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.
A Machine That Understands Language Like a Human
Alex Huth is trying to build an intelligent computer system that can predict the patterns of brain activity in a human listening to someone speaking.
A Love Letter from Texas Scientists to the Periodic Table
We're celebrating the 150th anniversary of the periodic table. Join us as we tour the cosmos, from the microscopic to the telescopic, with four scientists studying the role of four elements—zinc, oxygen, palladium and gold—in life, the universe and everything.
All in the (Scientific) Family
Scientists often talk about the people who mentored them, and the students and postdocs they supervise, in ways that sound like a family.
Bringing Real Science to the Big Screen
Scientist Kip Thorne talks with his former graduate student Bill Press about what it's like to work on a major Hollywood film.
A Big Week in Science
The first full week of October is like a science-lover's World Series: Each year, the spotlight falls on high-impact science, when day after day, a series of Nobel Prizes and other prestigious awards are announced one after another.
Of Fruit Flies, Nobel Prizes and Genetic Discoveries that Change the World
Last year, University of Texas at Austin alumnus Michael Young won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering the molecular mechanism behind circadian rhythms.
Can We Build Machines that are Less Biased Than We Are?
Think about some of the most important decisions people make – who to hire for a job, which kind of treatment to give a cancer patient, how much jail time to give a criminal. Statistics and Data Sciences faculty member James Scott says we humans are pretty lousy at making them.
Which Mental Superpower Would You Choose?
In this episode of Point of Discovery, we talk to neuroscientist Laura Colgin about the potential, and possible pitfalls, of new technologies that connect the human brain to a computer.
James Allison Eases Off the Brakes
In today's episode of Point of Discovery, UT Austin alum James Allison talks about the uphill climb to make cancer immunotherapy a reality.
When Science Communication Doesn’t Get Through
Climate change, vaccinations, evolution. Scientists sometimes struggle to get their message across to non-scientists.
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.