Sleeping without a brain, tracking alien invasions, and algorithms of oppression

Science Magazine Podcast

Science Podcast

Science, News, News Commentary

4.3 • 842 Ratings

🗓️ 28 October 2021

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Simple animals like jellyfish and hydra, even roundworms, sleep. Without brains. Why do they sleep? How can we tell a jellyfish is sleeping? Staff Writer Liz Pennisi joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about what can be learned about sleep from these simple sleepers. The feature is part of a special issue on sleep this week in Science. Next is a look at centuries of alien invasions—or rather, invasive insects moving from place to place as humans trade across continents. Sarah talks with Matthew MacLachlan, a research economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, about his Science Advances paper on why insect invasions don’t always increase when trade does. Finally, a book on racism and the search algorithms. Books host Angela Saini for our series of interviews on race and science talks with Safiya Umoja Noble, a professor in the African American Studies and Information Studies departments at the University of California, Los Angeles, about her book: Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. [Image: marcouliana/iStock; Music: Jeffrey Cook] [Alt text: brown marmorated stink bug pattern] Authors: Sarah Crespi; Liz Pennisi, Angela Saini Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	This podcast is supported by the Icon School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, one of America's leading research medical schools.
0:07.8	Icon Mount Sinai is the academic arm of the eight hospital Mount Sinai health system in New York City.
0:13.9	It's consistently among the top recipients of NIH funding.
0:18.0	Researchers at Icon Mount Sinai have made breakthrough discoveries in many fields vital to
0:23.0	advancing the health of patients, including cancer, COVID and long COVID, cardiology, neuroscience, and
0:30.4	artificial intelligence. The Icon School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, we find a way. Morgan State
0:37.3	University, a Baltimore, Maryland,
0:39.4	Carnegie R2 doctoral research institution, offers more than 100 academic programs and awards
0:45.4	degrees at the baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral levels, is furthering their mission of
0:50.4	growing the future leading the world. Morgan continues to address the needs and challenges of the modern urban environment.
0:57.4	With a four-year quadrupling of research, more than a dozen new doctoral programs,
1:02.4	and eight new national centers of excellence, Morgan is positioned to achieve Carnegie R1
1:07.8	designation in the next five years.
1:10.4	To learn more about Morgan and their
1:12.3	ascension to R1, visit morgan.edu slash research. This is the science podcast for October 29,
1:25.7	2021. I'm Sarah Crespi. Each week, we feature the most
1:29.9	interesting news and research published in science and the sister journals. First up this week,
1:35.6	we have, why brainless animals sleep? Jellyfish, hydra, roundworms, they all have a version of sleep.
1:46.4	Liz Panisi is a staff writer for science.
1:50.1	She talks about what we can learn from these simple sleepers.
1:57.9	Next, we're going to look at centuries of alien invasions, or put more simply, invasive insects moving around the planet with trade. Matthew McLaughlin is a research economist at the USDA Economic Research Service.
2:04.6	He wrote in Science Advances about how long it takes us to realize an invader is already here.
	...

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