Uploaded June 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Meet Nikunj Goel, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Statistics and Data Sciences at @UTAustin. Nikunj is part of a team that has been studying populations of soapberry bugs in Houston.
After an intense hurricane in Houston in 2017 created a patchy landscape where some areas were completely flooded and others spared, the researchers noticed an unusual detail about the soapberry bugs that recolonized previously flooded areas.
In our latest Nexus Point episode, Nikunj explains how this curious observation about the wing lengths observed in these new populations of soapberry bugs has sparked a new concept in evolution. Known as spatial sorting, this phenomenon can be triggered by extreme weather events and offers a novel perspective on evolution.
#WhatStartsHere #DiscoveryStartsHere
#TexasScience #UTAustin #NexusPointUT #StatisticsAndProbability #InsectEvolution #Evolution #ExtremeWeather
Meet Nikunj Goel, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Statistics and Data Sciences at @UTAustin. Nikunj is part of a team that has been studying populations of soapberry bugs in Houston.
After an intense hurricane in Houston in 2017 created a patchy landscape where some areas were completely flooded and others spared, the researchers noticed an unusual detail about the soapberry bugs that recolonized previously flooded areas.
In our latest Nexus Point episode, Nikunj explains how this curious observation about the wing lengths observed in these new populations of soapberry bugs has sparked a new concept in evolution. Known as spatial sorting, this phenomenon can be triggered by extreme weather events and offers a novel perspective on evolution.
#WhatStartsHere #DiscoveryStartsHere
#TexasScience #UTAustin #NexusPointUT #StatisticsAndProbability #InsectEvolution #Evolution #ExtremeWeather





![Is AI Coming for Our News?
How much of our news is AI-generated right now and how might that change? With more and more misinformation posing as news, how can we sort out fact from fiction? And, in the face of falling revenue, can AI help save the news industry?
Robert Quigley (https://journalism.utexas.edu/faculty/robert-j-quigley) is a professor of practice in UT Austin’s Moody College of Communications where he teaches digital journalism and podcasting. As the director of media innovation for the college, he focuses on artificial intelligence and journalism. He leads a group of educators from across campus who share best practices for AI in the classroom. He’s a co-host of Check Out This Podcast (https://thedragaudio.com/category/check-out-this-podcast/), a show that helps you discover your next favorite podcast. He led a project where students used AI to generate news stories, called The Future Press (https://moody.utexas.edu/news/redefining-news-ai).
—Dig Deeper—
• Wyoming reporter caught using artificial intelligence to create fake quotes and stories (https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-reporter-resigns-journalism-ed076e2f276d9811f3b9ba051a03b7ae), Associated Press (Aug. 2024)
• Redefining news with AI (https://moody.utexas.edu/news/redefining-news-ai), Moody College of Communications at UT Austin (Jan. 2024)
• How an AI-written Star Wars story created chaos at Gizmodo (https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/08/gizmodo-ai-errors-star-wars/), Washington Post (July 2023)
• How Will Artificial Intelligence Change the News Business? (https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/08/how-ai-will-change-the-news-business.html), The Intelligencer (Aug. 2023)
• Google is testing an AI tool that can write news articles (https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/20/google-reportedly-testing-ai-tool-write-news-articles/), TechCrunch (July 2023)
• Can AI help local newsrooms streamline their newsletters? ARLnow tests the waters (https://www.niemanlab.org/2023/05/can-ai-help-local-newsrooms-streamline-their-newsletters-arlnow-tests-the-waters/), Nieman Lab (May 2023)
—Episode Credits—
• Our co-hosts are Marc Airhart, science writer and podcaster in the College of Natural Sciences and Casey Boyle, associate professor of rhetoric and director of UT’s Digital Writing & Research Lab (http://www.dwrl.utexas.edu/) .
• Executive producers are Christine Sinatra and Dan Oppenheimer.
• Sound design and audio editing by Robert Scaramuccia. Theme music is by Aiolos Rue. Interviews are recorded at the @LiberalArtsUTITS recording studio.
• Elements of the cover image for this episode were generated using Midjourney and Photoshop’s generative AI tools.
—About AI for the Rest of Us—
AI for the Rest of Us is a joint production of The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Natural Sciences and College of Liberal Arts. This podcast is part of the University’s Year of AI (https://yearofai.utexas.edu/) initiative. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts and guests, and not of The University of Texas at Austin. You can listen via Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-for-the-rest-of-us/id1749168252), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/2Z3Ut7PMH5RmRcr45wI1A7), Amazon Podcasts (https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1197b991-2383-42f1-af69-e88138facaf2/ai-for-the-rest-of-us) , RSS (https://feeds.simplecast.com/ak gU6w), or anywhere you get your podcasts. You can also listen on the web at aifortherest.net (http://aifortherest.net/). Have questions or comments? Contact: mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu
#TexasAI #YearofAI #Podcast #SciencePodcast #AIForTheRestOfUs #ArtificialIntelligence @texasmoody @UTAustin Is AI Coming for Our News?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rWCZW7UA0Ls/mqdefault.jpg)




![The Algorithm Will See You Now
Today on AI for the Rest of Us, we’re talking about AI in healthcare. There are a lot of wild claims about what AI can do to help make us healthier—so how can we figure out what’s real and what’s hype? And are there some potential pitfalls with these new technologies?
Scott Graham (http://sscottgraham.com/) is an associate professor of rhetoric at @UTAustin and author of the book The Doctor and the Algorithm: Promise, Peril and the Future of Health AI (https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-doctor-and-the-algorithm-9780197644461?cc=us&lang=en&). He uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to study communication in bioscience and health policy, with special attention to bioethics, conflicts of interest and health AI.
—Dig Deeper—
• ChatGPT Rated as Better Than Real Doctors for Empathy, Advice (https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2023-04-28/patients-rated-chatgpt-better-than-real-doctors-for-empathy-advice), USA Today
• AI in healthcare: The future of patient care and health management (https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/healthy-aging/ai-in-healthcare-the-future-of-patient-care-and-health-management/), Mayo Clinic
• Opinion: It’s not just hype. AI could revolutionize diagnosis in medicine (https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-07-09/artificial-intelligence-medicine-diagnosis), Los Angeles Times
—Episode Credits—
• Our co-hosts are Marc Airhart, science writer and podcaster in the College of Natural Sciences and Casey Boyle, associate professor of rhetoric and director of UT’s Digital Writing & Research Lab (http://www.dwrl.utexas.edu/) .
• Executive producers are Christine Sinatra and Dan Oppenheimer.
• Sound design and audio editing by Robert Scaramuccia. Theme music is by Aiolos Rue. Interviews are recorded at the @LiberalArtsUT ITS recording studio.
• Elements of the cover image for this episode were generated using Photoshop’s generative AI tools.
—About AI for the Rest of Us—
AI for the Rest of Us is a joint production of The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Natural Sciences and College of Liberal Arts. This podcast is part of the University’s Year of AI (https://yearofai.utexas.edu/) initiative. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts and guests, and not of The University of Texas at Austin. You can listen via Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-for-the-rest-of-us/id1749168252), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/2Z3Ut7PMH5RmRcr45wI1A7), Amazon Podcasts (https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/1197b991-2383-42f1-af69-e88138facaf2/ai-for-the-rest-of-us) , RSS (https://feeds.simplecast.com/ak gU6w), or anywhere you get your podcasts. You can also listen on the web at aifortherest.net (http://aifortherest.net/). Have questions or comments? Contact: mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu
#TexasAI #YearofAI #Podcast #SciencePodcast #AIForTheRestOfUs #ArtificialIntelligence @UTCompSci The Algorithm Will See You Now](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sXotFgdpaHQ/mqdefault.jpg)