Podcasts about max planck institute

In 2022, scientists found a gene in your frontal lobe that no other species has ever carried. A 4,000-year-old Sumerian tablet already told us how it got there.Is the Anunnaki ancient astronaut hypothesis a fantasy built on bad cuneiform translations—or did Zecharia Sitchin decode Sumerian tablets that mainstream scholars have been misreading for centuries?I deep dive into the TKTL1 gene mutation—a single amino acid discovered by the Max Planck Institute that gives every modern human more frontal lobe neurons than the Neanderthal genome ever produced—and why it reads like the human genetic engineering conspiracy Sitchin described in 1976.I investigate why Caltech's Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown are hunting Planet 9 in the outer solar system, why the Atrahasis epic human creation story mirrors the Genesis vs Sumerian flood myth word for word, and why the Paracas skulls DNA results still haven't been peer-reviewed.Topics (among others):Enki and Enlil Sumerian Gods: How the Adapa primitive worker lulu was designed in a place the tablets called E.DIN—the Garden of Eden—as a fix to a gold-mining rebellion.Forbidden Archaeology Meets Real Science: How CRISPR gene editing on fetal brain tissue confirmed that basal radial glia cells evolution hinges on one variant Neanderthals never carried.Nibiru vs. Planet 9: Why Caltech outer solar system anomalies revived a fifty-year-old alternative history theory—and why the orbital math still doesn't add up.Consider Supporting + Receive Bonus Content⁠

Dr. Ayse Turak is Associate Professor and Associate Undergraduate Chair of the Department of Engineering Physics at McMaster University. Ayse develops and studies plastic-based electronic materials, such as solar cells and light-emitting diodes. Her goal is to create affordable, sustainable, and ubiquitous plastic materials to provide power and light for people around the world. In her free time, Ayse loves to travel, visit new places, see new things, explore new cultures, and seek adventure. She also enjoys theatre, writing, and volunteering with various social justice organizations. Ayse received her B.Sc. in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from Queens's University and her PhD from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto, where she was a Canada Graduate Scholar. Afterwards, Ayse conducted research as a Marie Curie Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research and subsequently worked as a visiting professor at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey before joining the faculty at McMaster University. Ayse has received numerous awards and honors throughout her career, including the Early Researcher Award, the Petro-Canada Young Innovators Award, and a Leadership in Teaching and Learning Fellowship from McMaster University. In addition, she was recently nominated as a Full member at Sigma Xi, and she is the co-chair of the Canadian Chapter of the Society of Information Display. In our interview, Ayse shares more about her life and research.

In this week's episode, we're bringing you two stories about navigating the uncertainty, hope, and heartbreak of trying to have a baby.Part 1: After a pregnancy loss, Annie Tan channels her grief into rescuing an injured mockingbird.Part 2: Kibby McMahon is convinced she can will her way into pregnancy, but her body refuses to follow the plan.Annie Tan is an educator, activist, writer and storyteller from Manhattan's Chinatown. Annie's work has been featured in Huffington Post, New Republic, PBS' Asian Americans, RISK! and twice on The Moth Radio Hour on NPR. Annie is writing a memoir about connecting with her immigrant parents despite not sharing a common fluent language. Find more at annietan.com.Dr. Kibby McMahon is a licensed clinical psychologist, researcher, and digital health entrepreneur who's obsessed with the emotional complexities of relationships. She earned her BA from Columbia University and her PhD in clinical psychology from Duke University, where her NIMH-funded research focused on how regulating our own emotions helps us connect more deeply with others. She has held research and clinical roles at Duke University Medical Center, Columbia University, Weill Cornell Hospital, and the Max Planck Institute. Dr. Kibby is a family caregiver and breast cancer survivor- experiences that reshaped how she understands vulnerability, resilience, and what it means to care for others while holding yourself together. These threads came together when she co-founded KulaMind, a digital mental health company that supports loved ones of people with mental illness through evidence-based skills, coaching, and AI-powered tools. She also hosts the podcast "A Little Help for Our Friends," which explores the invisible emotional labor of loving someone who is struggling with mental health or addiction. She lives in New York with her tornado of a son, a fluff of a dog, and a partner-in-crime husband.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We are delighted to host Marieke McKenna on this episode of the Mangu.tv podcast. Marieke McKenna (London, 1994) is a Scottish-Dutch philosopher, historian, artistic researcher, and performance artist. Her work explores metaphysics, phenomenology, consciousness studies, spirituality, ecology, and philosophies of nature through interdisciplinary research and embodied practice. She is an expert on cross-cultural perspectives on dreaming and other altered states of consciousness.For the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, she led the research project History of Lucid Dreaming Research, the first oral-historical examination of the emergence of lucid dreaming as an object of scientific inquiry. In collaboration with the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, the project combined oral history, philosophy, and cross-cultural anthropological research into how different cultures and traditions understand dreaming, with hands-on experience in neuroscience sleep laboratories conducting EEG and fMRI research on the dreaming brain.Outside academia, Marieke, who is based in The Netherlands, is an award-winning artist and curator, with performances and lectures at institutions including the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum. She is the host of her own national radio show on NPO Radio 2, for which she selects music from across the globe, and has taught at various universities, conservatoires, and institutes, including Advaya and the Embassy of the Free Mind.Giancarlo and Marieke discuss idealism, interconnectedness, and how dreamwork nurtures healing and belonging. They speak about lucid dreaming in therapy, indigenous perspectives, and technology's encroachment into “inner space,” debating AI, advertising in dreams, collective consciousness, telepathy, quantum theory, and the mind's creative potential.

A new study has confirmed that women are generally more attractive than men, but why are we different from other species, and why is there an ‘attractiveness gap'?Joining Seán to discuss is Eugene Wassiliwizky, a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Germany.

A new study has confirmed that women are generally more attractive than men, but why are we different from other species, and why is there an ‘attractiveness gap'?Joining Seán to discuss is Eugene Wassiliwizky, a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Germany.

This week we were lucky enough to have an absolutely fascinating conversation with Dr Hannah Little. Hannah has been researching science communication for nearly 10 years, first as a Senior Lecturer in Science Communication at UWE Bristol and now in the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Liverpool. Previously, she did her PhD in the field of evolutionary linguistics at the Artificial Intelligence Lab at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium, and went on to a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands. Throughout her career, she has endeavoured to share her love for evolutionary linguistics as a science communicator herself with well-received appearances at, among others, the British Science Festival, TEDx and on BBC Radio 4. Her work as a science communicator influences her research, especially in terms of exploring how storytelling, comedy and science fiction can influence public perceptions and understanding of science. In her spare time does competitive speed puzzling, stand-up comedy, and is writing a popular science book about linguistics and aliens. She is a member of the UK SETI Research Network and the SETI Post Detection Hub hosted at the University of St Andrews. As you might be able to gather, Hannah is an amazing person to chat about scicomm (and communicating with aliens) with!You can follow Hannah and find out more about her work here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-little-3709371a2https://bsky.app/profile/hanachronism.bsky.socialhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoeXkCM2wSshttps://www.liverpool.ac.uk/humanities-and-social-sciences/research/blog/2024-posts/researcher-in-focus-hannah-little/We mentioned this paper on cognitive biases in our conversation: http://doi.org/10.1177/09636625251387445And here's the storytelling toolkit for practitioners: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3194747/1/Little_Storytelling%20Toolkit%202025_33MB.pdf

What happens when industrial towns lose their defining industries? How do the remaining communities and infrastructures find meaning and a future among the postindustrial remains. The key often lies in heritagization, the process by which certain aspects of the past are identified, preserved, and presented as heritage. In her dissertation research, Julia Silva de Medeiros, associate researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, compares the postindustrial heritagization processes in Serra do Navio, Brazil and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, both of which once had major metallurgical industries, mining manganese and making steel respectively. Silva de Medeiros shows that the values prevailing among decision makers get embedded in the heritage passed down to future generations. In support of her work Silva de Medeiros received funding from the Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society at the Hagley Museum and Library. For more information, and more Hagley History Hangouts, visit us online at hagley.org. To make a donation underwriting this program and others like it please visit our Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/underwriting-donation-tickets-1470779985529?aff=oddtdtcreator

Today's political debates are fiercely polarized. But looking beyond the headlines, The Trigger Points: Inequality and Political Polarization in Contemporary Society (Policy Press, 2026) shows that ordinary citizens hold much more nuanced, less divided views. Drawing on rich survey data and group discussions, this work maps four major areas of conflict: migration, climate change, diversity, and economic justice. Across these conflicts, most citizens take positions that are middle-of-the-road, contradictory, or undecided. It is only certain ‘trigger points' – like gendered pronouns or refugee admissions – that predictably ignite tensions and deep disagreement. Political entrepreneurs know this and weaponize trigger points for their agenda. Yet the real key to contemporary conflicts, the book argues, lies in social inequality. This is a vital work that maps today's political landscape without sensationalism, offering a fresh lens on public debate. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has been published in 2025 by Oxford University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's political debates are fiercely polarized. But looking beyond the headlines, The Trigger Points: Inequality and Political Polarization in Contemporary Society (Policy Press, 2026) shows that ordinary citizens hold much more nuanced, less divided views. Drawing on rich survey data and group discussions, this work maps four major areas of conflict: migration, climate change, diversity, and economic justice. Across these conflicts, most citizens take positions that are middle-of-the-road, contradictory, or undecided. It is only certain ‘trigger points' – like gendered pronouns or refugee admissions – that predictably ignite tensions and deep disagreement. Political entrepreneurs know this and weaponize trigger points for their agenda. Yet the real key to contemporary conflicts, the book argues, lies in social inequality. This is a vital work that maps today's political landscape without sensationalism, offering a fresh lens on public debate. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has been published in 2025 by Oxford University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Today's political debates are fiercely polarized. But looking beyond the headlines, The Trigger Points: Inequality and Political Polarization in Contemporary Society (Policy Press, 2026) shows that ordinary citizens hold much more nuanced, less divided views. Drawing on rich survey data and group discussions, this work maps four major areas of conflict: migration, climate change, diversity, and economic justice. Across these conflicts, most citizens take positions that are middle-of-the-road, contradictory, or undecided. It is only certain ‘trigger points' – like gendered pronouns or refugee admissions – that predictably ignite tensions and deep disagreement. Political entrepreneurs know this and weaponize trigger points for their agenda. Yet the real key to contemporary conflicts, the book argues, lies in social inequality. This is a vital work that maps today's political landscape without sensationalism, offering a fresh lens on public debate. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has been published in 2025 by Oxford University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Today's political debates are fiercely polarized. But looking beyond the headlines, The Trigger Points: Inequality and Political Polarization in Contemporary Society (Policy Press, 2026) shows that ordinary citizens hold much more nuanced, less divided views. Drawing on rich survey data and group discussions, this work maps four major areas of conflict: migration, climate change, diversity, and economic justice. Across these conflicts, most citizens take positions that are middle-of-the-road, contradictory, or undecided. It is only certain ‘trigger points' – like gendered pronouns or refugee admissions – that predictably ignite tensions and deep disagreement. Political entrepreneurs know this and weaponize trigger points for their agenda. Yet the real key to contemporary conflicts, the book argues, lies in social inequality. This is a vital work that maps today's political landscape without sensationalism, offering a fresh lens on public debate. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has been published in 2025 by Oxford University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

Today's political debates are fiercely polarized. But looking beyond the headlines, The Trigger Points: Inequality and Political Polarization in Contemporary Society (Policy Press, 2026) shows that ordinary citizens hold much more nuanced, less divided views. Drawing on rich survey data and group discussions, this work maps four major areas of conflict: migration, climate change, diversity, and economic justice. Across these conflicts, most citizens take positions that are middle-of-the-road, contradictory, or undecided. It is only certain ‘trigger points' – like gendered pronouns or refugee admissions – that predictably ignite tensions and deep disagreement. Political entrepreneurs know this and weaponize trigger points for their agenda. Yet the real key to contemporary conflicts, the book argues, lies in social inequality. This is a vital work that maps today's political landscape without sensationalism, offering a fresh lens on public debate. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has been published in 2025 by Oxford University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

Today's political debates are fiercely polarized. But looking beyond the headlines, The Trigger Points: Inequality and Political Polarization in Contemporary Society (Policy Press, 2026) shows that ordinary citizens hold much more nuanced, less divided views. Drawing on rich survey data and group discussions, this work maps four major areas of conflict: migration, climate change, diversity, and economic justice. Across these conflicts, most citizens take positions that are middle-of-the-road, contradictory, or undecided. It is only certain ‘trigger points' – like gendered pronouns or refugee admissions – that predictably ignite tensions and deep disagreement. Political entrepreneurs know this and weaponize trigger points for their agenda. Yet the real key to contemporary conflicts, the book argues, lies in social inequality. This is a vital work that maps today's political landscape without sensationalism, offering a fresh lens on public debate. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has been published in 2025 by Oxford University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Niall speaks with Dr. Christof Koch, Chief Scientist of the MindScope Program at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, former Professor at Caltech, and author of “Then I Am Myself the World”. Dr. Koch is a leading researcher in the science of consciousness and a key proponent of Integrated Information Theory. In this conversation, they explore: — Why consciousness may be fundamental, while physical matter exists only in relation to other things — How an experience on a beach in Brazil changed his understanding of reality — The discovery of “covert consciousness” in patients thought to be in vegetative states — How the perturbational complexity index (PCI) shows a clear boundary between conscious and unconscious states, and why this matters — How Integrated Information Theory approaches the question of free will You can learn more about Dr. Koch's work at https://christofkoch.com. --- Dr. Christof Koch is a Meritorious Investigator at the Allen Institute. Christof received his baccalaureate from the Lycée Descartes in Rabat, Morocco, his B.S. and M.S. in physics from the University of Tübingen in Germany and his Ph.D. from the Max-Planck Institute for biological Cybernetics in 1982. Subsequently, he spent four years as a postdoctoral fellow in the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1987 until 2013, Koch was a professor at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, from his initial appointment as Assistant Professor, Division of Biology and Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences in 1986, to his final position as Lois and Victor Troendle Professor of Cognitive & Behavioral Biology. See here for Christof's academic pedigree and his students. Christof joined the Allen Institute for Brain Science as Chief Scientific Officer in 2011 and became President in 2015. Christof writings and interests integrate theoretical, computational and experimental neuroscience with philosophy and contemporary trends, in particular artificial intelligence. His latest book, Then I Am Myself the World: What Consciousness Is and How to Expand It, publish in May 2024. His previous book, Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist, blends science and memoir to explore topics in discovering the roots of consciousness. Stemming in part from a long-standing collaboration with the late Nobel Laureate Francis Crick, Christof authored the book The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach. Koch also authored the technical books Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons and Methods in Neuronal Modeling: From Ions to Networks, and served as editor for several books on neural modeling and information processing. --- Interview Links: — Dr. Koch's website: https://christofkoch.com — Dr. Koch's book: https://amzn.to/4mIKG9W

The global refugee regime has shifted under our feet. Over the last forty years, international asylum practices have expanded to include the queer and trans displaced. At least thirty-seven countries now recognize LGBTIQ refugees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, with some states providing specialized support. Yet amid this expansion, backlash has intensified against refugee protection as well as the hard-earned rights of LGBTIQ people. In this disquieting context, the protection of LGBTIQ refugees remains partial and exclusionary. The Way Out: Justice in the Queer Search for Refuge (University of California Press, 2026) examines the complexities of queer and trans displacement around the world. Centering personal narratives of LGBTIQ refugees, the book exposes the shortcomings of an international protection regime that is unable to address the harms that drive displacement. Rebecca Buxton and Samuel Ritholtz's analysis of the stakes of queer and trans inclusion in accounts of displacement justice offers a vibrant example of theory brought to life. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has been published in 2025 by Oxford University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The global refugee regime has shifted under our feet. Over the last forty years, international asylum practices have expanded to include the queer and trans displaced. At least thirty-seven countries now recognize LGBTIQ refugees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, with some states providing specialized support. Yet amid this expansion, backlash has intensified against refugee protection as well as the hard-earned rights of LGBTIQ people. In this disquieting context, the protection of LGBTIQ refugees remains partial and exclusionary. The Way Out: Justice in the Queer Search for Refuge (University of California Press, 2026) examines the complexities of queer and trans displacement around the world. Centering personal narratives of LGBTIQ refugees, the book exposes the shortcomings of an international protection regime that is unable to address the harms that drive displacement. Rebecca Buxton and Samuel Ritholtz's analysis of the stakes of queer and trans inclusion in accounts of displacement justice offers a vibrant example of theory brought to life. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has been published in 2025 by Oxford University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies

The global refugee regime has shifted under our feet. Over the last forty years, international asylum practices have expanded to include the queer and trans displaced. At least thirty-seven countries now recognize LGBTIQ refugees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, with some states providing specialized support. Yet amid this expansion, backlash has intensified against refugee protection as well as the hard-earned rights of LGBTIQ people. In this disquieting context, the protection of LGBTIQ refugees remains partial and exclusionary. The Way Out: Justice in the Queer Search for Refuge (University of California Press, 2026) examines the complexities of queer and trans displacement around the world. Centering personal narratives of LGBTIQ refugees, the book exposes the shortcomings of an international protection regime that is unable to address the harms that drive displacement. Rebecca Buxton and Samuel Ritholtz's analysis of the stakes of queer and trans inclusion in accounts of displacement justice offers a vibrant example of theory brought to life. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has been published in 2025 by Oxford University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Dr. Chaitanya Giri is a distinguished space scientist, astrochemist, and technology strategy analyst whose expertise bridges planetary science, space policy, and astropolitics. He serves as a Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation's (ORF) Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology and is an Associate Professor at FLAME University.Dr. Giri holds a Ph.D. in Astrochemistry from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. His scientific career includes significant tenures at the Earth-Life Science Institute at Tokyo Institute of Technology, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the Carnegie Institution for Science. Notably, he was a co-investigator for the COSAC payload on the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, which made groundbreaking discoveries on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Beyond his scientific research, Dr. Giri is deeply involved in science diplomacy and policy, having consulted for India's National Security Council Secretariat and served on various government review committees. He is also the author of the book India in the Second Space Age of Interplanetary Connectivity, which explores the geopolitical and economic implications of future space exploration.His latest book is ‘The Long Siege: 500 Years of India's Struggle for Technopolitical Freedom'.

The global refugee regime has shifted under our feet. Over the last forty years, international asylum practices have expanded to include the queer and trans displaced. At least thirty-seven countries now recognize LGBTIQ refugees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, with some states providing specialized support. Yet amid this expansion, backlash has intensified against refugee protection as well as the hard-earned rights of LGBTIQ people. In this disquieting context, the protection of LGBTIQ refugees remains partial and exclusionary. The Way Out: Justice in the Queer Search for Refuge (University of California Press, 2026) examines the complexities of queer and trans displacement around the world. Centering personal narratives of LGBTIQ refugees, the book exposes the shortcomings of an international protection regime that is unable to address the harms that drive displacement. Rebecca Buxton and Samuel Ritholtz's analysis of the stakes of queer and trans inclusion in accounts of displacement justice offers a vibrant example of theory brought to life. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has been published in 2025 by Oxford University Press. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/lgbtq-studies

Since massive anti-government protests in Nicaragua in 2018, and a subsequent brutal government crackdown, President Daniel Ortega and his Co-President spouse, Rosario Murillo, have progressively consolidated power through systematic repression of political opposition, civil society, independent media, and religious actors. A report published March 10 by the United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of these patterns of repression and their evolution, including serious, systematic and widespread human rights violations, some amounting to crimes against humanity. In this episode, Christopher Hernandez-Roy sits down with Jan-Michael Simon, Chair of the United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua and a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law. Together, they discuss the Ortega-Murillo regime's repressive apparatus within Nicaragua, as well as its international reach. They also analyze the role of the international community, and multilateral bodies like the UN and Organization of American states in continuing to raise awareness of conditions within Nicaragua, and advocating for justice for victims of the regime. 

In this episode, Chris interviews Dr. Nicole Hess about her research on female competition, indirect aggression, gossip, and “Informational Warfare” theory in U.S. sororities and small-scale societies in the Central African Republic. They also discuss the various challenges of field work, including personal and sociopolitical risks. Dr. Hess is a scholarly associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Washington, Vancouver. Dr. Hess studies gossip, friendship, cooperation, and coalitional competition. She conducted fieldwork in the Central African Republic and college Greek communities, and has conducted numerous experiments testing hypotheses derived from "Informational Warfare" theory, which proposes that coalitions may be useful in reputational competition (via, e.g., gossip) due to their improved abilities to collect, analyze, and disseminate relevant information. Trained as a multidisciplinary social scientist, Dr. Hess uses diverse quantitative and qualitative methods to explore human sociality and cognition, including psychological experiments, surveys, interviews, and ethnographic work. Dr. Hess received her PhD from UC Santa Barbara in biological anthropology and has worked for the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Institute for Theoretical Biology at Humboldt University. Contact Dr. Hess at nicolehess@wsu.edu ------------------------------ Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and the Human Biology Association: Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org Chris Lynn, Co-Host, Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: cdlynn@ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly

An international team of astronomers, led by a PhD student at University of Galway, have made the groundbreaking discovery of a second planet in the same system where they discovered another planet last year. Detected at an early stage of formation in the disc around a young star, the young planet named WISPIT 2c is estimated to be about 5 million years-old and most likely ten times the mass of Jupiter. The star, WISPIT 2 is located in the constellation of the Eagle, a prominent equatorial constellation visible in the summer northern hemisphere (July-November) along the Milky Way. The study was led by PhD student Chloe Lawlor from the Centre for Astronomy at the School of Natural Sciences and the Ryan Institute at University of Galway, in collaboration with PhD student Richelle van Capelleveen, Leiden Observatory, Netherlands and postdoctoral researcher Guillaume Bourdarot, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. This major find for the field of astronomy makes WISPIT 2 only the second-known young (and still forming) multi-planet system. WISPIT 2 may resemble the young Solar System with now two gas giant planets embedded in its multi-ringed dust disk. This includes the now confirmed planet WISPIT 2c and the planet WISPIT 2b, which was discovered last year by the same research team (led by Richelle van Capelleveen at Leiden Observatory and Dr. Laird Close from the University of Arizona). The new planet is a very young gas giant based on the temperature and its radius from the atmosphere spectrum. It is twice as massive as the previously detected WISPIT 2b and orbits four times closer to its host star, which makes it incredibly difficult to detect with ground-based telescopes. The study has been published in Astrophysical Journal Letters. The presence of this second planet was detected using the European Southern Observatory's (ESO's) Very Large Telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert. By linking several telescopes together to act as one giant instrument, the research team was able to observe regions very close to the star. The team detected carbon monoxide gas, a chemical that is commonly found in the atmospheres of young giant planets. Carbon monoxide leaves a strong and distinctive chemical signature in telescope data, providing the crucial evidence needed to confirm the planet's existence. Chloe Lawlor, PhD student, Centre for Astronomy, School of Natural Sciences, University of Galway, said: "After the initial discovery of WISPIT 2b, which I was also involved in, we suspected there might be another object in the system. At first, we weren't sure if it was a planet or a very large dust clump. We very quickly made follow-up observations using the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, an incredible setup where multiple telescopes can be connected to form a large virtual telescope. This allowed us to take what we call a spectrum, which is essentially a chemical fingerprint, revealing the elements and molecules in an object's atmosphere. "Carbon monoxide is one of the key signatures we are looking for in young giant planets. When we saw it clearly in the data, that was when we knew we had something significant. There was definitely an element of disbelief. I didn't expect to be the one to find a second planet in the system. When I sent the spectrum to my supervisor Dr Christian Ginski, it was a huge shock and upon further examination, he confirmed I'd found a planet! "WISPIT 2 will become an important laboratory to study planet formation." To uncover the hidden planet, the research team used the European Southern Observatory's (ESO's) Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), which captured an image of the object and allowed also for the first study of its atmosphere. The team specifically used the recently upgraded instrument GRAVITY+, which allows the light from all four of the eight metre telescopes of the ESO to be combined. This challenging technique using cutting-edge instrumentation was fun...

In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company when a scientist gave her a tour of the lab. Looking at the long rows of pregnancy tests she thought, well anyone could do that test at home! So she set about designing a prototype for America's first home pregnancy test. While the design of the prototype was simple, convincing the company, the medical community and conservative social leaders that at-home pregnancy testing was safe and necessary was an uphill climb for Crane, who is only now receiving credit for her contributions to the industry. This show first aired in February 2024. Featuring: Margaret Crane - Graphic designer and inventor of the first home pregnancy test Wendy Kline - Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine, History Faculty Purdue University Jesse Olszynko-Gryn - Head of the [Laboratory for Oral History and Experimental Media](https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/research/projects/laboratory-oral-history-and-experimental-media) at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science  Arthur Kover - Emeritus Professor of Marketing, Fordham University Alexandra Lord - Chair, Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History Making Contact Staff: Host: Amy Gastelum Guest Producer: Anne Noyes Saini  Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman  Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain Music:  Podington Bear, Rhythm and Strings  Learn More: National Museum of American History https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1803285 A Woman's Right to Know, Pregnancy Testing in 20th Century Britain - https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262544399/a-womans-right-to-know/ Predictor, by Jennifer Blackmer https://newplayexchange.org/plays/348156/predictor Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Khatijah Rahmat, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Germany, says she's trying to build legitimacy around the concept of animal temporality — the ability to experience time — specifically in elephants. Doing so could have implications for conservation and beyond. "How we envision an animal's relationship to time influences whether we see them as feeling, remembering beings. My aim is to encourage a more dynamic view of their place in the world when we recognize them as equally temporal beings." This week on the Mongabay Newscast, Rahmat explains three key areas of evidence for interpreting elephant temporal experience and how this knowledge could be folded into how we think about protecting elephants or animals in general. "I think it increases the depth of empathy we can have for animals," she says. "It can really push the concepts of policy … but it also can really challenge some of our current, basic assumptions about how we think about logic and evidence." Image credit: An elephant that has just wallowed in mud in the Linyanti River in northern Botswana. Image by Roger Borgelid for Mongabay. Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here. —— Timecodes (00:00) Why study how animals experience time? (06:58) Elephant eco-cultural identity (11:58) Human-impacted time (27:03) Individual elephant history (34:44) Getting hit with a pineapple is no accident (39:30) How this might help conservation

How do the inhabitants of the Indian city of Mumbai navigate political signs and representations? What is the significance of crowds and mass mobilization to popular politics, and what lessons does the politics of Mumbai hold for Indian democracy at the current conjuncture? These questions are at the heart of Lisa Björkman's Drama of Democracy: Political Representation in Mumbai (U Minnesota Press, 2025), that analyses questions of representation, populism, and political communication and organizing. In this episode, Björkman joins Kenneth Bo Nielsen for a discussion of the book, and on the intricate ways in which Mumbaikars from all walks of life assess political performances and real-life politicians, endlessly discussing and debating possible meanings of words and images, cash and crowds, flyers and flowers. Lisa Björkman is an anthropologist working at the University of Louisville, and a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute. Kenneth Bo Nielsen, your host, is an anthropologist working at the University of Oslo where he also directs the Centre for South Asian Democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

How do the inhabitants of the Indian city of Mumbai navigate political signs and representations? What is the significance of crowds and mass mobilization to popular politics, and what lessons does the politics of Mumbai hold for Indian democracy at the current conjuncture? These questions are at the heart of Lisa Björkman's Drama of Democracy: Political Representation in Mumbai (U Minnesota Press, 2025), that analyses questions of representation, populism, and political communication and organizing. In this episode, Björkman joins Kenneth Bo Nielsen for a discussion of the book, and on the intricate ways in which Mumbaikars from all walks of life assess political performances and real-life politicians, endlessly discussing and debating possible meanings of words and images, cash and crowds, flyers and flowers. Lisa Björkman is an anthropologist working at the University of Louisville, and a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute. Kenneth Bo Nielsen, your host, is an anthropologist working at the University of Oslo where he also directs the Centre for South Asian Democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

How do the inhabitants of the Indian city of Mumbai navigate political signs and representations? What is the significance of crowds and mass mobilization to popular politics, and what lessons does the politics of Mumbai hold for Indian democracy at the current conjuncture? These questions are at the heart of Lisa Björkman's Drama of Democracy: Political Representation in Mumbai (U Minnesota Press, 2025), that analyses questions of representation, populism, and political communication and organizing. In this episode, Björkman joins Kenneth Bo Nielsen for a discussion of the book, and on the intricate ways in which Mumbaikars from all walks of life assess political performances and real-life politicians, endlessly discussing and debating possible meanings of words and images, cash and crowds, flyers and flowers. Lisa Björkman is an anthropologist working at the University of Louisville, and a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute. Kenneth Bo Nielsen, your host, is an anthropologist working at the University of Oslo where he also directs the Centre for South Asian Democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

How do the inhabitants of the Indian city of Mumbai navigate political signs and representations? What is the significance of crowds and mass mobilization to popular politics, and what lessons does the politics of Mumbai hold for Indian democracy at the current conjuncture? These questions are at the heart of Lisa Björkman's Drama of Democracy: Political Representation in Mumbai (U Minnesota Press, 2025), that analyses questions of representation, populism, and political communication and organizing. In this episode, Björkman joins Kenneth Bo Nielsen for a discussion of the book, and on the intricate ways in which Mumbaikars from all walks of life assess political performances and real-life politicians, endlessly discussing and debating possible meanings of words and images, cash and crowds, flyers and flowers. Lisa Björkman is an anthropologist working at the University of Louisville, and a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute. Kenneth Bo Nielsen, your host, is an anthropologist working at the University of Oslo where he also directs the Centre for South Asian Democracy.

Professor Michele Dougherty is President of the Institute of Physics and Professor of Space Physics at Imperial College London. She was appointed Astronomer Royal last year – the first woman to hold the post in its 350-year history.She was brought up in Durban in South Africa and studied for a Bachelor of Science degree in applied maths at Natal University. After completing a Master's and PhD she took up a fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany where she investigated solar wind and galactic wind outflows.In 1991 she joined Imperial College London where she helped devise a magnetic field model for the Ulysses mission. In 1997 she became principal investigator for the magnetometer instrument on board the Cassini probe which was sent to study Saturn and its system.She is currently lead investigator for the J-MAG magnetometer instrument on the European Space Agency's JUICE mission (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) which launched in 2023. It will reach Jupiter in 2031 and spend at least three years observing the planet and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.Michele was appointed CBE in the 2018 New Years Honours List for services to UK Physical Science Research.DISC ONE: Puccini: Turandot, Act III: Nessun dorma! Performed by Luciano Pavarotti (tenor), John Alldis Choir, Wandsworth School Boys Choir and London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta DISC TWO: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85: III. Adagio. Composed by Elgar. Performed by Jacqueline du Pré (cello) and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli DISC THREE: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 19: III. Moderato. Composed by Tchaikovsky. Performed by Frank Peters Zimmerman (violin), and Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Lorin Maazel DISC FOUR: We Three Kings of Orient Are - Robert Shaw Chamber Singers DISC FIVE: Dancing Queen - ABBA DISC SIX: Dance With My Father - Luther Vandross DISC SEVEN: Franck: Panis Angelicus. Performed by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano), English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Barry Rose DISC EIGHT: Pie Jesu (From Requiem) Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Performed by Malakai Bayoh, Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School and London Mozart Players, directed by Scott Price BOOK CHOICE: The Lord of The Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien LUXURY ITEM: An assortment of wine CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85: III. Adagio. Composed by Elgar. Performed by Jacqueline du Pré (cello) and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinleyDesert Island Discs has cast many space experts away to the island over the years including NASA's Dr Nicola Fox, the astronomer Carl Sagan and the astronauts Tim Peake and Chris Hadfield. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

LEADING AN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY. Francesco Billari is Professor of Demography at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. He became Rector in November 2022 after having held the role of Dean of the Faculty. He has worked at the University of Oxford Department of Sociology, at Nuffield College, and at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. His recent book Domani è Oggi offers a demographic lens to shed light on the potential futures shaped by today's choices. "The important thing is that all young people should think that going to university is a wise and desirable idea. "We want to change the world by research." "We still have to learn how to deal with this diversity that comes with demographic change. It is completely new for humanity." https://www.alainelkanninterviews.com/francesco-billari/

AI in Universities: Why Connection, Not Content, is Now King This was an exciting episode, because we recorded it on campus at the world's newest university - Adelaide University. It officially started on-campus delivery this week, as it finally opened the doors after merging the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. Amid the buzz of students arriving for week 1, Eddie Major and I found some time to sit down and talk about how AI is impacting universities. Eddie is the university's AI Learning and Teaching Coordinator and you may not be surprised to learn that we discussed the AI myths of higher education and what being an "AI-first university" means.  Eddie debunks the "AI brain rot" myth, explaining that while the technology is disruptive, it is not the end of the university. Instead, we are moving from an era where "Content is King" to one where "Connection is King." We explore: Upstream AI Use: How students are using tools like NotebookLM to synthesise information before they even start an assignment. The Soft Skills Surge: Why communication and critical thinking are now more valuable than hard technical skills. The AI-First University: What it truly means to embed AI literacy across a global curriculum. References: We discussed the research from Hiromu Yakura at the Max Planck Institute about the way that ChatGPT was influencing speech. The paper, called "Empirical evidence of Large Language Model's influence on human spoken communication" is available at this link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.01754 

In this episode of Discovery Matters, we explore both sides of the gene‑editing coin: the tools that cut DNA and the technologies that safely deliver them where they need to go.First, we're joined by Dr. Stephan Reisenberg from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, who takes us inside the world of synthetic guide RNAs. Then, we zoom out to delivery and analytics with Adam Crowe, Senior Manager of Nanomedicine Analytical Development at Cytiva. Adam reveals why lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are both powerful and incredibly complex, and how cutting‑edge analytics are critical for turning promising gene‑editing tools into real medicines.

Dr. Chaitanya Giri is a distinguished space scientist, astrochemist, and technology strategy analyst whose expertise bridges planetary science, space policy, and astropolitics. He serves as a Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation's (ORF) Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology and is an Associate Professor at FLAME University.Dr. Giri holds a Ph.D. in Astrochemistry from the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. His scientific career includes significant tenures at the Earth-Life Science Institute at Tokyo Institute of Technology, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the Carnegie Institution for Science. Notably, he was a co-investigator for the COSAC payload on the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, which made groundbreaking discoveries on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Beyond his scientific research, Dr. Giri is deeply involved in science diplomacy and policy, having consulted for India's National Security Council Secretariat and served on various government review committees. He is also the author of the book India in the Second Space Age of Interplanetary Connectivity, which explores the geopolitical and economic implications of future space exploration.His latest book is ‘The Long Siege: 500 Years of India's Struggle for Technopolitical Freedom'.

In Drama of Democracy: Political Representation in Mumbai (U Minnesota Press, 2025), Lisa Björkman invites our attention to political form and how they allow us to appreciate the various mediums through which representation is negotiated. Drawing on a decade of research in the city of Mumbai closely following the movements of corporation election candidates, protesting crowds, political rally organisers, and social workers, the book maps the linguistic, visual, sonic, and semiotic tools used to construct the spectacle of democracy. It asks: how does the figure of the crowd subvert what euromodern conceptions of political representation? How do films and their constructions of the public, the organising of rallies, election season cash flows, garlanding, placards and slogans in protests inform new meanings of representation? Through this richly engaging and genre-breaking work, Bjorkman offers new ways – originating from Mumbai – to explain the reorganisation of political authority around the world. Lisa Björkman is an Associate Professor in Urban and Public Affairs at the University of Louisville. She is the author of Pipe Politics, Contested Waters: Embedded Infrastructures of Millennial Mumbai, Waiting Town: Life in Transit and Mumbai's Other World-Class Histories, and Bombay Brokers. Lisa is also a research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle. Raghavi Viswanath is a postdoctoral researcher and teaching fellow at SOAS, University of London. Her research, supported by the Leverhulme Trust, examines how pastoralists claim grazing rights under India's Forest Rights Act 2006 and how the everyday processes of staking such claims has been impacted by the authoritarian turn in India. LinkedIn. Email:rv13@soas.ac.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In Drama of Democracy: Political Representation in Mumbai (U Minnesota Press, 2025), Lisa Björkman invites our attention to political form and how they allow us to appreciate the various mediums through which representation is negotiated. Drawing on a decade of research in the city of Mumbai closely following the movements of corporation election candidates, protesting crowds, political rally organisers, and social workers, the book maps the linguistic, visual, sonic, and semiotic tools used to construct the spectacle of democracy. It asks: how does the figure of the crowd subvert what euromodern conceptions of political representation? How do films and their constructions of the public, the organising of rallies, election season cash flows, garlanding, placards and slogans in protests inform new meanings of representation? Through this richly engaging and genre-breaking work, Bjorkman offers new ways – originating from Mumbai – to explain the reorganisation of political authority around the world. Lisa Björkman is an Associate Professor in Urban and Public Affairs at the University of Louisville. She is the author of Pipe Politics, Contested Waters: Embedded Infrastructures of Millennial Mumbai, Waiting Town: Life in Transit and Mumbai's Other World-Class Histories, and Bombay Brokers. Lisa is also a research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle. Raghavi Viswanath is a postdoctoral researcher and teaching fellow at SOAS, University of London. Her research, supported by the Leverhulme Trust, examines how pastoralists claim grazing rights under India's Forest Rights Act 2006 and how the everyday processes of staking such claims has been impacted by the authoritarian turn in India. LinkedIn. Email:rv13@soas.ac.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

In Drama of Democracy: Political Representation in Mumbai (U Minnesota Press, 2025), Lisa Björkman invites our attention to political form and how they allow us to appreciate the various mediums through which representation is negotiated. Drawing on a decade of research in the city of Mumbai closely following the movements of corporation election candidates, protesting crowds, political rally organisers, and social workers, the book maps the linguistic, visual, sonic, and semiotic tools used to construct the spectacle of democracy. It asks: how does the figure of the crowd subvert what euromodern conceptions of political representation? How do films and their constructions of the public, the organising of rallies, election season cash flows, garlanding, placards and slogans in protests inform new meanings of representation? Through this richly engaging and genre-breaking work, Bjorkman offers new ways – originating from Mumbai – to explain the reorganisation of political authority around the world. Lisa Björkman is an Associate Professor in Urban and Public Affairs at the University of Louisville. She is the author of Pipe Politics, Contested Waters: Embedded Infrastructures of Millennial Mumbai, Waiting Town: Life in Transit and Mumbai's Other World-Class Histories, and Bombay Brokers. Lisa is also a research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle. Raghavi Viswanath is a postdoctoral researcher and teaching fellow at SOAS, University of London. Her research, supported by the Leverhulme Trust, examines how pastoralists claim grazing rights under India's Forest Rights Act 2006 and how the everyday processes of staking such claims has been impacted by the authoritarian turn in India. LinkedIn. Email:rv13@soas.ac.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

In Drama of Democracy: Political Representation in Mumbai (U Minnesota Press, 2025), Lisa Björkman invites our attention to political form and how they allow us to appreciate the various mediums through which representation is negotiated. Drawing on a decade of research in the city of Mumbai closely following the movements of corporation election candidates, protesting crowds, political rally organisers, and social workers, the book maps the linguistic, visual, sonic, and semiotic tools used to construct the spectacle of democracy. It asks: how does the figure of the crowd subvert what euromodern conceptions of political representation? How do films and their constructions of the public, the organising of rallies, election season cash flows, garlanding, placards and slogans in protests inform new meanings of representation? Through this richly engaging and genre-breaking work, Bjorkman offers new ways – originating from Mumbai – to explain the reorganisation of political authority around the world. Lisa Björkman is an Associate Professor in Urban and Public Affairs at the University of Louisville. She is the author of Pipe Politics, Contested Waters: Embedded Infrastructures of Millennial Mumbai, Waiting Town: Life in Transit and Mumbai's Other World-Class Histories, and Bombay Brokers. Lisa is also a research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle. Raghavi Viswanath is a postdoctoral researcher and teaching fellow at SOAS, University of London. Her research, supported by the Leverhulme Trust, examines how pastoralists claim grazing rights under India's Forest Rights Act 2006 and how the everyday processes of staking such claims has been impacted by the authoritarian turn in India. LinkedIn. Email:rv13@soas.ac.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this podcast episode, MRS Bulletin's Sophia Chen interviews Jing Li at Rutgers University and Kun Zhu at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics about the material and a solution-based manufacturing process they introduced to produce deep blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The LEDs emit light at 460 nm. The LED consists of several layers, beginning with an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate that serves as an electrode. Above the ITO is a single molecular layer of the polymer, polymethyl methacrylate. An 85-nm layer of the emissive hybrid copper iodide material goes on top of the polymer, which forms hydrogen bonds with the emissive material. These hydrogen bonds serve two purposes. They make the hybrid material less reactive, which improves the LED's stability. The hydrogen bonds also help introduce electrons and holes in balanced numbers into the emissive material, allowing it to emit light more efficiently. This dual hydrogen bonding approach is unique to the researchers' process. This work was published in Nature.

Wolfgang Streeck, a German economic sociologist and emeritus director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne, discusses the current political situation of leftist political organising and the condition of seeking “justice” in our society, an idea he puts under scrutiny. He points to the complexities and contradictions of justice, while highlighting how today political parties are abandoning their constituents, refusing to help unify differences through connecting people, a praxis Streeck maintains is “the precondition of collective action in pursuit of collective left egalitarian goals.” Discussing how capitalism has captured the social relations between people, Streeck ponders alternative media, what he terms the Samizdat of hyper-modernity—a space where humans can still maintain serious, analytical dialogues—whilst both legacy and social media attempt to obscure deeper social and political critiques. He notes the swift decline of deindustrialisation and the social welfare state of Europe, commenting upon the rise of the billionaire class in conjunction with the number of people who can barely make it to the end of each month. Streeck observes how state violence is enacted with such precision today that it not only has the technological ability to locate the supreme commander of Hamas from a population of two million people in Gaza during a genocide, but it can also proceed to kill him whilst filming his murder. Appraising Friedrich Engels' theories on the means of destruction alongside the means of production, Streeck hypothesises that one of the motives to continue the war in Ukraine has always been to test the next generation of war machinery while paying billionaires like Elon Musk, who has the power to switch off his Starlink satellite network, to effectively keep the war technology going. Get full access to Savage Minds at savageminds.substack.com/subscribe

******Support the channel******Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenterPayPal: paypal.me/thedissenterPayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuyPayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9lPayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpzPayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9mPayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ******Follow me on******Website: https://www.thedissenter.net/The Dissenter Goodreads list: https://shorturl.at/7BMoBFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/Twitter: https://x.com/TheDissenterYT This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning & Development done differently. Check the website here: http://enlites.com/ Dr. Eleanor Scerri is Professor at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, where she is the Head of the independent Max Planck Human Palaeosystems Research Group. She is an archaeological scientist interested in exploring the articulation between material culture, genetics, and biogeography to further theoretical, methodological and scientific advances in the field of human evolution. Her group is exploring the pan-African evolution of our species, Homo sapiens through a number of diverse projects. In this episode, we start by talking about H. sapiens in Saudi Arabia. We then discuss the spread of H. sapiens across wet tropical forests in Africa, and the diverse environments they inhabited there. We talk about H. sapiens on Malta and the Mediterranean islands. Finally, we discuss an expansion in the human niche and an out of Africa dispersal around 50 thousand years ago.--A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, JERRY MULLER, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, DIEGO LONDOÑO CORREA, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, HEDIN BRØNNER, DOUGLAS FRY, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE,SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, PAUL-GEORGE ARNAUD, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, AMAURI MARTÍNEZ, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, BARNABAS RADICS, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, VALENTIN STEINMANN, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, MAURO JÚNIOR, 航 豊川, TONY BARRETT, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, TED FARRIS, HUGO B., JAMES, JORDAN MANSFIELD, AND CHARLOTTE ALLEN!A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, BENEDIKT MUELLER, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, NICK GOLDEN, CHRISTINE GLASS, IGOR NIKIFOROVSKI, AND PER KRAULIS!AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER, SERGIU CODREANU, ROSEY, AND GREGORY HASTINGS!

Even before we get to introduce ourselves by name, our hair has already started to tell stories about who we are, where we are from and where we are at. Our hair is tangled up in the interplay of race, gender, class, nationality, sexuality, power and beauty. It is an avid storyteller and a consummate performer - whether we like it or not. If our hair could talk, what stories would it tell about us? (Dis)entangled: Black Hair, Race, and Identity (Coronet, 2025) delves into the intricate and deeply personal relationship between Black individuals and their hair, exploring - through a collection of diverse experiences - the profound significance of hair as a conduit for self-expression, resilience, and collective memory within communities around the world. Each story illuminates the complex tapestry of experiences surrounding Black hair, shedding light on its intersections with gender, race and identity.Through the voices of those who have walked this textured path, the book ultimately seeks to empower readers to embrace their own unique journey of self-discovery, one strand at a time. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has just been published (2025, Oxford University Press). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Even before we get to introduce ourselves by name, our hair has already started to tell stories about who we are, where we are from and where we are at. Our hair is tangled up in the interplay of race, gender, class, nationality, sexuality, power and beauty. It is an avid storyteller and a consummate performer - whether we like it or not. If our hair could talk, what stories would it tell about us? (Dis)entangled: Black Hair, Race, and Identity (Coronet, 2025) delves into the intricate and deeply personal relationship between Black individuals and their hair, exploring - through a collection of diverse experiences - the profound significance of hair as a conduit for self-expression, resilience, and collective memory within communities around the world. Each story illuminates the complex tapestry of experiences surrounding Black hair, shedding light on its intersections with gender, race and identity.Through the voices of those who have walked this textured path, the book ultimately seeks to empower readers to embrace their own unique journey of self-discovery, one strand at a time. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has just been published (2025, Oxford University Press). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Even before we get to introduce ourselves by name, our hair has already started to tell stories about who we are, where we are from and where we are at. Our hair is tangled up in the interplay of race, gender, class, nationality, sexuality, power and beauty. It is an avid storyteller and a consummate performer - whether we like it or not. If our hair could talk, what stories would it tell about us? (Dis)entangled: Black Hair, Race, and Identity (Coronet, 2025) delves into the intricate and deeply personal relationship between Black individuals and their hair, exploring - through a collection of diverse experiences - the profound significance of hair as a conduit for self-expression, resilience, and collective memory within communities around the world. Each story illuminates the complex tapestry of experiences surrounding Black hair, shedding light on its intersections with gender, race and identity.Through the voices of those who have walked this textured path, the book ultimately seeks to empower readers to embrace their own unique journey of self-discovery, one strand at a time. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has just been published (2025, Oxford University Press). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/caribbean-studies

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it has also escalated a shadow war against the West. Using cyberattacks, destruction of property, arson, assassinations, and information operations, Russian agents sow chaos and fear, while probing and testing capabilities and responses in the event of a broader full-scale war. In a wide-ranging conversation, host Bakhti Nishanov talks to shadow war and energy expert Benjamin Schmitt about his experiences tracking Russia's sabotage attempts across the globe. They delve into Schmitt's quest to show the world how Russia's actions affect the lives and livelihoods of people throughout the West, a journey that has taken him from Chile to the Arctic to the Baltic Sea and beyond.  Read "Underwater Mayhem: Countering Threats to Energy and Critical Infrastructure Across the NATO Alliance and Beyond," here: https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/subsea-sabotage-protecting-energy-infrastructure-from-hostile-aggression/  --- Benjamin L. Schmitt is a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, where he holds a joint academic appointment with the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. He is also a senior fellow and the director of the graduate program at Perry World House. At Penn, Schmitt focuses on the project development and field deployment of the Simons Observatory, a new set of experimental cosmology telescopes and energy support infrastructure under construction at a high-altitude site in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. In his joint role at Penn, he also pursues research and teaching with the Kleinman Center related to European energy security, critical infrastructure protection, export controls policies, and modern sanctions regimes. At Perry World House, Schmitt focuses on national security analysis focused on the transatlantic community and the Indo-Pacific, as well as emerging space security challenges. Previously, Schmitt was a research associate and project development scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, where he supported the technical design, project management, and deployment of novel instrumentation and infrastructure for next-generation experimental cosmology telescopes at the South Pole. For this work, he traveled to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica in early 2020 and received the U.S. Antarctica Service Medal. Schmitt remains an affiliate of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and is also an associate of the Harvard-Ukrainian Research Institute. Schmitt is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is co-founder of the Duke Space Diplomacy Lab, where he is also a fellow of Duke's Rethinking Diplomacy Program. Schmitt is also a senior fellow for Democratic Resilience at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). Previously, Schmitt served as European energy security advisor at the U.S. Department of State, where he advanced diplomatic engagement vital to the energy and national security interests of the transatlantic community, with a focus on supporting the resilience of NATO's eastern flank and Ukraine in the face of Russian malign energy activities. Schmitt has been an invited lecturer on energy, national security, and science policy at Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, the National Defense University, and more. He also regularly publishes in Foreign Policy, The Daily Beast, Newsweek, The Hill, Atlantic Council, and Harvard International Review. Schmitt regularly provides expert commentary for print, television, and radio, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, NPR's Marketplace, BBC World Service, Slate, Vox, The Sunday Telegraph, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, Bild Zeitung, Handelsblatt, and the Kyiv Post. Schmitt is a past recipient of the Government of Poland's Amicus Poloniae Award, has been honored as "Ukraine's Friend of the Week" by the Kyiv Post, and has received both Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards from the U.S. Department of State. Before entering government, Schmitt served as a NASA Space Technology Research Fellow while pursuing doctoral research in experimental cosmology at the University of Pennsylvania. For this work, Schmitt received both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in experimental physics from the University of Pennsylvania. Schmitt has also previously served as a U.S. Fulbright Research Fellow to the Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany. Schmitt is an Eastman School of Music trained classical vocalist with multiple leading operatic roles and solo concert performances on his resume. He is also a member of the United States Golf Association. Schmitt is a proud native of Rochester, New York. He resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. --- This podcast is hosted by Bakhti Nishanov and produced by Alanna Novetsky, in conjunction with the Senate Recording Studio.

Increasingly, people travel and communicate across borders. Yet, we still know little about the overall structure of this transnational world. Is it really a fully globalized world in which everything is linked, as popular catchphrases like “global village” suggest? Through a sweeping comparative analysis of eight types of mobility and communication among countries worldwide—from migration and tourism to Facebook friendships and phone calls—Mapping the Transnational World demonstrates that our behavior is actually regionalized, not globalized.Emanuel Deutschmann shows that transnational activity within world regions is not so much the outcome of political, cultural, or economic factors, but is driven primarily by geographic distance. He explains that the spatial structure of transnational human activity follows a simple mathematical function, the power law, a pattern that also fits the movements of many other animal species on the planet. Moreover, this pattern remained extremely stable during the five decades studied—1960 to 2010. Unveiling proximity-induced regionalism as a major feature of planet-scale networks of transnational human activity, Deutschmann provides a crucial corrective to several fields of research.Revealing why a truly global society is unlikely to emerge, Mapping the Transnational World highlights the essential role of interaction beyond borders on a planet that remains spatially fragmented. This interview was conducted by Dr. Hannah Pool, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies. Her research focuses on human mobilities and her new book has just been published (2025, Oxford University Press).  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company when a scientist gave her a tour of the lab. Looking at the long rows of pregnancy tests she thought, well anyone could do that test at home! So she set about designing a prototype for America's first home pregnancy test. While the design of the prototype was simple, convincing the company, the medical community and conservative social leaders that at-home pregnancy testing was safe and necessary was an uphill climb for Crane, who is only now receiving credit for her contributions to the industry. This show first aired in February 2024. Featuring: Margaret Crane - Graphic designer and inventor of the first home pregnancy test Wendy Kline - Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine, History Faculty Purdue University Jesse Olszynko-Gryn - Head of the [Laboratory for Oral History and Experimental Media](https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/research/projects/laboratory-oral-history-and-experimental-media) at Max Planck Institute for the History of Science  Arthur Kover - Emeritus Professor of Marketing, Fordham University Alexandra Lord - Chair, Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History Making Contact Staff: Host: Amy Gastelum Guest Producer: Anne Noyes Saini  Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang Executive Director: Jina Chung Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong Engineer: Jeff Emtman  Digital Media Marketing: Lissa Deonorain Music:  Podington Bear, Rhythm and Strings  Learn More: National Museum of American History https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1803285 A Woman's Right to Know, Pregnancy Testing in 20th Century Britain - https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262544399/a-womans-right-to-know/ Predictor, by Jennifer Blackmer https://newplayexchange.org/plays/348156/predictor Making Contact is an award-winning, nationally syndicated radio show and podcast featuring narrative storytelling and thought-provoking interviews. We cover the most urgent issues of our time and the people on the ground building a more just world.

Episode SummaryIn this Think Thursday episode, Molly explores why December feels so emotionally intense and why anticipation plays such a powerful role in our thoughts, feelings, and habits. Anticipation is not just psychological. It is driven by the brain's predictive systems that simulate the future long before it arrives.Using findings from neuroscience, including research highlighted in Neuron, University College London, Stanford University, and studies on dopamine and reward processing, Molly explains how imagining the future changes our emotional state in the present. She shows how anticipation can create craving, heighten anxiety, and influence behavior before anything even happens.Importantly, she connects this science to behavior change. When we understand anticipation, we gain the ability to shape our emotional experience, support our habit goals, and build a stronger relationship with our future selves.What You Will LearnWhy the brain is not reactive but predictiveHow the prospection network simulates possible futuresWhy anticipation activates the same regions involved in memory and emotionHow dopamine spikes during anticipation more than during rewardWhy the holidays intensify emotional forecastingHow the brain treats future you similarly to a strangerHow anticipation contributes to cravings, stress, and anxietyPractical strategies for using anticipation intentionally in behavior changeKey Insights from the EpisodeAnticipation is a physiological experience. Heart rate, dopamine, and emotional readiness all shift based on prediction.December amplifies anticipation because the brain is projecting ahead using vivid emotional memories from past holidays.Many habit patterns with alcohol, eating, and spending are anticipatory rather than reactive in the moment.The medial prefrontal cortex becomes less active when imagining the distant future, which explains why future you feels separate.Mental rehearsal activates the same neural pathways as actual behavior and can support intentional change.Anticipatory framing can influence how stressful events are interpreted afterward.Practical Tools from the Episode1. Anticipate the emotional landscape, not the event. Shift from worrying about what will happen to planning for how you want to feel.2. Rehearse your chosen identity. Imagine yourself acting in alignment with your values to strengthen the neural pathways that support follow-through.3. Shorten the distance to future you. Ask questions like:What will tonight's me thank me forWhat does tomorrow morning's me need4. Anticipate urges with curiosity. Recognize that urges are forecasts of relief, not emergencies.5. Create micro anticipations that ground you. Examples include expecting the first sip of warm tea, a quiet step outside, or the feeling of waking up proud the next morning.Studies and Sources Mentioned2023 review in Neuron on the prospection networkUniversity College London study on dopamine release during anticipatory uncertaintyStanford University research on future self representation in the brainStudies from the University of Michigan and Max Planck Institute on dopamine and anticipation2024 Psychological Science study on anticipatory framing and stress interpretation ★ Support this podcast ★

(00:00:00) Theia Unveiled: Tracing the Origins of Earth's Moon and Lucy's Journey to Jupiter's Trojans (00:00:50) New study claims Theia and Earth were once neighbours (00:06:16) Lucy's mission to Jupiter's trojan asteroids (00:15:26) Starliner's next mission to be limited to cargo only (00:17:57) The Science Report (00:23:17) Alex on Tech: Dooms Day clock countdown to Digital ID In this episode of SpaceTime, we dive into the intriguing origins of our Moon and the latest developments in space exploration.Theia: The Lost Planet Behind the Moon's BirthA groundbreaking study reveals that Theia, the small planet believed to have collided with Earth to form the Moon, originated from the inner solar system. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute and the University of Chicago have analyzed isotopic compositions of Earth and Moon rocks, suggesting that Theia was likely composed of materials found closer to the Sun than Earth's orbit. This discovery sheds light on the nature of this celestial body and its dramatic impact on our planet's history.Lucy Mission Update: Journey to Jupiter's TrojansNASA's Lucy spacecraft, launched in October 2021, is on an ambitious 12-year mission to explore Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. These ancient remnants from the solar system's formation are crucial for understanding planetary development. Lucy will visit seven asteroids, including both leading and trailing Trojan swarms, providing unprecedented insights into the early solar system. Principal Investigator Hal Levison emphasizes that the mission will revolutionize our understanding of planetary formation and the origins of volatiles and organics on terrestrial planets.Starliner Mission Limited to CargoIn a significant setback, NASA has announced that Boeing's Starliner spacecraft will only carry cargo on its next mission to the International Space Station. This decision follows a series of technical issues that plagued Starliner's previous flights. With the total number of planned missions reduced from six to four, NASA aims to ensure safety and reliability before allowing crewed flights again.www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com✍️ Episode ReferencesJournal of ScienceNASA ReportsMax Planck Institute StudiesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/spacetime-your-guide-to-space-astronomy--2458531/support.

Sponsor Details:This episode of Space Nuts is brought to you with the support of NordVPN. To get our special Space Nuts listener discounts and four months free bonus, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee, simply visit www.nordvpn.com/spacenuts or use the coupon code SPACENUTS at checkout.Exploring Theia, Near-Earth Asteroids, and EnceladusIn this exciting episode of Space Nuts, hosts Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson dive into a wealth of astronomical discoveries and insights. From new revelations about the ancient collision between Earth and Theia to the astounding discovery of 40,000 near-Earth asteroids, this episode is packed with cosmic revelations that will spark your curiosity about the universe.Episode Highlights:- Theia and Earth's Relationship: Andrew and Fred discuss groundbreaking research from the Max Planck Institute that redefines our understanding of Theia, the protoplanet that collided with Earth. They explore how isotopic similarities suggest Theia was not just a random object, but likely a companion planet in the early solar system.- 40,000 Near-Earth Asteroids: The hosts celebrate the milestone of 40,000 discovered near-Earth asteroids, discussing the implications for planetary defense and the importance of monitoring potentially hazardous objects that could pose a threat to Earth.- Life on Enceladus: A thrilling discussion emerges around the latest findings from the Cassini mission, revealing new organic compounds in the icy plumes of Enceladus. Andrew and Fred ponder the exciting possibility of life existing in the subsurface ocean of this intriguing moon of Saturn.- Updates on Comet 3I Atlas: The episode wraps up with an update on the interstellar comet 3I Atlas, including stunning new images captured from Mars. The hosts discuss the significance of these observations and what they might reveal about the comet's characteristics as it continues its journey through our solar system.For more Space Nuts, including our continuously updating newsfeed and to listen to all our episodes, visit our website. Follow us on social media at SpaceNutsPod on Facebook, X, YouTube Music Music, Tumblr, Instagram, and TikTok. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favorite platform.If you'd like to help support Space Nuts and join our growing family of insiders for commercial-free episodes and more, visit spacenutspodcast.com/about.Stay curious, keep looking up, and join us next time for more stellar insights and cosmic wonders. Until then, clear skies and happy stargazing.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/space-nuts-astronomy-insights-cosmic-discoveries--2631155/support.