The A Level Biologist Podcasts: Recent Episodes

Arian Mirzarafie Ahi

TAB Podcasts brings the most diverse set of experiences and people in life science. Scientists, business people, educators, investors and healthcare professionals all live here. Based on the first A level biology hub in the world, TAB Podcasts jumps on the podcast as the most entertaining medium to share the most exciting area in the world. Your host, Arian Mirzarafie Ahi, boasts a dizzying breadth of life science experience across academia, research, business and communication. Beyond the standard qualifications and work experience, it is the people and places which most inspired Arian that make it to TAB Podcasts. Arian climbed those ladders so you don’t have to. All you have to do is tune in.

This composite, double-recorded episode explores one of the richest nature photography editions of the Curious Natural Philosopher as it straddles the special announcements and recording of the first guest episode of Season 4 with Dr. Marios Kyriazis.

💐 Making a print of the tea rose in full bloom
🐝 Studying hoverflies hinting at Gucci wasps
🎂 Marking 4 years of The A Level Biologist Podcasts
+ more!

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Celebrate with me 3 amazing pieces of news this edition and episode:

🥳 4 years of the podcast - Can you believe it? Leave a review if you were here in Season 1!
🏆 My first photography competition - And why I will not win...
🖼️ Planning a product store - Find out who got the very first greeting card.

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When I found out that neurons get to compete with sex cells for resources, I found a deep well of research artfully brought together by Dr. Marios Kyriazis under the indispensable soma hypothesis. As technology advances, the positive stress it elicits in our minds (hormesis), trains our neurons to improve. This leads to slower ageing in an increasingly post-reproductive world. Tune in to a special guest episode this season, packed with new ideas and new perspectives on old ideas:

⚖️ Natural principles invoked in tech-driven cell repair
🌐 Noeme: our tech-married selves
🏆 Status and health in the technocognitive web

Read more at indispensablesoma.info

Research Paper: The Impact of Hormesis, Neuronal Stress Response, and Reproduction, upon Clinical Aging: A Narrative Review

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The experience of life on Earth underpins our psyche in our smallest everyday encounters. This edition, with a blue moth, red-faced duck and the sky's crack of summer. Oh, and the heaven trees. Again. They're kind of a leitmotif now.

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The mysterious sticker on the small glass water bottle hinted at a place long gone. It read: San Pellegrino Terme - Italia - 1899. The place is still alive. Want to visit?

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After 2 years of teacher training in '20-'22, I finally graduated in Kent with my PGDE. This time, nothing could stop me celebrating 🎉 Live from a sweaty rental car on the first unofficial day of summer in Cambridge.

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An inadvertent interval was bound to happen in Season 4, the first weekly season of the podcast. Weeklies will be back soon, just like the background birdsong 🐦

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I sat and looked through my window, and the image of the tree in the distance looked the same as the wallpaper on my Windows. It was a thread weaved through mental exploration. This has now advanced into artificial intelligence that is persuasive enough in text and picture forms.

📝 Can it Write like Me?
❌ The Mistakes it Made
🤔 Our Deepest Logic

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Reflecting on the interview with special guest, Dr. Daria Chrobok, I explore the meaning of happiness at work, and the importance of combining talents with opportunities. More recently, I found out about Dr. Chrobok's personal story detailing an aspect of herself that I had not been aware of, and that others had considered a disability. Having thrived as an academic and as an artist, Daria embodies the power that joy can bring to define and transform our lives.

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An impromptu escapade to Nottingham revealed a cherished reserve stretching over vast ponds. Have you ever seen an unusually looking duck? Find out what her boyfriend thought as they approached me out of the river...

Each Newsletter edition can be found under its respective title:
👉 The Attenborough Nature Reserve
👉 The Odd Feathered Duck

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The first reflection on the Curious Natural Philosopher Newsletter starts with this edition about a wasp that found its peace on my jacket, comforted by its familiar micropattern. Subscribe to the Newsletter on LinkedIn to stay up to date with new editions and view all the photos.

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I analyse one of my most popular papers on the overarching phenomenon of life, and argue that the mere act of repeating a developmental pathway through reproduction is valuable, both in asexual and sexual reproduction.

🧱 The Fundamental Unit of Life
💀 Organisms Always Die
🌱 Survival of Life Processes

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Happy 2023! Welcome to Season 4 with episodes released every Wednesday. We launch this season with a deep dive into Avatar: The Way of Water and explore the most interesting and controversial themes and scenes:

🐳 The Role of Aggression in Nature
🧠 Animal Intelligence
🧪 Immortality
🧓 Identity and Time
🧑‍⚕️ Alternative Healthcare

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Why are there so many? Learn why. Also learn the plethora of things we've intuitively learnt from sperm over the eons of time. Welcome to the first solo episode deep dive of the Season, and since the launch of the MCBE on LinkedIn.

Curious Natural Philosopher Newsletter on LinkedIn (Link)

Season 1, Episode 3: How X_Y Chromosomes Actually Work (Spotify / Apple Podcasts)

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/the-mathematical-reason-we-need-so-many-sperm-cells

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Season 1 guest Mariana Visan explains why she would not succumb to the double-jab mandate to keep her job as an NHS dentist. Featured in national news covering many protests, she describes the experience from start to finish and reflects on the impact of the subsequent government U-turn.

Read the full story
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An offer to study at King's College, London did not sway Mo in the year preceding the pandemic. Under pressure from society and family, Mohammad Awais took the increasingly popular decision to forego higher education when faced with high debt and uncertain future rewards. He founded TripleConnect, a platform for peer-to-peer student support for revision and learning.

Mohammad Awais on LinkedIn
TripleConnect

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Talented artist and Plant Physiology PhD, Dr. Chrobok paved a way out of academia by starting up DC SciArt, serving many diverse scientists and publishers, and cultivating a beautifully illustrated collection with well-engaged followers online. The journey and its successes have left a mark many are yearning for: happier.

DC SciArt
Dr. Chrobok on LinkedIn
Dr. Chrobok on Twitter

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Newly minted PhD Kasia reveals their unexpected journey to complete an AI science doctorate. Hear the staff neuromorphic engineer and member of the International Society for Artificial Life's eye-opening artificial life anecdotes, personal stories and insights, interweaved with the reality of a PhD viva held over Zoom, and the opportunities and challenges of working in AI startups.

Learn more: https://twitter.com/kasia_kozdon and https://alife.org

Full script: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/phd-premiere-ai-mental-health-with-dr-kasia-kozdon/

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Thank you for Season 2 - can you guess which city and country topped the listenership this year? Are you in the top 10 countries? You know what to expect of this fun and light bridge between seasons. Newly featuring are poetry and percussion.

Full script: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/season-3-announcement/

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Husband and wife, Dr. Matthew Crane and Lauren Lee, went on a mission to alleviate Lauren's lifelong struggles with PMS and advanced endometriosis by leveraging Matt's natural investigative acumen. What they found could help millions.

Learn more about Semaine Health here and order here for an exclusive discount on your first pack.

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/herbs-to-fight-pms-with-lauren-matt/

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Tying together insights about mood disturbances across the human life cycle to enlighten the etiology and treatment of PMS, PMDD and postnatal depression. As a foetus creation tool, "female" hormones signal being born. Baby Brain kicks in, guiding the newborn to survival. What may be going on, and what sometimes goes wrong.

Read the publication at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352523715_Baby_Brain_A_Theory_of_Hormonal_Regulation

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/baby-brain-a-theory-of-hormonal-regulation/

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Nanomedicine expert Iris has recently been awarded a “La Caixa” Foundation Postdoctoral Junior Leader Fellowship after consolidating a career in academia with consulting and pharma industry stints. Learn about the Portuguese scientist's journey through Cambridge, her views on the possibilities that lie in store for any aspiring STEM professional, and Iris's work with the non-profit organisation WATT (Women Ahead of Their Time CIC).

Learn more about Iris at https://uk.linkedin.com/in/irisbatalha and WATT at https://womenaheadoftheirtime.org/about/

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/life-science-consulting-with-dr-iris-batalha/

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(Finally!) retired science teacher and chief examiner Hilary Tunnicliffe weighs in on curricula, alternatives to exams and the power of being a red pen-wielding teacher.

Learn more about Hilary at https://uk.linkedin.com/in/hilarytunnicliffe

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/hilarys-hilarious-science-history

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Hear about post-Theranos VC, more than you bargained for about algae, and where to find the latest hubs and players in Cambridge.

Learn more about Shelby at https://shelbynewsad.medium.com/

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/shelbys-venture-adventure/

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International marine conservation policy maker Lucie Guirkinger takes us on a trip around 58 countries, deep-diving into the life in Earth's oceans and what it takes to help it thrive.

Learn more about Lucie at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucieguirkinger/ on twitter @lucieguirk and instagram @luliguirk

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/lucies-reef-relief/

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Welcome to the brave new world.

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/hindsight-is-2020/

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With everything thrown up in the air, here is one story of exams, universities and personal drama shaping the journey of getting into science - something Arian just wasn't going to give up on.

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/the-anatomy-of-getting-into-science/

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An exact date for the start of Season 2 had not been set yet. Then corona hit. How could I say no?

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/corona-special/

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The wonderful podcast trailer introduced in a delectable American accent even though the host's accent is totally different. Spotify launched the trailer feature for the podcast, similar to iTunes' "first brief episode that is a taster" practice. So here you have it 🎉

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All the stats of Season 1, planning Season 2 and thanks where thanks are due.

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/season-2-announcement/

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Toby chats life, school, LadBaby videos and the NHS. Beyond the ins and outs of bleeding edge science lies life itself.

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/putting-the-life-in-life-science/

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PhD student Saba shares her work in groundbreaking medical imaging research funded by the EU Horizon 2020 project at the University of Cambridge. We also chat about how Cambridge is changing, Saba's educational background and multilingualism, and whether Nikola Tesla would approve of the present day company bearing his name.

Learn more about Saba at https://uk.linkedin.com/in/saba-shirvani-a87431131

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/cambridge-chat-with-saba-shirvani

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Multi-talented artist John Hinton has written amazing songs about science, animals, plants and more! How much you learn is up to you, but one thing is sure: you will be tapping your foot to death.

Learn more about John and Ensonglopedia at http://www.ensonglopedia.com/

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/science-sing-along-with-john-hinton

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Rockstar writer Ian Inkster entered the world of science through the back door, set up backstage and decided to stay there. He shaped the language of one of the hottest fields in biomedicine - rejuvenation biotechnology - by freelancing for the biotech rockstars on the stage.

Learn more about Ian at https://www.linkedin.com/in/i-inkster/

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/scottish-science-secret-agent-ian-inkster

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Award-winning interaction designer Giulia Tomasello brings DIY biohacking to everyday life in order to inspire and empower us to think about, and boost, genital health. Oh, and casually destroys taboos while she's at it.

Learn more about Giulia and Alma at www.gitomasello.com

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/intimate-bio-design-with-giulia-tomasello

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As we enter the golden age of life science we should not just keep getting sick and dying. Too much to ask for?

Learn more about Aubrey and SRF at https://www.sens.org

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/indefinite-health-with-dr-aubrey-de-grey/

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You think you know, but do you really? Really really? Let’s find out.

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/how-x-y-chromosomes-actually-work/

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She’s my mother, but she’s also a dentist. This one’s for all you trapped in the spinning wheel of “breaking through” to become a dentist, and, of course, everyone else burning to find out exactly how much she’s ever made in one month.

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/working-as-an-nhs-dentist/

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Make no mistake, this content is for YOU. Yes, you. Do you think biology is “too academic” for you? Is it all too far gone and confusing? Well, I’ve tried to boil it all down to 13 minutes. There, how to research anything in life science. If you’re alive – then you do care, believe me 😉

Full transcript: https://thealevelbiologist.co.uk/how-to-research-anything-in-life-science/

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