Tag Archives: Science / Technology

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Birds, insects colony collapse in the current state of climate change – October 28, 2018

First, Bird Colony collapse and crop failures.

  • Josh Tewksbury is Research Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder and Director of the Colorado Global Hub, Future Earth. He is also Executive Editor of Anthropocene magazine. He is the co-author of the studies Increase in crop losses to insect pests in a warming climate and Defaunation leads to interaction deficits, not interaction compensation, in an island seed dispersal network.
  • Curtis Deutsch is Associate Professor of Chemical Oceanography in the School of Oceanography at Washington University. He is the co-author of the studies Acceleration of oxygen decline in the tropical Pacific over the past decades by aerosol pollutants, Microbial functional diversity alters the structure and sensitivity of oxygen deficient zones, and Increase in crop losses to insect pests in a warming climate.
  • Steven R. Beissinger is Professor of Conservation Biology in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the co-author of the studies Mojave Desert Bird Populations Plummet as Region Warms and Dries and The push and pull of climate change causes heterogeneous shifts in avian elevational ranges.

Then, birds, bees, whales and turtles all use the earth s magnetic field to guide their behaviour. Now scientists have learned much more about how. [ dur: 15mins. ]

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – History of Big Science in United States -/- Green-washing Culture – September 30, 2018

First, the birth of what we know as big science. The big money supported, cross institution collaborations that have supported both medicine and weaponry. How did science and government get so entrenched with industry, and one another? And what have been the results? We discuss with Michael Hiltzik his latest book Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention That Launched the Military Industrial Complex. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Michael Hiltzik is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author. He has been writing for the Los Angeles Times for three decades and is currently the Times’ Business Columnist. He is the author of many books including, The New Deal: A Modern History; The Plot Against Social Security, and his latest Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention That Launched the Military Industrial Complex.

Then, greenwashing culture. How journalism, the entertainment industry and museums impact our environment. We discuss with Toby Miller his latest book Greenwashing Culture. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Toby Miller is the Professor and Director of the Institute for Media and Creative Industries at Loughborough University London. He is author and editor of over 40 books. His numerous publications include, Greenwashing Culture, Greenwashing Sports, The Routledge Companion to Global Cultural Policy (co-editor), and The Sage Companion to Television Studies (co-editor).

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Majoritarian Democracy -/- Science on Consciousness – July 29, 2018

First, when does democracy have a dark side? Michael Mann says that majorities can and do oppress minorities in the name of majoritarian democracy. He is the author of The Dark Side of Democracy. [ dur: 15 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

  • Michael Mann is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at UCLA. He is author of The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing.

Then, what is consciousness? Is it just brain activity? and how does it differ from the subconscious? [ dur: 43 mins. ]

  • Valerie Gray Hardcastle is Professor of Philosophy, Psychology, and Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati. She is the author of Locating Consciousness, The Myth of Pain, How to Build a Theory in Cognitive Science, and Constructing the Self.
  • Dr. Rocco J. Gennaro is the Philosophy Department Chairperson and a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern Indiana. He is the author of Consciousness, The Consciousness Paradox: Consciousness, Concepts, and Higher-Order Thoughts, and is the editor of the anthology Theories of Consciousness and Psychopathology and the Routledge Handbook of Consciousness.
  • Hakwan Lau is Professor in the Department of Psychology (Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience) & Brain Research Institute at UCLA. His numerous research papers include What is consciousness, and could machines have it? Should a few null findings falsify prefrontal theories of consciousness? and Heuristic use of perceptual evidence leads to dissociation between performance and metacognitive sensitivity.

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Insight into hacking, fake news, paid troll and democracy -/- Politics of Muslim Americans – July 22, 2018

First, hacking, fake news, paid trolls both from within the country and from afar, are they destroying democracy? [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Chris Tenove is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Ethics and the Munk School of Global Affairs of the University of Toronto. He studies international relations and political theory, with an emphasis on issues of global governance and global justice. He is also an award-winning freelance writer and broadcaster.
  • Jennifer Forestal is an Assistant Professor of Political Science (Theory) at Stockton University in New Jersey.

Then, what are the politics of Muslim Americans? And how might they be changing with the current political climate? [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Emily Cury Tohma is a Research Fellow at Northeastern University’s Middle East Center. She’s the author of the research papers Muslim Americans and the 2016 Elections and Muslim American Policy Advocacy and the Palestinian Israeli Conflict: Claims-making and the Pursuit of Group Rights.
  • Aubrey Westfall is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wheaton College. She is the author of the research papers Gender and Political Behavior among Muslim Americans, The Complexity of Covering: The Religious, Social and Political Dynamics of Islamic Practice in the United States, and the forthcoming Islamic Headcovering and Political Engagement: The Power of Social Networks.

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Stephen Hawkin’s Universe -/- 1980 Assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero – April 1, 2018

First, the legacy of Stephen Hawking and what he has meant towards the understanding of this universe.[ dur: 25 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

  • Peter L. Galison is a Professor in the Department of Physics and Director of the Collection of the Historical Scientific Instruments at Harvard University. He is the author of How Experiments End, Einstein’s Clocks, Poincaré’s Maps, and Image and Logic. He is also the co-editor of Einstein for the 21st Century: His Legacy in Science, Art, and Modern Culture, Science in Culture and The Architecture of Science. He is the co-director of the documentaries Ultimate Weapon: The H-bomb Dilemma and Containment.
  • Priyamvada Natarajan is Professor in the Departments of Astronomy and Physics at Yale University. Her publications include Rapid growth of seed black holes in the early universe by supra-exponential accretion and New observational Constraints on the Growth of the First Supermassive Black Holes.

Then, last week was the anniversary of the 1980 assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador. We’ll explore the case to bring his killers to justice. [ dur: 33 mins. ]

  • Matt Eisenbrandt is a former Legal Director for the Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA) and a member of the trial team that brought Archbishop Óscar Romero’s assassination to court. He is now the Special Advisor at the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ), where he helps survivors of torture, war crimes and other atrocities seek justice. He is the author of The Assassination of a Saint: The Plot to Murder Oscar Romero and the Quest to Bring His Killers to Justice.

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Outcome from Investigating the President of USA -/- Parasites affect human behavior – January 28, 2018

First, what might be next in U.S. politics in light of the latest developments?  Last week, we discussed where the U.S. is headed under the Trump presidency, and whether it might begin to resemble authoritarian states. In this hour, in light of the latest revelations in the special investigation by Robert Mueller, we continue our conversation with our experts. What are the consequences should the investigation come to a head? [ dur: 42 mins. ]

  • Louis Michael Seidman is a Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University Law School. He is the author of Silence and Freedom, On Constitutional Disobedience and Our Unsettled Constitution: A New Defense of Constitutionalism and Judicial Review.
  • Sanford Levinson is a Professor of Political Science and Law at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance, Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (And How We the People Can Correct It) and Constitutional Faith.
  • Mark Peterson is Professor of Public Policy, Political Science Law at UCLA. He is the author of Legislating Together: The White House and Capital Hill from Eisenhower to Reagan and the editor of Healthy Markets? The New Competition in Medical Care.

Then, we end with the question, is our behavior free will or is it partly due to parasites? New science shows how parasites change behaviors throughout the animal kingdom. What does that mean for human behavior? [ dur: 14 mins. ]

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Constitution and Unprecedented Political Power in USA -/- Science of Sleep – January 21, 2018

First, Unprecedented times in the U.S.A. Is the country facing an existential crisis? And if so, what might effect the outcome? [ dur: 24 mins. ]

  • Louis Michael Seidman is a Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University Law School. He is the author of Silence and Freedom, On Constitutional Disobedience and Our Unsettled Constitution: A New Defense of Constitutionalism and Judicial Review.
  • Sanford Levinson is a Professor of Political Science and Law at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance, Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (And How We the People Can Correct It) and Constitutional Faith.
  • Mark Peterson is Professor of Public Policy, Political Science Law at UCLA. He is the author of Legislating Together: The White House and Capital Hill from Eisenhower to Reagan and the editor of Healthy Markets? The New Competition in Medical Care.

Then, Why do we sleep? What is its purpose? And what actually happens during sleep? [ dur: 34 mins. ]

  • Marcos G. Frank is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Washington State University-Spokane. He is the author of The mystery of sleep function: current perspectives and future directions, The role of sleep in memory consolidation and brain plasticity: dream or reality? and Sleep enhances plasticity in the developing visual cortex
  • Graham H. Diering is Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He is the co-author of Homer1a drives homeostatic scaling-down of excitatory synapses during sleep, and Regulation of dendritic spine growth through activity-dependent recruitment of the brain-enriched Na+/H+ exchanger NHE5

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Propaganda in democratic society -/- Silencing science, how and why – December 31, 2017

First, how does propaganda work, particularly in democratic settings? This is part 1 of our 2 part interview with Professor Jason Stanley. ( Hear Part 2 )[ dur: 26 mins. ]

  • Jason Stanley is Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. He is the author of How Propaganda Works , Know How and Knowledge and Practical Interests (Lines of Thought)

Then, what are the ways cience is being silenced? And to what end? We gain insight from Professor Shaun Hendy. [ dur: 32 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit:  TheBigQ

  • Shaun Hendy, Professor of Physics at University of Auckland, New Zealand. He is the author of Silencing Science.

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Predatory Humans affect ecology -/- Current Problems with Health care delivery – October 15, 2017

First, is humanity the most damaging predator on earth? Our guests say yes, and that its predatory practices may be disrupting evolution. [ dur: 23mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

  • Chris Darimont, is a Professor at the Department of Geography at University of Victoria, Victoria, BC. He has a PhD in Evolution and Ecology from the Biology Department at the University of Victoria.
  • Dr. Tom Reimchen, is a Professor at the Department of Geography at University of Victoria, Victoria, BC. Canada. Please visit the Evolutionary Studies Lab at University of Victoria, Victoria BC, Canada where you will find additional studies on this subject.
  • Heather Bryan is a postdoctoral fellow in the Applied Conservation Science lab at the University of Victoria BC, Canada. She studies the physiological mechanisms by which wildlife responds to environmental change.

Together they are the authors of the research paper The unique ecology of human predators you can view on the Science site.

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, many observers argue, that the economic forces are corrupting medical care and eroding the trust between patients and their doctors. The problems in health care delivery have wide implications related to how health care should function particularly when there are limited resources. We examine the ethics of medicine and healthcare, and the modern day issues that complicate them.[ dur: 37 mins. ]

  • Thomas Pogge is the Director of the Global Justice Program and Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs at Yale University and King’s College. His books include World Poverty and Human Rights, Freedom from Poverty: Who Owes What to the Very Poor? and World Poverty and Human Rights: Cosmopolitan Responsibilities and Reforms.
  • Martin Wilkinson is Professor of Political Studies and Deputy Head of Department of Politics & International Relns at the University of Auckland. His books include Freedom, Efficiency and Equality and Ethics and the Acquisition of Organs.
  • Richard Cookson is a Reader and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York. His books include The Humble Economist: Tony Culyer on Health, Health Care and Social Decision Making and Jonathan Bradshaw on Social Policy: Selected Writings 1972-2011.

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Fake News and Informed Democracy -/- Politics and Society as Climate Change Unfolds – September 10, 2017

First, hacking, fake news, paid trolls both from within the country and from afar, are they destroying democracy? [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Chris Tenove is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Ethics and the Munk School of Global Affairs of the University of Toronto. He studies international relations and political theory, with an emphasis on issues of global governance and global justice. He is also an award-winning freelance writer and broadcaster.
  • Jennifer Forestal is an Assistant Professor of Political Science (Theory) at Stockton University in New Jersey.

We also get insight into unprecendented storms that are ravaging communities and destroying lives all while revealing dynamics in society, politics and power. What are these risks and revelations and what needs to be done? [ dur: 26 mins. ]

  • Steve Matthewman is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Auckland. He is the author of Disasters, Risks and Revelations.
  • Naomi Zack is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oregon. She is the author of the Ethics of Disaster.

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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