Share Online BS Fools Everyone, Even Experts www.iheart.com/podcast/1069...
So how do we counter #misinformation?
Really enjoyed chatting with @samanthayammine.com on this Discovery podcast!
I remember being SO giddy when I got to finally meet her at an event, after years of following her work as Minister of Science. She was incredibly generous with her time, chatting with all of us who queued up to meet her and take a selfie (it was a science policy event so there were many of us haha)
Kirsty Duncan in front of a black chalk board at the perimeter institute, smiling at a podium with her hair in its classic pony tail
sam and kirsty smiling in a pink hued selfie
photo of sam and kirsty taking a selfie
Canada has lost a true champion for science with the passing of the Hon. Kirsty Duncan.
Dr. Duncan was a medical geographer, Minister for Science, and a huge inspiration to many for her advocacy for basic science and uplifting women in STEM.
We'll continue your legacy while you rest in peace <3
Somehow @astrokatie.com always finds a way to make me laugh — even when she’s talking about the end of the universe 😅
Catch our full conversation on the latest episode of Curiosity Weekly: bit.ly/CuriosityWeekly 🔭🧪
Cookies of women in stem in front of gingerbread house with dry ice smoke out the chimney
Close up of circuit tree
Sam and Mary Berg posing with the house and cookies of women in STEM
Thanks for sharing this! It was a STEM-themed gingerbread house too 🥰
Isomalt windows, dry ice “smoke” on the chimney, and a homemade circuit lighting up the tree out front
Some are
Researchers have previously decoded brain activity representing words or images before, and even a word or two for videos.
But this study takes a step in getting more accurate longer descriptions based on mental representations of video, which are quite complex!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Four stills from four film reels on the left. Example outputs on the right. For example "Two women are dancing and are laughing with a teenage boy" to describe a film about "Two guys and a well-dressed woman are dancing."
You can see more results below.
LEFT: The videos shown to participants are on the left.
RIGHT: the AI's descriptions after 100 iterations interpreting brain activity from each of the 6 participants.
This is part of ongoing efforts to improve interpretation tools for people with language difficulties like aphasias.
The researchers had 6 different people watch or recall videos while getting an fMRI. Then they tested whether a suite of AI tools could translate the fMRI data into descriptive text.
Four stills of a film reel showing some kind of metallic trophy. Below are outputs from the AI over multiple iterations, as described in the post.
Watch the journey of AI models trying to describe a video someone was watching -- going off nothing but their brain activity.
Over 100 iterations, it went from "Given these principles" ... to "A circular and rotating shape is formed with subtly moving sections."
Pretty impressive???!
The winners for the largest photo microscopy competition were just announced and they do NOT disappoint!!
[Photos shared with permission courtesy of the 2025 Nikon Small World Photo Competition] 🧪🔬
🗣️ Let Palestinians lead
“Researchers who study post-war reconstruction have told @nature.com that the recovery of public health, environment, higher education & research in Gaza will not succeed unless it is led by experts from the Palestinian territory*”
*Palestine
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
I got to be a source for a 15-year-old journalist covering the science of studying and it was the sweetest media interview ever 😭😭
Catch the segment led by Jonnakae Hoskins -- definitely a talent to watch! 🧪
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOn_...
Video captured by microscopes Jay McClellan, who took first prize in the 2025 Nikon Small World in Motion Competition. Shared with permission & provided by Nikon Small World.
Dear friends with access to microscopes,
If you would ever permit me to share your microscopy videos, I can’t promise I’ll pronounce things properly but I absolutely will find the perfect song that captures the biology (wait for it). 🧪
Watch the full videos and see all the stunning honourable mentions: www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/20...
Every year!!
The beauty of microscopic life 🔬🧪✨
The winners of the 2025 Nikon Small World in Motion competition are in and they are all GORGEOUS!!!
Any microplastics researchers who would be interested in talking to me about some of the critiques surrounding this paper www.nature.com/articles/s41...?
I'm most interested in the contamination and methodology critiques, but also general insights into the challenges/limitations in the field
🧪
It's the white whale of neuroscience - completely mapping the brain and its activity.
Forrest Collman sat down with @samanthayammine.com from the Curiosity Weekly podcast and shared how we are taking on this "impossible" task and the surprising role YouTube videos play.
🧠📈 #OpenScienceWeek
PS. if you want more details, I broke it down in a new video: www.instagram.com/p/DOYkStDjd2g/ (with receipts!)
The EU recently banned a popular ingredient in gel nail polish. But you'll still find it in salons around the world.
Colour me (and my nails!) intrigued... but not panicked. 🧪
I explain why for CTV news: www.ctvnews.ca/health/artic...
You all were the BEST audience!!! Our team is so happy so many public servants showed up and showed out!!!
mRNA vaccines show promise for HIV Two vaccine candidates that use mRNA technology elicit a potent immune response against HIV. These vaccines use mRNA to instruct a cell to make proteins called envelope proteins that are attached to the cell membrane — similar to how they are found in live HIV. In a small trial, some 80% of the participants who received three doses of either of the vaccines went on to produce antibodies that could block that protein from entering cells. Nature | 5 min read
RFK Jr. cancels $500M US in funding for vaccine development, targeting mRNA The longtime vaccine critic’s decision targets vaccines using mRNA technology The Associated Press · Posted: Aug 05, 2025
Two headlines in my inbox on the exact same day. 🧪
Are you wearing enough sunscreen??!
@labmuffin.com spills the chemisTEA behind SPF, sunscreen policy & more on the latest episode of the Curiosity Weekly pod 🧪
Listen & lmk if you can tell I’m fangirling the entire time 🙂↕️ podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/c...
I was interviewed for a @wired.com article by the fabulous @evystadium.bsky.social about trolling because being a scientist has (somehow!!!?) made me an expert 🫠
WHAT TIMELINE IS THIS???? Annnnyyyway it’s a great informative & entertaining read, as usual from Evy: www.wired.com/story/how-to... 🧪
If you're attending a protest anywhere in the world, @eff.org has this really handy guide for how to protect your digital information so your tech can't be used against you: ssd.eff.org/module/atten...
"Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell" NO MORE?
Scientific American, who coined the phrase in 1957, says it's time to retire it given all we've learned about the bean-shaped organelles.
Instead, they suggest the MOTHERBOARD of the cell. wdu think?🧪
www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...
Thanks for listening!! Really appreciate it 🙏🏼
Hi Victor! Glad you were interested in the episode -- it's a segment in the episode titled, "The Scramble to Solve Space Scrap"
It's mentioned in the episode description but pretty subtly so very easy to miss -- I should've pointed the link to the exact episode so it's easier to find, apologies!
