Podcast

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.

FEATURED ★ Podcast

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.

Three researchers peer inside an MRI machine

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.

Podcast

The Next 50 Years: Anybody Out There?

Astronomer Caroline Morley speculates on the possibility of finding life on other planets in the near future.

Giant microbes float alongside planets

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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?

Illustration of a biological cell

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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.

A cross-section of a nautilus shell

Podcast

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?

Illustration of a robot walking through a cloud of symbols for money, driving, housekeeping and health care float by

Podcast

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.

A line indicating a heartbeat moves through a field of floating fruits

Podcast

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.

A montage of beetles, leaves, butterflies and DNA

Podcast

Coming Soon: A New Podcast Miniseries

In January 2020, we will be releasing a new miniseries called The Next 50 Years.

Logo consisting of a microscope in front of an abstract background

Podcast

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?

Two students talking on steps in front of the main administration building at the University of Texas at Austin

Podcast

Experimental Vaccine Against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Elicits Strong Immune Response

After decades of research, an effective RSV vaccine now seems within reach

A patient receives a vaccination in the arm

Podcast

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.

Silhouettes of a human and a robot looking at a painting in a museum

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.