University of Michigan Museum of Natural History Podcast

Special Episode: The New Cretacious Period Diorama!

In this special episode, we dive into the story behind our new exhibit – a 12-foot ammonite diorama made from recycled materials! Created in partnership with LSA Sustaina

Science Cafe: A Problem So Small You Can See It From Space

Do we really consume a credit card’s worth of microplastics in a week? That depends largely on how you measure it. But one thing is certain: microplastics are all around

Science Cafe: Disinformation, Social Media, and Elections

Where do you get your news? How do "fake news" and social media affect your perspectives? New U-M research and scholarship can help us understand the widespread impact of

Science Café: The Future of MRNA Vaccines

We have seen how mRNA vaccines have changed the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing the occurrence of severe illness and saving lives. What is the future of this bi

Science Café: Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

What is machine learning? Is it the same as artificial intelligence? Please join Raed Al Kontar of the U-M Department of Industrial & Operations Engineering to discuss ho

Science Café: Politics and Power in Your Morning Coffee

Coffee production has a history as a colonial crop, destructive to the environment. Can coffee support biodiversity and local farms? What if we teach farmers how to grow

Science Cafe: High Tech Bones and Buildings

High-resolution 3D scans, prints, and renderings are changing the way scientists work! Please join Adam Rountrey of the U-M Museum of Paleontology and Nic Terrenato of th

Science Cafe: Policy from the Pulpit? Influences on Climate Change Skepticism

Climate change action is one of the most urgent questions we face. What influences public opinion on this issue? Recent research has shown that religious affiliation is n

Pollinators

Pollinators play a vital role in our food systems and are crucial to preserving the areas across the world being threatened by climate change and industrialization, but i

Science Cafe: Extreme Science! Dark Matter and Dark Energy Research

Sometimes scientists must go to the ends of the earth, and even deep underground, to see the unseen! Join us and meet two charismatic researchers from the U-M Department

Science Café: Climate Solutions: Renewable Energy Storage and Carbon Capture

How can renewables such as wind and solar energy produce power for use when the sun isn't shining or the wind ebbs? How can we capture the carbon dioxide that is already

Science Café: Mapping ocean biodiversity hotspots

How does ocean biodiversity change over deep time? Join Matt Friedman, director of the U-M Museum of Paleontology, and Hernán López-Fernández, chair for collections and c

Science Café: Of the Galaxy, and Beyond—Photos from the Webb telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope increases the clarity and resolution of space photography, both within our galaxy and beyond. What do these photos tell us so far and what

Science Café: Something Fishy in Lake Michigan

Great Lakes fisheries are managed intensively to reduce nutrients from fertilizer runoff and to increase game fish populations such as trout and salmon. When you add inva

Science Café: DNA, Chromosome Structure, and Health

If you stretched the DNA in one human cell all the way out, it would be about two meters long. How does all that DNA fit into one tiny cell? How does the way it is packag

Science Café: The Secrets of Birds

Hidden in the feathers of museum specimens of birds is information on the air quality of past decades - very detailed information. These specimens also contain evidence o

Science Café: What does water sustainability have to do with microbes?

Microbes in the water take carbon from the atmosphere, break down plastics, and even cause and prevent toxic algae blooms. Join Dr. Melissa Duhaime of the U-M's Departmen

Science Café: You’re the scientist now! Citizen and community science in a connected world

Have you ever helped with research by doing a Christmas bird count, helping to identify photos for an online project, or participating in local water testing? Join us as

Science Café: Politics and Psychology from Mussolini to the Alt-Right

A discussion of the history and social psychology of nationalist and fascist politics and what light this scholarship may or may not shed on current events.  Joshua Rabi

Science Café: Designer Genes? Genetic engineering in the age of CRISPR

New technology makes gene editing easier. Its use is being explored to correct diseases caused by genetic mutations, to fight cancer, and even to learn about human evolut