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SparkDialog
Elizabeth Fernandez
50 episodes
8 months ago
Science and technology are everywhere in our lives. This podcast takes a look not only at the science itself, but its role in society, how it affects our lives, and how it influences how we define ourselves as humans. Episodes also throw in a mix of culture, history, ethics, philosophy, religion, and the future! Hosted by Elizabeth Fernandez, an astronomer and science communicator. Let's spark some dialog!
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Natural Sciences
Technology,
Society & Culture,
Philosophy,
Science
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All content for SparkDialog is the property of Elizabeth Fernandez and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Science and technology are everywhere in our lives. This podcast takes a look not only at the science itself, but its role in society, how it affects our lives, and how it influences how we define ourselves as humans. Episodes also throw in a mix of culture, history, ethics, philosophy, religion, and the future! Hosted by Elizabeth Fernandez, an astronomer and science communicator. Let's spark some dialog!
Show more...
Natural Sciences
Technology,
Society & Culture,
Philosophy,
Science
Episodes (20/50)
SparkDialog
Memories, The Here and Now, and Our Future - Time, Religion, and Physics

Time is really weird. You may be inclined to say only the present is real, while the future and past have a sort of “unreality” to them. Or perhaps you think only the past and present are real, while the future is unwritten. Philosophers have tried to understand how time, religion, and physics relate throughout time itself.



Our understanding of how time works underwent a radical shift when relativity came along. We can no longer say that you and I experience the present in the same way. Events that you see as simultaneous I may see in succession. Time may flow faster for you than it does for me. Even the moment we define as now may be different.



Why can’t we travel freely in time like we can in space? What happened before the Big Bang? How does the reality of the future relate to free will? How is the narrative of time important for religion, and can it be reconciled with what we see in physics? Today I’m joined by Dr. Timothy Maness to discuss time, religion, and physics. Tim is a philosophical theologian interested in the way physics and cosmology interact with religion, He has a Ph.D. in religion and science from Boston University, an MA from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago’s Zygon Center for Religion and Science, and a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Chicago. So let’s go on this weird and wonderful voyage through our understanding of time!



If you are a patron of the podcast, check the Patreon page all this month for bonus content from this episode.



Background music you heard are clips from:



Urbana-Metronica (wooh-yeah mix) by spinningmerkaba (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/jlbrock44/33345 Ft: Morusque, Jeris, CSoul, Alex Beroza



Black Ice by Mr_Yesterday (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Mr_Yesterday/58884 Ft: reusenoise



Ethereal Space by Snowflake (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/33318 Ft: Zep Hurme



Warm Vacuum Tube by Admiral Bob (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/59533 Ft: starfrosch



Drops of H2O ( The Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792 Ft: Airtone
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4 years ago
48 minutes 47 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 99: New York Underwater: Art and Climate Change - with guest Carolyn Hall
What would it be like if New York City was partially underwater?  What would it feel like, what would it taste like?  How would the economy continue to tick, how would commuters reach their jobs?  To answer this, our guest today uses art to tell the narrative of climate change.  
We aren’t all numbers people.  Therefore, using art to tell the story of climate change can make the effects of climate change real to a population that may not be fully engaged with the science or the trends.  Further, it can make how our world is changing more real, more relatable, more understandable, and hopefully, give us the inspiration to change.
Today’s guest is Carolyn Hall.  She uses art, narrative, and the imagination to take people on tours through time to see how our world is constantly changing, what seeds this change, and what we can do about it.  Carolyn is a historical marine ecologist, a contemporary dancer, and a science communicator. She does each independently but most enjoys, and is most challenged by, finding ways to combine all three.  And today, she talks about three artistic endeavors seeking to unite art and climate change – Sunk Shore, Walks on Water, and Walking the Edge.  
You can follow Carolyn on Instagram @gatablanco.  Also be sure to check out her “time traveling videos” to the years 2068 and 2092 where she presents an artistic view of the future of New York City.  


If you are a patron of the podcast, check the Patreon page all this month for bonus content from this episode.



Background music you heard are clips from:



I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626 Ft: J Lang, Morusque



Start To Grow (cdk Mix) by Analog By Nature (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/cdk/43815 Ft: Jeris



ITS FOR MY FLY GIRL by BOCrew (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/BOCrew/32102 Ft: THEDEEPR / BOCREW / ANGELA



Mountains (Hip hop instrumental) by Robbero (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Robbero/42877
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4 years ago
43 minutes 10 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 98: The Problems and Promise of AI in Healthcare – with guest Dr. Muhammad Ahmad
AI in healthcare can do amazing things.  It can help doctors diagnose their patients.  It can streamline patient care, and can help people to receive the best care possible.  But what happens when AI in healthcare goes awry?
Today, our guest is Dr. Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad.  Muhammad  discusses the promise of healthcare, but also reminds us that it has limitations.  Sometimes, AI can be biased, especially against certain minority populations and women.  Sometimes, we humans may not understand why AI makes the decisions it does.  And other times, AI could be just plain wrong.
But by knowing the limitations of AI in healthcare, we can also improve how it works and come up with ways to combat problems, biases, and to help doctors and AI systems work together.  
Muhammad is an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at University of Washington and a Research Scientist at KenSci, an AI in healthcare company based in Seattle. His research is on accountability of AI, AI in healthcare, and AI from a cross-cultural and ethical perspective. He has a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota.
If you are a patron of the podcast, be sure to check the Patreon page all this month for bonus content from this episode.


Background music you heard are clips from:



eighteen pieces (soda) by Soda (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/soda/16738



SkyDub by Psykick (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Psykick/52937



Start To Grow (cdk Mix) by Analog By Nature (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/cdk/43815 Ft: Jeris



Reusenoise (DNB Mix) by spinningmerkaba (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/jlbrock44/56531
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4 years ago
40 minutes 6 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 97: Floods in India - A View of Climate Change from Under the River - with guest Dr. Luisa Cortesi
There are places where people can choose to ignore climate change.  Then, there are places that it could never be considered a myth.  Here, the effects of climate change can never be ignored – with floods, heat waves, extreme storms, or literal rising waters.  Such a place is India – particularly, North Bihar.  The floods in India are so extreme that hundreds of villages and thousands of farms can find themselves underwater.  Rivers can dramatically shift course overnight.  And it is not only a problem of water.  In the floodplain of the Himalayas, climate change collides with poverty, culture, caste, and life.  
Today, we are joined by Dr. Luisa Cortesi.  Luisa has lived around the world, in places where climate change where was particularly felt.  She saw how people lived through and dealt with these disasters.  
In 2007, while working as an applied anthropologist, Luisa happened to be living in North Bihar when the worst floods in India in decades hit.  Again, she experienced major flooding in 2008 when she saw the entire course of the Kosi River shift.  Today, she shares her experiences.   
Luisa is an environmental and engaged anthropologist of water, disasters, and inequalities. She received a joint PhD from Yale University in Anthropology and Environmental Studies. She has been the Taylor Postdoctoral Fellow and Atkinson Fellow, and is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Environment and Sustainability at Cornell University. She is now Assistant Professor at the International Institute of Social Studies at the Erasmus University in The Netherlands, as well as Marie S. Curie Fellow at the Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies in Germany. Luisa has worked extensively in India and continues to support NGOs there in an advisory capacity. She has recently started the Water Justice and Adaptation Lab.


If you are a patron of the podcast, be sure to check the Patreon page all this month for bonus content from this episode, including some of Luisa’s pictures from her time in India and a discount code for her book.



Luisa’s recent work includes: 



2021    “The Ontology of Water and Land and Flood Control Infrastructure in North Bihar, India” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute  27:4 



2021    Split waters: The Idea of Water Conflicts. London and New Delhi: Routledge (edited with Joy, K.J.) ISBN 978-0-367-37175-3 



Forthcoming, The Shape of Water: the Geometry and Epistemology of Infrastructures of Fluvial Management and Flood Control in India,” in Amphibious Anthropologies: Life between the Wet and the Dry (edited with Krause, F. & A. Camargo) 



Forthcoming, Disastrous Water: The Environmental Knowledge and Technologies of Floods, Toxic Drinking water, and Other Muddy Disasters



Background music you heard are clips from:



Adagio teru by rocavaco (c) copyright 2009 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.
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4 years ago
33 minutes 36 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 96: AI, Ethics, and the Vatican - with guest Dr. Brian Patrick Green
Pope Francis has taken a special interest in science. Part of his interest is AI – particularly, how to make AI systems more ethical. Today, we are joined by Dr. Brian Patrick Green, the Director of Technology Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. We discuss why ethics in AI systems is important, from suggested videos on YouTube to privacy to how AI algorithms decide who is approved for a loan. We also discuss what exactly morality is, if AI could ever approach human intelligence, and what exactly makes the human mind so special.
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4 years ago
42 minutes 2 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 95: Grief in the Time of COVID- with guest Dr. Kristel Clayville
Grief in the time of COVID is a very real thing. COVID has changed the way we interact with each other and the world. But perhaps most poignantly, it has introduced new types of grief in our lives. The grief of the dying, not allowed to touch or even see family members one last time. The grief of losing friendships, old traditions, or normal life. Or even the grief of waiting for a COVID vaccine, seeing others return to some sort of normalcy around you.
Today, our guest is Dr. Kristel Clayville. Kristal has a PhD in religious ethics and works at the intersection of religion and medical ethics. She currently works as a hospital chaplain and ethicist at the University of Chicago. Today she discusses her unique perspective of COVID through the lens of a hospital chaplain – from how hospitals decide who gets a ventilator to what it’s like to stand in for family when someone is dying of COVID.  We also discuss how COVID revealed how fractured our healthcare system is.  
You can follow Kristal on Twitter @RevDrClayville.


If you are a patron of the podcast, be sure to check the Patreon page all this month for bonus content from this episode.



Background music you heard are clips from:



nightRain by airtone (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/55887



Silence Await by Analog By Nature (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/cdk/17432 Ft: oldDog



Dark Woods II by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2010 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/ramblinglibrarian/25168



Two Pianos by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/57454 Ft: Admiral Bob (admiralbob77)
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4 years ago
29 minutes 56 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 94: Quantum Entanglement, Consciousness, and the Nature of Reality: with guest Dr. Eric Cavalcanti
Quantum entanglement is weird. Two particles can share properties no matter where they are in the Universe. Have they always shared these properties, and they are somehow hidden from us, or do they decide these properties the moment they are measured, and somehow communicate across the vastness of space, instantaneously? Or is something else at work? Can people become entangled? Can we put a human consciousness in a sort of "Schrodinger's Cat" situation, where they are in two states at once? And is your reality the same as my reality? Guest Dr. Eric Cavalcanti addresses these questions and more on this episode of SparkDialog Podcasts.
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4 years ago
42 minutes 47 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 93: Gratefulness, Hope, and COVID - with guest John Van Sloten
Gratefulness and COVID feel like they don’t belong in the same sentence. But a year into this pandemic, perhaps there are some lessons we can learn, and some ways that this year has changed us all – maybe for the better.
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4 years ago
29 minutes 40 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 92: Merging Man and Machine: Transhumanism and Religion - with guest Seth Villegas
Today, I am joined by Seth Villegas from Boston University's School of Theology to talk about transhumanism - gradually merging body with machine to become faster, stronger, or even live forever. Why is this movement so appealing? And what does this apparently secular movement have to do with religion?
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4 years ago
43 minutes 15 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 91: Seeing Patterns, Seeing God: The Neuroscience of Belief - with guest Dr. Adam Weinberger
What similarities do the brains of religious people share? Do these similarities span differences in lifestyle, geography, culture, and religion? I am joined by Dr. Adam Weinberger, a neuroscientist and psychologist at Georgetown University and the University of Pennsylvania.
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5 years ago
28 minutes 2 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 90: How Can We Find Life Within the Solar System?: with guest Dr. Niels Ligterink
Last month, scientists published word that an incredible discovery was made on Venus.  They found what is called a “biomarker” in the clouds of Venus.  Now, a biomarker is not life, but a chemical that may indicate life is present. In Venus’ case, this chemical is phosphine. It’s hard to explain why phosphine would exist in the atmosphere of Venus without life being present, especially in the quantities found. This exciting discovery has renewed the conversation – what if we find life within the Universe? Or life within the solar system?
If life was found on two worlds within our solar system, it may indicate that life arises easily. This means that life could be anywhere. Or everywhere.
Today on the podcast, I talk to Dr. Niels Ligterink. Niels is an Ambizione Fellow at the Space Research and Planetary Science Division of the University of Bern, Switzerland.  He leads an international group of researchers to develop an instrument called ORIGIN – an instrument that can actually travel to different worlds and find chemicals that may indicate life exists there.
We take a tour of the solar system and ask – why are some places good to look for potential life while others, we’re pretty sure, are desolate?  Could life be on Pluto?  What does life need, and why does life start in the first place?
We talk about the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn and their underground oceans.  How do we know that these oceans exist?  Why might they be ideal places to find life?  What kind of missions are planned to these moons, and how will they detect life there?  And what do these underground oceans have in common with Earth’s own oceans?
Then we talk about Venus.  What, exactly, did scientists find within the clouds?  Does it mean there is really life on Venus?
What does all of this mean?  If we found life in the solar system on two worlds (or more) it would indicate that perhaps, life starts more easily than we previously thought.  And this could have implications across the Universe.
For patrons of the podcast, check out the photos and video of The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission that Niels provided.  If you are not a patron and want to become one, you can join at Patreon.com/sparkdialog.  Thank you all for your support!
Image Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute  https://europa.nasa.gov/resources/29/europas-stunning-surface/


Some of the background music you heard are clips from:



Between Worlds (Instrumental) by Aussens@iter (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.
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5 years ago
43 minutes 40 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 89: Can Online Privacy Exist Today? - with guest Rob Shavell
Can online privacy exist today? What kind of ways does our personal data leak out when we are going about our buisness online, or even in person? I talk to Rob Shavell, co-founder of a privacy company called Abine
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5 years ago
36 minutes 19 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 88: Why We Need Nature – with guest Dr. Peter Kahn
We all know that nature is good for us. We know to take care of the Earth, don’t pollute, be mindful of climate change. But how does being in nature affect us personally? How does it change our bodies and our minds, our biology, and our brains? Today I talk to Dr. Peter Kahn, a professor in the Department of Psychology and the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington. We talk about why nature is so good for us, and how much of nature we have lost – and we don’t even realize it.
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5 years ago
29 minutes 12 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 87: Environmental Racism and Climate Change - with guest Dr. Gregory Simpson
Environmental racism - it's the term for the fact that communities of color are often hit harder by climate change or pollution than others. This happens both in our country and around the world. What can we do about it? Today, Dr. Gregory Simpson joins us. Gregory is a minister and has a doctorate in organic chemistry. He talks about the situation from Tuvalu to the US to his home of Jamaica, and how education is key in transforming the world.
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5 years ago
34 minutes 24 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 86: The Science of Subjectivity: The World Your Brain Creates – with guest Dr. Jorge Morales
The world you see is not really the world that exists. Your eyes and your brain are working together to “lie” to you all the time.  But, they don’t do this with some evil vendetta in mind.  In reality, they do it to make sense of the enormous amount of information flowing in from the world around you.  They have to make projections about what really exists.  And sometimes, they get it wrong.  Welcome to the science of subjectivity.
We can see this in all sorts of real world examples.  Trying to catch that softball? Your brain is guessing where it’s going to go before it gets there.  We also see it in optical illusions, where we are presented with proof that what our brain interprets is wrong.
Today, I’m talking to Dr. Jorge Morales.  Jorge is a Provost’s Postdoctoral Researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Chaz Firestone’s Perception and Mind Lab. Jorge studies the science of subjectivity, using philosophy, psychology and neuroscience to understand the human mind—from how we see the world to how we become conscious of it.  Do you need to be conscious to form a subjective opinion about the world?  How do you even scientifically study subjectivity in the first place, when science is objective?  We also explore optical illusions, all of the different ways our brain lies to us, and why we need subjectivity in the first place.
You can follow Jorge on Twitter @jorgemlg
For patrons of this podcast, check out the bonus content at Patreon.com. You’ll find some amazing optical illusions and videos that illustrate how your brain tricks you.  You’ll also find a bonus mini-episode where Jorge talks about subjectivity in animals and if animals have “beliefs” about the world around them.  If you are not a patron and want to become one, you can sign up at Patreon.com.  Thank you for you support!
Some of the background music you heard are clips from:
The Long Goodbye by John Pazdan (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/flatwound/14476
ukeSounds by airtone (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/32655
Mr. Wozzie by Robbero (c) copyright 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Robbero/51883
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5 years ago
48 minutes 36 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 85: How Paleolithic is the Paleo Diet? What did our Ancestors Eat Anyways? - with guest Dr. Briana Pobiner

There’s a lot of opinions about the current Paleo diet. Some proponents say eat what our ancestors ate – meat, veggies, fruit, nuts. But what about things like lentils? Beans? Milk or wheat? Are those allowed in the Paleo diet? There are differing opinions. How do we really know what our ancestors ate?



Stomachs don’t fossilize, so this actually is a pretty difficult question to answer. In order to figure it out, archaeologists and scientists have to use indirect methods, and infer our ancestors’ diets based on clues. It’s a treasure hunt involving ancient food and ancient diets. And the results could lead to understanding how our food influenced our evolution, and eventually, how we developed into the human species we are today.



Today on the podcast I welcome Dr. Briana Pobiner. Briana is a paleoanthropologist at the Smithsonian, and has traveled all around the world, looking for fossils and using them to deduce what did our ancestors eat.



You can follow Human Origins at the Smithsonian Institute @HumanOrigins.



For patrons of this podcast, check out the bonus content at Patreon.com. You’ll find photos that Briana took from the road during her archaeological digs.  If you are not a patron and want to become one, you can sign up at Patreon.com.  Thank you for you support!



Some of the background music you heard are clips from:




SUNBIRDS by BOCrew (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/BOCrew/38854 Ft: THEDEEPR / THECORNER /
feat : FORENSIC /



Drops of H2O ( The
Filtered Water Treatment ) by J.Lang (c) copyright 2012 Licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.
http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/37792 Ft: Airtone



reCreation by
airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution (3.0) license.
http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/59721



B34 by zikweb (c) copyright 2006 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/zikweb/8168 Ft: NoSushi



Photo from rawpixel.
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5 years ago
36 minutes 21 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 84: The Coronavirus, Social Media, Online Dating and Black Lives Matter – with guest Dr. Shantel Buggs
To say we live in changing times is an understatement. The world right now is a pressure cooker. Already, people around the world were losing their jobs, their lives, and their ability to even venture into public places with the coronavirus outbreak. But then add to that the tragic murder of George Floyd by the police, igniting protests across the country and world.  Amid all of this, our online presence is having an affect on what is occurring, with social media playing a roll in black lives matter and COVID-19.
Today, I’m joined by Dr. Shantel Buggs, an assistant professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Florida State University.  Shantel looks at the roll of social media and online communities, especially in the context of society.  How has dating – now primarily online dating – changed when most dates now take place on a video call or with a facemask?  How are social media platforms affecting the Black Lives Matter movement, used both to coordinate protests and simultaneously being used against protesters?  How do online platforms change our friendships?  How are our online communities playing in a roll in how we define ourselves and those that we want to associate with?  And how is misinformation handled on social media?
For patrons of this podcast, check out the bonus content at Patreon.com. You’ll find the Pulitzer Winning photo that Shantel mentions in the podcast.  If you are not a patron and want to become one, you can sign up at Patreon.com.  Thank you for you support!
Some of the background music you heard are clips from:
I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626 Ft: J Lang, Morusque
eighteen pieces (soda) by Soda (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/soda/16738
SkyDub by Psykick (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Psykick/52937
Start To Grow (cdk Mix) by Analog By Nature (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/cdk/43815 Ft: Jeris
Transmutation by Kara Square (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mindmapthat/56527 Ft: Spinningmerkaba
Show more...
5 years ago
33 minutes 13 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 83: The West: On the Cusp of a MegaDrought – with guest Dr. Kasey Bolles
With the wildfires in California, extreme insect infestations in forests, and the duration between rainstorms lengthening, the western United States is in the midst of a drought.  But this drought could be the part of something larger – a so-called “megadrought”, which the United States has not seen the likes of for four hundred years.
Megadroughts themselves are large events – ones that can last hundreds of years.  Modern American culture has never seen a megadrought.  How will this affect giant cities with millions of inhabitants – Phoenix, Los Angeles, Albuquerque, or businesses that call the west home?  How will they respond to a drought that goes on for decades?
Today I welcome Dr. Kasey Bolles on the podcast.  Kasey is an interdisciplinary climate scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory’s Tree-Ring Lab.  She focuses on understanding how changes in water availability play out at the Earth’s surface and impact human health, culture, economy, and society.  She joins us today to explain why scientists think the western United States is on the cusp of a megadrought, how droughts have affected society in the past, and what we can do about it if the current drought continues not for years, but for decades.
For patrons of this podcast, check out the bonus content at Patreon.com.  You’ll find a mini podcast episode where Kasey explains how tree rings can tell us more about Native American culture and history and amazing historical images of the Dust Bowl.  If you are not a patron and want to become one, you can sign up at Patreon.com.  Thank you for you support!
Some of the background music you heard are clips from:
The Sky of our Ancestors by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4510-the-sky-of-our-ancestors
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Ave Marimba by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3396-ave-marimba
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The Long Goodbye by John Pazdan (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/flatwound/14476
Longing for Tumbleweeds by Admiral Bob (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/33347 Ft: snowflake
Amazing Plan by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3358-amazing-plan
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
MILLENNIALS by Analog By Nature (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/cdk/57150
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5 years ago
27 minutes 11 seconds

SparkDialog
Ep 82 : The Origins of Language May Go Much Farther Back Than We Thought – with guests Dr. Chris Petkov and Dr. Ben Wilson
When did language originate?  It’s a tricky question to answer.  We can’t go back in time.  We can’t even look at “fossilized brains” to see how they worked.  So how can we understand the origins of language?
Scientists have a few ways to do this.  One way is to scan the brains of living animals – humans, chimpanzees, apes, and monkeys.  They can see how these brains work, how they are different than ours, and how they are the same.  Using this, they can infer some of our own evolutionary history.
Many people previously thought the origins of language went back about five million years.  But now, a team of scientists are suggesting that pre-language ability actually went back much, much farther.
Today on the podcast we are joined by Dr. Chris Petkov and Dr. Ben Wilson.  Chris is a Professor of Comparative Neuropsychology and Newcastle University Medical School.  Ben is a comparative neurosciencist studying how the brain evolved to support language.  Previously he worked at Newcastle University, and is about to move to Emory University.   We discuss how far back they can trace the origin of language, how they do it, and why language is so special to us humans after all.
You can follow Chris @cipetkov.
For patrons of this podcast, check out the bonus content at Patreon.com.  You’ll find images of brain scans, one of Ben and Chris’ monkey friends from their lab, and a mini-episode where Chris talks about what music and language have in common.  If you are not a patron and want to become one, you can sign up at Patreon.com.  Thank you for you support!
Some of the background music you heard are clips from:
Language of My Reality by Tomas PhUsIoN (c) copyright 2005 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/phusion/860
Depart (cdk mix) by Analog By Nature (c) copyright 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/cdk/50347 Ft: Tekno Eddy
SkyDub by Psykick (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Psykick/52937
Start To Grow (cdk Mix) by Analog By Nature (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/cdk/43815 Ft: Jeris
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Science and technology are everywhere in our lives. This podcast takes a look not only at the science itself, but its role in society, how it affects our lives, and how it influences how we define ourselves as humans. Episodes also throw in a mix of culture, history, ethics, philosophy, religion, and the future! Hosted by Elizabeth Fernandez, an astronomer and science communicator. Let's spark some dialog!