Biophysics podcasts

Gaute Einevoll talks with Tatjana Tchumatchenko about a mechanistic mathematical model of how neurons minimize energy use by deciding whether ion-channel proteins are produced locally in dendrites or in the soma. The model’s predictions agree with experimental findings.

Nicholas Weiler talks with Guosong Hong about overcoming the limited penetration of light into brain tissue. Inspired by transparent tissues in glass frogs and the eye, Hong describes approaches involving fluorescent nanomaterials, focused ultrasound and molecules that temporarily reduce optical scattering. The conversation examines experiments with a common food dye and a project to genetically engineer mice with transparent brains from birth. These techniques could provide new ways to observe neural circuits and study how the brain develops and functions.

Hosted by Nicholas Weiler

Melissa and Jam examine bird flight at the scale of air molecules. The discussion considers lift, momentum transfer, wing shape, angle and flapping, explains the limits of common Bernoulli-based accounts, and relates airflow to the molecular motion underlying the macroscopic behaviour of gases.

Hosted by Melissa, Jam

Dan Nicholson re-examines Erwin Schrödinger's What Is Life? and its influence on molecular biology and the metaphor of organisms as machines. The conversation considers deterministic physics, genetic coding, development and negentropy, then asks how that intellectual history continues to shape explanations in neuroscience and artificial intelligence.

Hosted by Paul Middlebrooks

Woodrow Shew and Keith Hengen assess whether critical dynamics form a homeostatic target for brain activity. They discuss proposed signatures and testable predictions, controversies in earlier studies, and possible relationships among criticality, sleep and neural manifolds, drawing on their review of the experimental literature.

Hosted by Paul Middlebrooks

L. Mahadevan investigates how geometry, mechanics and randomness connect form with function. With Steven Strogatz, he considers Möbius strips, brain folds, termite colonies and morphogenesis, showing how experiments with simple materials can illuminate biological organization and the role of noisy processes in geometric intuition.

Hosted by Steven Strogatz, Janna Levin

John Beggs reviews the critical-brain hypothesis and the proposal that neural activity operates near a transition between ordered and chaotic regimes. He discusses information processing, dynamic range, measurement methods, experimental evidence, criticisms and the question of whether criticality is a distinctive computational property of brains or part of a broader natural phenomenon.

Hosted by Paul Middlebrooks

Gaute Einevoll reflects on his academic career and explains his research in mathematical neuroscience, brain physics and neurotechnology. Anniversary solo episode in Norwegian.

Gaute Einevoll explains how biophysical models connect neural activity to extracellular measurements such as spikes, local field potentials and EEG.

Yiota Poirazi discusses dendritic processing and how detailed neuronal models help test explanations of dendritic function.

Michael Hines discusses the development of NEURON and its use in simulating biophysically detailed cells and networks.

A vintage discussion with Johnjoe McFadden about possible quantum contributions to biological processes, republished as episode 13 of this series.

Christof Koch discusses the physical principles behind neuronal computation, from membrane dynamics to the integration of incoming signals.

John Dabiri explains how swimming jellyfish reveal efficient ways to manipulate fluid flow. The discussion connects their movement with engineering questions ranging from submarine propulsion and wind-turbine placement to circulation in the human heart, showing how biological observation can inform fluid mechanics.

Hosted by Steven Strogatz

Johnjoe McFadden discusses possible quantum effects in living organisms, including sensory processes and photosynthesis. Conversation in English.