Unqualified Curiosity

Welcome back to the (more) regularly scheduled programming! This week, we take a deeper dive than usual into what (at least partially) makes up an expert. What are the differences between the novices and experts on the cognitive scale? How do we best go about developing our skills to become experts in our passions? And how to tap into the coveted benefits of expertise like the flow state, creativity, and high productivity? This one was really fun to look into, and there is certainly a lot more to learn about this topic! With that said, I tried to present the most actionable items I could find in the literature to best enhance your learning and development. Thanks for listening and stay curious!
 
Following are the citations for this episode:
Chunking and Template Theory:
Thought and Choice in Chess - Adriaan D. de Groot - Google Books
Perception in chess - ScienceDirect
Templates in Chess Memory: A Mechanism for Recalling Several Boards - ScienceDirect
Expertise in complex decision making: the role of search in chess 70 years after de Groot - PubMed
Chunks in expert memory: evidence for the magical number four ... or is it two? - PubMed
Classics in the History of Psychology -- Miller (1956)
Replication and Analysis of Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve - PMC
Automaticity, Flow, and Creativity:
Brain Scans of Jazz Musicians Reveal How to Reach a Creative ‘Flow State’ | Scientific American
A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World - PMC
How Brain Efficiency Facilitates Flow State Experiences | Psychology Today
Flow State Mastery: Minimizing Cognitive Friction - Liminary
Frontiers | A Scoping Review of Flow Research
Physiological assessment of the psychological flow state using wearable devices | Scientific Reports
EEG-based functional connectivity patterns during boredom in an educational context | Scientific Reports
Turning on Flow Means Turning Off Parts of the Brain
(PDF) Neural Mechanisms and Benefits of Flow: A Meta Analysis

After a too-long hiatus, we are officially back! Uploads will be a little sporadic for a little bit, but I am hoping to get back to some semblance of a schedule in the new year. Today, we have the pleasure of listening to a conversation with the writer of The Future is Nuclear, Jonathan Iwasczyszyn! A classic dive into the joys and wonders of nuclear energy and its current hurdles that we have yet to overcome. If you found this episode interesting, make sure to subscribe to The Future is Nuclear at The Future is Nuclear | Jonathan Iwasczyszyn | Substack!

Welcome back, you curious folk! Was getting lots of requests to branch out to interviews outside of Virginia Tech (just kidding, I got none). Thus, backed by popular demand (technically the case), I present the first external to Virginia Tech interview!
 
Today, we get to listen in on a conversation with Dr. Eric Ravussin. A world-renowned metabolic researcher known for his contributions to our understanding of the human metabolism, diabetes, and calorie restriction. It would be a lengthy list if I were to enumerate all his accomplishments, but Dr. Ravussin has contributed to the development of the first human respiratory chamber in North America, utilized doubly labeled water to determine the total daily energy expenditure of humans, and has recently conducted profound investigations into the impacts of calorie restriction. That just catches the surface of his impactful work, much of which he elaborates on in the episode.
 
Thanks for listening and stay curious!

We're finally back with the 25th episode. After a long hiatus battling with my finals, I got the opportunity to interview a professor of mine. Dr. Crawford is a theoretical chemist working on the generation of computational models to describe complex, chiral molecules. Not only that, he is extremely passionate about teaching, which shows through his work. We got the opportunity to talk about his research and teaching life, and how he balances all that with life as well. 
 
I am hoping to keep up the interviews, but I am also in Baton Rouge and limited on time. In any case, please reach out if you know anyone who could be cool to talk to :).

The double dozen has been reached! Tune in next week for the quarter century. This week, we learn about the importance of sleep for high-level cognitive function and memory development. After that, a look into the jack-of-all-trades cardboard product that is transparent and biodegradable and can hold boiling water, quite the resume for some cardboard. As always (got it right this time, Nathan,) thanks for listening, and stay curious!
 
Citations Follow:
Sleep Loss as a Metabolic Disorder:
Sleep loss is a metabolic disorder | Science Signaling
Metabolic Disorders: Symptoms & Causes | NewYork-Presbyterian
The Role of Astrocytes in the Central Nervous System Focused on BK Channel and Heme Oxygenase Metabolites: A Review - PMC
Astrocytes: The Unsung Heroes of Learning and Memory - Neuroscience News
Connecting insufficient sleep and insomnia with metabolic dysfunction - PMC
[2301.09565] Estimating the energy requirements for long term memory formation
Estimating the energy requirements for long term memory formation
Is plasticity of synapses the mechanism of long-term memory storage? | npj Science of Learning
UI neuroscientists identify mechanism for long term memory storage | Carver College of Medicine
Glucose enhancement of human memory: A comprehensive research review of the glucose memory facilitation effect - ScienceDirect
Upregulated energy metabolism in the Drosophila mushroom body is the trigger for long-term memory | Nature Communications
Astrocyte-neuron lactate transport is required for long-term memory formation - PMC
Metabolism - Wikipedia
Transparent Cardboard
Fully circular shapable transparent paperboard with closed-loop recyclability and marine biodegradability across shallow to deep sea
Eco-Friendly Polymers: The 2025 Shift to Biodegradable Plastics
The Advances of Plastic Sustainability: 5 Trends to Watch in 2025
How Long Does It Take for Plastic to Decompose? | Chariot Energy
How long for biodegradable plastic to decompose? - BioBottles™
Plastic Pollution Affects Sea Life Throughout the Ocean | The Pew Charitable Trusts
Plastic pollution in the marine environment - PMC
Fully circular shapable transparent paperboard with closed-loop recyclability and marine biodegradability across shallow to deep sea - PMC
Discover Paperboard: Types, Uses, And Manufacturing Process
Hazy Transparent Cellulose Nanopaper | Scientific Reports
Biobased Biodegradable Plastics Market Outlook, 2025 to 2035
100+ Plastic in the Ocean Statistics & Facts 2025
How does plastic pollution affect marine life? | Fauna & Flora

Happy Monday, everyone. This week, we learn about the improvements in the speech-related applications of brain-computer interfaces. An impressive decrease of over 100% for the response time needed has made these devices much more practically useful. After that, we learn how a completely unrelated drug for a rare metabolic disease can be used to make human blood poisonous to mosquitos. As always, thanks for listening, and stay curious!
 
Citations Follow:
Brain Computer Interfaces:
Brain implant translates thoughts to speech in an instant
A streaming brain-to-voice neuroprosthesis to restore naturalistic communication | Nature Neuroscience
A high-performance neuroprosthesis for speech decoding and avatar control | Nature
Brain-reading device is best yet at decoding ‘internal speech’
Brain Waves to Voice: Revolutionary Technology Gives Speech to the Speechless
Brain-to-Voice AI Streams Natural Speech for People with Paralysis - Neuroscience News
Ai-powered system enables real-time speech generation for paralyzed individuals
Harnessing Recent Online Data to Improve Brain-Computer Interface Operation
Clinical Applications of Brain-Computer Interfaces: Current State and Future Prospects - PMC
The future of brain–computer interfaces in medicine
Harnessing Recent Online Data to Improve Brain-Computer Interface Operation
Harnessing Recent Online Data to Improve Brain-Computer Interface Operation
Brain–computer interface - Wikipedia
Frontiers | The Use of Brain–Computer Interfaces in Games Is Not Ready for the General Public
Researchers use BCIs to restore speech in people with paralysis
Brain-to-Voice AI Streams Natural Speech for People with Paralysis - Neuroscience News
Are Alexa And Siri Considered AI? | OpenGrowth | OpenGrowth
Internal Mosquito Repellant:
Anopheles mosquito survival and pharmacokinetic modeling show the mosquitocidal activity of nitisinone | Science Translational Medicine
Nitisinone - Wikipedia
4-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase - Wikipedia
Tyrosinemia - Wikipedia
Drug For Rare Disease Turns Human Blood Into Mosquito Poison : ScienceAlert
Fighting the World's Deadliest Animal | Global Health | CDC
10 Mosquito Facts in Honor of World Mosquito Day | RTI
Vector-borne Diseases - American Mosquito Control Association
Vector-borne Diseases - American Mosquito Control Association
Declining malaria, rising of dengue and Zika virus: insights for mosquito vector control - PubMed
What Purposes Do Mosquitoes Serve in Ecosystems? | Britannica
Drug For Rare Disease Turns Human Blood Into Mosquito Poison : ScienceAlert
Malaria parasite life cycle | Malaria Vaccines
Nitisinone Side Effects: Common, Severe, Long Term
Mosquito Killer: A New Approach to Control
Plasmodium falciparum - Wikipedia
Vector-borne diseases

Welcome back to the traditional format today with no more money and politics involved. I know you are sad but that's ok, I'm not. Today, we learn about some progress in the treatment of Grade A spinal cord injuries through induced pluripotent stem cell therapy. After that, it's all about antibiotic-resistant bacteria resistant antibiotics, which is my new favorite pallandrome. Thanks for listening, and stay curious!
 
Citations follow:
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Treat Paralysis:
Paralysed man stands again after receiving ‘reprogrammed’ stem cells
‘Reprogrammed’ stem cells to treat spinal-cord injuries for the first time
Spine
Sustained delivery of neurotrophic factors to treat spinal cord injury
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Their Potential for Basic and Clinical Sciences - PMC
Cell therapy for spinal cord injury using induced pluripotent stem cells - PMC
Reprogramming methods and efficiency analysis of iPSCs - BOC Sciences
Differentiation and characterization of neural progenitors and neurons from mouse embryonic stem cells - PMC
Characterizing Natural Recovery after Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury | Journal of Neurotrauma
Stem Cell-Based Approaches for Spinal Cord Injury: The Promise of iPSCs
Induced pluripotent stem cells: applications in regenerative medicine, disease modeling, and drug discovery - PMC
iPSC Application - Creative Biolabs
Cell therapy for spinal cord injury using induced pluripotent stem cells - PMC
Differentiation and characterization of neural progenitors and neurons from mouse embryonic stem cells - PMC
When Fibroblasts MET iPSCs: Cell Stem Cell
Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells - PubMed
Japanese scientists use stem cell treatment to restore movement in spinal injury patients
Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Resistant Antibiotic Discovery:
New antibiotic that kills drug-resistant bacteria discovered in technician’s garden
Lasso-shaped molecule is a new type of broad-spectrum antibiotic
Scientists Discover A Potential Game Changer in Fighting Drug-Resistant Bacteria | Health and Me
The natural history of antibiotics - PMC
Frontiers | Synergistic action of antimicrobial peptides and antibiotics: current understanding and future directions
Towards the sustainable discovery and development of new antibiotics | Nature Reviews Chemistry
A Broad Spectrum Lasso Peptide Antibiotic Targeting the Bacterial Ribosome - PubMed
New peptide antibiotic stops bacteria by binding where no drug has before

Week two of the politically adjacent Unqualified Curiosity Podcast! I know I know you love hearing about money, politics, and international relations but unfortunately, this is the last week of it );. For now, though we take a shallow dive into the recent government action and its impacts on grant-related research funding, the topics of research, and international collaboration in research. You will come to find that pretty much everything is up in the air right now, but still an important topic to stay up to date on in the scientific realm. As always thanks for listening and stay curious!
 
Citations follow:
Government Action Impacts on Scientific Research:
Understanding the NIH's New Indirect Cost Rate Policy: What Nonprofit and Higher Education CFOs Need to Know | BDO
Impact of Trump Administration Directives on Scientific Research in the U.S. | Advisories | Arnold & Porter
Massive Cuts in Research Funding Hamper Necessary Innovations in Key Technologies for the Energy Transition - Fraunhofer ISE
Fiscal Year 2025 Department of Energy Funding: House vs. Senate Markups | Insights | Holland & Knight
Trump blocks renewable energy approvals on federal lands and waters - DCD
What Businesses Need to Know About DEI in the Trump Era: FAQs for Employers | Fisher Phillips
What Businesses Need to Know About DEI in the Trump Era: FAQs for Employers | Fisher Phillips
What Businesses Need to Know About DEI in the Trump Era: FAQs for Employers | Fisher Phillips
NIH Cuts Indirect Cost Payments: “Lights in Labs Nationwide Will Literally Go Out” - Ophthalmology Advisor
Researchers Respond to NIH Funding Cuts and Indirect Costs Cap
NSF Budget Cuts Would Put the Future of U.S. Innovation and Security at Risk - CRA
How cuts at U.S. aid agency hinder university research
Trump admin's NIH cuts threaten student admissions, medical research
What’s in store for US science as funding bill averts government shutdown
Trump Administration Puts Subsidized Green-Energy Companies on a Diet | The Heritage Foundation
US science rues ongoing demotion of research under President Trump – Physics World
How Trump's executive orders are disrupting academic research
Trump orders cause chaos at science agencies | Science | AAAS
NIH funding freeze stalls $1.5 billion in medical research grant funding : Shots - Health News : NPR
Trump’s NIH Is Right to Cap Funding for Universities’ Indirect Costs
‘All this is in crisis’: US universities curtail staff, spending as Trump cuts take hold
Trump team ‘survey’ sent to overseas researchers prompts foreign interference fears

What's up curious folks! Today is a touchy subject so I tried to mostly just present the ideas and what actually occurred. But with the importance of governmental policy on environmental progress, climate change, and science as a whole, this topic is just too important not to include on the podcast to some extent. This definitely does not encompass everything that happened but I hope to summarize the major points. As always thank you for listening and stay curious!
 
Citations Follow
 
Executive Order Summary:
Trump Executive Orders Target Environmental Policies and Federal
2025 Administration Actions: Key Executive Orders and Policies
EELP-Environmental-and-Energy-Executive-Orders-Jan.-2025.pdf
Trump 2.0: The Changing Landscape of Renewable Energy Regulation
IRA funding freeze has put ‘many’ clean energy projects on pause | ESG Dive
Trump’s nuclear energy strategy: the state of play | Insights | Torys LLP
Why the clean-energy industry is growing despite Trump’s attacks : NPR
President Trump’s week-one Executive Orders signal significant changes coming to environmental law | DLA Piper
Trump's executive order on wind projects threatens jobs, climate : NPR
Trump reverses Biden's electric vehicle mandate
Biden administration approves California plans to ban sale of gas-only vehicles : NPR
Unleashing American Energy – The White House
Targets | Climate Action Tracker
Microsoft Word - United States NDC April 21 2021 Final.docx
Top 5 Environmental Actions You Should Know from President Trump’s First Day | Environmental and Energy Brief
Top 5 Environmental Actions You Should Know from President Trump’s First Day | Environmental and Energy Brief
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - Wikipedia
United States and the Paris Agreement - Wikipedia
Effect of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement | Climate Action Tracker
Climate Change Indicators: U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions | US EPA

A few days late on this upload, but better late than never. A little light this week as I have been casting (attempting to fish to no avail), and I anticipate that next week will be light as well because of that. But this week we get to investigate the process of cloning and de-extinction efforts. As well as the development of new wooly mice, which are absolutely adorable. As always thanks for listening and stay curious!
 
Citations follow:
Wooly Mammoth De-Extinction:
Solving the Colossal Problem of Extinction | Colossal
‘Resurrection science’ is gaining steam, but are scientists any closer to reviving lost species? | CNN
Scientists genetically engineer mice with thick hair like the woolly mammoth | AP News
Evaluation and Reduction of CRISPR Off-Target Cleavage Events - PMC
Why ‘De-Extinction’ Is Impossible (But Could Work Anyway) | Quanta Magazine
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs)—Roles in Regenerative Therapies, Disease Modelling and Drug Screening - PMC
How De-Extinction Works | Colossal
Scientists Have Bred Woolly Mice on Their Journey to Bring Back the Mammoth | TIME
The Life of Dolly | The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies
Dolly | History, Impact & Legacy | Britannica
The story of Dolly the sheep | National Museums Scotland
World’s Second Successfully Cloned Endangered Przewalski’s Horse Arrives to New Home at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park | San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
NASA Recovery:
Stranded Nasa astronauts on what they'll miss when they return to Earth