Podcast · Tech & Science

Nature and Science Podcast

by Don Murphy · English · Tech & Science

Our podcast explores nature and science by following the personal journeys of individuals who have dedicated their lives to nature and science. We talk with theoretical physicists, park rangers, conservation biologists and anyone who loves nature and science.

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 48 min
Latest: 12 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

12 Oct 2026 · 58 minNew

The Thanksgiving Table Physics of Persuasion | Dr. JonRobert Tartaglione

Send us Fan Mail With the holidays approaching, millions of families are preparing to gather around the Thanksgiving table—and inevitably fall into the same political, social, and ideological debates. But why is it almost impossible to change a family member's mind over dinner? On this episode of the Nature and Science Podcast, host Donald Murphy sits down with behavioral scientist Dr. JonRobert Tartaglione to explore the deep cognitive psychology behind persuasion, why logical arguments fail...

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

S7 · E3 · 5 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 5 min
The Bridge From Science to God: Mathematics, Faith, and the Search for Meaning
Send us Fan Mail Summary / Description What if modern scientific discovery hasn't pushed us away from God, but has actually brought us closer than we realize? Can the fine-tuning of natural law, the digital elegance of DNA, and the mathematical symmetry of the cosmos point toward an underlying Mind? In this special feature episode of the Nature and Science Podcast, we bridge the worlds of higher mathematics, physical law, and existential faith. We are joined by Richard Krauland—author of Th...
S7 · E2 · 28 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 7 min
Edges of the Mind: Science, Humanity, and Schizophrenia
Send us Fan Mail About the Episode For more than fifty years, Dr. David Pickar has stood at the absolute forefront of psychiatric research and neuroscientific discovery. As the former Chief of the Experimental Therapeutics Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and a long-standing member of the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee, Dr. Pickar has not only witnessed the evolution of modern psychiatry—he helped shape it.In this episode of the Nature and Science ...
S7 · E1 · 21 Sep 2026 · 48 min
Volcanoes, Plate Tectonics, and Deep Time with Dr. Jo
Send us Fan Mail “Pretty landscapes become spectacular when you know what you’re looking at. I’ve spent my career visiting volcanoes—first drawn by their natural beauty, and then compelled to understand the structure, processes, and time that shape them.”— Dr. Tamie J. Jovanelly Overview With over 1,350 active volcanoes worldwide and up to 70 eruptions occurring annually, understanding the geological machinery beneath our feet is vital to interpreting Earth's past and future. In this episode,...
S6 · E9 · 14 Sep 2026 · 39 min
Rewards and Dangers of Cave Diving Exploration
Send us Fan Mail Originally Published Under: Life Is A Story We Tell Ourselves 2023 **Cave Diving Journey and Techniques** CAVE DIVING JOURNEY AND TECHNIQUES Brian Starnes, a cave diver, shares his exciting journey from open water diving to the more challenging world of cave diving. Starnes became captivated by diving after exploring the island of Utilla in El Salvador, where he discovered the thrill and comfort of underwater exploration. His upbringing, which emphasized exploration and a fr...
10 Sep 2026 · 2 min
Welcome to The Nature and Science Podcast
Send us Fan Mail What does a 46-million-year-old blood-engorged mosquito tell us about deep time? How do planetary forces inside giant magma chambers shape the future of human civilization?What are the latest discoveries in the bio medical sciences. On this show, we go beyond surface summaries to explore extraordinary scientific discoveries, Earth history, and environmental stewardship. We sit down with world-class geologists, paleobiologists, theoretical physicists, and authors seeking...
S6 · E10 · 9 Sep 2026 · 59 min
Unravelling The Secret Of Life With Ancient Biomolecules
Send us Fan Mail Originally Published Under: Life Is A Story We Tell Ourselves “When I first saw the fossil of a blood-engorged mosquito, it was one of the most interesting, amazing moments in my life—because I realized this was something that no one on the planet had ever seen before. I was the first human being to ever look upon a fossil of a blood-engorged mosquito.”— Dr. Dale Greenwalt We long believed fossils were composed strictly of rock and minerals, all original molecular trac...
S6 · E9 · 2 Sep 2026 · 57 min
Are We Conscious Of The Life We Should Live
Send us Fan Mail We like to believe that we navigate our lives as fully conscious, rational architects of our own destinies. But how much of the life you are living right now is a result of deliberate, conscious choice—and how much is dictated by unseen cognitive shortcuts, subtle societal defaults, and hidden behavioral biases? In this episode of Journey Through Nature and Science, host Donald Murphy sits down with renowned behavioral economist and best-selling author Dan Ariely for a profou...
S6 · E8 · 23 Jul 2026 · 13 min
Looking Back at AI Scaling with Anthropic Co-Founder Jared Kaplan
Send us Fan Mail "An archival 2023 interview with Anthropic co-founder Jared Kaplan discussing scaling laws, large language models, and the trajectory of artificial intelligence." "What is the universe? What is intelligence? What is the mind?" When theoretical physicist turned AI researcher Jared Kaplan shifted his focus to artificial intelligence, he wasn't just looking to build software—he was trying to answer fundamental questions about reality, perception, and thought itself. In this epis...
S6 · E8 · 23 Jul 2026 · 13 min
Looking Back at AI Scaling with Anthropic Co-Founder Jared Kaplan
Send us Fan Mail "An archival 2023 interview with Anthropic co-founder Jared Kaplan discussing scaling laws, large language models, and the trajectory of artificial intelligence." "What is the universe? What is intelligence? What is the mind?" When theoretical physicist turned AI researcher Jared Kaplan shifted his focus to artificial intelligence, he wasn't just looking to build software—he was trying to answer fundamental questions about reality, perception, and thought itself. In this epis...
S6 · E7 · 21 Jul 2026 · 33 min
Is The Earth Losing Its Balance?
Send us Fan Mail Is The Earth Losing Its Balance and beginning to turn against us? Author Dominic Nessi explores that terrifying possibility in The Source, a gripping new science thriller that combines geophysics, political suspense and human survival in a story where Earth’s very stability begins to unravel. The first installment in a planned trilogy, The Source follows a team of brilliant women scientists racing to understand a growing series of magnetic disturbances, seismic irregularities...
S6 · E6 · 5 Jun 2026 · 20 min
The Progenitor Field - A Pre Big Bang SciFI Novel
Send us Fan Mail Host and Executive Producer of the podcast will discuss his latest science fiction novel, The Progenitor Field. The novel tells the story of the experiment to reunite the seventeen known fields of physics and prove that the universe is conscious. The experiment fails and plunges the world back into primordial DARKNESS. Ethiopian twins, endowed from birth with an enhanced genetic ability to connect to the Progenitor Field must act as a bridge between ...
S6 · E5 · 28 Mar 2026 · 47 min
DC Golf Course Restoration Threatens Affordable Access
Send us Fan Mail Michael Williams joins us to discuss the proposed restoration of the golf courses in DC including Langston Golf Course and East Potomac. We will explore the effects of the proposed restoration on future affordability and the restorations relation to the Act of 1897 and the history of public golf course development in the 20th century. In 2005, Mr. Williams launched his first radio show on FOX News Radio, "Sticks and Stones", a critically acclaimed show that covered golf...
S6 · E4 · 19 Feb 2026 · 53 min
The First Women Lifeguards: How Perseverance and Skill Overcame Obstacles
Send us Fan Mail “Debbie Friedman adds a bouyant new element to history, introducing the strong and brave women who battled ocean waves and stinging sexism to become the first ocean lifeguards on the California coast. GUARDED combines tender memoir and heart-pounding rescue scenes. Friedman captures the salty grit of her fellow guards as they smash through boundaries and risk their lives.” —Elaine Weiss New York Times bestselling author of The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote The...
S6 · E3 · 18 Feb 2026 · 1 hr
Sustainable Farming Brings Healthy Food To Your Table
Send us Fan Mail Sustainable Farming Brings Healthy Food To Your Table is what this podcast is all about. Shawn and Lindsay and their three children work to provide you with healthy food through practicing permaculture and raising their farm animals in a humane way. Their pigs are pastured raised meaning they are allowed to roam free and forage on the land. They will tell the story of how they built their farm and business through a love for the land, a passion for farming and jus...
S6 · E2 · 7 Feb 2026 · 27 min
One Ranger's Quest To Save His Beloved Desert
Send us Fan Mail This is the story of how a young man fell in love with the beauty and mystery of the desert and translated that love into a career as ranger protecting that desert. Vic Maris began his career with California State Parks, working at Red Rock Canyon in 1974. He served throughout the State during his 30-year career working as a park ranger, supervising ranger, and superintendent. His favorite job was working as Superintendent of the Mojave Sector, protecting seven parks includin...
S6 · E1 · 29 Jan 2026 · 50 min
Cured vs. Healed: A Doctor's Near-Death Journey to a New Kind of Medicine
Send us Fan Mail Welcome to my third memoir about my unusual trajectory in the world of medicine. In my first memoir, “Medicine and Miracles in the High Desert,” I shared with readers my profoundly life-changing and eye-opening time on the Navajo Reservation as a young schoolteacher in the early 1970s. Many years later, I returned to the Navajo people to serve them as a medical doctor in Cuba, New Mexico. The second memoir, “From Mountains to Medicine,” takes the reader on a spellbinding, ten...
S5 · E27 · 15 Nov 2025 · 17 min
Two Time Loser To Revolution: The Birth of Ky’Orda
Send us Fan Mail Hello everyone, I'm your host of Nature and Science Podcast, Don Murphy. In the episode I am interviewed by our producer, Anna Murphy to discuss, how my two time failure in chemistry ultimately led to the founding of Ky'Orda. The mission of Ky'Orda is to eliminate the fear and failure in learning complex subjects for everyone by creating an education app with a personal guide that uses behavioral science and adaptive technology. I think many of you out there can i...
S5 · E27 · 6 Jun 2025 · 40 min
How A Love Science Helped Save Our National Parks
Send us Fan Mail Scientific research at Yellowstone and other National Park has yielded many useful discoveries benefiting humanity. One of the most important was the discovery of the thermophilic bacterium, Thermus aquaticus. Later an enzyme was purified by a team led by Dr. Henry Erlich, which led to the practical use of the PCR test in covid detection and many other uses. Science in parks is a crucial tool for the advancement of humanity. However, if it were not for the early e...
S5 · E26 · 13 May 2025 · 1 hr
How Unlocking The Secrets Of Nano Vaults Could Revolutionize Disease Cures
Send us Fan Mail This episode explores the mystery of a cellular organelle known as the vault and how unlocking the secrets of nano vaults could revolutionize Disease Cures. Though its structure is well know and its protein composition well established, its function remains a mystery. Joining us to explain this mystery is its discoverer, Dr. Leonard Rome. Dr. Leonard H. Rome is a cell biologist, biochemist and part-time dean involved in research, teaching and administration at the...
S5 · E26 · 23 Apr 2025 · 53 min
New Tools Teach How To Detect Deep Fakes
Send us Fan Mail This episode is all about deep fakes. It is getting more difficult everyday to tell what is real and what is fake, especially on social media and even on TV networks. In this episode we will explore, the war thats raging between creation and detection of deep fakes. So what exactly is a deep fake. Joining us to answer that question is Dr. Ilke Demir. She’s on the front lines of this battle. Dr. Demir is a curious research scientist, working on to...
16 Apr 2025 · 45 min
How A Love For Science Is Fostering World Peace
Send us Fan Mail On this episode we speak with Dr. Zafra Lerman about how a love for science is fostering world peace. Zafra Lerman is an American chemist, educator, and humanitarian. She is the President of the Malta Conferences Foundation, which aims to promote peace by bringing together scientists from otherwise hostile countries to discuss science and foster international scientific and technical collaboration. From 1986 to 2010, she chaired the American Chemical Society's Subcommit...
S5 · E26 · 4 Apr 2025 · 1 hr 1 min
Why Fears Of A New Viral Pandemic Are On The Rise
Send us Fan Mail On this episode we speak with Dr. Jesse Goodman about the spread of the H5N1 virus. We will discuss what a virus is, how viruses migrate from animal populations to humans and assess the chances for a new pandemic. Jesse L. Goodman, M.D., M.P.H., directs Georgetown COMPASS, which focuses on science based policy and research to address unmet public health needs with an emphasis on product development and access and antimicrobial resistance and stewardship. Until February ...
S5 · E25 · 28 Mar 2025 · 48 min
How To Avoid Devastating Psychological Impacts From Disasters
Send us Fan Mail The next episode will explore how to avoid the devastating psychological impacts of disasters. A native of Long Island, New York, Dr. Katz attended Harvard College and went on to Columbia University where he obtained his medical degree, completed his psychiatric residency training and served as chief resident in psychiatry. He subsequently completed a fellowship in forensic psychiatry at NYU. Dr. Katz has a private practice in general and forensic psychiatry in Manhattan and ...
S5 · E24 · 19 Mar 2025 · 39 min
A Revolution In Evolution A Bacterial and Alga Love Fest
Send us Fan Mail On this episode we speak with Dr. Jonathan Zehr. He and his colleagues discovered an example of evolution in action. Dr. Zehr will share with us how such a revolutionary discovery was made. Jonathan Zehr is the distinguished professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Institute of Marine Sciences. He and his colleagues have discovered the possibility of a complex cellular organism with a nitrogen-fixing organelle derived from endosymbiosis with a ...
S5 · E23 · 7 Mar 2025 · 43 min
CRISPR Is A Game-Changer Tackling Climate Change, World Hunger
Send us Fan Mail Human beings have been breeding and cross-breeding plants for thousands of years. We have done this to increase yield, taste, growth rate and in modern times shelf life in grocery stores. With the discovery of the gene editing tool, CRISPR, plant breeding has risen to a whole new level; a level that has the potential to end world hunger, respond to the negative impacts of climate change, and even make it easier to eat black berries. Dr. Tom Adams co-founded gene...
S5 · E22 · 28 Feb 2025 · 32 min
The Consequence of Firing National Park Service Seasonal Employees
Send us Fan Mail In this episode we will explore the truth and consequences of the firing of National Park Service seasonal employees. Joining us is former national park seasonal ranger, Rosanne McHenry Rosanne has worked as a National Park Ranger and a California State Park Ranger in many different locations over the years, including the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Mt. Rainier National Park, Auburn State Recreation Area, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, and Death ...
S5 · E21 · 20 Feb 2025 · 10 min
Moral Bankruptcy Threatens to Destroy National Parks
Send us Fan Mail Moral bankruptcy threatens to destroy national parks under the guise of government efficiency. The firing of many national park service employees is illegal. Why illegal? Not because some codified law is being violated, rather because a higher moral law is violated. That law is rooted in the human responsibility of stewardship. The care and love for our natural and cultural resources seeks to resolve what E.O. Wilson called the great paradox.&nb...
S5 · E20 · 16 Feb 2025 · 1 hr 8 min
Very Early Childhood Attachments Can Influence Mental Health
Send us Fan Mail Dr. Traill Dowie discusses how Early Childhood Attachments Can Influence Mental Health. He is an Associate Professor of Psychotherapy, Research Fellow, clinician, and clinical supervisor with dual PhDs in Psychiatry and Philosophy. As a respected voice in the field of trauma, attachment, and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, he bridges clinical practice with deep theoretical inquiry, bringing cutting-edge insights into the treatment of complex psychological conditions. Full...
S5 · E19 · 9 Feb 2025 · 1 hr 23 min
Former SETI Chairman Thinks Extraterrestrial Probes May Be Watching Us?
Send us Fan Mail Are we alone in the Universe. Are aliens or extraterrestrial beings already here on earth, or are they watching us from afar with technologically advanced probes? It has been decades since the search for aliens began in earnest with SETI, the Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence. So why haven't we made contact? What is the Fermi paradox and the Drake Equation and what do they tell us about he existence of ET? Why does the former chairman of the board a...

About Nature and Science Podcast

Nature and Science Podcast is a English tech & science podcast from Don Murphy. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Don Murphy
Language: English
Category: Tech & Science
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 48 min
Latest episode: 12 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1510784615

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