Ancient volcanic eruptions, and peer pressure—from robots

Science Magazine Podcast

Science Podcast

Science, News, News Commentary

4.3 • 842 Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2018

⏱️ 22 minutes

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Summary

Several thousand years ago the volcano under Santorini in Greece—known as Thera—erupted in a tremendous explosion, dusting the nearby Mediterranean civilizations of Crete and Egypt in a layer of white ash. This geological marker could be used to tie together many ancient historical events, but the estimated date could be off by a century. Contributing Correspondent Lizzie Wade joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about a new study that used tree rings to calibrate radiocarbon readings—and get closer to pinning down a date. The findings also suggest that scientists may need to change their standard radiocarbon dating calibration curve. Sarah also talks to Tony Belpaeme of Ghent University in Belgium and Plymouth University in the United Kingdom about his Science Robotics paper that explored whether people are susceptible to peer pressure from robots. Using a classic psychological measure of peer influence, the team found that kids from ages 7 to 9 occasionally gave in to social pressure from robot peers, but adults did not. This week’s episode was edited by Podigy, with help from Meagan Cantwell. Download a transcript of this episode (PDF) Listen to previous podcasts. About the Science Podcast [Image: Softbank Robotics; Music: Jeffrey Cook] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Morgan State University, a Baltimore, Maryland Carnegie R2 doctoral research institution,
0:05.0	offers more than 100 academic programs and awards degrees at the Baccliorate, Masters, and Doctoral Levels,
0:12.0	is furthering their mission of growing the future leading the world.
0:16.0	Morgan continues to address the needs and challenges of the modern urban environment.
0:20.0	With a four-year quadrupling of research, more than a dozen new doctoral programs,
0:25.7	and eight new National Centers of Excellence, Morgan is positioned to achieve Carnegie R1 designation in the next five years.
0:33.7	To learn more about Morgan and their ascension to R1, visit morgan.edu slash research.
0:46.1	Welcome to the science podcast for August 17, 2018. I'm Sarah Crespi. In this week's show,
0:52.8	contributing correspondent Lizzie Wade talks about how a careful
0:56.2	year-by-year radio carbon dating project that spans two centuries may help settle the date for one of the
1:03.8	largest volcanic eruptions in human history. And Tony Belpame is here to talk about his science
1:10.2	robotics paper on measuring peer pressure from robots.
1:14.5	It turns out kids are a lot more susceptible than adults to robotic influences.
1:20.3	And this could have implications for how social robots are used.
1:26.2	First up this week, we have contributing correspondent Lizzie Wade.
1:29.7	Hi, Lizzie.
1:30.4	Hi, Sarah.
1:31.4	And her story, the story you've brought us, it's about Santorini, which you might have
1:35.9	heard of as a super hot vacation spot these days.
1:39.7	But a few thousand years ago, it was really hot, like erupting volcano hot.
1:45.3	And you can still see evidence of this today, right?
1:48.3	Lizzie, what does Santorini look like?
	...

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