
PNAS Science Sessions
Welcome to Science Sessions, the PNAS podcast program. Listen to brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in PNAS, plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.
Latest episodes

Jun 22, 2020 • 14min
Size limits of ice
Francesco Paesani, Thomas Zeuch, and Valeria Molinero discuss the size limits of ice crystals.

Jun 8, 2020 • 12min
How marine reptiles moved from land to sea
Julia Schwab and Steve Brusatte describe how marine reptiles made the evolutionary move from land to sea.

May 26, 2020 • 7min
Nutrient dilution and grasshopper decline
Ellen Welti explains how grasshoppers in a Kansas prairie could be in decline even with abundant grass.

May 11, 2020 • 18min
Protein design and its applications
NAS member David Baker describes how to design proteins from scratch and the products of his lab's own protein design efforts

May 4, 2020 • 6min
Active learning in STEM
Elli Theobald and Scott Freeman describe the benefits of active learning for underrepresented minority students.

Apr 20, 2020 • 7min
Designing street networks
Adam Millard-Ball and Chris Barrington-Leigh explain trends in urban street network design.

Apr 6, 2020 • 7min
Engineering T cells to fight disease
NAS member and Nobel laureate David Baltimore describes efforts to enhance T cells' ability to fight cancer and HIV.

Mar 23, 2020 • 6min
Dynamics of RNA frameshifting
Christine Dunham discusses RNA frameshifting and its potential applications in biotechnology.

Mar 9, 2020 • 6min
Albatross patrol
Henri Weimerskirch describes how albatrosses can help detect illegal fishing boats.

Feb 24, 2020 • 7min
Stardust predating the Solar System
Philipp Heck tells the story of interstellar stardust grains that predate the Solar System.