Episodes
Sunday Oct 31, 2021
Episode 122: Respiratory and Circulatory Systems Part 1
Sunday Oct 31, 2021
Sunday Oct 31, 2021
The first in a two-part episode covering the circulatory and respiratory systems, including a discussion of the anatomy of the heart, the process of contraction, and the generation and propagation of electrical activity. I also discuss how the heart functions as a pump, the various types of blood vessels, and control of the heart rate by the brain. Recommended pre-listening is Episode 25: Tissues, Organs and Systems, and Episode 26: Human Organ Systems.
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Sunday Sep 12, 2021
Episode 121: The Biology of Pain
Sunday Sep 12, 2021
Sunday Sep 12, 2021
An overview of the underlying mechanisms of pain, including the role of nociception, transduction of nociceptor signals by spinal pathways, the modulatory effects of opioids, and processing of these inputs in the brain. I also discuss phenomena such as referred pain, psychogenic pain, and congenital insensitivity to pain.
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Saturday Jul 31, 2021
Episode 120: Computational Chemistry Part 2
Saturday Jul 31, 2021
Saturday Jul 31, 2021
Building on the previous discussion of Hartree-Fock Theory, I discuss the inclusion of basis functions to produce the Roothaan equations, and the method of solving these using self-consistent field methods. I then provide an introduction into techniques to incorporate electron correlation by adding Slater determinants, focusing on the Configuration Interaction method. I then provide a brief overview of semi-empirical methods, Density Functional Theory, and molecular mechanics. Recommended pre-listening is Episode 119: Computational Chemistry Part 1.
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Wednesday Jun 30, 2021
Episode 119: Computational Chemistry Part 1
Wednesday Jun 30, 2021
Wednesday Jun 30, 2021
An overview of techniques of determining molecular structure, including an introduction to valance bond theory covering bond formation and orbital hybridisation, and a discussion of the basics of molecular orbital theory, covering the basics of the Hartree-Fock method for solving the Schrödinger equation and finding molecular orbitals. In the process I also discuss the Pauli exclusion principle, the effect of electron spin, and the indistinguishability of electrons.
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Monday May 31, 2021
Episode 118: Cell Signalling
Monday May 31, 2021
Monday May 31, 2021
A discussion of cell communication and signalling, including an overview of the purpose of cell signalling, the main types of signals, and applications such as hormones, neurotransmitters, and cytokines. The difference between G protein-coupled receptors, enzyme-linked receptors, and intracellular receptors is also considered, concluding with a summary of the process of signal transduction and the role of second messengers. Recommended pre-listening is Episode 116: The Cell Membrane.
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Saturday May 01, 2021
Episode 117: Intracellular Protein Sorting
Saturday May 01, 2021
Saturday May 01, 2021
A discussion of the transportation and sorting of proteins within the eukaryotic cell, including an overview of the endomembrane system, the mechanisms of nuclear transport, transmembrane transport, and vesicular transport. I also consider the structure and functions of the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus, and lysosomes, and how they are joined together in a complex network of protein transportation and vesicular traffic. Recommended pre-listening is Episode 116: The Cell Membrane.
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Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
Episode 116: The Cell Membrane
Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
An introduction to the cell membrane, including a discussion of the structure of the bilipid membrane, an overview of the structure and function of membrane proteins, a review of the fluid mosaic model, and a discussion of mechanisms of membrane transport, including both passive and active transport. Recommended pre-listening is Episode 10: The Cell, and Episode 18: Biochemistry Basics.
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Sunday Feb 28, 2021
Episode 115: Special Relativity Part 2
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
In the second and final part of this series, I discuss the major consequences of special relativity, including the relativity of simultaneity, time dilation, length contraction, and mass-energy equivalence. I then provide an overview of some of the experimental tests of special relativity, and conclude with an analysis of some alleged paradoxes in relativity, including the twins paradox, and the ladder paradox. Recommended pre-listening is Episode 114: Special Relativity Part 1.
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Monday Feb 08, 2021
Episode 114: Special Relativity Part 1
Monday Feb 08, 2021
Monday Feb 08, 2021
The first of a two part series on special relativity, I provide a brief overview of the historical development of relativity theory, including a discussion of the role of the Michelson-Morley experiment, and considerations from classical electromagnetism. I then outline Einstein's two postulates, discuss their meaning, and provide some explanation for how to interpret a constant speed of light. I also provide an introduction to Lorentz transformations and the notion of spacetime. Recommended pre-listening is Episode 13: Newtonian Mechanics.
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Wednesday Dec 30, 2020
Special Episode: Visual Processing in Mice
Wednesday Dec 30, 2020
Wednesday Dec 30, 2020
I discuss the methods and results of my Master's Thesis, in which I analysed electrophysiological data of the mouse visual system using a variety of statistical and computational techniques. I consider some of the major research questions addressed in my work, including population encoding, stimulus representation, neural network modelling, and state space modelling of information transformation. Recommended pre-listening is Episode 113: Visual Processing.
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