, producer and host Marc Airhart chats with senior editor Christine Sinatra about the podcast. We also share some exciting news: we’re kicking off a new miniseries called The Next 50 Years. The first episode drops in January 2020. Stay tuned! Music for today’s show was produced by: Podington Bear - https://www.podingtonbear.com/ Have you heard our other news? Now you can listen to Point of Discovery on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4bWQkQ9jBV0cyKeyqeKwdA About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Why do so many first-year students struggle in college? Who is most likely to fail? And what can professors and staff do to help them get over the hump? “I didn't know what was going on. And I just felt out of place as a whole,” said Ivonne Martinez, a first-year student at UT Austin who was in danger of failing Freshman Calculus. “I was like, What am I doing? And that kind of made me panic.” In today’s show, math professor Uri Treisman and chemistry professor David Laude describe ways they support students through this difficult time, and psychologist David Yeager explains why these tactics work. We’ll also talk about the University of Texas at Austin’s ambitious goal to boost the number of students graduating within four years from 52 percent several years ago to 70 percent, and how they did it. (Read more: https://news.utexas.edu/2018/09/27/ut-austin-records-its-highest-four-year-graduation-rate/ ) By the way, all of the people in today’s show are featured in a great new book by author Paul Tough. It’s called “The Years that Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us.” For a deeper dive, be sure and check it out: https://www.paultough.com/books/years-that-matter-most/ Music for today’s show was produced by: Podington Bear - https://www.podingtonbear.com/ Finn’s Fandango Have you heard the news? Now you can listen to Point of Discovery on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4bWQkQ9jBV0cyKeyqeKwdA About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Kristen Grauman, professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, and her team have taught an artificial intelligence agent how to do something that usually only humans can do—take a few quick glimpses around and infer its whole environment. That will be a critical skill for search and rescue robots that can enter a dangerous situation—like a burning building—and relay information back to firefighters or other personnel. To see an animation of how the new AI agent creates a full view of the world from just a few glimpses, go to our press release at: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/new-ai-sees-like-a-human-filling-in-the-blanks Music for today’s show was produced by: Podington Bear - https://www.podingtonbear.com/ Have you heard the news? Now you can listen to Point of Discovery on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4bWQkQ9jBV0cyKeyqeKwdA About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

One thing that sets humans apart from even the smartest of artificially intelligent machines is the ability to understand, not just the definitions of words and phrases, but the deepest meanings in human speech. Alex Huth, a neuroscientist and computer scientist, is trying to build an intelligent computer system that can predict the patterns of brain activity in a human listening to someone speaking. If a computer could begin to extract the same kinds of meaning from a set of words as a human does, that might help explain how the human brain itself makes sense of language – and even pave the way for a speech aid for people who can’t speak. Experience an interactive 3D map of the human brain showing which areas respond to hearing different words: https://gallantlab.org/huth2016/ Music for today’s show was produced by: Podington Bear - https://www.podingtonbear.com/ Have you heard the news? Now you can listen to Point of Discovery on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4bWQkQ9jBV0cyKeyqeKwdA About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

We’re celebrating the 150th anniversary of the periodic table. Join us as we tour the cosmos, from the microscopic to the telescopic, with four scientists studying the role of four elements—zinc, oxygen, palladium and gold—in life, the universe and everything. Emily Que is a chemist who helped capture, for the first time on video, zinc fireworks that burst from an egg when it’s fertilized by sperm. Astronomer Michael Endl is searching for chemical signs of life in the atmospheres of exoplanets. Kate Biberdorf (a.k.a. Kate the Chemist) found new ways to speed up chemical reactions using palladium. And physicist Aaron Zimmerman explains why the gold in your jewelry was probably forged in an ultraviolent explosion billions of years ago. Watch zinc-spark fireworks: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/when-sperm-meets-egg-zinc-fireworks-on-display Listen to our interview with Kate the Chemist on a previous Point of Discovery podcast: https://soundcloud.com/point-of-discovery/fun-with-chemistry See a periodic table showing how each element was created: http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~jaj/nucleo/ Watch Kate the Chemist blow things up in honor of National Periodic Table Day: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=294826561181390 Hear more about the first neutron star collision captured by a gravitational-wave detector: https://soundcloud.com/point-of-discovery/cosmic-car-wreck Music for today’s show was produced by: Podington Bear - https://www.podingtonbear.com/ Chris Zabriskie - https://soundcloud.com/chriszabriskie Dresden the Flamingo - https://soundcloud.com/dresdentheflamingo Photo by Vivian Abagiu. About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

What’s it like for a scientist to work as an advisor on a major Hollywood film? In this first of a two-part conversation, Kip Thorne talks with his former graduate student Bill Press about the impact that a film like Interstellar can have on the public, balancing scientific accuracy and entertainment and what winning the Nobel Prize really says about a scientists’ worth. (BTW, Interstellar star Matthew McConaughey is also a UT Austin alum) Special thanks to the family of Bryce DeWitt and Cécile DeWitt-Morette for their involvement in bringing Dr. Thorne to Austin for the inaugural Cécile Dewitt-Morette Memorial lecture in 2018. Watch a video of that lecture: https://youtu.be/0ypzGfHXHlw Stay tuned for part two of this conversation, when we’ll learn more about the rather famous scientific family tree that both Press and Thorne belong to, as well as what gravitational waves mean for the future of astronomical research. Music for today’s show was produced by Podington Bear and used via a Creative Commons license. About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

The first week of October is like a science-lover’s World Series: Each year, the spotlight falls on high-impact science, when day after day, a series of Nobel Prizes and other prestigious awards are announced all in one week. This has been an especially exciting week for us here in UT Austin’s College of Natural Sciences. For the second year in a row, one of our alumni (James Allison) nabbed the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine. What’s more, the Nobel Prizes given in the categories of physics and chemistry this year were also celebrated by scientists on campus, because the breakthroughs getting attention have implications for research happening right here. Finally, on Thursday, another big announcement came: the MacArthur Foundation announced it had awarded UT Austin chemist Livia Eberlin a MacArthur Fellowship, sometimes called “a genius award.” So today on Point of Discovery, we're going to do something completely different. We’re bundling some past stories related to the science that’s been in the news this week for one "mega recap" episode. Play ball! About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Last year, University of Texas at Austin alumnus Michael Young won the Nobel prize for discovering the molecular mechanism behind circadian rhythms. Circadian clocks are critical for the health of all living things, acting as the internal timekeepers in plants and animals that help to synchronize functions like eating and sleeping with our planet’s daily rhythm of light and dark. In today’s episode, Young reveals the series of lucky events that launched him into the forefront of circadian rhythm research, what’s really going on in your body when you experience jet lag and how insights from the lowly fruit fly might now help millions of people with sleep disorders. About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Think about some of the most important decisions people make – who to hire for a job, which kind of treatment to give a cancer patient, how much jail time to give a criminal. James Scott says we humans are pretty lousy at making them. “I think there is room for machines to come into those realms and improve the state of our decisions,” said Scott. “That's going to involve humans and machines working together, however, not simply treating these decisions the way you might treat a microwave oven just by punching in some numbers and walking away …” Maybe machines can help us make better decisions. But ultimately, it boils down to the question: can we build machines that are less biased than we are? What do you think? You can head over to our website and leave a comment at the bottom of this month’s post: https://cns.utexas.edu/point/can-we-build-machines-that-are-less-biased-than-we-are Have more general thoughts you’d like to share about our show? You can take our survey here: https://utexas.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_eUTDsDlYdmBBPBb About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery .

What if people who lost a particular brain function—say, an Alzheimer's patient who can no longer make new memories—had the same option as many people who’ve lost limbs or other body parts—the chance to use technology to supplement what’s no longer there? Or what if you could boost a healthy person's brain, essentially giving them mental superpowers, like the ability to become a Kung Fu master by downloading new skills directly to your brain? Scientists are now working on brain-machine interfaces, systems that connect the human brain to a computer to do something neither the brain—nor the computer—can do alone. In this episode, we talk to neuroscientist Laura Colgin about the potential, and possible pitfalls, of these new technologies. Tell Us What You Think Hey, podcast listeners, we've set up an online survey where you can tell us what you like about the show, what could be better, and you can even tip us off to cool research going on right here at the university. You can get to the survey by going to: https://utexas.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_eUTDsDlYdmBBPBb About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Forty years ago, when James Allison had just gotten his PhD in biochemistry, he was intrigued by this far-out idea that was floating around about a new way to treat cancer. The idea—dubbed cancer immunotherapy—was to train the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells—the same way this system already goes after bacteria and viruses. He was one of the few people who actually believed it could work. In today’s episode, Allison—an alumnus of the University of Texas at Austin and the chair of immunology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston—talks about the uphill climb to make cancer immunotherapy a reality. He also shows off his mad harmonica skills. Check out Allison playing harmonica with his band the Checkpoints: https://youtu.be/bsLwOAImzCs And check out his performance with the legendary Willie Nelson: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/prognosis/article/Willie-Nelson-shares-stage-with-Houston-cancer-6886561.php About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Climate change, vaccinations, evolution. Scientists sometimes struggle to get their message across to non-scientists. On the latest episode of the Point of Discovery podcast, what communications research can teach us about why science communication sometimes backfires, and what scientists can do about it. Today’s episode features Emma Dietrich, a PhD student in the Ecology, Evolution and Behavior graduate program at the University of Texas at Austin and a member of Austin Science Advocates. It also features Anthony Dudo, an associate professor in the Moody College of Communication at UT Austin who studies the science of science communication. Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Host Jack Weisberger is joined this week by Educational Leadership and Policy Ph.D. student Z. W. Taylor. At The University of Texas at Austin's College of Education, Taylor examines accessibility in the college application process. In this episode, he talks about his own application process and the series of small events that ultimately brought him to where he his today. He also details an encounter helping a Hmong student navigate the application process and the barriers he faced.

Jonathan Sessler was a college student when he was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Fortunately, he was also a chemistry major. After surviving radiation therapy, relapsing and then surviving extremely high doses of what he calls “rat poison” (a.k.a. chemotherapy), his oncologist challenged him: “You’re a chemist. Find new cancer drugs.” In the four decades since, he’s founded two companies, one of which commercialized a blockbuster drug for leukemia and was sold for $21 billion. The other is working to develop a drug he invented to treat ovarian cancer, based on large molecules that deliver poisons to cancer cells and named after the Lone Star state: Texaphyrin. He knows the odds of bringing effective new cancer treatments to market are stacked against him, yet he tirelessly pushes ahead. Last month, he spoke to producer Marc Airhart in front of a live audience at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

We recently invited three leaders in science and engineering at the University of Texas at Austin to talk about the lack of diversity in their respective fields – and ways to tackle the problem. We featured highlights from their conversation in the previous podcast. The episode you’re listening to right now is the full conversation. To hear the shorter, highlights episode, go to: https://soundcloud.com/point-of-discovery/tackling-science-and-engineerings-diversity-problem About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

The STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and math – have real work to do in terms of diversity. Right now, women make up only about 30 percent of the STEM workforce – and people identifying as black or Hispanic make up just 11 percent. What are the barriers to entry -- or the obstacles to staying in -- STEM? And how can we make sure smart, creative thinkers and problem solvers from diverse backgrounds feel welcome and included in these fields? We invited three leaders in science and engineering to a discussion about these issues to find out what places like the University of Texas at Austin are doing about it. To hear the full conversation, listen to the bonus episode: https://soundcloud.com/point-of-discovery/bonus-full-conversation-with-three-stem-deans About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Millions of children in the U.S. play a vital, but often overlooked, role in their families. These children of immigrants, known as “language brokers,” help their parents translate job applications, medical documents and bills into their native language. They also help them navigate a completely alien culture. Researchers like Su Yeong Kim, in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, are debating whether being a language broker is good for children, or not. About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Astronomers have long been able to watch the universe’s blockbuster special effects unfold in dazzling 3D Technicolor. But until now, it’s been like watching a silent movie. Today that all changes. Scientists announced this morning that they have for the first time ever detected both light and gravitational waves from a massive explosion in space caused by the collision of two super-dense neutron stars. On today’s show, we talk to astrophysicist Pawan Kumar about what this breakthrough means for his field. Image: Artist’s illustration of two merging neutron stars. (Credit: NSF/LIGO/Sonoma State University/A. Simonnet) About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

A team of scientists and engineers led by Livia S. Eberlin at The University of Texas at Austin has invented a powerful tool that rapidly and accurately identifies cancerous tissue during surgery, delivering results in about 10 seconds. The MasSpec Pen is an innovative handheld instrument that gives surgeons precise diagnostic information about what tissue to cut or preserve, helping improve treatment and reduce the chances of cancer recurrence. The research is described in the Sept. 6 edition of the journal Science Translational Medicine. Learn more: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/scientists-new-device-accurately-identifies-cancer-in-seconds About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Quantum computers might sound like science fiction. A fully functioning quantum computer could complete calculations in a matter of seconds that would take a conventional computer millions of years to process. Science fiction or not, they’re already here. Scientists at Google, Microsoft, IBM and elsewhere are building and studying them. At this point, they’re not very powerful. But Scott Aaronson, a theoretical computer scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, believes in the next few years, one of these teams may achieve something called quantum supremacy—the first demonstration of a quantum computer doing something faster than a conventional computer. In this episode, Aaronson lays out a timeline of quantum computing advances, explains what kinds of things they’ll be able to do and even explore one potential downside—breaking the encryption we use to keep everything from credit card information and medical records private. Image: The cooling system for Google’s superconducting quantum computer About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Gulf Corvina look pretty ordinary—they’re a couple of feet long and silvery. Yet the sounds they make—when millions get together to spawn—are a kind of wonder of the natural world. It’s also why they are in danger. Gulf Corvina live in only one place in the world—the Gulf of California. A decade ago, the Mexican government asked marine biologist Brad Erisman and his colleagues to study the Corvina. They were worried that heavy fishing might cause the population to collapse. When Erisman put a microphone in the water for the first time, he was blown away by the sounds he heard. Learn More Video: Spawning Aggregations (by Natural Numbers): https://youtu.be/bpLMCyx9cic Video: Corvina Harvest, El Golfo (by Marine Ventures Foundation): https://vimeo.com/21330986 Biological and fisheries monitoring of the Gulf Corvina in the Upper Gulf of California (by dataMARES): http://datamares.ucsd.edu/eng/projects/fisheries/biological-and-fisheries-monitoring-of-the-gulf-corvina-in-the-upper-gulf-of-california/ Unmanaged Fishing at Spawning Sites Put Species, Economies at Risk (by UT Marine Science Institute): https://utmsi.utexas.edu/blog/entry/unmanaged-fishing-at-spawning-sites-put-species-economies-at-risk About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Worried that smart robots are taking over the world? You’ll be relieved to know they still have a long way to go. That is unless you’re an artificial intelligence researcher like Peter Stone. One big challenge facing robots that walk and run is that they fall over a lot. Take for example the annual RoboCup competition in which small human-like robots play soccer. Even with the best minds in computer science behind them, they’re about as graceful as toddlers. Now neuroscientist Michael Mauk thinks he has a solution. It could put robots one step closer to the ultimate goal of AI researchers: to build robots capable of beating human soccer champs. We recently featured the work of Michael Mauk and four other neuroscientists in our annual Texas Scientist magazine. These scientists are searching for better treatments for epilepsy and Alzheimer’s, exploring how we make memories and learn new things, and revealing how wisdom emerges. Read the article here: https://www.texasscientist.cns.utexas.edu/articles/2017/1/2/unlocking-the-minds-mysteries Watch UT Austin Villa’s robot soccer team win the 2012 RoboCup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc8ty9mog-I Watch more videos of the UT Austin Villa robot soccer team: https://www.youtube.com/user/AustinVilla/videos About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re speaking with Lisa Neff, a researcher studying what makes happy, healthy romantic relationships tick. Neff is an associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. She answers several burning questions, including: What are the health benefits of romantic relationships? How can newlyweds avoid communication breakdowns that result from external stress? and, Do optimists make better partners? Neff is recruiting volunteers for a new study focusing on the romantic relationships of seniors, called Relationship Experiences Across the Lifespan. She is specifically looking for residents in the Austin, Texas area who have begun a dating relationship in the past year and who are either aged 30 to 45 or 60 and over. Eligible couples can receive up to $150 as compensation for their time. To apply, send an email to: utrelationshipexperiences@gmail.com More info: https://sites.cns.utexas.edu/realproject/home About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Adron Harris, director of the Waggoner Center for Alcoho and Addiction Research at The University of Texas at Austin, and his team mapped the differences in gene expression between an alcoholic's brain and a non-alcoholic's brain. They found that, as a person becomes dependent on alcohol, thousands of genes in their brains are turned up or down, like a dimmer switch on a lightbulb, compared to the same genes in a healthy person's brain. The scientists are now using an innovative technique to find drugs that can, in a sense, turn those switches back to their original settings and, they hope, revert an alcoholic's brain into a non-alcoholic brain. The work might help the millions of people who suffer with the emotional, financial and health consequences of alcoholism. About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

These teeny shrimp-like critters at the bottom of the ocean food web seem totally unimportant. But throw in an oil spill and some well-intentioned human intervention and they can have a huge impact, right up to the top of the food web, including sea turtles, dolphins and humans. Meet the mighty copepod. About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

This fall marks the 15th anniversary of the U.S. anthrax letter attacks that sickened dozens of people and killed five. At the time, there was no effective treatment for a late stage infection. The attacks accelerated work already underway at the University of Texas at Austin. Brent Iverson, George Georgiou and Jennifer Maynard borrowed a page from Mother Nature's playbook to develop the world's first treatment for late stage inhalation anthrax. Tell Us What You Think Take our short survey at: http://txsci.net/utpodcastsurvey About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

The New Horizons spacecraft brought humanity face to face with the last unexplored planet in our solar system: Pluto. What we're learning is amazing. But, time and again, the mission almost didn't happen. University of Texas at Austin alumnus Alan Stern describes the challenges, and the joys, of the last first mission to a planet. For a complete transcript of this episode, visit our show page at: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/the-last-first-planetary-mission-audio Tell Us What You Think Take our short survey at: http://txsci.net/utpodcastsurvey About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

About how long would you say the microbes living in your gut have been there? You might be surprised by what researchers discovered when they compared the microbes in our guts with those of our closest relatives, the great apes. Tell Us What You Think Take our short survey at: http://txsci.net/utpodcastsurvey About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

As the summer movie season kicks into high gear, we talk with a scientist about some of the challenges in simulating the way everyday objects behave on the big screen. Etienne Vouga's computer simulations have helped bring to life a wizard's hair in The Hobbit and clothing in Tangled. To see examples of some of his simulations, go to: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/why-is-cgi-in-the-movies-still-so-hard About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery or via Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Igc5ifenl2bn7e5n2klmrwah7qq?t=Point_of_Discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

As the College of Natural Sciences’ Freshman Research Initiative celebrates its 10th anniversary, we speak to students and scientists about how doing research as freshmen and sophomores impacted them. About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss or via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

To study diseases, biologists often make models, for example, a rat with a disorder similar to Alzheimer's. With a good model, they can tinker with different variables and see if anything halts the disease, without the ethical limits of experimenting on actual humans. But scientists studying an especially nasty bacterium that tends to invade and breed out of control in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis (CF) kept hitting dead ends in their search for a good model. Pigs and rats that were genetically engineered to have the same gene defect that causes CF in humans didn't develop the disease. The same bacteria growing in standard media on a petri dish acted nothing like they did when they were in the lungs of a CF patient. Marvin Whiteley, director of the LaMontagne Center for Infectious Disease at the University of Texas at Austin, decided to try a different approach. About Point of Discovery Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss You can also tune in via Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

As bees sharply decline around the world, two researchers are taking very different approaches to understand -- and potentially reverse -- this troubling trend. One is studying the microbes that live inside bees and help protect them against infections. The other is studying the links between changing landscapes and bee health. Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss You can also tune in via Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery?refid=stpr Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

What would you do if you had Superman's x-ray vision? In today's episode of the Point of Discovery Podcast, we talk to a physicist about how he's using his superhuman powers to explore the insides of ancient Mayan pyramids without digging. This cool infographic shows how it works: https://cns.utexas.edu/news/pyramid-probe Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

What is the mysterious force that seems to be pushing the universe apart faster and faster? Scientists are racing to find the answers and along the way, might get a step closer to finding the "theory of everything." Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at @point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss You can also tune in via Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/point-of-discovery?refid=stpr Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

When Richard Finnell first met her, Rachel was a nine-year-old girl with severe developmental delays. Her condition seemed to be caused by a deficiency in a critical B vitamin called folate. Yet she had plenty of folate circulating in her blood. Somehow it was vanishing before it got to her brain and spine. Eventually Finnell made a surprising discovery. He's now using new genetic tools like CRISPR to better understand her condition and test possible therapies. Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at https://soundcloud.com/point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss Questions or comments about this episode, or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

How do we manage to follow a conversation with a friend in the middle of a noisy room? Neuroscientists, like Nace Golding, are still working out the details—but what they've learned so far is pretty amazing. Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at https://soundcloud.com/point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss Questions or comments about this episode or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Meet chemistry lecturer Kate Biberdorf, founder of the wildly popular outreach program Fun With Chemistry. Learn more at: http://www.cm.utexas.edu/outreach/funwithchem Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at https://soundcloud.com/point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss Questions or comments about this episode or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu

Despite a billion years of evolution separating us from the baker’s yeast in our refrigerators, hundreds of genes from an ancestor that we share live on nearly unchanged in us both, say biologists at The University of Texas at Austin. Point of Discovery is a production of the University of Texas at Austin's College of Natural Sciences. You can listen to all our episodes at https://soundcloud.com/point-of-discovery . You can also subscribe via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/point-of-discovery-podcast/id1036884430?mt=2 or via our RSS feed: http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:150441582/sounds.rss Questions or comments about this episode or our series in general? Email Marc Airhart at mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu