Imperial College Podcast

In this edition: David Attenborough meets our newest robot, progress towards global goals, and supporting the future of lab-grown meat. News: Attenborough and the Giant Sea Monster – We find out what it was like to have Sir David Attenborough on campus as he met a robot sea monster and the researcher who built it. Global goals for 2030 – The Global Development Hub at Imperial brings together researchers working on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We hear from Hub Co-Chair and sanitation researcher Professor Michael Templeton and solar energy researcher Professor Jenny Nelson on how some of these targets are being tackled. Lab-grown meat – We meet Reka Tron, co-founder of Multus, an Imperial startup supporting lab-grown meat. She tells us about their innovation and how they began by winning the  Faculty of Natural Sciences Make-A-Difference competition.

In this edition: 2023 in review, the first transatlantic flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel, and improving bone quality. News: Best of 2023 – We hear about some of the best quantum breakthroughs and how science has met art at Imperial in 2023, as told by our science communication interns. Sustainable aviation fuel flights – We talk to Dr Marc Stettler and Dr Roger Teoh, two of the researchers involved in the world’s first transatlantic flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel, made primarily of waste fats and cooking oil. The Imperial team helped assess the potential impact of such flights, including the formation of contrails. Bone up on bones – We catch up with the Bone Up podcast, which discusses everything about bones: how we make them, why we break them, and what we still don’t fully understand about them. In this clip, we hear about how improving diet and lifestyle can impact the quality of bones and help prevent fractures in the most vulnerable people.

In this edition: The latest climate science ahead of COP28, how COVID impacts pregnancy, and founding a MedTech startup. News: COP coming – We look ahead to the upcoming COP28 climate conference, and discuss a few recent Imperial studies on the carbon budget, warming beyond net zero, and avoiding overreliance on carbon removal technologies. COVID and pregnancy – We speak to Dr Victoria Male, who says that while pregnancy carries higher risk of complications from COVID-19, vaccination is extremely effective and safe for the baby, passing on immunity in the womb. Too Long; Don’t Listen – We hear from the TL;DL podcast, featuring inspiring stories to help people make career decisions. This excerpt features the founder of reproductive health startup Dama Health, Imperial alumna Paulina Cecula.

In this edition: We meet an Imperial alum who is now Head of Science at NASA, discuss the generational wealth gap and find out how to tackle TB. News: Is the generational wealth gap real? – We dig into a new report that finds evidence that there is more solidarity between generations than the “Millennials versus Boomers” narrative would suggest. NASA’s Head of Science – We sit down with Imperial physics alum, and now NASA Head of Science, Dr Nicky Fox, to find out which missions she’s excited about and how we can encourage more girls to take up physics. Tackling TB – We hear from Professor Nim Pathy about how TB patients in India can be empowered to seek proper care, how new technologies can help expand screening programmes, and what we need to do to make a new vaccine. This is an extract from JameelCast – a new podcast that explores where global disease and health overlap with other fields, including epidemiology, ecology, economics, and engineering.

In this edition: How getting ready for bed is hard-wired, how clothing dyes can be recycled, and what we can do about data bias in AI. News: Getting ready for bed – When mice are sleepy, they make a safe nest, and now researchers have discovered the brain wiring that controls this instinct both in mice and likely in ourselves. Making fashion greener – We talk to the people behind DyeRecycle – an Imperial startup that uses a new chemical process to recover dyes and colours from waste textiles, vastly reducing the water and energy use of the industry. The team recent secured an H&M Foundation Global Change Award. Data bias in AI – We listen in to the Science Actually podcast as they chat data bias in AI – discussing questions including can we eliminate biases, how much should we blame big tech, and what can we do about the issue?

In this edition: A better test for diagnosing childhood illness, improving planetary protection and financing sustainability. News: Diagnosing childhood illnesses – We learn about a new blood test that can determine what’s causing fevers in children in only an hour, by analysing the distinctive pattern of genes being ‘switched on or off’ by the body in response to specific illnesses. Improving planetary protection – How do we make sure we don’t contaminate other worlds with our space missions, or contaminate Earth with samples returned from elsewhere in the Solar System? We speak to Professor Mark Sephton about a new project to make better risk assessments and improve planetary protection. Sustainable finance – We tap into the Green Minds podcast to hear from Bloomberg’s Nadia Humphreys about how ‘taxonomies’ can lay out how business can be greener. Listen to the full interview on IB Podcasts.

In this edition: We learn how same-sex sexual behaviour is common in macaques, how to teach robots to walk like dogs, and how DNA affects your health. News: Same-sex sexual behaviour in monkeys – We learn how research has revealed that same-sex sexual behaviour among male macaques in one colony is widespread and may be beneficial. How do you make a robot walk? – We talk to Dr Antoine Cully about what goes into making a functional robot. Should they walk on four legs like dogs or two legs like humans? What if one of the legs fails? And how do you integrate the latest AI? DNA and your health – From the DNA& podcast, we get a refresher on the basics of DNA, and learn how Genome UK is hoping to improve prediction and diagnosis in healthcare, moving from treatment to prevention.

In this edition: How hackers can ‘poison’ AI training data, the modern experience of living with HIV, and a climate change art prize. News: Smart meters in India and physics scholarships – We hear about a smart meters project being selected as one of the top 75 ideas for promoting green lifestyles by the government of India, and meet the winners of new physics PhD diversity scholarships. Data poisoning in AI – AI algorithms are trained on data, but what happens when hackers manipulate the data so the AI gives the ‘wrong’ answers, such as letting spam through email filters? We explore this question with Javier Carnerero Cano, including what can be done to guard against such ‘data poisoning’. Living with HIV – We hear from Professor Alan Winston about some of the results from the POPPY study, which for 10 years has been following the health of people living with HIV. While cognitive function doesn’t seem to be affected, people living with HIV have a much higher prevalence of mental health issues. This is an excerpt from a series of podcasts about living with HIV, including the sting of stigma. You can listen to the full series on our Soundcloud account. Climate change art prize – We hear how young people have the chance to create a piece of art that will be turned into a mural for the Grantham Climate Art Prize. The theme this year is palette for the planet: a hopeful vision for imagining a greener, cleaner future world.

In this edition: We revisit interviews with some celebrity guests: singer Ana Matronic, Queen’s Brian May, and astrophysicist and author Katie Mack. Ana Matronic meets the robots – Scissor Sisters singer Ana Matronic visited Imperial in 2015 to meet robotics researcher Dr Aldo Faisal. She spoke about her book, her passion for robots and her devotion to the international, intellectual movement called transhumanism. Brian May submits his PhD – In 2007, a rather extraordinary PhD student submitted his thesis – Queen guitarist Brian May. He returned to Imperial to complete the PhD he started before the band took off, and we caught up with him to talk space dust, how Imperial has changed since the 1970s, and whether his thesis or Bohemian Rhapsody is his biggest achievement. Dr Katie Mack contemplates the end – Astrophysicist and author Dr Katie Mack gave a guest lecture at Imperial in 2019 for a ‘Science for Fiction’ event. We asked her about her favourite way the universe might die, whether she ever gets melancholy about the ultimate end, and how science fiction helps her unwind.

In this edition: What links Trump voters, how we’re going to investigate Jupiter’s moons, and why it’s a good idea to ask if a medical trial is fair. News: Surface COVID transmission and the sounds of space – We hear about the first evidence of COVID-19 transmission occurring through hands and surfaces within households, and find out how the public can help space research by listening to the sounds of plasma. Who votes for Donald Trump? – We chat to Sanaz Talaifar, who recently collaborated on research about who voted for Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. She talks about how areas with higher neuroticism and those suffering more economically were more likely to vote for Trump – a continuation of a pattern of populist voting throughout history. On the way to Jupiter – Before the JUICE mission successfully launched on its way to study Jupiter’s moons and their potential for hosting life, we caught up with magnetometer instrument lead Professor Michele Dougherty. A fair trial – Medical programmes are often assessed by whether they ‘work’ – whether they save lives and money – but what about whether they are ‘fair’? We talk to Dr Jonathan Clarke, an Imperial researcher who looked into this dimension for a pulse oximeter trial during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this edition: The future of supersonic flight, how toxic flea and tick products are reaching the environment, and how maths can help eradicate TB. News: News: Psychedelic scans and caffeine benefits  – We discover that brain scans show the drug DMT increases connectivity across the brain’s imagination centres, and find out how caffeine may help keep you slim. Supersonic and hypersonic flight – We look back on the popularity of Concorde and look forward to the future of commercial, and sustainable, high-speed air travel. This is an except from the Zero Pressure podcast – listen to the full episode and explore the archive on the Zero Pressure website. Toxic effects of pet parasiticides – We hear from the authors of a new Grantham Institute briefing paper that brings together all the evidence showing pet flea and tick treatments are finding their way into UK waters, potentially causing problems for the local wildlife. Fighting TB with maths – We speak to mathematical modeller Professor Nimalan Arinaminpathy, who is working with India’s TB elimination program to optimise interventions in different areas and finally eradicate the disease.

In this edition: How AI has magnified credit disparities, how malaria research was translated into sound, and how batteries can make a better world. News: Boosting sex drive and sourcing dark energy – We hear about how the hormone kisspeptin can help people with low sex drive, and why black holes may be the source of dark energy. Magnifying disparities with machine learning – We talk to Professor Tarun Ramadorai about new research that shows how machine learning is exacerbating inequalities in credit ratings – and who gets approved for a mortgage. Sonifying malaria research – How do you turn data about genetically modified mosquitos and their egg-laying rates into music? Target Malaria scientist Dr Federica Bernardini brought in creative composer Jamie Perera to take up the challenge. Batteries for a sustainable world – We catch up with Dr Billy Wu to find out the state of battery research, and how more sustainable batteries can help power a fossil-fuel-free world. Find out more about Sustainability Week at Imperial.