Episodes
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Episode 200: From rogue AI agents to factchecking AI, Ken Ford responds to more listener AI questions
Episode 200: From rogue AI agents to factchecking AI, Ken Ford responds to more listener AI questions In today’s third of a three-part series of Ask Me Anything episodes, Dr. Ken Ford responds to more listener questions and concerns about artificial intelligence. In AMA episode 198, Ken answered…
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Episode 199: Ken and Dawn respond to listener questions on aging, meat consumption and dementia, genetic testing, AI, exercise, a lunar mission and much more
Today we have the second of a two-part AMA. In part one, episode 198, we covered a multitude of listener questions about AI, which lately seems to dominate the news cycle. Other than one AI question that managed to sneak in, today’s AMA features a wide range of questions on a number of topics…
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Episode 198: Blessing or curse? Dawn grills Ken on listeners’ toughest AI questions in this all-AI AMA
Today we have an Ask Me Anything episode that focuses on artificial intelligence. For the past year, AI has dominated the headlines. Perhaps because there’s so much media and public interest, as well as paranoia, about AI, listeners have been flooding our mailbox with AI-related questions. So,...
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Episode 197: Scott Sherr discusses hyperbaric oxygen therapy, methylene blue, and more
Today we have Dr. Scott Sherr, an internal medicine physician who specializes in Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Scott is the director of Integrative Hyperbaric Medicine and Heath Optimization at Hyperbaric Medical Solutions. It is a division of Hyperbaric Medical Solutions, an independent, hyperbaric...
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Episode 196: Dominic D’Agostino discusses advances in ketogenic metabolic therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Today we have Dr. Dominic D’Agostino, who over the past 10 years has been a frequent guest on STEM-Talk. Today Dom joins us to give us an update on his recent research into ketogenic metabolic therapies, ketone supplements as well as hyperbaric oxygen therapy for traumatic brain injuries. Dom and...
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Episode 195: Doug Cooke discusses NASA’s challenges in the space race to the Moon and Mars
Our guest today is Doug Cooke, an aerospace consultant who spent 38 years at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. STEM-Talk host and IHMC founder Dr. Ken Ford, a former Associate Director of NASA’s Ames Research Center and Director of NASA’s Center of...
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Episode 194: Tommy Wood discusses how to future-proof the adult brain
Neuroscientist and frequent STEM-Talk guest Dr. Tommy Wood rejoins us today for part two of our interview about Tommy’s book that is fresh off the press and now available in bookstores and Amazon, “The Stimulated Mind: Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia and Stay Sharp at Any Age.” Tommy is an...
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Episode 193: Tommy Wood and his new book bust the belief that the adult brain is fixed
Today we have Dr. Tommy Wood, a neuroscientist and frequent STEM-Talk guest who joins today on the eve of the publication of his first book, “The Stimulated Mind: Future-Proof Your Brain from Dementia and Stay Sharp at Any Age.” Tommy is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience at…
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Episode 192: Ken and Dawn weigh in on ChatGPT, ketamine, urolithin-A, rapamycin, and more in wide-ranging AMA
ChatGPT has been in the news a lot lately and, as a result, quite a few STEM-Talk listeners have tossed us questions about the reliability and limitations of generative-artificial intelligence chatbots as well as large-language models more broadly. Ken and Dawn tackle this question and a number…
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Episode 191: Francisco Gonzalez-Lima discusses methylene blue & noninvasive human brain stimulation
Today we have Dr. Francisco Gonzalez-Lima, a behavioral neuroscientist who was our guest in episodes 106 and 107 back in 2020. Since those 2020 interviews, Francisco and his colleagues at the Gonzalez-Lima Lab have produced dozens of more studies and papers that have advanced their work on...
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Episode 190: Judith Curry and the Consequences of Climate Alarmism
Dr. Judith Curry, a climatologist known for her criticism of alarmist, doomsday rhetoric about climate change, returns to STEM-Talk for her second appearance. Judy most recently was one of five researchers commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy to draft a Climate Assessment Report...
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Episode 189: NASA’s Flawed Plan to Return to the Moon – with Mike Griffin & Lisa Porter
Today’s episode of STEM-Talk features a timely and wide-ranging discussion with Drs. Michael Griffin and Lisa Porter about NASA’s plans to return humans to the Moon, the history of lunar missions, and how China’s advances in space technology pose a serious threat to U.S. national security. IHMC...
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Episode 188: Marina Walther-Antonio discusses the microbiome’s role in women’s health and cancer
Today we have Dr. Marina Walther-Antonio, a Mayo Clinic researcher who investigates the role of the microbiome in cancer and reproductive health, particularly endometrial and ovarian cancers. According to the World Cancer Research Fund International, endometrial and ovarian cancers are among the...
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Episode 187: Dawn Kernagis talks about creating permanent subsea human habitats
Today Ken interviews his co-host Dr. Dawn Kernagis about her new position as the Director of Scientific Research for DEEP, a UK startup that is pioneering a new era of ocean exploration. For listeners unfamiliar with Dawn’s background, she is a NASA-trained NEEMO Aquanaut, a Fellow of the...
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Episode 186: Mari Dezawa discusses her discovery of MUSE cells and the role of stem cells in regenerative medicine
Today we have Dr. Mari Dezawa, one of the world’s leaders in stem-cell research and regenerative medicine. Mari is a pioneer in this emerging field and is known worldwide for her discovery of MUSE cells, a unique type of stem cell with exciting clinical potential. MUSE is short for...
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Episode 185: Andrew Koutnik discusses metabolic health, athletic performance and growing up with type-1 diabetes
Today we have our good friend and colleague Dr. Andrew Koutnik on the show. Andrew is a research scientist who studies the influence of nutrition and metabolism on health, disease and performance. He specializes in Type 1 diabetes and works with a wide range of people to improve their metabolic...
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Episode 184: Ken and Dawn answer listener questions on AI, grip strength, ketamine, protein, digital twins, and more!
It’s time for another episode of Ask Me Anything. Dawn and Ken answer listener questions that range from generative AI to whether grip strength is a biomarker for longevity and the potential of ketamine as a treatment for depression. Dawn also gives a brief overview of work she is doing with the...
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Episode 183: Michael Schmidt on the challenges of building a space-faring civilization
Today we have the second installment of our interview with Dr. Michael A. Schmidt, the founder, CEO, and Chief Scientific Officer of Sovaris Aerospace, a company focused on assessments and solutions applied to humans in space and extreme environments on Earth. In today’s interview, we talk to...
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Episode 182: Michael Schmidt on what precision medicine means to human spaceflight
Today we have Dr. Michael A. Schmidt, the founder, CEO, and Chief Scientific Officer of Sovaris Aerospace, a company focused on assessments and solutions applied to humans in space and extreme environments on Earth. Michael is also a professor of aerospace medicine at the University of Central...
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Episode 181: Ken Forbus talks about AI and his development of the Structure Mapping Engine
Our guest today is Dr. Ken Forbus, the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Computer Science and a Professor of Education at Northwestern University. Joining Dr. Ken Ford to co-host today’s interview is Dr. James Allen, who was IHMC’s associate director until he retired a few years ago. James is a...
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Episode 180: Pascal Lee on NASA’s ambitions to send humans to the Moon and Mars
Today we have planetary scientist Dr. Pascal Lee and STEM-Talk host Dr. Ken Ford in a wide-ranging conversation about NASA’s ambitions to return humans to the Moon as a stepping stone to sending astronauts to Mars. Pascal is making his third appearance on STEM-Talk. Much of his research focuses…
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Episode 179: JP Errico explains how vagus-nerve stimulation reduces inflammation and chronic diseases
Today we have JP Errico, a scientist and inventor whose work focuses on neuroimmunology and the many ways it impacts cellular metabolism, inflammation, mental health and how we age. He recently joined IHMC as a Senior Research Scientist. JP is particularly known for his research on vagus-nerve...
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Episode 178: Karl Herrup discusses the shortcomings of Alzheimer’s research
Today we have Dr. Karl Herrup, a neurobiologist known for his investigations into the roles that DNA damage and noncoding genetic variants have in Alzheimer’s disease. Joining Ken today to interview Karl is Dr. Tommy Wood, a visiting scientist here at IHMC. Tommy also is an associate professor of...
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Episode 177: Frank Butler talks about revolutionizing combat casualty care
Today we have Dr. Frank Butler, a retired Navy Undersea Medical Officer and an ophthalmologist who served as a Navy SEAL platoon commander prior to attending medical school. Just a few weeks after our interview, President Joe Biden awarded Frank a Presidential Citizens Medal during a White House...
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Episode 176: JoAnn Manson on Women’s Health Initiative, menopause and her findings on hormone therapy
Today our guest is Dr. JoAnn Manson, an endocrinologist, epidemiologist, and Principal Investigator of several research studies, including the landmark Women’s Health Initiative. She is a highly cited researcher and was one of the physicians featured in the National Library of Medicine’s...
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Episode 175: Hans Van Dongen on how fatigue and sleep loss lead to cognitive deficits
Today we have Dr. Hans Van Dongen, director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University in Spokane. Dr. Kevin Gluck, a senior research scientist at IHMC, joins Dr. Ken Ford to interview Hans about his studies on inter-individual differences in vulnerability to...
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Episode 174: Rudy Tanzi talks about genetics, aging and the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s
Today we have Dr. Rudolph E. Tanzi, who is perhaps best known for co-discovering all three familial early-onset Alzheimer’s disease genes. In addition, Rudy’s lab was the first to use human stem cells to create three-dimensional human brain organoids and three-dimensional neural-glial culture...
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Episode 173: Anurag Singh on urolithin-A’s ability to optimize mitochondrial efficiency
Our guest today is Dr. Anurag Singh, the chief medical officer at Timeline Nutrition, a Swiss life-science company that focuses on ways to improve mitochondrial and cellular health. Anurag is particularly known for his research into the gut metabolite, urolithin-A, which has been shown to improve...
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Episode 172: Kevin Tracey on neuro-immunology and the treatment of inflammatory diseases
Few people know as much about inflammation and neuroscience as Dr. Kevin Tracey does. In this episode of STEM-Talk, we learn much from Tracey, who was the first to identify the inflammatory reflex, a physiological mechanism that regulates the body’s immune response to injury and invasion. He is a...
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Episode 171: Ken and Dawn on AI, Alzheimer’s, global security, keto vs low carb and more
In today’s Ask Me Anything episode, Ken and Dawn answer a wide range of questions that cover: A recent FDA approval of a neural implant device for people with degenerative neuromuscular disease or spinal-cord injuries. Global security in the age of AI. A study that looked at ways to optimize...
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Episode 170: Charles Serhan on the use of specialized pro-resolving mediators to resolve inflammation
Today Dr. David LeMay steps in to co-host with Dr. Ken Ford for our interview with Dr. Charles Serhan. Charles is a Harvard professor best known for his discovery of specialized pro-resolving mediators. SPMs are molecules that can activate the natural resolution of inflammation and help people...
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Episode 169: Dave Feldman talks about cholesterol and the ketogenic diet
Dave Feldman is the founder of the Citizen Science Foundation and is known for his research into the ketogenic diet. Dave is a software engineer by training who embraced a ketogenic diet to avoid his progression toward type 2 diabetes. he joins us on this episode of STEM-Talk to share that…
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Episode 168: Alessio Fasano discusses celiac disease and gluten-related disorders
Dr. Alessio Fasano, who is considered the world’s leading expert in celiac disease and gluten-related disorders, returns for his second appearance on STEM-Talk. Although just 2 million Americans have celiac disease, an estimated 20 million Americans suffer from gluten sensitivity. Alessio is a...
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Episode 167: Nicholas Norwitz discusses a ketogenic diet as metabolic medicine
Today we have Dr. Nicholas Norwitz, 28, a third-year Harvard Medical School student whose research into the applications of a ketogenic diet as metabolic medicine has attracted a significant following. For a number of years during his youth, Nick suffered from a number of debilitating diseases,...
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Episode 166: Vyvyane Loh on atherosclerotic heart disease
Dr. Vyvyane Loh returns to STEM-Talk for her second appearance to talk about atherosclerotic heart disease. Also known as ASCVD, the disease has been reported to affect 26 million people in the U.S., and annually leads two million hospitalizations and more than 400,000 deaths. Vyvyane is a...
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Episode 165: John Edwards on ketamine treatment for depression and suicide prevention
Today we have Dr. Johnathan Edwards, an anesthesiologist and medical practitioner who specializes in human health and optimization. He is perhaps best known for treating mental health conditions with ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic that is used for general anesthesia, pain relief, depression...
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Episode 164: Michael Leon on olfactory stimulation as a buffer for dementia symptoms
What if the path to delaying the onset of dementia symptoms begins at the nose? It is a doorway that the research of Dr. Michael Leon opened with a 2023 study on the power of olfaction enrichment to influence memory function and brain health. The findings drew wide acclaim and interest when his...
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Episode 163: Mark Mattson discusses glutamate, the brain’s most important neurotransmitter
Today we have Dr. Mark Mattson, an adjunct professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine who is making his third appearance on STEM-Talk. Today’s interview focuses on Mark’s research into glutamate and comes on the heels of the publication of Mark’s new book, “Sculptor and...
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Episode 162: Marc Hamilton discusses the soleus push-up and the health hazard of excessive sitting
Today we have Dr. Marc Hamilton, an international expert in muscle physiology. He has published pioneering work on the soleus push-up, a potent physiological method which Marc discovered having the ability to elevate metabolism for hours, even while sitting. As a professor of Health and Human...
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Episode 161: Sten Stray-Gundersen on the benefits of blood-flow restriction training
Today’s episode of STEM-Talk features Dr. Sten Stray-Gundersen, a post-doctoral research associate at the University of South Carolina who is also an adjunct instructor at the university’s Arnold School of Public Health. Cohosts Dr. Ken Ford, IHMC’s founder and CEO, and Dr. Marcas Bamman, a…
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Episode 160: Euan Ashley on precision medicine and predicting, preventing, and diagnosing diseases
Our guest today is Dr. Euan Ashley, a pioneer in the use of genomic sequencing to solve some of our most puzzling medical mysteries. Medical genomics, and the precision medicine it will enable, has the potential to predict, prevent, and diagnose many common (and uncommon) diseases. In today’s...
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Episode 159: Ken and Dawn discuss chatbots, termites, kratom, ketosis, and the future of AI
Today’s episode marks the return of another Ask Me Anything episode where listeners ask Ken and Dawn to weigh in on a wide range of topics. In this go-around, listeners certainly had a lot on their mind. At the top of their list were questions about AI and especially the Bing AI chat bot that...
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Episode 158: Judith Curry talks about the uncertainties of climate change
Today we have climatologist Dr. Judith Curry, Professor Emerita of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Judy also is president of the Climate Forecast Application Network and the host of the blog, Climate Etc, which you can find at JudithCurry.com. Judy’s blog...
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Episode 157: Don Layman on the role of dietary protein in muscle, health, and disease
Today we have one of the world’s foremost authorities on dietary protein and amino acids, Dr. Donald Layman. He is known for his extensive research on muscle development as well as his studies of metabolic regulation for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Don is a professor emeritus…
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Episode 156: Josh Hagen discusses optimizing performance in athletes and warfighters
Today’s interview is with Dr. Josh Hagen, the director of the Human Performance Collaborative at Ohio State University and an Associate Research Professor in the university’s Department of Integrated Systems Engineering. Joining co-host Ken Ford for this episode is IHMC’s Chief Strategic...
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Episode 155: Chris McCurdy discusses kratom’s benefits and possible risks
Today we have the world’s foremost authority on kratom returning to STEM-Talk after five years to give us an update on his research. Shortly after his 2018 interview on episode 61, Dr. Christopher McCurdy and his lab at the University of Florida received two major grants from the National…
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Episode 154: Orthopedic surgeon Brian Cole discusses advances in the treatment of knee, elbow and shoulder injuries
Today we have Dr. Brian Cole, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in cartilage restoration, orthobiologics, and advanced surgical techniques for the treatment of knee, elbow, and shoulder injuries. He is the team physician for the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and the co-team physician for the Chicago...
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Episode 153: Dominic D’Agostino discusses new advances in the study of nutritional ketosis
Today we have our good friend and colleague Dr. Dominic D’Agostino returning for his third appearance on STEM-Talk. Dom, as most of our longtime listeners know, is well-known for his research into the ketogenic diet and the physiological benefits of nutritional ketosis. Since our last…
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Episode 152: Mark Shelhamer talks about the effects of spaceflight on humans and NASA’s Planned Mars Mission
Today we have the former chief scientist of NASA’s Human Research Program, Dr. Mark Shelhamer. Mark specializes in neurovestibular adaptation to spaceflight. He is an otolaryngology professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the director of the school’s Human Spaceflight Lab. He also the...
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Episode 151: John Ioannidis talks about the bungled response to COVID-19
Back in early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. John Ioannidis wrote an article in March of 2020 questioning government statistics about the fatality rate associated with COVID-19. The backlash was swift and brutal and John’s reputation as one of the most influential scientists in the world took…
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