The Monkey Wars

When we examine the brains of Fruit Flies (Drosophila’s), we unravel fundamental principles of how the brain works.  In this episode, Dr Carolina Rezeval discusses how she explores the neurology of behavioural choices and their potential application to humans. Join us for a discussion on Dr Carolina Rezeval’s journey, the rich potential benefits of Drosophila research, and how studying fruit flies can reveal fundamental neurological principles.

How should we approach consent in the context of Aged Care? This is the question at the heart of an influential paper by Dr Vanessa Schouten, Dr Catherine Cook and Dr Mark Henrickson. Weighing up the role of autonomy, consent and intimacy in Aged Care settings, this conversation dives into the mechanics of how we - as individuals and as a society - make some of our most important decisions.

The Mars Rover is the “most complex machine ever sent to another planet. It is a one-ton robot with two brains, seventeen cameras, six wheels, nuclear power, and a laser beam on its head."  It's every sci-fi fans dream, but it's (really) confusing. How does The Mars Rover work? How does it discover new life? What happens if it breaks? Joining us on the pod today is Emily Lakdawalla - author of 'The Design and Engineering of Curiosity: How the Mars Rover Performs Its Job'.  In this fascinating pod, Emily talks about the challenges of Mars, new life and control room drama.  Emily Lakdawalla No one human understands how all of its systems and instruments work”. Given its complexity, and with no one human understanding of how it all works, it’s incredible that it works so well. How do you ensure coherence between its different functions given its complexity?

The stakes have never been higher. The world is more divided than ever before, and a significant part of the issue is that we can't agree on what counts as 'true'.  This week's episode features Dr Kiki Sanford: host of the hugely popular 'This Week in Science' and science communicator extraordinaire. Here, she takes on the core challenge of vaccine scepticism, the mechanics of how we come to decisions on what we think is true, and how to make the most of a PhD. 

Is it ethical to experiment on primates? Pulitzer-prize winner Deborah Blum comes onto the pod to talk about her groundbreaking book - The Monkey Wars. Written in 1994 but reading like it was written today, the fraught ethical issues it touches on are as relevant as ever. Deborah and Jamie dig into the ethical basis for animal rights, the utilitarian nature of arguments on both sides and discuss the ever-changing terrain of one of science's fiercest debates. Welcome to The Monkey Wars. 

More than 20% of American's will suffer from depression at some point in their lives - but traditional treatments are relatively ineffective. That, according to Dr Jyoti Mishra, is in part because current treatments are too 'blunt' an instrument. Simply put, "current health care standards are mostly just asking people how they feel and then writing a prescription for medication.” Here, Dr Mishra talks us through her potentially groundbreaking study in developing personalised treatment for depression - something that reflects the diversity of causes that live under the same label. Her study represents a huge conceptual leap - and this podcast isn't one to miss. You can read the research here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-021-01445-0

Dr Richard Wiseman has been described as "one of the most interesting and innovative experimental psychologists in the world today". He's sold more than 3 million books, he's a member of the Inner Magic Circle and his brand psychology communication has racked up more than 500 million views on YouTube. In this winding and thoroughly entertaining conversation, Richard and Jamie discuss the psychological underpinnings of magic, the science of luck and the nature of scepticism.  Find Dr Wiseman here: https://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/

How do we measure success, productivity or efficiency? Elie AlChaer is a civil engineer who studied at the Lebanese American University, Byblos and completed his graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley. His experience in the construction industry led to the start of his research on productivity and how to measure it. In this episode we talk about how he got interested in efficiency, the problems with traditional measures of efficiency and an algorithm used to address it. Enjoy! 

In January 2020, today's guest was named a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences by Pope Francis. That's right,  Dani Rodrik is a seriously respected and world-renowned Turkish economist and Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard University. Publishing widely in the areas of international economics, economic development, and political economy, we delve deeper in to some of those topics today & give you a simple breakdown of Dani's work! In this episode we discuss the limitations of economics as a science, the balance economists need to strike when helping to inform policy, whether we're entering a new era of economics & more.  Enjoy!

Who is today's guest?  "Born in South Africa, I started my academic career at the University of Cape Town where I triple majored in Statistics, Economics, and Philosophy. I realised fairly late on that my passion was in physics, so I moved to the Uk to complete my undergraduate in theoretical physics at Queen Mary University of London. During that period I worked for Artificial Intelligence companies, where I developed deep-learning algorithms and published articles on the connection between neuroscience and the workplace, and for the National Physical Laboratory, where I was involved in building part of a Quantum Computer. Over the last year, I’ve been working on the black hole information paradox under Prof. Malcolm Perry, one of the world’s leading physicists. In the process, I discovered an infinite set of zero-energy particles so to speak - the soft chromoelectric and chromomagnetic charges. I’ll be continuing this research with Prof. Perry at the University of Cambridge later this year, where I plan to study Quantum Gravity, a description of microscopic spacetime, as part of my PhD research."