Tag: Science

Architects of the Underworld

Many Minds | 19 January 2022 | 0h 58m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with Walter Tschinkel about his book Ant Architecture: The Wonder, Beauty, and Science of Underground Nests. Discusses the notion of ant colonies as superorganisms; how he developed his nest-casting technique; where the blueprint for an ant nest resides, whether ants might appreciate the beauty of their own nests; the scientific process – the joys of low-tech problem solving, the importance of negative results, and the pleasure of pursuing a good scientific mystery.

Purely By Coincidence

The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg | 16 November 2021 | 1h 07m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with Matt Ridley about his book Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19, co-authored with Alina Chan. Discusses the evidence that covid-19 could have emerged from a lab, the implications for virological research, how to prepare for future pandemics, science more generally, and climate change.

COVID, Innovation, and Optimism with Matt Ridley

The James Altucher Show | 23 November 2021 | 1h 14m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with Matt Ridley about his book Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19, co-authored with Alina Chan. Discusses the purpose, and journey of writing the book against the context of his earlier books, especially The Rational Optimist. Considers whether we should be optimistic about the pandemic, whether anything good will come out of it, and why it is so hard to look for the origin of the virus.

Alina Chan: Covid-19: What is the Real Truth? The Origin?

The James Altucher Show | 16 November 2021 | 1h 00m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with Alina Chan about her book Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19, co-authored with Matt Ridley. Discusses their investigation into the source of covid-19; why Covid-19 is much deadlier than other flu-like diseases; and the role of viruses in the world and whether there could be another virus that can eliminate the covid-19 virus.

Terence Kealey: Research and Development

The Human Progress Podcast | 22 October 2021 | 1h 04m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with Terence Kealey discussing the origins of innovation and how to sustain it into the future. Sets out the arguments against government funding of research and development.

Jason Munshi-South: Rats and Evolution

Razib Khan’s Unsupervised Learning | 13 August 2021 | 1h 03m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Interview with Jason Munshi-South about the ecology and genetics of rats. Discusses the brown rat versus other species; their interactions with mice and cats; the origins, phylogeography and genetics of brown rats; and their use as a model organism.

Science in the Time of Cancel Culture

Analysis | 12 July 2021 | 0h 28m | Listen Later | iTunes | Spotify
Michael Muthukrishna speaks to a range of experts to assess the impact of modern social justice movements on scientific research and development. Discusses whether fear of personal or professional harm is strengthening conformism or eviscerating robust intellectual debate; whether open-mindedness on controversial issues can really exist in the scientific community; and whether rigorous public assessment of scientific findings helps to achieve better, more equitable and socially just outcomes.