Finding Genius Podcast

"If none of the existing definitions of 'life' please you, then why don't you find one yourself?" While not verbatim, this was the challenge presented by an undergraduate student to Arnold de Loof while he was teaching zoology at the University of Leuven in the 1970s. So began his years of searching for a suitable answer, during which he discovered a flaw central to many definitions: they compared living things to non-living things, rather than examining what changes when something goes from being alive to no longer living. So what changes at the moment of death? Tune in to find out. De Loof has authored several papers, many of which can be found on ResearchGate and Pubmed. He has also written two books, What is Life: The Immaterial Dimension, and Communication, Life, Mega-Evolution: Decrypting Life's Nature.

Albert Presto, Associate Research Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, provides an overview of the ways our air quality is changing and what is being done to improve air quality. As an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Presto is passionate about his work; his research focuses on important areas of science concerning pollutant emissions from energy extraction and consumption, as well as the ensuing atmospheric transformations that these types of emissions go through. Dr. Presto holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Presto discusses his background, and his work as a member of CMU's Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies. Dr. Presto explains his particular interests and some of the areas they focus their efforts upon, such as understanding how air quality impacts various environments from neighborhood to neighborhood. He explains how weather and topography play a role in pollution drift and air quality. Source activity, such as roads and highways, also obviously play a role. Dr. Presto explains the dose-response curve. A dose–response relationship describes the significance of of an organism's response, as a function of its exposure to stimulus or perhaps a particular stressor over a span of exposure time. These dose–response relationships are often described by dose–response curves. He explains the levels of particulate matter that exist in certain areas, such as areas of a city that may have a large amount of restaurants, because cooking is one of the activities that can increase types of emissions. Dr. Presto explains the role of the sun in changing chemistry, detailing the mechanisms related to how it can affect air quality. And the scientific researcher discusses ways that we can work to reduce emissions. Additionally, he talks about some of the legislative bills that are being passed that relate to air quality and emissions monitoring.

If you want to establish a routine of getting up early, but are faced with the difficult task of first getting to sleep on time, Jeff Sanders offers this advice: for three days, get up early, work out in the morning, and avoid caffeine. You may be tired for those few days, but you will ultimately set yourself up for a schedule that allows you to be your most productive self. Sanders, founder of JeffSanders.com and author of The 5 AM Miracle: Dominate Your Day Before Breakfast, joins the podcast today to share his experience and tips for becoming an early riser, and the benefits it can bring to your life. Click play to hear more. Sanders also hosts a podcast, The 5 AM Miracle Podcast. You can find the podcast, his books, and other resources at https://www.jeffsanders.com.

"Your home is your castle and it's the place you're going to heal from the ravages of the day, and you want to have a clean environment for yourself," says Lawrence Gust, who has a long history of helping people determine the ways in which their homes and offices could be affecting their health and quality of life. Due to the massive influx of wireless technology over the past couple of decades, Gust has become largely involved in the evaluation and mitigation of electromagnetic radiation in the environment. Wireless routers, wireless phones, entertainment systems, virtual assistants…there is no doubt that these products have made our lives more convenient and more exciting, but what else are they doing to our lives? Are we paying a greater price than they're worth, without even knowing it? And is there a way to protect our well-being while still enjoying modern technology? These are just a couple of the questions Gust explores in today's episode. Press play for all the details and check out https://gustenviro.com/ to learn more.

In this special podcast, Josh Sanchez of "Swoop Radio With Josh Sanchez" and "Behavior Vortex" discusses mental health, performance, and the power of setting goals. From life advice to sports, Swoop Radio's mission is one of inspiration, as they seek to inspire and motivate people to be their best and achieve more in life. As a mental health and psychology podcaster, Sanchez's podcast, "Behavior Vortex," provides his listeners an opportunity to discover what goes on in the human mind, and it seeks to explain the role mental health plays in the human experience. But as Sanchez states, it was his early love of sports that led him to podcasting. Sanchez talks about sports in terms of how we can relate it to other things in our lives. He provides an overview of the three types of goals we can all reach for, such as process, performance, and outcome goals. He explains that process goals are the goals we set for ourselves daily, to accomplish tasks, etc. and performance goals are our yearly expectations, means in which we can hopefully achieve our ultimate outcome goals. Finally, outcome goals are comprised of the vision we have for ourselves over time—where do we want to be in our lives in three to five years. As he explains, athletes set these types of goals for themselves, but all of us can utilize these same goals to improve our lives. Sanchez talks about the power of visualization—mentally preparing yourself for success. Sanchez discusses the physical trials that athletes go through daily, and the importance of taking care of your body and mind equally. He explains the importance of mental health and the value of therapy. The podcasting specialist talks in detail about his own personal journey, and his methods for physical and mental improvement, and how setting goals is important for long term progress. But he also explains the importance of hitting the reset button, essentially taking a break here and there during your journey of improvement. We must remember to enjoy ourselves during the journey. Wrapping up, Sanchez discusses the joy he finds in podcasting, talking to many diverse people and learning so much along the way.

Did you know that E. coli—that feared and detested bacterium blamed for many illnesses and death—can actually be beneficial in some forms and when used in certain ways? Did you know that there's a naturally-occurring gut bacterium that breaks down a harmful byproduct of alcohol metabolism, and that it can be consumed as a probiotic hangover cure? Or consider spider silk being brewed and enhanced in such a way as to form a durable, stretchy material that could function as a jacket. These are just a few examples of the incredible new things being accomplished in the world of synthetic biotechnology, and SynBioBeta is a company that's working to connect academics, founders, and investors in the industry with the goal of strengthening the community and encouraging creative innovations that could change the world in countless ways. On today's episode, John Cumbers, founder of SynBioBeta, discusses the newest and most exciting advances in the field and what he's doing on a daily basis to encourage them. Press play to hear the full conversation, sign up for the weekly newsletter at synbiobeta.com, and follow them on Twitter.

As human activity and emissions continue to change the types of particles in the air, there is consequently a change in the particles that act as cloud precursors in our atmosphere. Some of these precursors generally create liquid clouds, or cloud droplets, and others create ice crystals, or frozen clouds. So why do these changes matter? Liquid clouds play an important role in offsetting a lot of the warming affects caused by greenhouse gases, whereas frozen clouds actually warm the planet. In other words, the way our activities change the air subsequently changes the clouds, which in turn affects global climate. In this episode, Ryan Sullivan, Ph.D., joins us to discuss the relationship of cloud chemistry and climate change. Click play to hear more. Sullivan is an atmospheric chemist, associate professor in chemistry and in mechanical engineering, and associate director of the Institute for Green Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Keep an eye out in a month or two for his website to launch. In the meantime, you can learn more about him at https://www.meche.engineering.cmu.edu/directory/bios/sullivan-ryan.html or https://www.cmu.edu/chemistry/people/faculty/sullivan.html

Cassie Bjork, nutrition and weight loss expert, founder of Cassie.Net, provides a wealth of information that we can all use to live healthier lives. Bjork has a passion for helping others feel great and live healthier lives. She is an industry leader in the weight loss field, an outspoken advocate and an in-demand speaker. Her International bestseller, Why Am I Still Fat? The Hidden Keys to Unlocking That Stubborn Weight Loss is a must-read for anyone who wants to lose weight and feel great. Bjork discusses her background as a dietician, and the journey she took that led her to become a passionate weight-loss expert and good health advocate. As she explains, she spent a long time following diets, exercising, and working hard, but she couldn't really lose weight. And it wasn't until she brought all of that to a full stop, and began eating whole foods—even real butter, nuts, and bacon—that she started to see a change. Bjork expounds upon the importance of eating whole, quality, unprocessed foods. She states that the stress of wanting to lose weight can actually make losing weight more difficult and that it is important to enjoy life. She explains that our bodies are complex, and many of us have food sensitivities—that it's not all just about food and exercise. She talks in-depth about chronic inflammation that can occur with eating poor foods and being stressed out. Bjork discusses the shift, meaning that it is important to consider making changes for the long term, not just for a quick fix. She underscores that calorie counting is one of the first things you want to discard when making an effort to actually eat better and lose weight. As she explains, metabolism burns the excess weight, and in order to have good metabolism you need to eat healthy, quality foods, including eating more healthy fats. "Fat doesn't make you fat," Bjork states. She relates how healthy fats such as coconut oil, butter, avocados, nuts, seeds, olives, and olive oil, etc. actually do a lot to support a healthy metabolism, helping your body burn fat for energy. Not only will healthy fats help support metabolism, but they are good for your brain function as well. Weight loss and health advocate talks about cravings, sugars, and alcohol. She explains the phases of achieving a healthier lifestyle and diet, and she states that many people actually experience their greatest weight loss in phase two of her program. Bjork continues; she talks about healthy supplements such as probiotics, glutamine, and fish oil. And she wraps up the podcast by discussing some of the mass marketing that has influenced the ways we have been eating through the years.

Arthur Caplan is head of the division of medical ethics at the New York University School of Medicine in New York City, and he has a long history of studying a variety of topics in bioethics. On today's episode, he dives into the details of his most recent focus, which is on the latest developments in the field of genetics, including the emergence of genetic engineering of cells and human embryos. For instance, many of us would agree that genetic engineering for the sole purpose of developing cures and therapies for diseases is beneficial and that its development is justifiable, but the same can't necessarily be said about the same techniques being used to "design" human beings. Caplan offers his view on a number of other topics as well, including the high cost of health care, policies which mandate vaccines, and the control and protection of genetic information. Press play to hear the full conversation, and message or follow him on Twitter at @ArthurCaplan.

Most of us are aware that we're in the midst of an energy and environmental crisis, two problems for which a number of efforts are being deployed in an attempt to find a solution. For example, solar panels are commonplace, and various efforts are being made to capture CO2 from the atmosphere in order to limit its detrimental effects on the environment and human health. Neither of these efforts, however, are able to meet the high-energy needs of heavy transportation such as airplanes and other freight modes, as well as some industrial equipment. So, what do we need to do? According to David Keith, chief scientist and founder of Carbon Engineering, we need a method for taking carbon free energy from solar power and turning it into fuel which is transportable, storable, has a high energy density, and can be compatible with existing infrastructure. This is exactly what he's working on, and he's accomplishing it by taking solar power and combining it with CO2 from the atmosphere. It is from this method that the synthesis of fuels that are chemically the same as existing fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and kerosene is made possible, and it's all being done cleanly, without exploiting fossil fuels. Tune in to hear Keith explain the ins and outs of what his company is establishing, and the promise it may hold for the future. Learn more by visiting carbonengineering.com