SciPod

Prof. Ariel Pakes | Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Hidden Forces Behind Your Health Plan Loyalty • scipod.global If you ask someone in the United States whether to reconsider their health insurance plan choices, they may sigh, roll their eyes, and offer a story about navigating a maze of deductibles, networks, a...

Why do people stay with the same health plan? It’s not just habit. Real preferences and hidden incentives shape our choices. Listen on SciPod:
www.scipod.global/prof-ariel-p... #HealthEconomics #Insurance dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn...

Roos van de Logt | Hidden Engineers: How Earthworms Could Help Us Weather a Changing Climate • scipod.global If you were to observe a quiet Dutch pasture, you might not guess that one of the most important climate-resilience workers in the landscape is silently engineering the soil beneath the grass. However...

Hidden engineers under our feet! In a new SciPod episode, Roos van de Logt explains how deep-burrowing earthworms could help grasslands buffer floods, soak up drought and build climate resilience by shaping soil from below. Listen now! www.scipod.global/roos-van-de-... doi.org/10.1016/j.ej...

Dr Suzanne Coyle | Weaving Spirituality into Psychotherapy: How Stories Help Healing • scipod.global As the practice of psychotherapy increasingly embraces the spiritual dimensions of the human experience, therapists are investigating new ways to weave faith and meaning into healing. Dr Suzanne Coyle...

Dr Suzanne Coyle explores how weaving spirituality into psychotherapy through storytelling can help people find meaning and healing. www.scipod.global/dr-suzanne-c... #Psychotherapy #Wellbeing doi.org/10.3390/rel1...

Associate Professor Adeniyi Charles Adeola | History Written in Base-Pairs: The Hidden Stories in African Pig Genomes • scipod.global Africa is often described as a continent of extremes. Vast deserts give way to lush rainforests; humid coastlines sit beside high, cool plateaus; ancient savannas stretch for thousands of kilometers. ...

History Written in Base-Pairs reveals how African pig genomes tell deep stories of adaptation, human movement and resilience, showing why local genetic diversity matters for food security and evolution. www.scipod.global/associate-pr...
#Genomics #Evolution doi.org/10.1186/s127...

Dr. Reginald O’Hara | Regulating Resilience: Caffeine, Neuromodulation, and the Biology of Performance • scipod.global In an era defined by constant pressure, chronic stress, and escalating performance demands, the question of how humans sustain physical and mental effectiveness has never been more urgent. From soldie...

Dr Reginald O’Hara looks at how caffeine and brain chemistry shape our resilience, focus and performance under pressure. A fresh take on how that cup of coffee affects how we think and work. www.scipod.global/dr-reginald-... #Caffeine #PerformanceScience doi.org/10.1093/milm...

Dr. Jürgen Gailer | Linking the Blood Chemistry of Metals with Adverse Human Health: New Tools Reveal an Invisible World • scipod.global Researchers Maryam Doroudian and Jürgen Gailer from the University of Calgary explore what happens when red blood cells rupture and release a zinc-containing enzyme called carbonic anhydrase 1 into th...

How do metals in our blood affect human health?
Dr Jürgen Gailer explores how new tools are revealing an invisible chemi-cal world inside the body. www.scipod.global/dr-jurgen-ga...
#Health #Science doi.org/10.1093/mtomcs/mfae028

Easing the Hardest Moment: How Brain Stimulation Is Transforming Care for People with Opioid Use Disorder • scipod.global In the world of opioid addiction treatment, the hardest moment often arrives precisely when hope begins to emerge. It is the moment someone chooses to stop using opioids. That decision, courageous and...

The hardest moment in opioid recovery often hits just as hope begins, withdrawal can feel unbearable. New research shows how mild brain stimulation may ease symptoms and support people as they start recovery. www.scipod.global/easing-the-h... doi.org/10.3389/fpsy...

Dr Katrina Schlunke | Bringing Dead Zoos to Life: Caring for Extinct Animals and Living Cultures • scipod.global Step into a natural history museum, sometimes called a ‘dead zoo’, and you will find yourself surrounded by silence. Behind glass cases and inside drawers lie animals long gone: the Tasmanian tiger, t...

Natural history museums are often described as places that care for ani-mals. But what does that care really mean when the animals are extinct, preserved, and displayed? This SciPod explores the hidden stories behind “dead zoos”
www.scipod.global/dr-katrina-s... doi.org/10.1080/1030...

Reimagining online safety education through the eyes of young people • scipod.global In today’s world, the internet is more than a tool. It can be a place where friendships are built, identities are explored, and young people find connection. For teenagers, digital spaces are a huge c...

What do young people really think about online safety education? This project led by the Young and Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University in partner-ship with the PROJECT ROCKIT Foundation. www.scipod.global/reimagining-... doi.org/10.26183/3bz...

Professor Ligeia Quackelbeen | How Should Judges Consider Cultural Concepts in International Criminal Law? • scipod.global Research from Assistant Professor Ligeia Quackelbeen at Tilburg University examines how international criminal courts categorize cultural practices such as forced marriage, revealing issues with curre...

How should judges handle cultural differences in international trials? Professor Quackelbeen explains why culture matters in delivering fair justice.
www.scipod.global/professor-li... #InternationalLaw #Justice doi.org/10.1093/jicj...

Dr. Rasha Bayoumi | Decolonizing Global Collaboration: Building Equitable Science Diplomacy • scipod.global Science diplomacy, meaning the use of scientific collaboration to strengthen international relations and address shared global challenges, has long been hailed as a force for good. Yet, as Dr. Rasha B...

New from Rasha Bayoumi calling for fairer and more equitable science diplomacy. Her work highlights the need for global research to move toward true collaboration with shared decision making and stronger leadership from the Global South. www.scipod.global/dr-rasha-bay... doi.org/10.3389/fpub...

Lighting the Path: How the GlioLighT Consortium Is Exploring New Ways to Treat Brain Tumours • scipod.global Across the world, scientists are still trying to answer one of medicine’s most difficult questions: how can we safely and effectively treat brain cancers such as glioma? Despite decades of effort, out...

Imagine zap-treating brain tumours with just light, no drugs, no cutting. The GlioLighT consortium is exploring whether a 1267 nm laser can safely destroy brain cancer cells deep in the brain.
www.scipod.global/lighting-the... @gliolight.bsky.social

We've just released a super-short audiobook summarising our project with @scipod.bsky.social! Check it out for a digestible, smooth introduction to what we do, how the science works, and how we're bringing European partners together to achieve our goal of a revolutionary new Glioma treatment. 🧠

Professor Michael Saward | How Art Exhibitions Offer New Ways to Understand Political Ideas • scipod.global Professor Michael Saward from the University of Warwick examines how Tate Liverpool's Democracies exhibition used curatorial methods to explore democracy in ways that fundamentally differ from traditi...

Professor Michael Saward shows how Tate Liver-pool’s Democracies exhibition helps us rethink political ideas using art to ex-plore how democracy is lived, felt and experienced in everyday life.
www.scipod.global/professor-mi...
#ArtMeetsPolitics #Democracy

Prof. Vladimir Zharov | Detecting Malaria with Light and Sound Without Blood Draw Can Transform Global Health • scipod.global For centuries, malaria has been one of the deadliest diseases on the planet. Nearly half of the world remains at risk of malaria with more than half a million deaths each year, most of them in childre...

Imagine detecting malaria with just light and sound, no needles, no blood draw. This new technique could change global health forever. www.scipod.global/prof-vladimi...
#GlobalHealth #MalariaResearch doi.org/10.1126/scit... @gatesfoundation.bsky.social

Professor Keith Solomon - Dr. Gladys Stephenson | The Weight of Evidence: Brought Clarity to the Buzz About Pesticides and Pollinators • scipod.global Modern environmental science faces a curious paradox. We have more data than ever, but less certainty. For scientists, policymakers, and the public alike, the sheer volume of studies, each with its ow...

What’s really happening between pesticides and pollinators? New re-search from Professor Keith Solomon and Dr Gladys Stephenson brings balanced, evidence-based clarity to a heated topic. www.scipod.global/professor-ke... doi.org/10.1080/1093... #Pollinators #Environment

Dr. Ossénatou Mamadou | Understanding turbulence in the lower atmosphere above West Africa • scipod.global West Africa’s climate is constantly being shaped by interactions between the ground and the lower atmosphere, where instabilities can give rise to unpredictable turbulence. Guided by extensive weather...

Explore how turbulence in the lower atmosphere above West Africa impacts weather patterns and climate dynamics. Listen: www.scipod.global/dr-ossenatou... #AtmosphericScience #WestAfricaWeather doi.org/10.1007/s00703-024-01043-x

Professor Chandra Waring | The Myth of the “Post-Racial” Family: What Multiracial Families Reveal About Race in America • scipod.global In the United States, families that cross racial lines often attract admiration and curiosity. Such families are increasingly common, and they are seen by many as living proof that love conquers preju...

Explore how multiracial families reveal the persistent realities of race despite the myth of a “post-racial” America. Listen: www.scipod.global/professor-ch... #RaceInAmerica #FamilyDynamics doi.org/10.3390/gene...

Professor Alex McBratney | Soil Security Starts Here: a Framework for the Future • scipod.global Soil sits at the heart of nearly every major challenge humanity faces, from food, water and energy security to climate change, biodiversity loss, human health, and the delivery of vital ecosystem serv...

Professor Alex McBratney explores “Soil Security Starts Here”, a bold framework for safeguarding the very ground beneath us, ensuring a stable future for food, climate and life. www.scipod.global/professor-al... #SoilSecurity #SustainableFuture
doi.org/10.1016/bs.a...

Professor Dr Susanne Maria Maurer | How Social Work Functions as Living Memory of Society's Deepest Conflicts • scipod.global Research from Professor Dr Susanne Maria Maurer, former chair of social pedagogy at the Philipps-Universität Marburg, reveals how social work institutions and practices serve as repositories of knowle...

Professor Dr Susanne Maria Maurer reveals how social work keeps alive the memory of society’s deepest conflicts, gender, class, race, and acts as an open archive of our shared past. www.scipod.global/professor-dr...
#SocialWork #CollectiveMemory doi.org/10.1332/2049...

Penelope J. Corfield | Time-Space: Exploring How Humans Navigate Cosmic Existence • scipod.global Penelope J. Corfield’s groundbreaking book, entitled Time-Space: We Are All in It Together, presents a multidimensional framework for understanding how humans exist within the cosmic continuum of time...

Penelope J. Corfield guides us through her book Time Space: We Are All in It Together, exploring how our lives, societies and the entire cosmos are woven into a dynamic time-space continuum. A timely reflection on our shared journey. www.scipod.global/penelope-j-c... #history #philosophy

Dr. Jeffrey Curran Henson | When Lithium Slows the Heart, and How an unlikely Asthma Drug Offered a Way Out • scipod.global For more than half a century, lithium has been one of the most reliable treatments for bipolar disorder. It has given countless people the ability to stabilize their moods and reclaim lives otherwise ...

Dr Jeffrey Curran Henson uncovers how the mood-stabiliser lithium can slow the heart’s natural pacemaker and how a decades old asthma drug offered a life-saving workaround. www.scipod.global/dr-jeffrey-c... A powerful reminder even trusted medicines carry hidden risks. doi.org/10.3389/fcvm...

Science isn’t one-size-fits-all. In the Asia Pacific, many researchers speak the language of discovery, not always the language of publication. Let’s open the doors to all voices. Listen: www.scipod.global/speaking-sci... #GoodPublicationPractice #ISMPP doi.org/10.1080/0300...

Dr. Rhonda Millikin | When Fighting Fire Backfires: How Cutting Trees Can Raise Fire Risk • scipod.global Across North America, the phrase “fuel management” is used almost as often as “climate change” when people talk about wildfires. The idea is simple: forests burn because they are full of fuel, includi...

Dr Rhonda Millikin and her team show that in some forests, cutting trees to reduce wildfire risk can back-fire, thinning makes sites hotter, drier and windier, boosting fire risk instead.
www.scipod.global/dr-rhonda-mi... #WildfireRisk #ForestManagement doi.org/10.3390/fire...

Dr. Kai Hilpert | AI-Powered Prediction of Antimicrobial Peptides in Human Serum: A New Strategy Against Resistant Bacteria • scipod.global In the 20th century, antibiotics transformed medicine. Infections that once killed millions could be cured with a pill or injection. Surgeries became safer, cancer treatments more effective, and advan...

Dr Kai Hilpert’s team is using AI to predict antimicrobial peptides in human serum, unveiling a powerful new strategy against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
www.scipod.global/dr-kai-hilpe... #AMR #AIinBiotech

Dr. Rafael Lenzi | From Magic Tricks to Spycraft: What Espionage Teaches Us About the Human Mind • scipod.global When we think of spies and their activities, we imagine trench coats, hidden cameras, and tense exchanges in safehouses. Hollywood has given us the daring adventures of James Bond and Jason Bourne, al...

How do magic tricks and spycraft reveal the secrets of the human mind? Dr Rafael Lenzi explores how deception shapes what we believe we see.
www.scipod.global/dr-rafael-le... #communication #deceptions doi.org/10.1515/sem-...

Professor John Willoughby - Christian Fignole | Challenging Traditional Economic Assumptions about Capitalism, Socialism and Enterprise Ownership • scipod.global Research from Professor John Willoughby and Christian Fignole at American University in Washington DC examines how diverse ownership structures persist in market economies, challenging the assumption ...

socialism, and who really owns enterprise. Listen: www.scipod.global/professor-jo... Discover more: doi.org/10.1080/0034... #EconomicTheory #RethinkOwnership

Dr Adrian-Sebastian Zus | When Arteries Rebel: Preventing Radial Artery Spasm • scipod.global Most of us never give much thought to the small artery that runs along the inside of our wrist, the radial artery. You can feel it easily if you press your fingers just below your thumb. Yet in modern...

When arteries rebel. Dr Adrian Sebastian Zus dives into preventing radial artery spasm and improving vascular health. www.scipod.global/dr-adrian-se... Find out more: doi.org/10.3390/diag... #CardiovascularHealth #VascularScience

Dr. Kishor Shrestha | Rethinking the costs of highway rest areas • scipod.global Operating and maintaining highway rest areas across the United States has long posed a costly challenge for state transportation departments, especially amid tightening budgets and rising demand. In a...

Dr Kishor Shrestha's study reveals that method-based contracting is the most cost-effective strategy for operating highway rest areas, potentially preventing closures and enhancing service quality. Listen: www.scipod.global/dr-kishor-sh... #InfrastructureEfficiency #TransportationPolicy

Ahmed Alhindi - Dr. Meng-Sang Chew | Improving compliant mechanism designs with fuzzy logic • scipod.global When they design mechanical systems, engineers first need to understand how they will behave using mathematical modelling tools that can simulate their movements. In recent years, they have increasing...

Ahmed Alhindi and Dr Meng-Sang Chew introduce a fuzzy logic-based framework for designing compliant mechanisms, enhancing robustness and efficiency in real-world applications. Listen: www.scipod.global/ahmed-alhind... #MechanicalEngineering #FuzzyLogic