story collider

Story Collider

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We have seen the future, and the future is mostly blue.
Or, put another way: in our representations of the future in science fiction movies, blue seems to be the dominant color of our interfaces with technology yet to come. And that is one of the many design lessons we can learn from sci-fi.
Designers and sci-fi aficionados Chris Noessel and Nathan Shedroff have spent years compiling real-world lessons that designers can, should, and already do take from science fiction. Their new book, Make It So: Interaction Design Lessons From Science Fiction is a comprehensive compendium of their findings.
All music (after pledge preamble) is by OK Ikumi. https://soundcloud.com/ok-ikumi

99% Invisible-95- Future Screens Are Mostly Blue

While studying bioengineering, Craig Lehocky discovers he's different from the other students.

Craig Lehocky's tinkering runs deep. He currently develops surgical robots as an M.D. / Ph.D. student at CMU and University of Pittsburgh. Before that, he worked on prosthetic limbs controlled by the brain at the University of Pittsburgh. And even before that, he restored cars, houses, and guitar amplifiers at the University of his Dad. He doesn't know what tinkering his future holds, but hopes it unfolds in Pittsburgh.

Every week the Story Collider brings you a true, personal story about science. Find more and subscribe to our podcast at our website: http://storycollider.org/

Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider

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Craig Lehocky: Do you always talk like that?

Psychologist Pete Etchells' father inspired him -- to hate neurons.

Pete Etchells is a lecturer in biological psychology at Bath Spa University, UK, and a science blogger for the Guardian's psychology blog, Head Quarters. When he was growing up though, he really wanted to be a dinosaur. His research interests cover everything from how the human visual system works, to understanding how modern technology (particularly video games) affects behaviour and development.

Every week the Story Collider brings you a true, personal story about science. Find more and subscribe to our podcast at our website: http://storycollider.org/

Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider

Pete Etchells: The next level

As a woman of color working in science, Danielle N. Lee has always encountered challenges. But she doesn't expect the email she receives one morning, or the events it sets in motion.

Dr. Danielle N. Lee is a biologist and outreach scientist. Her research areas include animal behavior, behavioral ecology, and mammalogy; She is currently examining individual behavioral differences and natural history of African Giant Pouched Rats, Cricetomys ansorgei. DNLee (as she is known online) specializes in informal science outreach to urban youth audiences and the use of social media technology to engage broad audiences in the understanding of science. She focuses on relevant, accessible, and experiential-based lessons -- formal and informal -- to engage diverse audiences in science. Her blog, The Urban Scientist, discusses urban ecology, environmental science, and STEM opportunities (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) as well as diversity in the sciences.

Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: www.patreon.com/thestorycollider

Danielle N. Lee: Working twice as hard

When tragedy strikes his high school friend, David Epstein vows to find out what happened.

David Epstein is author of the recent New York Times bestseller The Sports Gene, an exploration of the genetic basis of athleticism. He is currently an investigative reporter at the non-profit ProPublica. Up until September, he was a senior writer at Sports Illustrated. He has been a crime reporter at the New York Daily News, and an education reporter at Inside Higher Ed. In his past life, David was a geology grad student. He has lived in the Sonoran Desert, on a ship in the Pacific Ocean, in the Arctic in Alaska, and -- like every other writer -- in Brooklyn.

Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: www.patreon.com/thestorycollider

David Epstein: A turn on the track

What happens when a nine year old is forced to sever ties with everyone she knows and go underground. 

Producer: Anna Sussman 

(Find out more about the world of Jeff Greenwald @ www.JeffGreenwald.com.  )

--><a href="http://snapjudgment.org/song-list-snap-428-underground">MUSIC INFO!</a><--

Why Did This Little Girl Travel With American's Most Wanted? / Snap Judgment , "Underground"

Pakistan-born physicist Saad Sarwana gets a visit from the FBI.

Saad Sarwana grew up in Pakistan, and moved first to Canada and then eventually to the US to attend graduate school in Physics. He's a professional physicist by day and an amateur standup comedian by night! As a Physicist, Saad has over 30 peer reviewed publications and two US patents. As a comedian Saad has performed at every major comedy club in the NYC area, and has been featured on an ABC 20/20 story about Muslim Standup Comedians. This winter you can see him in the US on the Discovery Science Channel show "You Have Been Warned."

Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider

Saad Sarwana: A muslim, a physicist, and a comedian...

Hibernating With Roommates

An accidental revelation causes Rabiah Mayas to question her identity.

Rabiah Mayas, PhD, is madly in love with science and driven by life’s questions, large and small. As Director of Science and Integrated Strategies at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, her work is focused on supporting that same spirit in youth who face barriers to accessing quality science experiences. She leads a multidisciplinary department that develops, implements and researches programs that support youth in pursuit of their own scientific passions and pathways. She holds a doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology and is passionate about exploring the intersections of science with art, health, and community.

Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider

Rabiah Mayas: Identical Twins

After a terrible head injury, Amy Cuddy wakes up in the hospital to find she's a different person.

Amy Cuddy is a social psychologist and Harvard Business School Associate Professor who studies how snap judgments and nonverbal behavior affect people from the classroom to the boardroom. Amy Cuddy's fascinating work on "power posing" reveals how your physical posture affects not only how others see you, but also how you see yourself, your own hormone levels, and your performance and important life outcomes. Researching stereotypes, emotions, nonverbal behaviors, and hormone levels, Amy explains to audiences the role these variables play in shaping our emotions, intentions and behaviors in business and society. Amy's work has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Financial Times, Scientific American Mind, The Wall Street Journal, and even as the theme of a Dilbert comic strip. Business Insider just named Amy as one of 2013's "50 Women Who are Changing the World." Her TED Talk is now the second most viewed of all time. She is also a classically trained (and still practicing) ballet dancer, which informs her research on nonverbal communication.

Help keep us going! If you love the podcast, please donate here: http://www.patreon.com/thestorycollider

Amy Cuddy: Passing As Myself

Suze Kundu is forced to abandon dancing for materials science, until materials science comes to the rescue.

Suze Kundu is a Teaching Fellow at Imperial College London, where she shares her love of Materials Science and Engineering with anyone that will stand still for long enough. In addition she presents many Outreach and Public Engagement workshops and demo lectures, and pops up on TV fairly regularly, getting excited about everything from aerogel to zirconia. She is also fresh off the stage from Irreverent Dance's annual Showcase, where she danced as a zombie scientist, a Time Lord and a girl obsessed with the glitz and glamour of Strictly Come Dancing - #typecasting?

Suze Kundu: A New Pair Of Shoes

The joys and dangers of getting pregnant for Tara Clancy and her wife.

Tara Clancy is a writer and performer. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Paris Review and The Rumpus. She is also a winner of The Moth GrandSlam storytelling competition and was recently featured on their podcast. Originally from Queens, Tara now lives in Manhattan with her wife and two sons. More at www.taraclancy.com

Tara Clancy: Adventures In Babymaking

Sports writer David Epstein tracks down some surprising health claims circulating in the football world.

David Epstein is author of the recent New York Times bestseller The Sports Gene, an exploration of the genetic basis of athleticism. He is currently an investigative reporter at the non-profit ProPublica. Up until September, he was a senior writer at Sports Illustrated. He has been a crime reporter at the New York Daily News, and an education reporter at Inside Higher Ed. In his past life, David was a geology grad student. He has lived in the Sonoran Desert, on a ship in the Pacific Ocean, in the Arctic in Alaska, and -- like every other writer -- in Brooklyn.

David Epstein: Holographic Supplements

Neuroscientist Indre Viskontas and her friends turn to science to find the right way to date.

Indre Viskontas is a neuroscientist and opera singer. She is also the host of Inquiring Minds, an in-depth exploration of the place where science, politics, and society collide. http://www.motherjones.com/inquiringminds

Indre Viskontas: The Man Chart

Ecologist Jessica Henkel finds the keys to her research truck missing, as it's parked on a remote beach with one of the biggest tides of the season about to come in.

Jessica is a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the National Academy of Sciences and a PhD candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University. She has a B.A. in English from Stony Brook University and a M.S. in Conservation Biology from the University of New Orleans. Jessica is interested in how environmental and anthropogenic change and habitat degradation are impacting the coastal habitats of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the communities that rely on them. Her dissertation research investigates the migration ecology and physiology of near-arctic breeding shorebirds that stopover in coastal habitats on the Gulf of Mexico. When not wearing mud boots or waders, Jessica can be found advocating for coastal issues or marching in the Mardi Gras parades of her adopted city of New Orleans.

Jessica Henkel: Stuck

Deborah Berebichez was told she couldn't study physics because it wasn't for girls -- until she got assistance for an unexpected reason.

(En Español: http://soundcloud.com/the-story-collider/deborah-berebichez)

Deborah Berebichez: Passing on the gift

As a young man Tom Levenson tries to follow his deceased father's advice, and takes a wide detour that leads him to contemplate life at the base of Newton's tree.

Tom Levenson: Wide open spaces and the long road home

While hunting for fossils of some of Earth's oldest organisms, paleontologist Phoebe Cohen and her geologist friend encounter a problem with one of Earth's more recently evolved organisms.

Phoebe Cohen: Chasing rocks and bears

In 2007, Matt Danzico engages in a massive project to show that strangers on the internet can be trusted -- and finds himself in the middle of nowhere with a broken-down bus and a stranger with a gun.

Matt Danzico: Strangers on the Internet

When science writer David Dobbs is suddenly unable to remember how to drive his kids to school, he sets off on a quest to understand his own brain, and makes a shocking discovery.

David Dobbs: Lost in your brain

Biologist Kelly Smith and comic artist Zach Weiner were having trouble dating, until they met online and realized what they each needed was another nerd. 

Kelly & Zach Weinersmith: Two nerds fall in love

Whether we wear a lab coat or haven't seen a test tube since grade school, science is shaping all of our lives. And that means we all have science stories to tell. Every year, we host dozens of live shows all over the country, featuring all kinds of storytellers - researchers, doctors, and engineers of course, but also patients, poets, comedians, cops, and more. Some of our stories are heartbreaking, others are hilarious, but they're all true and all very personal. Welcome to The Story Collider!