University of Chicago neurobiologist Peggy Mason talks with her Brain Buddies Podcast co-host Aaron Freeman about recent research by Fordham University Ph.D. candidate Matthew Comb. Comb and his team collected scores of rats from different neighborhoods in Manhattan and analyzed their DNA. Their work shows identifiable differences in the SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) of rats in different areas of the island. They hope their findings will help the Mayor DeBlasio et al diminish the big apple’s rodent population.

Aaron interviews WTTW’s Chicago Tonight ace correspondent Elizabeth Brackett on the Army Corps latest plans to stop the asian carp invasion. Watch on our Facebook page here.

Aaron Freeman dives in with Brian Murphy, Ph.D., to get to the bottom of antibiotic hunting in our waters. The program will take place at the Radler on Tuesday, July 11. Take a watch and join us live at the program.

Dr. Herman Brenner White was the first African-American physicist hired by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He is also the first African American to have a scientific equation bear his name; the Stefansky-White Model for Neutrino Production. For Black History Month, Chicago Council on Science and Technology Artist in Residence Aaron Freeman talks with Dr. White about the role of race in his journey from rural Tuskegee, Alabama to one of the world’s top physics facilities.

Behavioral biologist Dr. Melissa Emery Thompson talks prosocial behavior (or the lack of it.) On Wednesday 17 August 2016 at Chicago’s Harold Washington Library, Dr. Thompson will discuss what she learned about female reproduction while studying chimpanzees of the Uganda’s Kibale wildlife preserve. Her talk is part of the Chicago Council on Science and Technology’s ongoing series of programs to give the sci-curious opportunities to talk with real scientist about what they are discovering.

Behavioral biologist Dr. Melissa Emery Thompson explains how researchers assess wild chimpanzee strength and fitness. On Wednesday 17 August 2016 at Chicago’s Harold Washington Library, Dr. Thompson will discuss what she learned about female reproduction while studying chimpanzees of the Uganda’s Kibale wildlife preserve. Her talk is part of the Chicago Council on Science and Technology’s ongoing series of programs to give the sci-curious opportunities to talk with real scientist about what they are discovering.

Behavioral biologist Dr. Melissa Emery Thompson explains “The Grandmother Hypothesis.” On Wednesday 17 August 2016 at Chicago’s Harold Washington Library, Dr. Thompson will discuss what she learned about female reproduction while studying chimpanzees of the Uganda’s Kibale wildlife preserve. Her talk is part of the Chicago Council on Science and Technology’s ongoing series of programs to give the sci-curious opportunities to talk with real scientist about what they are discovering.

Behavioral biologist Dr. Melissa Emery Thompson talks about arguably the worst job in science, collecting chimpanzee urine and poop. On Wednesday 17 August 2016 at Chicago’s Harold Washington Library, Dr. Thompson will discuss what she learned about female reproduction while studying chimpanzees of the Uganda’s Kibale wildlife preserve. Her talk is part of the Chicago Council on Science and Technology’s ongoing series of programs to give the sci-curious opportunities to talk with real scientist about what they are discovering.

Behavioral biologist Dr. Melissa Emery Thompson explains female chimpanzee promiscuity. On Wednesday 17 August 2016 at Chicago’s Harold Washington Library, Dr. Thompson will discuss what she learned about female reproduction while studying chimpanzees of the Uganda’s Kibale wildlife preserve. Her talk is part of the Chicago Council on Science and Technology’s ongoing series of programs to give the sci-curious opportunities to talk with real scientist about what they are discovering.

Toxoplasma Gondii is a parasite with a problem. It hangs out in gardens, parks and forests, but the survival of it and its species depends on somehow getting inside stomach of a cat.

I pretend to attend a 1992 Stanford University lecture by professor Robert Sapolsky’s lecture on Religion and Schizophrenia.

This is part one of C2ST Artist in Residence, Aaron Freeman’s talk with the Field Museum’s Dr. Paula Skye Tallman. Dr. Tallman is a biological anthropologist. I chat with her to follow up on her 1 September presentation at a Speakeasy in Wicker Park, Geek Bar sponsored by members of The Chicago Council on Science and Technology. Dr. Tallman talks about “How Being Poor Can Make You Sick.”

We really do have heartstrings. They’re called the chordae tendinae. Our hearts have four chambers. Two at the top and two the bottom. The two top chambers, the atria, collect blood. The right atrium gets oxygen-poor blood from the from the veins which is then sucked through three-leaf valve into the right ventricle then pumped into the lungs. The left atrium receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs that blood gets sucked through a two-leaf valve into the left ventricle which pumps it, all rich and oxygenated, into the aorta and throughout the body. Helping to prevent the blood from regurgitating from either ventricle back into either atria are the chordae tendinae, our heart strings. As suspension lines help a parachute stay properly shaped to mechanically resist the downward pull of gravity the chordae tendinae help heart valves resist the upward pressure of the ventricles. When we are stimulated, our hearts beat faster and harder tugging ever more on our heartstrings.

C2ST Artist in Residence Aaron Freeman talks with comics artist, pediatrician and allergist Dr. Alex Thomas about the importance of metaphor to his work as an asthma specialist and medical science communicator. The interview is a intro to the topic of graphic medicine leading up to Comic Nurse MK Czerwiec’s workshop, “A Picture is Worth 1000 Words – Teaching Science with Comics”. The workshop will be hosted on Tuesday 12 November at Northwestern University’s Hughes Auditorium 303 East Superior St. in Chicago.

C2ST Artist in Residence Aaron Freeman compares the neuro-recruiting approaches of the Islamic State and the US military. Which side want to stimulate the production of what hormone. Will the winner be ISIS oxytocin or Pentagon testosterone.

On Wednesday 13 May 2015 University of Chicago neurobioloby professor Peggy Mason will moderate a discussion of sports Traumatic Brain Injuries at Northwestern University’s Hughes Auditorium 303 E. Superior St. in Chicago. She will be joined by fellow neurobiologist Dr. Dorothy Kozlowsky of DePaul University and Rush Medical Center orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jeff Mjaanes

Art by Sharon Rosenzweig, BFA, MFA; written, edited, and produced by Aaron Freeman; and original music by Torin Hopkins.

c2st.org Artist in Residence Aaron Freeman considers the neurobiological implications of Dr. Bruce Banner’s sudden inability to articulate once he transforms into the Incredible Hulk.

C2ST Artist in Residence Aaron Freeman asks “The Comic Nurse” about the role of comic creation in the training of physicians. MK Czerwiec, a.k.a. “Comic Nurse”

As part of C2ST’s participation in Brain Awareness Week Artist In Residence Aaron Freeman talks with gastronterologist Dr. Jack Ohringer about our body’s “other brain”.

Fermilab physicist Dr. Herman White gives an example of what racism may look like within his profession.

UIC professor of Public Health S. Jay Olshansky chats with C2ST Artist in Residence about the realities of presidential aging.

University of Chicago neurobiology processor Peggy Mason’s research on prosocial behaviour among rats could encourage it’s all to “ratten” ourselves up!