Brain Cells In A Dish Play Pong And Other Brain Adventures| Listen on Anghami

Yesterday

Evolution Went On Trial 100 Years Ago. Where Are We Now?

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the Scopes "Monkey Trial" — where a teacher was charged with the crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. At the time, it was illegal in Tennessee to "teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creatio ... Show More

12m 37s

Jul 8

Itchy? Air Pollution May Be Making It Worse

Short Wave producer Hannah Chinn has adult-onset eczema. They're not the only one. Up to ten percent of people in the United States have it, according to the National Eczema Association — and its prevalence is increasing. Despite its ubiquity, a lot about this skin condition rema ... Show More

13m 11s

Jul 7

Sea Camp: Why Are Ocean Currents Shifting?

A warming climate doesn't just affect dry land — it affects the ocean, too. For years, Earth's ocean has acted as a heat sink for climate change: A large part of the heat generated by human use of fossil fuels is being absorbed by the ocean. And while the deep sea is largely unaf ... Show More

12m 6s

Oct 2021

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 rese ... Show More

35m 46s

Mar 2023

The ‘Mini Brains’ solving medical mysteries and raising concerns

It may seem like science fiction, but over the past decade scientists have been using stem cells to grow so-called “mini brains.” Researchers prefer the term brain organoids, a collection of human cells in a petri dish that mimic the structure and cell types of our own brains. Th ... Show More

24m 36s

Mar 2021

The Theory of a Thousand Brains

In this episode, we talk with Jeff Hawkins—an entrepreneur and scientist, known for inventing some of the earliest handheld computers, the Palm and the Treo, who then turned his career to neuroscience and founded the Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience in 2002 and Numenta ... Show More

39m 36s

May 2023

Unlocking the mysteries of the brain’s neocortex

efJf Hawkins’ 2021 book A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence, focuses on the neocortex and how it helps us to understand the world around us, before examining the future of artificial intelligence, based on what we already know about the brain. In this final episode of ... Show More

26m 3s

Aug 2022

Audio long read: Hybrid brains – the ethics of transplanting human neurons into animals

The development of brain chimaeras – made up of human and animal neurons – is an area of research that has hugely expanded in the past five years. Proponents say that these systems are yielding important insights into health and disease, but others say the chimeras represent an e ... Show More

23m 31s

Jul 2023

Bodies, brains and computers

We've been building computers to think like us for years, but our ability to replicate human senses has been impossible. Until now. Evolutionary biologist and broadcaster Professor Ben Garrod, is off to meet some of the sensory innovators and technological pioneers who are develo ... Show More

27m 36s

Aug 2022

Brains

Brian Cox and Robin Ince are joined by comedian Alan Davies and neuroscientists Prof Uta Frith and Prof Sophie Scott. They discover the secret to why humans are such social creatures and why two brains are definitely better than one. Our brains are wired to learn from and mimic o ... Show More

42m 25s

Oct 2021

Wetlands under attack

Since its introduction four decades ago, Spartina alterniflora, a salt-water cordgrass from the USA, has been spreading along China’s coasts. Today, it covers nearly half of the country’s salt marshes. As the UN Biodiversity Conference COP 15 kicks off in China, we look at how th ... Show More

58m 50s

Feb 2021

Can “brain training” games sharpen your mental skills? With Aaron Seitz, PhD

Who among us wouldn’t want to improve his or her brain? To see better, to hear better or to improve one's memory? The field of brain training has attracted controversy as commercial companies have heavily marketed brain training products that aren’t necessarily backed by science ... Show More

26m 21s

Oct 2022

Inserting human neurons into the brains of rats

Sergiu Pasca, Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University has left the petri dish in the drawer and grown human neurons inside the brains of juvenile rats. Successful connectivity and brain function may allow for more rigorous testing and understanding of neurological conditio ... Show More

58m 31s

Brain Cells In A Dish Play Pong And Othe...