The New York Academy Of Sciences

Three experts who spoke at a recent Academy conference discuss what personalized medicine is, the technology behind it, and how it will change the patient's experience. This podcast is part of NYAS's Translational Medicine Initiative, sponsored by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation.

Can we all be wise old owls? Science journalist Stephen Hall and neuroscientist Andre Fenton dissect what we call wisdom, from the neurons in our brain, to the social constructs behind it.

Neuroscientist Richard Restak thinks with the right mental exercises, our brains can be much better. Today he teams with writer Susan Orlean to talk about our brainy potential.

With our economy a shambles and our environment threatened, is there any reason to be optimistic about the future? Matt Ridley says there's scientific proof to say we should be.

Foods high in antioxidants are believed to fight oxidative stress. But what is oxidative stress? Two scientists from a recent NYAS conference break it down and discuss whether antioxidants have superpowers.

Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts the 2010 Isaac Asimov debate at the Hayden Planetarium. He and five panelists debate whether NASA should bother going back to the moon, or just focus on Mars instead.

Biologist Stewart Firestein and world-renowned perfumer Christophe Laudamiel team up to tackle the science of smell.

New York City is home to more than 200 species of bees, and only one makes honey. Learn about them all from the experts, and hear about the Great Pollinator Project.

Forest ecologist Nalini Nadkarni, the Queen of the Forest Canopy, explains what 30 years of exploration have taught her about the intimate connection between humans and trees.

Famed screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and theoretical physicist Brian Greene dissect time as we know it. What is the smallest unit of time, and what does it look like? For starters, you should stop looking at the clock, and start looking at the universe.

What attracts us to a mate? Is "chemistry" really to blame for love at first sight? Biological anthropologist Helen Fisher explains the science behind our mating preferences.

Physicist Janna Levin and artist Laurie Anderson (NASA's first artist in residence) tackle the origins of our universe.

Writer Melissa Milgrom has a thing for stuffed animals, and we're not talking about your child's teddy bears. She's the author of Still Life and she explains the science of taxidermy.

Evolutionary psychologist David Buss explains the mating rituals and patterns of our quirky species. We might not have colorful peacock tails, but we've got some fancy strategies of our own to make up for it.

Award-winning filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and astrophysicist Piet Hut discuss what chaos is and what it means when it comes to the universe.

Eugenie Clark (aka the Shark Lady), recounts her more than 60 years as an ichthyologist. This week, she delves into some of the most extreme sea 'monsters' she's ever seen, like a giant 6-foot crab, and great white sharks.

Delve into the world of prebiotic and probiotic science. We talk to three people in the field and learn why keeping the good microbes in our bodies happy means a lot for health.

We visit the Go Green Expo and look at five interesting ways for city slickers to be eco-friendly.

Harvard physicist Lisa Randall teamed with composer Hector Parra and visual artist Matthew Ritchie to produce an opera based on modern theoretical physics. They performed last week at the Guggenheim and this week, tell us about their experiences.

Can meditation have long-term beneficial effects on the plasticity of our brains? Bon meditation practitioner Alejandro Chaoul and oncologist Lorenzo Cohen evaluate the healing potential of meditation in a discussion from the Rubin Museum of Art's Brainwave Festival.