Arqus Knowledge Pills

With Paulius Jurčys

Explore the world of AI twin assistants: digital versions of ourselves that can write, speak and act on our behalf. How do they work? Who owns the content they generate? And what are the legal and ethical risks when our voices and identities can be cloned?

From data ownership to AI-generated creativity, and from deepfakes to digital fairness, this episode dives into the evolving intersection of artificial intelligence, law, and innovation. 

With Irene Mosca

In the 20th century, many countries enforced so-called “Marriage Bars” – rules that required women to leave their jobs once they got married. While most countries abolished these policies by the 1950s, Ireland maintained its Marriage Bar until the 1970s. What impact did this have on the lives of Irish women, and what can we learn from it today?

Mosca explains in this episode the political and social arguments that kept such policies in place and reflects on how the legacy of the Marriage Bar still echoes in today’s debates on gender equality.

With Carolina Campos

In this episode, Carolina shares insights on the significance of intergenerational research, the challenges of fostering meaningful connections, and how knowledge transfer can drive real-world impact. She also highlights a key issue: despite the clear benefits and urgent need for these connections, institutional and legal frameworks often create barriers that separate age groups rather than bringing them together—whether in education, housing, or care systems.

With Agata Dorotkiewicz-Jach

Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest challenges of modern medicine, threatening the effectiveness of treatments and putting millions at risk. But what if the key to overcoming this crisis lies in nature itself?

Dorotkiewicz-Jach discusses alternative treatments such as bacteriophages, plant-based compounds, and anti-virulent therapies, highlighting their potential in fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria. She also shares insights on the impact of climate change on antimicrobial resistance and the need for global cooperation.

With Helena Machado

What misconceptions underlie this widely used technology? What ethical and social debates are emerging about its use?

Facial recognition technologies, while promising convenience and security, raise critical issues like invasion of privacy, surveillance normalization, discrimination, and inaccuracies. This episode delves into these technologies’ societal impacts, examining how they shape citizenship and public engagement.

With Jana Lasser

What strategies can effectively promote constructive online interactions? How can we effectively moderate content on social media platforms?

From developing counter-speech strategies to tackle online hate to exploring how data management can improve social interactions, this episode explores how data can offer positive alternatives to moderation and counters to hate speech in online spheres.

With Andrea Rinaldo

In this episode, we explore the critical importance of ecohydrology, a field that studies the interactions between water systems and ecosystems.

Discussing the value of natural capital and how understanding the relationship between water, ecosystems, and human activities is vital to addressing the challenges of climate change, water distribution, and resource management.

With Jurgita Lazauskaitė-Zabielskė

As the demand for telework continues to rise, organisations must address critical challenges such as ensuring productivity, balancing flexibility with structure, and supporting employees’ mental health.

In this episode, Lazauskaitė-Zabielskė shares her experience with remote work and offers a glimpse into how scientific research can guide the development of more sustainable, flexible work models.

With Nina Mackert

In this episode, she shares her perspectives on how food and health have influenced society through the years and explores the complex relationship between body image and societal norms.

As she is finalising her second book, which delves into the history of calories, she provides a thought-provoking discussion on how our understanding of food and health continues to impact modern life

With Maria Assunção Flores

In this episode, Maria provides her analysis and perspective on the current global education crisis, explores the impact of the integration of technology in education, and discusses potential actions to improve the educational landscape.

With Claire Perrin

How can physical activity affect people with chronic conditions? What role does sport play in these patients’ lives and society’s perception of health? In this episode dive into the transformative potential of sport for chronic patients, the role of sociology in shaping health practices, and the broader implications for social inequality.

With Wenceslao Arroyo Machado

What exactly are the altmetrics? How are altmetrics reshaping the way we measure research impact? What role do AI and big data play in this transformation?

In this episode, Wenceslao Arroyo Machado shares his journey into this field and dives into the challenges posed by big data, the impact of AI on his research, and his significant contributions to the academic world.

With Alina Bieńkos

In this episode, we dive into the insightful perspectives of the researchers on the importance of magnetic materials in the life of an average person and the use of magnetic materials in the field of medicine.

With Matthias Wendland

In this episode, Matthias Wendland provides insightful perspectives on the role of artificial intelligence in decision-making processes, offering valuable insights into the intersection of law, ethics, and technological advancements.

With Eglė Kačkutė

How does motherhood impact mothers’ lives? What are the main challenges that migrant mothers face in their daily lives, and how can we get a better understanding of this complex experience? In this episode we dive into the relevance of motherhood studies in the understanding of historical and current societal events.

With Dominique Rocher

In this episode, we dive into the importance of bioplastics in mitigating the plastic pollution crisis with Dominique Rocher, Arqus Talent Fund scholarship awardee and researcher in Microbiology & Environmental Science and co-founder of Urobo and whose project has been recently selected in South Africa and COP28 in Dubai

With Laurent Pujo-Menjouet

Is there a mathematical model to predict the evolution of a relationship and plan a happy, long-lasting one? Discover the answer to this question in this episode, diving into the correlation between love and maths, and how love psychology can be explained through mathematical parameters and models.

With Laurent Pujo-Menjouet

Can the duration of love and the level of happiness be predicted? Is it possible to use a mathematical model to predict how a relationship will evolve and plan for a happy, long-lasting one? Discover the quest for a mathematical relationship model in this episode.

With Claudia Wendt, Dr. Harvey Charles, Fernando Galán

There are already 50 European University Alliances, including more than 400 institutions in 35 different countries in Europe. These Alliances are meant to change the process of teaching and learning drastically while making it more global, more mobile and more independent of the teaching style of specific universities. Which chances can be taken? What kind of difficulties come with it?

These and other topics are discussed in this episode

With Francisco B Ortega, University of Granada

In this episode, we dive into the importance of exercising for everybody but more specifically for children. Professor Francisco B Ortega explains the link between physical activity and cognitive development and tells us about a fascinating survey he conducted in Granada. To end the podcast, he gives really easy and practical advice to add more physical activity to our daily lives.

With Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa, University of Wrocław

For the 21^st episode of the Arqus Knowledge Pills, we talked to Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa from the University of Wrocław. She is a Professor at and head of the Department of Pathogen Biology and Immunology at the Faculty of Biological Sciences.

In this episode, she helps us understand what phage-derived enzymes are. They can be used as an alternative to antibiotics in fighting illnesses and represent hope against antibiotic resistance. Zuzanna explains how the enzymes work and gives us examples of their application in current medicine.

With José Manuel González Méijome, University of Minho

Our guest in this episode is José Manuel González Méijome, Professor of Optometry and Vision Sciences at the University of Minho. He introduces us to myopia, a very common disease that currently affects more than 20% of the world’s population – a number that is on the rise! By 2050, this visual impairment could affect 50% of the population. The professor explains what it is and how it can be treated. We also study the effects of screen work and blue light on myopia and Professor Méijome gives us some advice to see better for longer.

With Jordan Everall, University of Graz

Social tipping processes describe how social, political, economic or technological systems can move rapidly into a new system state if cascading positive feedback mechanisms are triggered.

In this episode, we discuss his research on rapid social change and its connection to climate change. Jordan explains also how to quantify inequality and how these topics are all connected before he answers the tricky question: “Is it still possible to save the Earth?”.

Sandro Mazzariol, University of Padua

Professor Mazzariol helps us to know and understand the main ways humans are harmful to animals. As a scientist and activist very active in the fight against whaling and in the rescue of marine mammals, he describes how he combines these two roles, and how a whale rescue practically works. In addition, Professor focuses on his position as Chair of the International Whaling Commission Expert Panel, telling us how his activity in this international setting differs from the work of colleagues in other parts of the world.

With Cathy Quantin-Nataf, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1

For this 17^th episode of the Arqus Knowledge Pills podcast, we head to Mars! The Professor Cathy Quantin-Nataf, specialist in space exploration at the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, takes us along on her exciting Mars expeditions with both the American and the European Space Agencies, NASA and ESA respectively.

In her podcast “Is there life on Mars?”, she explains her interest in exploring this planet, and the difficulties it involves and tells us about her role in these missions as a professor and researcher.

With Victor de Munck, Vilnius University

Can romantic love end? Does love remain a constant in our societies? Technological innovations and radical cultural changes suggest that a contemporary global revolution is occurring and love, as well as war and the climate, is at the heart of these changes. The main question now is to discover how these changes produce new and radical ways of constructing intimacy.

In the 16th episode of the Arqus Knowledge Pills, we explore the topic of romantic love together with Victor de Munck, Professor of Sociocultural, Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at Vilnius University. Victor addresses the question “Is love outdated?” and gives us an overview of how the traditional model of monogamous romantic love has been challenged by contemporary lifestyles. Is love a constraint to our freedom? Could polyamory be the modern-day solution?

With Sebastian Rödl, Leipzig University

Philosophy is one of the oldest academic disciplines. Its origins date back more than 2000 years. In the 15^th episode of the podcast series Arqus Knowledge Pills, Sebastian Rödl, Professor for Practical Philosophy at Leipzig University, talks about the relevance philosophy still has today and why we should not look for its “usefulness”.

Sebastian shares his experience working in this field, describing it as a rollercoaster ride between moments of pure joy as well as deep frustration. And he explains what it takes to study philosophy – the most important prerequisite being an unquenchable search for complete understanding.

With Alberto Fernández, University of Granada

For some years now, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has acquired a symbiosis in our society. Its influence on our lives is undeniable in a multitude of areas and sectors such as health, transportation, energy, agriculture, tourism, e-commerce, banking and public administration. In all of them, use is made of automated systems that, through data collection, facilitate decision-making.

Besides these tasks, AI is currently ready for text, music, or image generation. Nevertheless, when it comes to tasks that have always been inherently associated with human artistic qualities, such as “inspiration” o “soul”, can an AI really be creative? Will the next “Don Quijote” be written by an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system? How creative are data-fed machines at the moment and when will they reach their full potential?