Point of Discovery
Behind every scientific discovery is a scientist (or 12) and a story. “Point of Discovery” takes you on a journey beyond WHAT we know to HOW we know it. Listeners will meet the sometimes quirky, always passionate people whose curiosity unlocks hidden worlds.
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Brain Activity Decoder Can Reveal Stories in People’s Minds
The work relies in part on a transformer model, similar to the ones that power ChatGPT.
Alex Huth (left), Shailee Jain (center) and Jerry Tang (right) prepare to collect brain activity data in the Biomedical Imaging Center at The University of Texas at Austin. The researchers trained their semantic decoder on dozens of hours of brain activity data from participants, collected in an fMRI scanner. Photo Credit: Nolan Zunk/University of Texas at Austin.
The Next 50 Years: Anybody Out There?
Astronomer Caroline Morley speculates on the possibility of finding life on other planets in the near future.
The Next 50 Years: A Model of Life on the Atomic Scale
Can we simulate life — in all its messy complexity and at the scale of each individual atom — in a computer?
Science Amid the Social Distance
A compilation from our previous episodes that we hope will help you find some solace right now: in rediscovering life, the people we're closest with and the universe.
The Next 50 Years: An A.I. Designed to Make Life Better
Artificial intelligence is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives. But will AI have mostly positive or negative impacts on society?
The Next 50 Years: Your Perfect Meal and Exercise Plan
Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be able to follow a specific diet or exercise plan and others fail? The answer might have to do with factors unique to each person, like their microbiomes and genetics.
The Next 50 Years: A Global Census of Life
Biologist David Hillis aims to discover the 80 percent of species on Earth that scientists know nothing about in the next few decades.
Coming Soon: A New Podcast Miniseries
In January 2020, we will be releasing a new miniseries called The Next 50 Years.
You Belong Here: What It Takes for Success in College
Why do so many first-year students struggle in college? Who is most likely to fail? And what can professors and staff do to help them get over the hump?
Experimental Vaccine Against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Elicits Strong Immune Response
After decades of research, an effective RSV vaccine now seems within reach
New AI Sees Like a Human, Filling in the Blanks
An artificial intelligence agent that can glance quickly at parts of a new environment and infer the full scene might be more effective on dangerous missions.
About the Podcast
Behind every scientific discovery is a scientist (or 12) and a story. “Point of Discovery” takes you on a journey beyond WHAT we know to HOW we know it. Listeners will meet the sometimes quirky, always passionate people whose curiosity unlocks hidden worlds.
Hosted by Marc Airhart
Marc Airhart is the Communications Coordinator for the College of Natural Sciences. A long time member of the National Association of Science Writers, he has written for national publications including Scientific American, Mercury, The Earth Scientist, Environmental Engineer & Scientist, and StarDate Magazine.
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Disclaimer
Point of Discovery is part of the Texas Podcast Network, brought to you by The University of Texas at Austin. Podcasts are produced by faculty members and staffers at UT Austin who work with University Communications to craft content that adheres to journalistic best practices. The University of Texas at Austin offers these podcasts at no charge. Podcasts appearing on the network and this webpage represent the views of the hosts, not of The University of Texas at Austin.