Sit Down With a Scientist

By: Sit Down With a Scientist
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  • Summary

  • Have you ever wondered whether sleep is really that important? Or why we find flowers attractive? Join me as I sit down with the UK's leading scientists to answer some of the most important questions in science, speak about their research and discover the journeys they took to get to where they are today.
    Sam McKay
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History Social Sciences Personal Success Biological Sciences
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Episodes
  • 9: Episode 9 - We Should Spend More Time Talking about Rocks with Professor Christopher Jackson

    9: Episode 9 - We Should Spend More Time Talking about Rocks with Professor Christopher Jackson
    Sep 23 2020
    Welcome back to a sit down with a scientist! When Chris was announced as one of this year's presenters of the Royal Institution's Christmas lectures it drew a lot of people's attention to quite how big a representation science still has and why science is still such a hostile place. But the biggest thing which stuck with me after sitting down with Chris was that, like most scientists, he just wants to get on with doing science, which in his case is studying how the earth itself has evolved as well as the cool geoscience that gets on TV (Tsunamis, Volcanoes and Earthquakes!).

    From resolving science's accessibility issues with projects like EarthArXiv to how we can understand climate change by studying the earth beneath our feet and why there isn't some special characteristic which makes a good scientist Chris' answers were thought provoking and left me struggling to piece together any semblance of a response.

    Having chatted with Chris this is the first year I will be watching the Royal Institution Christmas lectures.

    Follow Chris on Twitter
    https://twitter.com/seis_matters

    Follow me on Twitter
    https://twitter.com/SJ_McKay

    and have an incredible day!
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    42 mins
  • 8: Episode 8 - Decolonising the World's Biggest Encyclopedia with Dr Jess Wade

    8: Episode 8 - Decolonising the World's Biggest Encyclopedia with Dr Jess Wade
    Aug 26 2020
    Welcome back to a sit down with a scientist. While today's journey began in the realms of experimental solid state physics chatting about Jess' work as a physicist it wasn't long before we began to explore the ever complicated topic of representation in science.

    We discussed the incredible Angela Saini's Inferior and Superior, the influence they had on her as well as how she managed to get a copy of the former into every state school in the UK.

    Jess is someone I've long looked up to having been an undergraduate at Imperial when she started the mammoth challenge to publish a wikipedia article every day more than two years ago. If you want to get involved in the project check out her Twitter and sign up to one of her "Edit-a-thons"

    Follow Jess on Twitter
    https://twitter.com/jesswade

    Follow me on Twitter
    https://twitter.com/SJ_McKay

    and have an incredible day!
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    35 mins
  • 7: Episode 7 - Materials in the 4th Dimension with Dr Anna Ploszajski

    7: Episode 7 - Materials in the 4th Dimension with Dr Anna Ploszajski
    Aug 19 2020
    Welcome back to a sit down with a scientist. In this episode we explored Anna's research into 4 dimensional printing, her route into science communication and the stories behind all of the materials which make up our world and the people who use them.

    Anna's book Handmade: A Scientist’s Search for Meaning through Making is out in February of 2021 and promises to be a great read for anyone interested in how the world around us was built.

    Check out Anna's Handmade podcast here
    https://play.acast.com/s/handmade

    Follow Anna on Twitter
    https://twitter.com/AnnaPloszajski

    Follow me on Twitter
    https://twitter.com/SJ_McKay

    and have an incredible day!
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    22 mins

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