Podurama logo

 Podurama

 

Home

 

Trending

 

Personal

 

Your Podcasts

 

New Episodes

 

My Files

 

Favourite Episodes

 

Tags (Folders)

 

Recently Played

 

Bookmarks

 

Followed Playlists

YOUR PLAYLISTS

 

Loading…

CrowdScience podcast

…

CrowdScience

…

·

  BBC World Service  

We take your questions about life, Earth and the universe to researchers hunting for answers at the frontiers of knowledge.

We take your questions about life, Earth and the universe to researchers hunting for answers at the frontiers of knowledge.

 

All

Progress

Duration

Release Date

#300

What is consciousness?

It's pretty obvious to each of us that we are conscious, as we go about our days and feel the experience of just ‘being ourselves'. But how do we know that someone else is conscious? It’s something we lose during dreamless sleep, under anaesthesia or in a coma. But what exactly is consciousness? On the one hand, it’s pretty obvious - it’s what we all feel as we go about our daily lives. It's the experience of 'being you'. On the other hand, it gets pretty tricky when we try to pin down the science of it all. How do we know that someone (or something) else is conscious? CrowdScience listener Sylvester was wondering about this and he got in touch with a few questions on the subject. What is the relationship between our consciousness and reality? Is it all just a hallucination? When does it start and stop? Does consciousness reside in a particular part of the brain? Host Marnie Chesterton sets out to tackle this elusive but utterly fundamental quality of life and sees how researchers are attempting to conceptualise and study it. In the relatively young field of consciousness multiple theories have emerged. A new way of testing them - an adversarial collaboration - is offering a novel approach to not just consciousness research but science more broadly. We visit one lab in Frankfurt that's running experiments for the most recent adversarial collaboration and trying to test two theories of consciousness – Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNW) and Integrated Information Theory (IIT) – against each other. Looking at these and other concepts of consciousness like Qualia, Marnie tries to understand this central tenet of our human experience that, in many ways, remains one of the great mysteries of science. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Sam Baker Editor: Richard Collings Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris Studio Manager: Sarah Hockley Featuring: Anil Seth, Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex in Brighton, England Lucia Melloni, Max Planck for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt, New York University & Project Lead for COGITATE Nao Tsuchiya, Monash Data Futures Institute, Turner Institute for Brain & Mental Health, Monash University (Image: Active Human Brain. Credit: PM Images / Getty Images) ... Read more

29 Sep 2023

36 MINS

36:42

29 Sep 2023

#299

Can we grow a conscious brain?

Philosophers have long pondered the concept of a brain in a jar, hooked up to a simulated world. Though this has largely remained a thought experiment, CrowdScience listener JP wants to know if it might become reality in the not-too-distant future, with advances in stem cell research. In the two decades since stem cell research began, scientists have learned how to use these cells to create the myriad of cell types in our bodies, including those in our brains, offering researchers ways to study neurological injuries and neurodegenerative disorders. Some labs have actually started 3D printing stem cells into sections of brain tissue in order to study specific interactions in the brain. Human brain organoids offer another way to study brain development and diseases from autism to the Zika virus. So, might stem cell research one day lead to a fully-grown human brain, or is that resolutely in the realm of science fiction? If something resembling our brains is on the horizon, is there any chance that it could actually become conscious? And how would we even know if it was? Host Marnie Chesterton takes a peek inside the human brain and speaks with leading scientists in the field, including a philosopher and ethicist who talks about the benefits – and potential pitfalls – of growing human brain models. Along the way, we'll pull apart the science from what still remains (at least for now) fiction. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Sam Baker Assistant Producer: Jonathan Blackwell Editor: Richard Collings Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum (Image: Brain in a jar. Credit: Mike Kemp / Getty Images) ... Read more

22 Sep 2023

26 MINS

26:58

22 Sep 2023

#298

Why am I scared of bridges?

Everyone has fears – but what makes a fear become a phobia? Why are some people scared of spiders (arachnophobia), buttons (koumpounophobia), or the colour yellow (xanthophobia)? Or why are others are scared of situations, like small spaces (claustrophobia), empty rooms (kenophobia) or heights (acrophobia)? This is a question which has been bothering Crowdscience listener Scott, who has a phobia of bridges. He gets anxious and panicky when driving over bridges and is scared he’ll lose control of the car. It’s also a question that struck a chord with presenter Caroline Steel. She is claustrophobic, particularly in lifts, steering clear of them at all costs and even once climbing nine flights of stairs in crutches to avoid using the lift. But where do these phobias come from and why do some people have them and not others? To investigate, Caroline speaks to experts to discover where phobias come from, why we have them and how they develop. And she visits a psychologist to learn about different types of treatment for phobias, and to receive treatment herself in the hope that one day, maybe she’ll be able to take the lift instead of the stairs. Contributors: Professor Paul Salkovskis, Director, Oxford Centre for Psychological Health, UK Professor Ekaterina Likhtik, Associate Professor in Biological Sciences at Hunter College, CUNY, USA Dr Andras Zsido, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Hungary Presenter: Caroline Steel Producer: Hannah Fisher Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris (Image: Person sitting on high up bridge. Credit: ljubaphoto / Getty Images) ... Read more

15 Sep 2023

28 MINS

28:24

15 Sep 2023

#297

Why do my children stress me out?

CrowdScience listener Leo gets stressed when his young children start screaming at the same time in the middle of the night. He wants to know why we haven’t evolved to deal with the stress more effectively. The challenges of bringing up a family are nothing new and we don’t face the same dangers as our ancestors, so why do we still react as if it’s a life-threatening emergency? Caroline Steel finds out what stress is for, what it does to us and whether we have in fact evolved to manage it. Contributors: Tashfia Ahmed, biomedical engineer, post-doctoral researcher, City University, London Anne-Kathrin Gellner, neurologist and psychiatrist, Bonn University James Rilling, anthropologist and neuroscientist, Department of Psychology and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Emory University Gunter Wagner, evolutionary biologist, Vienna University Presenter: Caroline Steel Producer: Jo Glanville Editor: Richard Collings Production Co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris Studio Manager: Jackie Margerum (Image: Frustrated father holds baby in his arms. Credit: Jamie Grill / Getty Images) ... Read more

08 Sep 2023

27 MINS

27:04

08 Sep 2023

#296

What does a sustainable life look like?

Many of us are worried about the environment, but the aim of living in a truly sustainable way is hard to pin down. Do we all need to stop buying things? Is it down to governments to make the changes for us? Is there somewhere in the world painting a picture of the end goal? It’s a question that has bothered CrowdScience listener Cate for 20 years! She’s worried we’re not doing enough for the environment and just wants a clear scenario of what it might look like to live sustainably, in a way that could work for all eight billion of us on the planet. It’s a big question, so this week presenter Caroline Steel has teamed up with her friend and colleague Graihagh Jackson from The Climate Question podcast to answer it. They head to the remote Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, which is aiming to go carbon neutral by 2025 and zero waste by 2032. How are they going about it and could this be replicated elsewhere? We visit a ground-breaking project turning nappies into compost, meet a glassblower making tableware out of wasted insulin vials, and find out how pig waste can power homes. This edition of CrowdScience hones in on Bornholm’s zero waste goal. Will the island make it? Listen to The Climate Question’s look at the island’s quest to go carbon neutral here: BBC World Service - The Climate Question, Going carbon neutral - lessons from Denmark - www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5bkg (Available from 3rd September) Presenters: Caroline Steel and Graihagh Jackson Producer: Sophie Eastaugh Editor: Richard Collings Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris (Image: Dr David Christensen, Project Manager at BOFA, Bornholm’s waste authority with presenter Caroline Steel in front of a giant mound of waste bound for the island’s incinerator. The incinerator will be shut down in 2032 when the island aims to be zero waste. Credit: Sophie Eastaugh) ... Read more

01 Sep 2023

28 MINS

28:50

01 Sep 2023

#295

How do butterflies and moths fly?

For hundreds of millions of years insects controlled the skies. Before birds, bats and pterodactyls, insects were the only creatures that had evolved the ability to fly: a miracle of physics and physiology requiring their bodies to act in coordinated ballet. This week three separate CrowdScience listeners have been asking questions about the flight of butterflies and moths. How do they move so erratically, yet land so precisely? What makes such tiny insects such accurate flyers? Presenter Anand Jagatia -- not the biggest fan of either butterflies or moths -- visits Butterfly Paradise at London Zoo to meet keeper Mark Tansley. Anand tries to get over his aversion by immersing himself in fluttering creatures. He then meets insect flight expert Sanjay Sane to learn the hidden mechanics behind their aeronautical skills: the vortexes of air generated by their wings and the complex muscle architecture inside their torsos. Next, aerospace engineer Amy Lang explains how the scales on their wings reduce air resistance by clever manipulation of the air and how this function trades off against other uses of the scales: for colour, for keeping dry, and much more. All of these abilities are put to the test during the incredible global migrations that some butterflies undertake. Gerard Talavera tells Anand how he turned previous thinking about butterfly migration across Africa on its head. Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Phil Sansom Voiceover: Kitty O’Sullivan Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris Editor: Richard Collings (Photo: Crowdscience presenter Anand Jagatia crouches next to a butterfly. Credit: Phil Sansom) ... Read more

25 Aug 2023

26 MINS

26:56

25 Aug 2023

#294

What is the weight of the internet?

How do you think about the internet? What does the word conjuror up? Maybe a cloud? Or the flashing router in the corner of your front room? Or this magic power that connects over 5 billion people on all the continents of this planet? Most of us don’t think of it at all, beyond whether we can connect our phones to it. CrowdScience listener Simon has been thinking and wants to know how much it weighs. Which means trying to work out what counts as the internet. If it is purely the electrons that form those tikitok videos and cat memes, then you might be surprised to hear that you could lift of the internet with 1 finger. But presenters Caroline Steel and Marnie Chesterton argue that there might be more, which sends them on a journey. They meet Andrew Blum, the author of the book Tubes – Behind the Scenes at the Internet, about his journey to trace the physical internet. And enlist vital help from cable-loving analyst Lane Burdette at Telegeography, who maps the internet. To find those cables under the oceans, they travel to Porthcurno, once an uninhabited valley in rural Cornwall, now home to the Museum of Global Communications thanks to its status as a hub in the modern map of worldwide communications. With the museum’s Susan Heritage-Tilley, they compare original telegraph cables and modern fibre optics. The team also head to a remote Canadian post office, so correspondent Meral Jamal can intercept folk picking up their satellite internet receivers, and ask to weigh them. A seemingly innocuous question becomes the quest for everything that connects us, and its weight! Producer: Marnie Chesterton Presenter: Marnie Chesterton & Caroline Steel Editor: Richard Collings Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris (Image: Scales with data worlds and symbols interspersed throughout. Credit: Getty Images) ... Read more

18 Aug 2023

35 MINS

35:58

18 Aug 2023

#293

Are dogs good for us?

Dogs have been our best animal buddy for thousands of years. They’ve helped us out in countless ways from hunting alongside us to guiding us as service dogs. Talk to any pet owner and they’ll tell you how much joy their dog brings them. But you’ll also probably hear about vets bills, muddy footprints, or chewed up slippers. There are plenty of claims about the ways in which dogs might benefit our physical and mental health -- but how strong is the evidence? This week on CrowdScience, listeners Jason and Finn in Guernsey want to know if there’s any real evidence that our furry friends can benefit our health and wellbeing. Join Anand Jagatia as he enlists the help of his own pup, Stella, to explore the evidence. He uncovers the profound effects that service dogs can have on the mental health of military veterans in the US. Anand ponders the strangely unique relationship between humans and dogs and we learn about the surprising ways that about growing up with a pet dog can impact your health. Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Emily Bird Editor: Richard Collings Studio Engineer: Donald MacDonald Production coordinator: Jonathan Harris, Elliott Prince Contributors: Dr Kerri Rodriguez Professor Tove Fall Professor Hal Herzog (Photo: Jack Russell leaping into the air trying to catch a ball. Credit: Brighton Dog Photography/Getty Images) ... Read more

11 Aug 2023

28 MINS

28:23

11 Aug 2023

#292

Is the ‘sunshine cure’ a real thing?

Imagine spending six months of every year living in total shade. That’s what life is like for residents of the Norwegian town of Rjukan, set so low in a valley that they see no direct sunshine at all from October to March. Marnie Chesterton heads there to hear about an ingenious solution: giant mirrors that beam rays down into the town square, where locals gather to feel the reflected heat. The man behind the project was motivated by a need for winter sun – but how much difference does it really make to our health and happiness? That’s the question posed by this week’s CrowdScience listener Michael, who has noticed living in the rainy Australian city of Melbourne is taking its toll. Many pensioners claim sunshine relieves achiness as well as conditions like arthritis but one of the biggest scientific studies found temperature has no real impact on reported pain levels, while factors like air pressure and humidity may play a role. When it comes to our mood, it seems that spending time outside is more important than feeling the heat. The optimum temperature for wellbeing is around a cool 19 degrees centigrade, while excessive warm weather has been linked to an increase in violence and crime. You can watch a visualisation of this episode on YouTube: Is the 'sunshine cure' a real thing? - CrowdScience, BBC World Service podcast - YouTube Producer: Marijke Peters Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Editor: Richard Collings Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris Contributors: Dr Anna Beukenhorst, University of Manchester Professor Oscar Ybarra, University of Illinois Professor Solomon Hsiang, University of California, Berkeley Martin Andersen, artist (Photo: Young woman enjoying sunset. Credit: Muriel De Seze/Getty Images) ... Read more

04 Aug 2023

26 MINS

26:59

04 Aug 2023

#291

Is the ‘sunshine cure’ a real thing?

Imagine spending six months of every year living in total shade. That’s what life is like for residents of the Norwegian town of Rjukan, set so low in a valley that they see no direct sunshine at all from October to March. Marnie Chesterton heads there to hear about an ingenious solution: giant mirrors that beam rays down into the town square, where locals gather to feel the reflected heat. The man behind the project was motivated by a need for winter sun – but how much difference does it really make to our health and happiness? That’s the question posed by this week’s CrowdScience listener Michael, who has noticed living in the rainy Australian city of Melbourne is taking its toll. Many pensioners claim sunshine relieves achiness as well as conditions like arthritis but one of the biggest scientific studies found temperature actually has no impact on reported pain levels, while factors like air pressure and humidity may play a role. When it comes to our mood, it seems that spending time outside is more important than feeling the heat and the optimum temperature for wellbeing is around a cool 19 degrees centigrade, while excessive warm weather has been linked to an increase in violence and crime. Contributors: Dr Anna Beukenhorst, University of Manchester Professor Oscar Ybarra, University of Illinois Professor Solomon Hsiang, University of California, Berkeley Martin Andersen, artist (Image: Man with smoke coming out of ears. Credit: Getty Images) ... Read more

04 Aug 2023

26 MINS

26:29

04 Aug 2023

#290

Why does some music make us sad?

CrowdScience investigates the link between music and emotion to try and understand why certain songs can have such a profound impact on our mood. From breakup songs to upbeat holiday hits, many of us have made playlists that reflect how we feel, whether that’s down in the dumps or high as a kite. This week CrowdScience investigates the link between music and emotion to try and understand why certain songs can have such a profound impact on our mood. Presenter Anand Jagatia is surprised to learn that newborn babies are more likely to fall asleep when listening to fast tempo happy tunes than soothing sad lullabies, which may be because they’re attuned to multiple auditory stimuli after months in the womb. But later in life we actually seek out sad songs to make us feel better. The so-called ‘sadness paradox’ has been studied for many centuries. But what is it about melancholy music that might be good for us? Some scientists believe more empathetic people enjoy listening to these types of tune because they elicit a feeling of compassion towards others, which can be rewarding. A film composer tells us how scoring suspense isn’t simply about minor or major chords, or even what instruments you use – it all comes down to keeping the audience guessing about what’s coming next. (Photo: young woman listening to headphones looking sad. Credit: Getty Images) Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Marijke Peters Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris Editor: Richard Collings Studio Technician: Phil Lander Contributors: Alex Heffes Professor Stefan Koelsch Dr Emese Nagy Associate Professor Jonna Vuoskoski Dr Scott Bannister ... Read more

28 Jul 2023

35 MINS

35:07

28 Jul 2023

#289

Why do we get bored?

“I’m bored!” We can all relate to the uncomfortable - and at times unbearable - feeling of boredom. But what is it? Why does it happen? And could this frustrating, thumb-twiddling experience actually serve some evolutionary purpose? CrowdScience listener Brian started wondering this over a particularly uninspiring bowl of washing up and it’s ended with presenter Marnie Chesterton going on a blessedly un-boring tour through the science and psychology of tedium. She finds out why some people are more affected than others, why boredom is the key to discovery and innovation and how we can all start improving our lives by embracing those mind-numbing moments. (Photo: Bored kids on a park bench. Credit: Getty Images) Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Samara Linton Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris Editor: Richard Collings Contributors: Professor James Danckert, University of Waterloo, Canada Dr Elizabeth Weybright, Washington State University Dr Christian Chan, Hong Kong University Annie Runkel, University of Dundee ... Read more

21 Jul 2023

27 MINS

27:13

21 Jul 2023

#288

Why aren't we all ambidextrous?

Why are some people left-handed? Why are some people right-footed? Why do some write with their right and throw a ball with their left? What does this all have to do with our brains? Why is it hard for some people to tell left from right? And what about animals? Can they be left-flippered, or finned, or southpawed? That's what a few CrowdScience listeners want to know, and we've got an expert panel on left, right and everything in between to help answer your questions. From genetics to culture, host Caroline Steel works to unpack what's known and what's still unknown about handedness. David Carey from Bangor University helps Caroline better understand her own mixed-handedness through a series of simple tests and shares some insights into what role handedness (and footedness) plays in the world of sports. Neuropsychologist Marietta Papadatou-Pastou from National and Kapodistrian University of Athens helps break down the numbers on left v. right-handedness and its cultural influences. To better understand the genetics and evolution of handedness, we hear from Sebastian Ocklenburg from Medical School Hamburg, who has investigated the phenomenon in other species. Throughout the show, Caroline tries to understand why handedness exists in the first place and why our species is so biased to the right. She tries to answer listener Barb’s question as to why ambidexterity isn’t more ubiquitous, and it leads to some brainy tangents. We also hear questions from listeners Scotia and Roland, and travel to India with BBC reporter Chhavi Sachdev to hear how cultural norms are not in favour of lefties. Presenter: Caroline Steel Producer: Sam Baker Editor: Richard Collings Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris Studio engineers: Tim Heffer, Steve Greenwood Featuring: Marietta Papadatou-Pastou, Neuropsychologist and Assistant Professor, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Sebastian Ocklenburg, Professor for Research Methods, Medical School Hamburg David Carey, Reader in Neuropsychology, Bangor University (Image: Close up of group of hands raised. Credit: JGI/Getty Images) ... Read more

14 Jul 2023

34 MINS

34:43

14 Jul 2023

#287

Why do we experience vertigo?

CrowdScience listener Ali wants to know why we experience vertigo. Anand Jagatia finds out that it’s not just the giddy sensation we feel when we’re at the top of a mountain. Vertigo is also a physical illness that can be triggered by a range of disorders. He talks to leading experts on balance to learn what causes the condition, discovers how virtual reality can help people with a phobia of being in high places and volunteers to be turned upside down to experience what it feels like to be treated for vertigo. Contributors: Peter Rea, consultant ENT surgeon, University Hospitals of Leicester, Honorary Professor of Balance Medicine, De Montfort University, Honorary Professor in Life Sciences, University of Leicester, UK Tammy Barker, clinical scientist, Balance Centre, Leicester Royal Infirmary, UK Rupal Rajani, broadcast journalist and member of Life on the Level Tara Donker, clinical psychologist, Freiburg University, Germany Andrew Hugill, composer, musicologist and deputy director, Institute for Digital Culture, University of Leicester, UK Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Jo Glanville Editor: Richard Collings Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris Sound design: Julian Wharton Studio manager: Bob Nettles With thanks to Andrew Hugill for permission to include his composition Verdigrade, commissioned by The Space as part of ‘Culture in Quarantine’, BBC. Image: CrowdScience presenter Anand Jagatia tries out a machine for diagnosing and treating vertigo at Leicester Royal Infirmary Credit: Peter Rea ... Read more

07 Jul 2023

33 MINS

33:29

07 Jul 2023

#286

Why do I crave unhealthy foods?

We all enjoy a deep-fried Mars bar with french fries from time to time, but why do we crave these unhealthy foods instead of healthy things like spinach or broccoli? And what is a food craving? The answers lie in a complex blend of our psychology, physiology, and even sociology. BBC CrowdScience presenter Alex Lathbridge savours a mystery-meat crocket with the experts on a quest to discover the hidden sources and sauces of our food cravings. Presenter: Alex Lathbridge Producer: Richard Walker Editor: Richard Collings Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris (Image: Stack of cheeseburgers and French fries. Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA) ... Read more

30 Jun 2023

30 MINS

30:35

30 Jun 2023

#285

Human v machine

Please note: This is a shorter version than the original podcast. A longer version is available here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct3j6y. Humans can walk for miles, solve problems and form complex relationships using the energy provided by daily meals. That is a lot of output for a fairly modest input. Listener Charlotte from the UK wants to know: how efficient are humans? How do they compare to cars, other animals and even to each other? Presenter Marnie Chesterton pits her energetic self against everything from cars to rabbits to find out how she shapes up. Marnie also explores whether humans are born equal when it comes to fuel efficiency. Does the energy from one banana get converted into the same amount of movement from person to person? Marnie gets on a treadmill to find out how efficient she really is. With contributors from Herman Pontzer, Duke University, Rhona Pearce, Loughborough University and Christian Gammelgaard Olesen from Wolturnus wheelchair manufacturing company. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Caroline Steel Editor: Richard Collings Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris (Image: Illustration of an airplane, a red car and a female wheel chair user. Credits: Getty Images) ... Read more

23 Jun 2023

27 MINS

27:54

23 Jun 2023

#284

Why can’t I see images in my head?

CrowdScience listener Eileen cannot see images in her head of her memories. She only discovered by chance that most other people can do this. She wants to know why she can’t see them and if it is something she can learn to do. Anand Jagatia finds out what mental images are for and whether scientists know why some people can’t create them. Three per cent of the world’s population cannot see mental images like Eileen. And it is only recently been given a name – aphantasia. Anand discovers why mental images are useful, why they are sometimes traumatic and how people who are blind or visually impaired can also create images of the world around them. Contributors: Emily Holmes, professor of clinical psychology, Uppsala University, Sweden Adam Zeman, professor of cognitive and behavioural psychology, Exeter University, UK Joel Pearson, professor of cognitive neuroscience, University of New South Wales, Australia Paul Gabias, associate professor, Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Canada Marijke Peters, Hannah Fisher and Jo Glanville, CrowdScience producers Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Jo Glanville Editor: Richard Collings Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris Sound: Jackie Margerum Image credit: Andriy Onufriyenko | GETTY IMAGES | Creative #1397973635 ... Read more

16 Jun 2023

38 MINS

38:12

16 Jun 2023

#283

Can Artificial Intelligence teach itself?

Welcome to the exciting new field of generative artificial intelligence - or generative AI. We’re not talking about robots or spaceships: instead these are image generators and chatbots that are already revolutionising the way people write, research and interact in the virtual world. Their capabilities are extraordinary. But before they can produce results they first need to be trained on vast amounts of data. And that’s what got CrowdScience listener Ian wondering. He says: “Before long, much of the material on the internet will have been written, or at least co-written, by AIs. What will happen when AIs are being trained on texts they have written themselves?” To answer this question Anand Jagatia first meets artist and scientist Michelle Huang. Michelle recently embarked on a therapy project to try and connect with her own “inner child”. She took a decade’s worth of her diaries from her childhood and fed them into an AI to try and simulate a conversation between her and her younger self. Can a machine convincingly recreate the voice of a human being? You can be the judge! Then, data scientist Briana Brownell joins Anand to explain a little about how ‘generative AI’ like this actually works. Together they open up the popular chatbot, ChatGPT, to put it to the test: but can it help Anand solve his personal conundrum? Now that we understand what AI is capable of we also need to know its limits. AI researcher Pablo Villalobos describes the process of training generative AI and where it gets its material from. The amount of data consumed in this way keeps going up and up, Pablo and his colleagues have been calculating exactly when that data is likely to run out. Pablo also discusses recent research exploring a unique effect that occurs if AI is repeatedly trained on its own material. Finally, Briana Brownell returns to cover a range of wider issues related to artificial intelligence and what effects it might have on our future. Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Phil Sansom Editor: Richard Collings ... Read more

09 Jun 2023

26 MINS

26:28

09 Jun 2023

#282

Is there a connection between memory and speech?

CrowdScience listener Nyankami, from Kenya, has a friend with dementia. Despite memory loss and no longer knowing his way around, his friend has no problem communicating. So what’s the connection between memory and language? Caroline Steel discovers how dementia affects our speech. In most cases the illness does have an impact on our ability to speak but it can depend on many factors, including the type of dementia and even how many languages we speak. She meets George Rook, diagnosed with vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s, who’s a passionate campaigner for people with dementia and talks to dementia nurse Helen Green, who explains how the illness can affect our behaviour. She discovers that speaking more than one language can actually protect our brains from decline and finds out about cutting edge research that is helping people with dementia to improve their memory and capacity to speak. Featuring: George Rook, Lived Experience Advisory Panel, Dementia UK Helen Green, Admiral Nurse, specialising in dementia Professor Alex Leff, Professor of Cognitive Neurology, Institute of Neurology, University College London Professor Guillaume Thierry, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Bangor University Professor Yan Jing Wu, Professor of Neurolinguistics, Ningbo University, China Dr Elizabeth Kuhn, Post-Doctoral Fellow, German Centre for Neurodegenerative Disease, Bonn Image Credit: Emma Innocenti Presenter: Caroline Steel Producer: Jo Glanville Editor: Richard Collings Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris Sound engineer: Jackie Margerum ... Read more

02 Jun 2023

28 MINS

28:21

02 Jun 2023

#281

Why is the sun at the centre?

It may seem like a simple question but could you explain why the earth revolves around the sun? That is what listener Josh from New York wants to know. For much of human history we thought everything revolved around us, literally. So how did humans come to the conclusion that we're not the centre of the universe? And how did the scientific process help us uncover the true order of things? Looking through telescopes from the vantage point of Australia, host Caroline Steel speaks with astronomers and physicists about the bumpy scientific journey to arrive at this discovery that we now take for granted. Delving into Indigenous astronomy with researcher Peter Swanton, Caroline questions whether Western scientists were really the first ones to grasp this understanding of our solar system. And at the Sydney Observatory, stellar astrophysicist Devika Kamath and Sydney Observatory host Nada Salama show Caroline some of the clues up in the sky that astronomers in the 1600s used to deduce that there was something wrong with earlier models of our solar system. Rhett Allain from Southeastern Louisiana University helps break down the physics concepts at play when it comes to the motion of our planets and the sun. Through her exploration of a seemingly simple question, Caroline asks some big questions as she looks up to the stars – about life, the universe, and the nature of science itself. Producer: Sam Baker Presenter: Caroline Steel Editor: Richard Collings Production co-ordinator: Jonathan Harris Featuring: Devika Kamath, Astrophysicist, Macquarie University Rhett Allain, Associate Professor, Southeastern Louisiana University Peter Swanton, Indigenous Research Associate, Australian National University (Photo: Caroline and Devika, Sydney Observatory) ... Read more

26 May 2023

27 MINS

27:45

26 May 2023