0: Sleep paralysis, cool 13-year-olds, toxoplasmosis, and Wikipedia reliability

This week we learn about sleep paralysis, whether cool 13 year olds have already washed out by the age of 22, is your cat’s poop affecting your behavior, and how reliable is medical information on Wikipedia.

The is the first ever episode of the Useful Science Podcast. We're still figuring this thing out, and we can really use your help to make it as good as possible. Let us know what you think at podcast@usefulscience.org.

Guests: 

Jaan Altosaar

Jaan's undergrad is in Maths & Physics from McGill in 2013; his name is weird because he's Estonian-Canadian. He's a Physics PhD student in machine learning at Princeton and Columbia. He founded Useful Science in 2014 and gets excited about the societal impact of artificial intelligence, Roberto Bolaño books, meditation, and making science useful.

Hosts: 

Andrew Blevins

Andrew is a freelance writer and editor living in New York City. He graduated in 2012 with a dual degree in English and Cognitive Science from the University of Georgia.

Jaime Devine

Jaime K Devine is an interdisciplinary neuroscientist whose research focuses on how behavior and biology, specifically sleep and health, interact. She has a PhD in Neuroscience from Brandeis University and a Certificate in Sleep Medicine from Harvard Medical School. She is also a dedicated science communicator, runner, working mother and nerd.

Role: 

Thomas Donoghue

Tom is a PhD student in the Cognitive Science department of UCSD, where he uses computational methods and neural recordings to investigate how the brain communicates with itself. He did a Cognitive Science Bachelor's degree at McGill University and has research experience in neuroimaging and language studies. Outside of being a science nerd, he enjoys travel and music.

Cameron Spencer

Cameron is a designer and web developer. He is the founder of Lab 43.