This week we present two stories from people who had hypotheses.

Part 1: Teaching sixth grade science becomes much more difficult when Xochitl Garcia’s students start hypothesizing that fire is alive.

Part 2: When journalist John Rennie is assigned to cover an entomological society event where insects are served as food, he sees an opportunity to face his fear of bugs.

Xochitl Garcia is the K-12 education program manager at Science Friday, where she focuses on supporting the inspiring efforts of educators (of all types) to engage students in science, engineering, math, and the arts. She is a former NYC school teacher, who specializes in sifting through random piles of junk that she insists are “treasures,” to figure out cool ways for learners to explore scientific phenomena. You can find her making a mess in the name of science education at the Science Friday office, her house, with other educators…you get the picture.

Update: Xochitl welcomed her baby (not fire) into the world on 1/1/2020.

John has worked as a science editor, writer and lecturer for more than 30 years. Currently, he is deputy editor at Quanta Magazine. During his time as editor in chief at Scientific American, between 1994 and 2009, the magazine received two National Magazine Awards. He co-created and hosted the 2013 series Hacking the Planet on The Weather Channel. Since 2009, he has been on the faculty of the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program in New York University’s graduate journalism school. John is @tvjrennie and [email protected].

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The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Erin Barker & Liz Neeley, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Darrell Rigby, partner at Bain & Company, says many firms have rapidly adopted agile principles to react to the coronavirus crisis. Namely, they’ve been ditching bureaucratic planning processes and instead fast-tracking ideas, holding focused meetings, and empowering decisions at lower levels of the organization. He argues that C-suite leaders should keep this newfound organizational nimbleness for good and explains how they can. With Sarah Elk and Steve Berez, Rigby wrote the HBR article “The Agile C-Suite” and the new book Doing Agile Right: Transformation Without Chaos.

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Harvard Business Review, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Remi Kalir shares about teaching and learning in a time of pandemic on episode 310 of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.

Quotes from the episode

The so-called “normal” that existed did not work for many students to begin with.
-Remi Kalir

We will privilege care.
-Remi Kalir

The challenges facing every institution are going to be different.
-Remi Kalir

Life’s Little Mysteries is the newest Audioboom original podcast and co-production with Live Science. This podcast is for everyone and anyone who loves science and wants to know more about everything around us. Join hosts Mindy Weisberger and Jeanna Bryner of Live Science every Monday as they give you the low-down on all things big and small that truly make you wonder. Life’s Little Mysteries has new episodes every Monday. Subscribe to Life’s Little Mysteries on Apple Podcasts.

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Cara Santa Maria, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

It’s 6 AM and you wake up as the crickets grow quiet and dawn illuminates your tent. After cooking breakfast over a campfire, you load a backpack and hike seven miles into a canyon.

That’s when the science begins…

Camp, Sample…

When people think of science, they often conjure images of lab coats, chalk boards, and beaker-lined shelves. But for field scientists, the lab looks less like a soapstone bench and more like a frosty taiga, steamy rainforest, or bubbling hot-spring.

This week, we talk with Vince Debes, a field-work researcher who studies extremophiles in Yellowstone National Park.

Vince Debes, pictured here ‘in the lab.’

He explains his research, including why sampling hot springs helps his lab understand which organisms will ‘come to the table’ given the chemicals and compounds available in the soup.

We also learn about what it takes to plan and execute a research program in the field, where weather, broken equipment, and wild animals can interrupt and alter your research protocol.

Finally, Vince describes the traits and skills unique to making a scientist who can succeed at field work. It’s an odd combination of planning and improvisation: knowing the precise steps you’ll need to take, and adjusting your experiment when the environment forces a change.

Here are some resources mentioned in the show:

Group Exploring Organic Processes in Geochemistry(GEOPIG) at Arizona State University

Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park

Science in the News on Amphibian Parenting Practices

…And Two Smoking Barrels

A fire in 1910 caused the Old Forester distillery halt plans for bottling, and instead move the whiskey to a second barrel. The distinctive flavor led to this week’s ethanol selection: the Old Forester 1910 Old Fine Whiskey.

Like in 1910, the whiskey (or is it bourbon?) is barreled a second time for a smoother, sweeter flavor.

We’re still waiting on the release of a quadruple-barreled option!

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Joshua Hall and Daniel Arneman, PhDz, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Listen Entertainment & Wiley, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

The astrophysicist Janna Levin describes the fierce scientific beauty she finds in black holes and reveals why she took a major risk early in her career.

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Steven Strogatz and Quanta Magazine, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Might our brains have greater plasticity than commonly thought? In episode 36, Marlene Behrmann from Carnegie Mellon University, discusses her 3-year longitudinal investigation of a young boy who had the region of his brain which recognizes faces removed, but regained this ability through neural plasticity.

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Parsing Science: The unpublished stories behind the world’s most compelling science, as told by the researchers themselves., which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.