McGill Podcasts » Freaky Fridays

Bugs, Drugs and the Amazing Race

Isabella Liu — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:11:40 +0000

Wonder why you keep hearing about so many new infectious diseases? How do we manage them? Come explore the perpetual arms race between humans and microbes as we both battle for survival in our modern world.

Alanna Watt: What is brain assembly?

Cody Rei-Anderson — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:59:26 +0000

This Freaky Friday explores the fascinating field of brain development (assembly) and what happens when it goes wrong, in particular in the spinocerebellar ataxia SCA6.

The future of Quantum Mechanics

George He — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:44:15 +0000

By Bill Coish (Physics, McGill). How can we realistically use large scale quantum mechanical effects to our advantage? Check out these interviews in Nature and on CBC Radio 1 where Dr. Coish talks about quantum information science.

Nature or Nurture: Do genes actually determine your personality?

George He — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 22:09:04 +0000

By Roberta Palmour (Genetics, McGill). How do specific personality traits themselves predispose to particular types of mental illness? Listen to Roberta Palmour’s interview on CBC about personality disorders and her work with monkeys’ personality traits.

Oxytocin me, baby — the truth about the so-called love hormone

George He — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 22:05:39 +0000

By Jennifer A. Bartz (Psychology, McGill). Oxytocin is widely known as the “love hormone” released during birth and breastfeeding to bond a mother and child, but it’s released other times, too. Like during an orgasm. Or a romantic date. Oxytocin supposedly overflows us with positive feelings about one another. Or does it?

Read more about Dr. Bartz work with oxytocin in this Time Magazine report. Tune into the CBC interview with Dr. Bartz on Freaky Sunday, Feb. 5, that explains how oxytocin is critical in mammalian pair-bonding.

The misunderstanding of dinosaurs

George He — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:59:42 +0000

By Emily Bamforth (Ph.D. candidate, Redpath Museum and Biology, McGill). Is a Pterodactyl really a dinosaur? Could ‘Jurassic Park’ actually happen? Come and find what you may not have known about society’s favorite prehistorical creatures. Check out this interview on CBC Radio 1

Radiation as a weapon of mass benefaction

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:33:05 +0000

The applications of radiation are as wide as the myths surrounding it. In this lecture, Arman Sarfehnia will discuss what radiation is, and look at a brief history of radiation, how it was discovered and what role it has played in our lives. The applications of radiation in diagnostic radiology and radiation oncology will be discussed, and a brief cost-benefit analysis for medical applications will be presented.

The Aging Process — Myths and Realities

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:31:05 +0000

What is aging? Recent animal studies have shown that clioquinol — an 80-year-old drug once used to treat diarrhea and other gastrointestinal disorders — can reverse the progression of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases. According to Dr. Siegfried Hekimi, clioquinol acts irectly on a protein called CLK-1, often informally called “clock-1,” and might slow down the aging process. Learn about this anti-aging medication and the gut realities about the process of getting old.

Is love a big equilateral triangle?

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:54:25 +0000

McGill Psychology prof John Lydon delivers a Freaky Friday lecture on the science of close relationships: what are the physiological and psychological mechanisms that keep us in “love” ?

Birds, brains, and songs

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:52:34 +0000

Not only do some birds sing but they sing cleverly. Female birds prefer males that sing ‘prettier songs’, but sometimes they have a strange definition of ‘pretty’. Neeltje Boogert discusses some amazing facts about animal communication.

Science and Fiction in popular films — the good, the bad and the robotic

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:02:04 +0000

How and why has science found its special place in popular films? What is the scientific significance of films like Avatar, Gattaca, and Tron?

How I learned to stop worrying and love genetic modification

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:00:59 +0000

Genetic engineering is the direct human manipulation of an organism’s genetic material in a way that does not occur under natural conditions. It involves the use of recombinant DNA techniques, but does not include traditional animal and plant breeding or mutagenesis. Learn about the genetic modification in experimental mice being used for research purposes.

Black Hole

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:05:53 +0000

Find out about the evolution of this baby black hole, and learn why, contrary to popular myth, a black hole is not a cosmic vacuum cleaner. What does it mean to be “sucked” into a black hole? Does the CERN reactor have anything to do with it?

Earth’s earliest life — where did it come from?

Cody Rei-Anderson — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 22:08:31 +0000

Find out the origins of the planet’s oldest rocks and how they are linked to meteorites and the start of life on earth.

UFOs and Close Encounters, Science and Society

Cody Rei-Anderson — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:58:59 +0000

This lecture considers the public and scientific reaction to the UFO phenomenon from the perspectives of personality, psychology and the philosophy of science.

Magic, Hypnosis and the Brain

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:09:28 +0000

Hypnosis is an interesting tool for understanding how the mind works in terms of attention and suggestion. But can it be used therapeutically?

UFOs: Close Encounters

Cody Rei-Anderson — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:18:35 +0000

This lecture reviews the evidence about “Close Encounters,” the most controversial aspect of the UFO phenomenon, in which humans allegedly encounter and interact with extra-terrestrial beings. Donderi will review several well-documented close encounter cases and describe his own involvement in interviewing witnesses. He will illustrate a psychological science approach to these observations by describing two of his own research studies with groups of people who reported UFO close encounters.

Mushrooms: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Cody Rei-Anderson — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:48:18 +0000

Expert mycologist Suha Jabaji speaks about the world of fungi and their integral relationship with the health of the planet in this Freaky Friday presentation.

Bats and Vampires: More Myth than Fact

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:06:35 +0000

Dr. Angelika Meschede speaks about the amazing world and diversity of bats, how vampire bats really feed, and how they may one day help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

UFOs: The Psychology of a Phenomenon

Cody Rei-Anderson — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:12:18 +0000

In this Freaky Friday presentation, McGill psychology professor Don Donderi explains how and why he came to study the UFO phenomenon, and describes the chronology of the popular, official, and scientific viewpoint on the matter. He also reviews two UFO cases he has personally investigated.

UFOs: The Evidence in Detail

Cody Rei-Anderson — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:10:25 +0000

In his second lecture on UFOs, Donderi reviews the UFO evidence in detail and outlines the relationship between the evidence and the psychology of perception, motivation and belief. He also covers the interactions between skeptics like Carl Sagan and non-skeptical scientists and scholars like James E. McDonald and C.G. Jung. Finally, in keeping with the Freaky Fridays theme, he reviews the position of the UFO and close encounter phenomena in popular culture.

Melting Glaciers, What Gives?

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:00:44 +0000

Bruno Tremblay from McGill’s Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences examines the truth and fiction of melting arctic glacial ice.

Probability Surprises – Math or Magic?

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:16:49 +0000

Presented by Matthew de Courcy-Ireland in honour of the late William Moser, Professor Emeritus at the McGill Department of Mathematics and Statistics, this lecture looks at some of the surprises to be found when dealing with mathematical probability.

What Does It Mean To Be Human?

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:34:05 +0000

There is a deeply ingrained assumption that humans are fundamentally different from other animals. To what degree, and in what ways is this true? Through the classic film Planet of the Apes André Costopoulos reflects on what makes us human.

Big Hairy Spiders

Cody Rei-Anderson — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:53:37 +0000

Dr. Christopher Buddle, McGill’s foremost spider expert, elaborates on the how Arachnids are misunderstood and under-appreciated.

Storm Perfection

Cody Rei-Anderson — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:09:04 +0000

What is a perfect storm? To an atmospheric scientist, it is a storm in which several factors come together to make it especially catastrophic. The 1998 Ice Storm was a perfect storm and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was another.

Ophidophobia

Cody Rei-Anderson — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:51:12 +0000

“What is it with snakes?” asks McGill reptile specialist, Dr. David Green, as he explores snake phobias and misconceptions.

Shark Tales

Cody Rei-Anderson — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:49:15 +0000

McGill paleontologist Hans Larsson tells us why sharks have been misunderstood as relentless man-eaters.

How do Birds Really Do it

Cody Rei-Anderson — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:37:49 +0000

Dr. David Bird from the Avian Science and Conservation Centre at McGill discusses reproduction in birds.