In Plain English: Science Made Simple
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
The Green Energy Bottleneck
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Green energy technologies like solar and wind have been improving for decades. So why aren't we closer to replacing our fossil fuels with clean en...
Unionize your University
11 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Now more than ever, academic unions are critical for supporting workers, creating a strong and sustainable institution, and defending research from po...
Modeling the Brain with Math
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does your brain have in common with water, earthquakes, and maybe even society itself? Join expert Leandro Fosque and guests Alejandro Gonzales a...
The UMAP Algorithm: Look Pretty and Do As Little As Possible
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, In Plain English joins the discourse on the All of Us Genomics project and their use of UMAP, an algorithm that reduces complex data ...
Lifesaving Treatment for Premature Infants: An Interview with Dr. Sharon Abada
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode, my friend Dr. Sharon Abada shares the story of her grandfather, Dr. Marshall Klaus, and how he helped discover a lifesaving t...
Do Police Target Black Drivers for Traffic Stops?
08 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do police disproportionately target Black drivers for traffic stops? This is an important question to ask, but actually answering it poses a surprisin...
“Running Towards the Fire”: A Conversation with Jessica Merlin
14 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this summer, I participated in a science communication program in combination with the Pain Research Forum and the North American Pai...
Science, Meet SciFi
10 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Science can be found everywhere, even in your favorite board games, books, and video games! In this fun-filled episode of In Plain English, I sat down...
Interviews in Pain Research, Part 6
16 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In April 2024, I attended the conference for the United States Association for the Study of Pain (USASP) in Seattle, Washington. This episode is the s...
Rigor "In Plain English" - LIVE at UPenn
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Scientific rigor is an incredibly important topic...but what does rigor actually mean? And how can we create communities where rigor is the norm? Join...
Interviews in Pain Research, Part 5
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In April 2024, I attended the conference for the United States Association for the Study of Pain (USASP) in Seattle, Washington. This episode is the f...
Interviews in Pain Research, Part 4
11 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In April 2024, I attended the conference for the United States Association for the Study of Pain (USASP) in Seattle, Washington. This episode is the f...
Personalized Therapy for Autoimmune Diseases
04 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In autoimmune disease, your own immune system turns against you. But advances in immunology research reveal a promising new kind of treatment: targeti...
Interviews in Pain Research, Part 3
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In April 2024, I attended the conference for the United States Association for the Study of Pain (USASP) in Seattle, Washington. This episode is the t...
Interviews in Pain Research, Part 2
14 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In April 2024, I attended the conference for the United States Association for the Study of Pain (USASP) in Seattle, Washington. This episode is the s...
Interviews in Pain Research, Part 1
07 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In April 2024, I attended the conference for the United States Association for the Study of Pain (USASP) in Seattle, Washington. This episode is the f...
Math: Down the Rabbit Hole
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Math is everywhere, even in places you didn't expect to find it. Join expert Will Lima and guests Parker Craft and Nick Wolslegel as we go down th...
Opioids & Breathing: A Complex Relationship
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Opioid drugs, like morphine or fentanyl, can cause death by stopping the brain from telling the body to breathe. But is the effect of opioids on breat...
SfN Shorts Part 9: Pain, ALS, and Glaucoma
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this set of interviews from the Society for Neuroscience 2023 conference, we cover a technology to help researchers study the behavioral and emotio...
SfN Shorts Part 8: Memory, COVID, and Chronic Pain
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this set of interviews from the Society for Neuroscience 2023 conference, we cover how your state of mind affects learning and memory, how COVID-19...
SfN Shorts Part 7: Opioids and Stress
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this set of interviews from the Society for Neuroscience 2023 conference, we cover how sex differences and pain affect opioid use disorder, and the...
Interrogating Degrowth
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Is degrowth a viable solution for climate change, or is the cure worse than the disease? Join expert Alejandro Gonzalez and guests William Lima and Ev...
SfN Shorts Part 6: Deep Brain Stimulation, Music Therapy, and Opioids and Memory
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this set of interviews from the Society for Neuroscience 2023 conference, we cover deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease patients, how...
SfN Shorts Part 5: Opioids & Breathing, Spinal Cord Injury Treatment, and Movement after Stroke
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this set of interviews from the Society for Neuroscience 2023 conference, we cover how opioids affect breathing and how we can use asthma medicatio...
SfN Shorts Part 4
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Last November, I attended the Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington, DC and interviewed neuroscientists from across the world about their ...
Exploring the Future of Reproducible Science
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I chatted with William Ngiam of the ReproducibiliTEA podcast about scientific rigor and reproducibility, and the daunting, exciting, creative work of ...
Rigor Jeopardy!
26 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Play along with Rigor Jeopardy! featuring the wonderful folks at Community for Rigor! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year! In...
SfN Shorts Part 3
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last month, I attended the Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington, DC and interviewed neuroscientists from across the world about their res...
SfN Shorts Part 2
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last month, I attended the Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington, DC and interviewed neuroscientists from across the world about their res...
Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Shorts Part 1
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last month, I attended the Society for Neuroscience conference in Washington, DC and interviewed neuroscientists from across the world about their res...
CRISPR Gene Editing for Neuroscience
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What is CRISPR gene editing, and how can it help us understand how the brain works? Join me and my guests Dong-gyu Kim and Rachel Privett to learn abo...
The History and Future of Nuclear Fusion
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The past year has brought exciting advances in nuclear fusion, bringing us closer than ever to a fusion-powered future. So how close are we to achievi...
Machine Learning: Revolutionizing Neuroscience
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How can we use computers to learn more about the brain? Join expert Dr. Eric Yttri and guest Sarah Brown to learn about how open source machine learni...
"Benevolent" Sexism, Abortion, and Motherhood
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What is "benevolent" sexism and does it predict opposition to abortion rights? Join expert Abby, of Political Psych with Abby, and guest Reb...
New Guidelines for Childhood Obesity
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I discuss the new guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics on treatments for childhood obesity with expert Dr. Nicole Cifra ...
What did Dinosaurs Sound Like?
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this can't-miss episode, expert Jimmy Waldron of Dinosaurs Will Always Be Awesome and guests William Gousios and Ashley Hamer answer pressing q...
Can Psychedelics Treat Depression?
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Interest in psychedelic therapy as a treatment for depression has been growing exponentially. But how do psychedelics leave a lasting impact on the br...
What Causes Multiple Sclerosis?
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Can a virus increase your risk for developing multiple sclerosis? Join expert Dr. Neuro and guests The Pop Historian and Andrew Jensen to learn about ...
Open Science Series: A Conversation with Bryan Copits
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this bonus episode on Open Science, I sit down with Dr. Bryan Copits, an early career researcher at Washington University in St. Louis. We talk abo...
An Open Science Round Table
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Currently, scientists need to pay to publish research and readers need to pay to access most research articles. This outdated approach to sharing scie...
Open Science Live Stream TOMORROW 2/27 @ 10 am ET
26 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tune in TOMORROW, February 27th at 10 am ET/9 am CT for the first ever In Plain English Live Stream! We will be hosting a round table discussion on Op...
Why Should I Care About Surface Tension?
07 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What do the blood in your blood vessels, the waves on a beach, and bubbles from a bubble bath have in common? They're all fluids, interacting with oth...
Bad Science: The Bogus Case for More Cops
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this bonus episode of In Plain English, I talk with defense lawyer Alec Karakatsanis about the paper "The Injustice of Underpolicing in America," b...
The Politics of Space
03 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this special episode of In Plain English, Brendan Ziebarth, Nick Wolslegel, and I talk about the political side of space travel: billionaire joy ri...
Virus Evolution: from Local Outbreak to Global Pandemic
06 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join expert SB Pye and guests Tania Lintz and Hannah Trettenero for a deep dive on virus outbreaks, and why some new viruses spread like wildfire whil...
Exhausted Immune Cells: the Weary Veterans of Chronic Infection
01 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join expert Christina Niavi and guests Alex Barrett and David Latchman to learn what happens to our immune cells during chronic infections and cancer,...
Do You Wanna Dance? Why Music Makes Us Move
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join expert Alex Albury and guests SB Pye and Sasha Dmytrenko to find out what kinds of music make us want to tap our feet, and why! You can download ...
When Research Gets it Wrong, Part 2
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join expert Vera Thornton and guests Doris Meinerding and Hannah Waterhouse for Part 2 of a thought-provoking look "behind the scenes" of scientific r...
When Research Gets it Wrong, Part 1
02 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join expert Vera Thornton and guests Doris Meinerding and Hannah Waterhouse for Part 1 of a thought-provoking look "behind the scenes" of scientific r...
The Drug War: A Violent Situation
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join expert Hilary Agro and guests Vera Thornton and Brigid Lydon as they discuss the far-reaching impacts of the drug war and the importance of harm ...
Pathogen Wars: How Gut Bacteria Protect Against Cholera
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join expert Jonathan Mitchell and guests Nicolas Scrutton Alvarado and Raymond Uymatiao to learn about the beneficial bacteria in your gut that can he...
Climate Change, Corporations, and Cap-and-Trade
03 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the 9th episode of In Plain English, expert Kelly-Anne Moffa and guests Leenah Abugisisa and Alexander Albury delve into the ups and downs of ...
Parasites: Master Puppeteers
05 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the 8th episode of In Plain English, expert Abby Kimball and guests Jakayla Folarin and Olayinka Idowu discuss the fascinating world of parasites a...
Is the Standard History of Domestication Wrong?
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the 7th episode of In Plain English, expert Grace Ward and guests Caitlin Murphy and Marc Blanc discuss why the history of domestication we think w...
The Aging Brain: the Good, the Bad, and the Unknown
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the 6th episode of In Plain English, expert Teodora Stoica and guests Emma Sward and Abby Kimball explore what we know about how the brain changes ...
How Estrogen Affects Prostate Cancer
07 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the fifth episode of In Plain English, expert Ralph White III and guests Maura Lydon and Alexa Ruel explore the unexpected ways in which estrogen c...
Where did Earth's Water Come From?
02 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the fourth episode of In Plain English, we discuss the potential cosmic origins of Earth's oceans. Expert Will Saunders and guests India Bland and ...
Are Humans Rational?
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Join our expert Alexa Ruel and our guests Kelly-Anne Moffa and Mo Carr to discuss the paper "Interplay of Approximate Planning Strategies". During our...
Everyone is Mistaken About Cancer
07 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In Episode 2 of In Plain English, presenter Gloria Marino and guests Teodora Stoica and Jacob Walker discuss the paper "Tumor Microenvironment Compone...
Opioids, Marijuana, and Pain Relief
03 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the first ever episode of In Plain English, presenter Jamie Moffa and guests Brendan Ziebarth and Alex Marshall discuss the paper “Impact of co-a...