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UnDisciplined: Science News Roundup - August 2019

Phys.Org
New research published in August 2019 indicates the Milky Way is actually more S-shaped than disk-shaped.

This week on UnDisciplined, we're talking about the shape of the Milky Way Galaxy, life on the Moon, a poorly-timed tweet, and the potential impact of artificial intelligence on Hollywood. That's right, it's time for the monthly science news roundup! 

Joining us this month are a few familiar voices: Julie Kiefer, the associate director of science communication for the University of Utah Health Sciences; Joseph Wilson, one of our favorite entomological ecologists from Utah State University; and Danielle Lemmon, University of Colorado doctoral candidate who studies the diversity of climate events worldwide. 

Matthew LaPlante has reported on ritual infanticide in Northern Africa, insurgent warfare in the Middle East, the legacy of genocide in Southeast Asia, and gang violence in Central America. But a few years back, something donned on him: Maybe the news doesn't have to be brutally depressing all the time. Today, he balances his continuing work on more heartbreaking subjects by writing books about the intersection of science, human health and society, including the New York Times best-selling Lifespan with geneticist David Sinclair and the Nautilus Award-winning Longevity Plan with cardiologist John Day. His first solo book, Superlative, looks at what scientists are learning by studying organisms that have evolved in record-setting ways, and his is currently at work on another book about embracing the inevitability of human-caused climate change with an optimistic outlook on the future.