Whether you're a pinball champion, an avid enjoyer of the old virtual Space Cadet pinball games, or a complete newbie to the pinball world - you may be surprised at just how much overlap there is with spaceflight and pinball game design over the ages. Join Emily and Alexa in conversation with Erin Winick Anthony, a science communicator, engineer, a…

What is Space Archaeology? Join Emily and Alexa as they speak with Dr. Justin Walsh of the ISS Archaeological Project about what doing archaeology in space really entails, what cultural and engineering insights we can gain from it, and what the future of this field looks like with the impending decommissioning of the ISS. The Art Astra Podcast is n…

Join Emily and Alexa as they chat with Janelle Wellons, Spaceflight Operations Engineer and Flight Director, about how the visual artist Alma Thomas' paintings resemble actual imagery from spacecraft, such as those captured by the Cassini and Mariner 4 missions. Please see the Art Astra website (artastra.space) for this episode's transcript and sho…

Join Emily and Alexa as they discuss the visual artist Alma Thomas, her paintings inspired by outer space, and how one of those paintings ended up in the collection of the CIA. Please see the Art Astra website (artastra.space) for this episode's transcript and show notes. -- Music credit: “Space” by Music_Unlimited…

Join Emily and Alexa as they chat with Amanda Ohlke, Director of Adult Education at the International Spy Museum, about James Bond's adventures in space through the decades, and how those adventures reflected the public imagination over time. Ohlke also provides a sneak peek at the upcoming exhibition "Bond in Motion," now open and on view at the I…

Do you ever wonder how space and art combine to transform raw, sometimes noisy images captured by spacecraft into beautiful, clean images for us to see here on Earth? In this episode, Emily Olsen and Alexa Erdogan discuss space image processing with Jason Major, space exploration and astronomy outreach enthusiast. Jason explains how he interprets d…

Join Emily Olsen and Alexa Erdogan as they discuss creative applications of space science. Alexa explains how scientists at Washington State University (WSU) used Barbie dolls in an important experiment to help solve problems humans will face on the Moon. Emily shares how an algorithm developed for the Hubble Space Telescope became key in tracking …

Nice to meet you! You can learn more about us here & connect with us on socials. — Music credit: “Space” by Music_UnlimitedAv Emily Olsen and Alexa Erdogan

The Art Astra Podcast explores intersections of space studies and the humanities in popular culture with the aim of highlighting opportunities for people from all walks of life to participate in and get excited about space. Join Emily Olsen and Alexa Erdogan every other week as they chat with people working in a variety of industries to discuss how…

We chat with botanist and science educator, Claire Hopkins, about how she got started in botany and how that led her to starting Brilliant Botany, a science educational platform and YouTube channel. We also chat a little about being #QueerinSTEM and how that experience can vary from scientist to scientist. Show notes & transcripts can be found at s…

We chat with special guest, Alie Caldwell, about her fascination with the brain and the cells in it that give rise to her online nickname, Alie Astrocyte. We also chat about Neuro Transmissions (the educational YouTube channel she co-created and runs with her partner, Micah Psych) and why science education & communication are so important to her an…

We're joined by science enthusiast and advocate, Rose DF (@_Astro_Nerd_), to chat about our passion for science and space, her struggles and experiences on her journey into STEM, and her science communication projects (like ChickTech). Show notes & transcripts can be found on our website at http://synapsescience.com. ---- Music tracks are attribute…

We chat with special guest, Melissa Cristina Marquez, about her research with sharks and her dive into science communication, through the Fins United Initiative and the ConCienca Azul podcast. Show notes & transcripts can be found on our website at http://synapsescience.com. ---- Music tracks are attributed to Kevin MacLeod and are licensed under C…

Do you cringe at the very mention of mathematics? Have you ever thought you might not be "good enough" to do math or science? Special guest Saramoira Shields talks to us about how to tackle our math phobia & realize our own mathematical potential. Show notes & details, as well as an accompanying transcript can be found on our website at http://www.…

We're joined by two of the founders of Gique, a non-profit educational organization that brings interdisciplinary opportunities to youths in the Boston area. Danielle Olson & Ashli Polanco share their journey of how their backgrounds & their shared passion for STEAM led to the start of Gique as we know it. Check out more at http://www.gique.me or @…

Science journalist, Eleanor Cummins, discusses her interdisciplinary work in science and culture. We also talked about the movement to promote more female science communicators, as well as the need to highlight stories written for women and relevant to many women's issues, both of which Eleanor is contributing to by producing the Tie My Tubes podca…

On this special episode of the podcast, we have an enlightening conversation with friend and colleague, Alec Sullivan, on the nature of biological design. From bioluminescent trees to Amazon's new biodome building, we chat about the spectrum of biological design and the ethical issues that may accompany it. Could biological design truly be biology'…

We're back for another season! In this episode, we go through a basic rundown on the current state of space debris, the reality of its danger, and what we can do to solve our growing space junk problem. Show notes for this episode can be found at http://synapsescience.com. Thanks for tuning in! The Synapse Science Podcast is a science communication…

We top off the first season of the podcast with an interesting look into how science and art can work together to create a greater understanding of our planet, culture conservation, and engineering technology. The podcast will be back after a short break with Season 2, featuring even more science and a few exciting surprises, as well. If there are …

We take a look at the body of evidence surrounding the world's first proposed human head transplant surgery for 2017. Always best to look at the facts first, lest we get a-head of ourselves... Biological evidence, ethics discussions, and more head puns await in this new episode of Synapse Science. Find the show notes for this episode on synapsescie…

What do a Swiss engineer, a giraffe, and a German pilot traveling at 9G's have in common? The answer lies in a new field of science called biomimicry. Find the show notes for this episode on synapsescience.com. Thanks for tuning in! The Synapse Science Podcast is a science communication show created and produced by Alexa Erdogan. Find her on Twitte…

What is 3D printing and how can we harness this new technology to make progress in the field of medicine? Find the show notes for this episode on synapsescience.com. Thanks for tuning in! The Synapse Science Podcast is a science communication show created and produced by Alexa Erdogan. Find her on Twitter @neurostellar. --- Sound effects used in th…

Join us on an enchanting adventure through the history of the New Horizons mission and the fascinating things humanity is learning about the former ninth planet in our Solar System, Pluto itself. Find the show notes for this episode on synapsescience.com. Thanks for tuning in! The Synapse Science Podcast is a science communication show created and …

Scientists from China have recently published research on their attempts to genetically modify human embryos. What exactly did they do and why is it causing such a stir? Find the show notes for this episode on http://synapsescience.com Thanks for tuning in! The Synapse Science Podcast is a science communication show created and produced by Alexa Er…

Meanwhile in the land of scientometrics, a new scientific report concludes that there are too many scientific reports for scientists to keep track of. As you can tell, this episode of the podcast gets just a tad meta. Show notes can be found on our website at http://synapsescience.com Do you have any questions, comments, and/or corrections? Tweet a…

More research! More undergraduates! More guests! In this episode of the Synapse Science podcast, I sit down and talk with two amazing undergraduate researchers about the work they do in the fields of diagnostic technology and autism, respectively. Krittika D'Silva is an undergraduate studying Bioengineering and Computer Engineering at the Universit…

In honor of Black History Month, this episode of the Synapse Science podcast delves into the type of gender and racial biases faced by women of color in STEM fields. We geek out about some of the amazing contributions to the STEM fields from scientists who happen to be women of color. This is an important conversation to have, and gender/racial rep…

Starting off with a special episode of the podcast in an ongoing series dedicated to undergraduate research! In this episode, we sat down and chatted with undergraduates Terence Leach & Elizabeth Chang about their experiences with undergrad research and how their involvement in research has influenced their lives. Both Terence and Elizabeth are als…