Podcast: Psychedelic research, AI for the ICU and a space communication pioneer

In this edition: We investigate the psychedelic research renaissance, discover an AI designed to spot organ failure, and chat to Maggie Aderin-Pocock.

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News: Island evolution and an ancient asteroid – We hear how animals evolve into dwarfs or giants on islands and how a 430,000-year-old asteroid impact in Antarctica has been identified from the dust it left behind.

Psychedelic research renaissance – We celebrate the second anniversary of the Centre for Psychedelic Research, looking at the successes of testing the therapeutic potential of active compounds in drugs like magic mushrooms and ayahuasca, and look forward to new studies in brain imaging.

AI to predict organ failure – We meet PhD student Sam Turka, who has been developing an AI to help clinicians spot patients most at risk of organ failure in intensive care, with the ultimate aim of creating patient simulations to speed up medical testing and decision-making.

Maggie Aderin-Pocock – We partner with the Suffrage Science podcast to bring you an interview with Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock – physicist, presenter and Imperial alum – about the challenges and successes she’s faced throughout her career.

You can listen to the full interview with Maggie, and more interviews with other inspirational women in science, on the Suffrage Science podcast.

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The podcast is presented by Gareth Mitchell, a lecturer on Imperial's MSc Science Communication course and the presenter of Digital Planet on the BBC World Service, with contributions from our roving reporters in the Communications and Public Affairs Division.