PNAS Science Sessions
PNAS
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 3, 2023 • 7min
How a neural network taught itself chess
Tom McGrath describes how the neural network AlphaZero taught itself how to play chess without observing a human game.
Dec 19, 2022 • 7min
Honeybees: Nature's puzzle solvers
Orit Peleg, Golnar Fard and Francisco López Jiménez explain how honeybees overcome geometric constraints to construct honeycombs.
Dec 5, 2022 • 10min
Cultural identity in sperm whales
Taylor Hersh explores how patterns of clicks produced by sperm whales suggest the exchange of cultural information between the whales.
Nov 14, 2022 • 19min
Tuning into nature's music
Researchers discuss what animal soundscapes can tell us about the health of ecosystems.
Oct 31, 2022 • 10min
Point sources of methane emission
Daniel Cusworth discusses combining aircraft-based and satellite-based measurement to identify methane emission point sources.
Oct 17, 2022 • 11min
How climate warming releases ocean methane
Syee Weldeab describes what researchers can learn from ancient global warming about the risks posed by ocean floor methane hydrates.
Oct 3, 2022 • 10min
U-turn in occupational gender segregation
Ling Zhu and David B. Grusky explore intergenerational factors influencing occupational gender segregation in the United States.
Sep 19, 2022 • 10min
Activated patients reduce implicit bias
Izzy Gainsburg and Veronica Derricks discuss how patient activation can disrupt implicit bias in physician-patient interactions.
5 snips
Sep 6, 2022 • 10min
How bumblebees respond to noxious stimuli
Can bumblebees feel pain? Researchers discuss an experiment testing whether bees would brave hot feeders for sugar, and how their choices changed with the surrounding conditions. They explore how insects perceive painful stimuli, what evidence is still missing, and whether the possibility of insect suffering should shape how humans treat them.
Aug 15, 2022 • 21min
Science of Misinformation
Researchers explore how misinformation spreads and what can be done to stop it.
