Why sign language could be crucial for kids with cochlear implants, studying the illusion of pain, and recent political developments at NIH

Science Magazine Podcast

Science Podcast

News Commentary, News, Science

4.2 • 791 Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

First up this week, science policy editor Jocelyn Kaiser joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the latest news about the National Institutes of Health—from reconfiguring review panels to canceled grants to confirmation hearings for a new head, Jay Bhattacharya. Next, although cochlear implants can give deaf children access to sound, it doesn’t always mean they have unrestricted access to language. Producer Meagan Cantwell talks with Contributing Correspondent Cathleen O’Grady about why some think using sign language with kids with cochlear implants gives them the best chance at communicating fully and fluently. Finally, using a pain illusion to better understand how the brain modulates pain. Francesca Fardo, an associate professor in the department of clinical medicine at Aarhus University, talks with host Sarah Crespi about the role of learning and uncertainty in pain perception. It turns out, the more uncertain we are about a sensation that could be painful, the more pain we feel. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy. About the Science Podcast Authors: Sarah Crespi; Meagan Cantwell; Cathleen O’Grady; Jocelyn Kaiser Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This week's episode is brought to you in part by Science Careers.
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0:09.6	visit our site to read how others are doing it.
0:12.5	Use our individual development plan tool, access topic-specific article collections,
0:17.6	or search for an exciting new job.
0:20.6	Science Careers, produced by Science and AAAS, is a free website full of resources to help
0:26.4	get the most out of your career.
0:28.5	Visit sciencecareers.org today to get started.
0:41.4	This is a science podcast for March 14th, 2025.
0:42.7	I'm Sarah Crespi.
0:48.5	First this week, science policy writer and editor, Jocelyn Kaiser, is here to give us an update on the latest news from NIH.
0:51.4	Next, producer Megan Cantwell talks with contributing correspondent Kathleen O'Grady about
0:56.4	why some think that using sign language with kids with cochlear implants gives the kids
1:01.3	the best chance at communicating fully and fluently.
1:05.3	Finally, researcher Francesca Fardo talks with me about using a pain illusion to understand
1:10.8	the role of learning and uncertainty in how we feel pain.
1:18.6	We're continuing our coverage of changes in the U.S. government affecting science.
1:23.5	Things are moving fast and there is much to talk about. This week we're going to catch up on the news with Jocelyn Kaiser. She's a writer and editor focusing on policy and NIH. Hi, Jocelyn. Welcome back to the podcast. Hey, Sarah. So the timing, we'll just put that out here. It's Tuesday, March 11th. This episode will come out Thursday, March 13th, in case anything changes between when we record and when it goes live.
1:47.6	The story we're going to talk about first.
1:49.0	Actually, just came out yesterday.
1:50.3	It's by Sarah Reardon.
1:52.0	And it talks about the cancellation of funding for vaccine hesitancy studies at NIH.
	...

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