Author: bradleyvanparidon
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Episode 86 – How AI can improve vaccines and how much is too much sperm donation?
How can AI improve upon the design of mRNA vaccines? How much is too much when it comes to sperm donations? Turns out the Netherlands has a problem with serial donators. And a quick note on some interesting patterns in data associating smartphone usage with adolescent depression, anxiety, self harm, and suicide. Plus, a special…
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Episode 85 – Bug Sex!
Whether or not you think bugs (including spiders) are gross or awesome you probably have some bias about these animals. This episode we talk with Dr. Catherine Scott (@Cataranea) about black widows specifically and how our biases influence the way we think about and research species like spiders and bugs more generally. Catherine studies black…
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Episode 84 – The best example of The Last of Us
We’ve all seen The Last of Us right? The hit franchise is based on the real life Cordyceps fungus, but did you know the fungus doesn’t take over the brain? The true mechanism behind the zombie fungus is perhaps more terrifying. Also, there is actually a more compelling example of zombie parasites that receives shockingly…
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Episode 83 – Patent Law and Psychedelics
Patent law is not front of mind for most people with an interest in psychedelics it is an important story to follow. Just like cannabis before it or pharmaceuticals like painkillers and insulin, companies are looking to patent not only psychedelic molecules but peripheral technologies like delivery methods and in some extreme cases therapy protocols…
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Episode 82 – The Tik Tok Episode
Friend of the show and go to source for weird internet stuff, Jared Cuthbertson, is back for our last episode of the year. This episode started as an experiment in Brad joining Tik Tok and seeing where the algorithm would take him. The guys chat about all things Tik Tok and social media. What is…
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Episode 81 – The Power of Play
Play. We all do it and we all know it when we see it. But what is play and why is it so crucial for brain development in a select group of animals (humans included) that do it?Dr.Sergio Pellis has studied play and specifically ‘rough and tumble play’ for decades and joins us to break…
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Episode 80 – Viral Summer News
Brad is solo this month and digging into his favorite topic…infectious disease! There is a report of possible ‘herd safety’ for COVID-19, a debate on the transmission route for monkeypox (is it sexually transmitted or just transmitted during sex and why that matters), plus a few interesting tidbits regarding hemorrhagic fevers Ebola and Marburg virus.…
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Two Brad For You – Episode 79 – The Worm That Changed Biology
Jonathan Pettit, professor at the University of Aberdeen joins to discuss the amazing story of how C. elegans, a rotting plant eating worm, changed biology. This is a story of an intrepid group of researchers who set out to “tame a metazoan” and ended up with one of the most important model systems for developmental…
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Episode 78 – Jay Ingram And Our Strange Relationship With Wildlife
The great Jay Ingram returns to talk about the latest season of Anthropomania, his great podcast that explores the weird and complex ways humans interact with wildlife. Brad and Jay discuss a range of topics that come up on season 2 of Anthropomania, from our relationship with chickens, to the coming insect apocalypse. They spend…
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Episode 77 – The True History of Ivermectin
Surprise, surprise, the latest big, well controlled, credible trials of ivermectin for COVID-19 found no effect. But this episode isn’t about the illogical and frankly wrong arguments of the ivermectin for COVID booster club. Instead Brad and veterinarian / research scientist Dr. John Gilleard are here to restore the reputation of the anti-parasitic wonder drug…
Two Brad For You 