PNAS Science Sessions

Ian Phillips, Rui Zhe Goh, and Chaz Firestone explore how people perceive silence through auditory illusions, challenging traditional views on hearing. The podcast discusses the 'one silence is more' illusion, the illusion of silence impacting time perception, and the concept of event-based warping. It also covers the silence-based warping illusion and oddball silence illusion, and how the perception of silence is influenced by context.

Intervention targeting high school teachers to improve student retention and diversity in STEM fields. Importance of teachers' mindsets on students from disadvantaged groups. Success of values alignment framework in promoting behavior change among teachers. Potential of teacher-focused interventions to improve educational outcomes and reduce inequalities.

Vanessa Duthé explains how dehorning affects the behavior of black rhinoceroses.

Eric Martínez explains why legal documents are written in hard-to-read language.

Researchers explore trends in the gender gap among internationally mobile scholars.

Mattia Tagliavento talks about the evolutionary transition from dinosaurs to birds using isotopes in Troodon eggshells.

Pengfei Liu shares findings on racial disparities in exposure to the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide.

Chinmay Kalluraya and Matthew Daugherty explain how vertebrates acquired a gene critical for vision from bacteria.

Blair P. Bentley, Lisa Komoroske, and Camila Mazzoni discuss the role genomic elements play in the evolution of sea turtles.

A special edition of Science Sessions delves into the capabilities of robots inspired by plants and animals.