Turns out, pigeons are way more interesting than your average street critter. Their ability to navigate has been known and used by people for centuries, but we still don't know how they are able to sense the earth's magnetic fields. Greg Nordmann (@GregNordmann) is a PhD student in the lab of David Keays (@keays_lab) at the IMP in Vienna (@IMPvienn…

Dr Nadine Gloss is an anthropologist/sociologist studying the sociology of sex work and sex work activism. Despite sex work being the "oldest job", there are many barriers in place that treat sex workers unfairly compared to other industries. Nadine shares her experience in observing and participating in sex work activism, debunking common tales ab…

Dr Iromi Wanigasuriya is a molecular biologist studying epigenetics, or how our genes are regulated, in embryos. We talk about sex differences in gene expression, but also in medical research and for being an international student. For more info on the gender gap in medical studies, I encourage you to check out this article, by Kelly Burrowes in Th…

Prof Sommer Gentry is a mathematician working in the area of Operations Research, and her husband, Prof Dorry Segev, is a transplant surgeon and epidemiologist. Together, they use their research to improve organ transplant policies in the USA, with the goal of improving the health and equity of healthcare for people requiring organ transplantation.…

A brief monologue / verbal essay on some interesting things I learned while reading about the evolution of human ageing. See https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00239-019-09896-2 For more information about Nice to Know, follow me on Twitter @RobynSciences, instagram @nicetoknowapodcast or email nicetoknowthepodcast@gmail.com…

Michael Borg (@dr_borg) is a developmental biologist and expert in the molecular workings of plant reproduction. In this episode, he tells me how different organisms reset their DNA in order to start again with the next generation. We also talk more broadly about why we should care about plants and study biology in general. For more information abo…

Dan Quintana (@dsquintana) combines biology, neuroscience and endocrinology (the study of hormones) to study how the so-called "cuddle hormone" oxytocin influences behaviour. Turns out, it's more than just cuddling!! Dan is also co-host of the podcast Everything Hertz: https://everythinghertz.com/about You can also check out his blog (https://www.d…

A selection of my favourite Nice to Know moments from Season 1, covering episodes 10 - 18. Timestamps: 01:26 Ep. 10: Proteins & PhD Life with Dr Rhiannon Morris 02:51 Ep.11: Cancer, COVID, and Childcare with Dr Margs Brennan 04:34 Ep. 12: Doing Tai Chi with Drones with Design Researcher Joseph La Delfa 06:35 Ep. 13: Negative Results to Positive Int…

A selection of my favourite Nice to Know moments from Season 1, covering episodes 1 - 9. Timestamps: 01:33: Ep. 1: Fat, immunity, and winning the Nobel Prize with Dr Hatoon Baazim 03:45: Ep. 2: From cocktails to chemistry with Giovanni Di Mauro 05:09: Ep. 3: Empathising with neuropsychologist Kate Bray 06:10: Ep. 4: Bone-eating cells and Blue Monda…

Climate change - we all know that it's happening, but how do we actually know this scientifically? Bruce Vaughn studies glaciers up at the North Pole, looking at ice cores to study how our climate has changed over the Earth's history. We talk about how this is done, and also how we are now entering uncharted territory of atmospheric CO2, warming, a…

Hamdi Jama (@HamdiAJama) is here to tell you why you should be eating 40g* of fibre a day!! Hamdi is a PhD student in the Marques Lab (@FZMarques), a lab specializing in hypertension research. How does eating fibre relate to blood pressure?? Listen to find out! *subsequent to recording, Hamdi informed me it should have been 30g. But since most peop…

This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for their major discovery of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology. Listen to find out how they discovered it, how this technology works, and the huge potential it has for the future!! This series was made with the support of the Marie Curie Alumni Associat…

Céline Debourse is an Assyriologist - which means she's an expert on Ancient Mesopotamia! What happened in this ancient place and time, and what can it tell us about humanity today? If you want to find out more about Ancient Mesopotamia, check out Céline's fantastic blog: https://tuppublog.wordpress.com/ For more information on Nice To Know, follow…

Dr Cheneal Puljevic (@ChenealPuljevic) is a public health researcher at the University of Queensland, in Brisbane Australia, studying substance use and mental health amongst disadvantaged populations, such as people who have been to prison. We talk about why people smoke cigarettes, the crafty ways in which prisoners managed to turn nicotine patche…

Dr Bernhard Hochreiter combines biology and physics to study how the proteins in our cells behave and interact with each other. In this episode, we talk about what it's like to be straddling multiple disciplines, and discuss the issue of how negative results are rarely published. Bernhard recently completed his PhD in the lab of Johannes Schmid, at…

Joseph La Delfa is an industrial designer doing his PhD in design research, where he has developed a drone that responds to bodily movements, to be used as a meditation tool for the practice of Tai Chi. Although he's not a scientist, I find out what design research is, and the similarities and differences to scientific research. See for yourself wh…

Dr Margs Brennan is a cancer researcher, studying how blood cancers develop and how cells avoid dying. She's also currently living in Melbourne during the second COVID-caused lockdown, balancing research and care for an 8 month old baby. Margs and I did our PhD in the same lab (the Herold lab at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute. You can find out m…

The now Dr Rhiannon Morris (@Scientist_Rhi) is a biochemist, using "structural biology" to search for new cures for blood cancers. Rhiannon explains what structural biology is, and we talk about what she's learned during her PhD beyond the proteins. Rhiannon did her PhD in the Babon lab at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute (@WEHI_research), but she…

Quantum Physics - sounds like it's straight out of a sci-fi movie, right? And, honestly... maybe it is! Or maybe it isn't... or maybe it's both! Philip Taranto (@tarantophilip) explains to me what this weird word "Quantum" actually means, how quantum physics and philosophical questions overlap, and how exciting new technologies are being developed …

Dr Amy Shepherd (@amylasenz) is a triple threat - her background in neuroscience, immunology, and working with the gut is being combined for her postdoc to learn about the enteric nervous system, or the brain in your gut (into the unknoooown!!!). Amy did her PhD at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health (@TheFlorey) and is now worki…

Dr Idris Ajia is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton. He works on nanophotonics and metamaterials or, in my words, laser beams and new materials that can do cool things in response to the laser's light. Idris is also from Nigeria, and so is one of a regrettably small number of b…

Dr Casey Zakroff (@CaseyZakroff) is a marine biologist with a love for cephalopods - otherwise known as squids and other weird and wonderful ocean-dwelling creatures. In this episode, we talk about his research on squids facing the challenges of climate change, and also the challenges of science communication. Check out video footage of the adorabl…

Dr André Rendeiro (@afrendeiro) is a computational biologist - using the power of statistics to answer questions about the genetics of human disease, and how different people respond to disease treatments. As well as talking about his own research, we also talk about 23 and Me, and his take on analysing your own genetic information. At the time of …

Dr Julia Brunner (@jules_stef) is an immunologist and an expert in these special immune cells called macrophages, whose main job is to eat things (what a dream!). Osteoclasts are a special kind of macrophage that eat your bones (Whaaaat??!! Don't worry, it's totally fine). Julia tells us what she's discovered about these weird and wonderful cells. …

Kate Bray (@kbkatebray) is a neuropsychologist in training and PhD student - but don't feel sorry for her because she studies empathy!! Specifically, she studies whether your ability to empathise as a child could influence your mental health as a teenager. Also, her lab is currently also running a study on families and children and how they are aff…

Giovanni Di Mauro (@Giovannidm91) is an organic chemist, but would you believe that he went from being an acrobatic bartender to now making molecules in the lab that could end up being new medicines!? In a nutshell, Giovanni is basically a wizard and I'm definitely booking in a happy hour with him soon. Giovanni is currently doing his PhD in the Ma…

Dr Hatoon Baazim (@Hatoon_Bkeerah) tells us about her PhD research into viral infection (sorry, not COVID-19) and immunometabolism. Favourite thing that I got to know in this episode: fat is so much more than just cushioning. Hatoon recently completed her PhD in the lab of Andreas Bergthaler at the Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM), in Vienna, A…

So what is this podcast?? Nice to Know is the podcast where I interview everyday scientists and find out about what they're researching and what it's like to be a scientist. I'm a scientist myself, so in this episode you find out what I work on and why I find it interesting! It's a little taster for what's to come in this podcast. For more info on …