TALK TO A SCIENTIST
a 'One-of-a-Kind' Outreach initiative for
young minds
'It gave me goosebumps', an excited young mind after one of our inspirational weekly science webinars.
We have received funding for Talk To A Scientist via the
1st IndiaBioscience Outreach Grant!
Thank you for the support to scale up our platform.
Talk To A Scientist.mp4Hear our passion and vision for Talk To A Scientist!
Watch the space below for our new sessions and session slides!
Please spread the word!
TTAS was featured in the better india!
December 2020
Talk to a scientist turned one year old!
Special episode with guest scientist gagandeep kang explaining covid-19 vaccines for children!
season 8
Science techniques with undergrads and postgrads
TALK TO A SCIENTIST ABOUT sleep in animals!
With guest speaker Ritika Mukherji, University of Delhi
September 18, 2021
TALK TO A SCIENTIST ABOUT cancer biology!
With guest speaker Omkar Joshi, IISER Pune
September 11, 2021
TALK TO A SCIENTIST ABOUT phytochemicals!
With guest speaker Anshita Rai, Charles River Laboratories, Mumbai
September 4, 2021
TALK TO A SCIENTIST ABOUT synthetic biology!
With guest speakers Nikhita, Sukriyo, Nilay and Aditya from IISc Bangalore iGEM team!
August 28, 2021
TALK TO A SCIENTIST ABOUT evolution and learning!
With guest speaker and science student Hetvi Jethwani, IIT Delhi
August 21, 2021
TALK TO A SCIENTIST ABOUT astrobiology!
With guest speaker and science student Nitya Palekar, Ramnarain Ruia College, Mumbai
August 14, 2021
TALK TO A SCIENTIST ABOUT your ideas for ttas!
Our young minds shared their ideas with us!
We have lots of new ideas to implement for the coming months!
August 7, 2021
TTAS AGE SPECIFIC WEBINAR
TALK TO A SCIENTIST ABOUT BIOFILMS AND BEEHIVES!
In this webinar we learnt about biofilms, using an analogy (comparison) with beehives, highlighting the similarities and differences between these two.
Content is prepared with 13-18 year olds in mind.
July 31, 2021
season 7
Science techniques with phd scholars and postdocs - II
talk to a scientist about Plant Pigment Chromatography!
You need - Spinach paste, Acetone, thick paper, paintbrush, small transparent container
Join us!
July 24, 2021
talk to a scientist about genomics!
Why do humans have different characteristics? What are genomes? Why do we have different cell types? Hod do scientists study genomes?
With guest speaker Yazhini Arangasamy, PhD scholar at IISc Bangalore
Join us!
July 17, 2021
talk to a scientist about RNA!
What is RNA? What are the different types? What is the function of RNA? Can we live without RNA?
With guest speaker Hasmatbanu Buchad, PhD scholar at MSU Baroda
Join us!
July 10, 2021
talk to a scientist about bacterial toxins and Antitoxins!
What are toxin-antitoxin systems? Why and how do bacteria make toxins? How can we use bacterial toxins to kill harmful bacteria?
With guest speaker Dr. Himani Tandon (Postdoctoral scholar at University of Cambridge, UK)
July 3, 2021
talk to a scientist about electromicrobiology!
How do bacteria generate electricity? How can we harness bioelectricity? What are the important applications of electromicrobiology?
With guest speaker Kartik Aiyer (Postdoctoral scholar, IIT Delhi)
June 26, 2021
talk to a scientist about protein structure!
How do proteins interact with each other? How can we stop these intreactions to treat diseases?
With guest speaker Dr. Zill-e-Anam (PhD scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
June 19, 2021
talk to a scientist about corals and oceans!
What are corals? What is coral bleaching? Why does this happen, and why do we need to protect corals?
With guest speaker Dr. Kshitij Tandon, PhD, Biodiversity Research Centre, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
June 12, 2021
talk to a scientist about thermoelectricity!
What is energy? How do we produce energy? Can you produce electricity from heat?
With guest speaker Prasanna Ponnusamy (PhD Scholar at German Aerospace Center, Cologne, Germany)
June 5, 2021
talk to a scientist about Parasitology and Malaria!
What is the organism that causes malaria? What does it look like? How does malaria spread? What can we do to stop it?
With guest speaker Sushma Ambekar (PhD Scholar at Iowa State University, USA)
May 29, 2021
talk to a scientist about your science ideas (antibiotic resistance)
Our yoiung minds made on sldie each with a solution on how we can overcome the shortage of antibiotics, extend the lifetime of current antibiotics and prevent antibiotic resistance.
We also read some comics on antibiotic resistance from Superheroes against Superbugs (SaS!
May 22, 2021
season 6
Science techniques with phd scholars and postdocs - I
Talk to a Scientist about the nuts and bolts of DNA replication!
May 15, 2021
What a fun hands on session this was!
Talk to a Scientist about plant communication!
May 8, 2021
How do plants communicate? What are these secret messages?
With guest scientist Dr. Jaishree Subramanian
(Postdoctoral researcher, Aarhus University, Denmark)
Talk to a Scientist about black holes!
May 1, 2021
What are black holes? How do we study them? Why are they important?
With guest scientist Dr. Abhijit Borkar (Postdoctoral researcher, Astronomy Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences)
Talk to a Scientist about building polymers!
April 24, 2021
How are polymers made? How are they useful to us? How do scientists study them?
With guest scientist Vidhika Damani (PhD scholar, University of Delaware)
Talk to a Scientist about the studying orchids in the lab!
April 17, 2021
How do we study orchids in the lab? How can they provide new medicines? Are they endangered?
With guest scientist Arshpreet Kaur (PhD scholar, Panjab University, Chandigarh)
Talk to a Scientist about computational drug discovery!
April 10, 2021
How can computers help us develop medicines? How can they help us understand side-effects?
With guest scientist Sohini Chakraborti (PhD scholar, IISc, Bangalore)
Talk to a Scientist about zebrafish as a model system!
April 3, 2021
How are why are zebrafish used to study diseases and develop new medicines?
With guest scientist Samatha Mathew (PhD scholar, CSIR-IGIB, New Delhi)
Talk to a Scientist about COVID-19 vaccines!
March 27, 2021
A TTAS one year special episode!
With Prof. Gagandeep Kang
Talk to a Scientist about studying primates in the wild!
March 20, 2021
How and why do we study primates in the wild? Do primates sleep? Can they swim?
With guest scientist Virendra Mathur (PhD scholar, University of Toronto)
Talk to a Scientist about becoming a scientist!
March 15, 2021
How do you become a scientist? What are the different types of science? What is a hypothesis? What is an experiment?
season 5
Science in everyday life (beyond biology)
Talk to a Scientist about the science of cartography!
March 8, 2021
Hands on mapping session with guest scientist Devayani Khare.
Talk to a Scientist about the science of you!
March 1, 2021
How do we inherit characteristics from our parents? How is DNA linked to diseases?
Join us to discover what makes each of us special - hint, it's in the genes :)
Talk to a Scientist about respiration
February 22, 2021
How do we breathe? What are the chemical reactions that take place? How do allergies affect respiration?
Join us for what promises to be a 'breathtaking' session! ;)
Talk to a Scientist about animal evolution and hydra
February 8, 2021
How do animals evolve? What does Hydra teach us about animal evolution? See how Hydra is grown in the lab, and discover their immortality!
With guest scientist Prof. Surendra Ghaskadbi!
Talk to a Scientist about diatoms and water pollution
February 1, 2021
What are diatoms? What role do they play in their habitats? What do they tell us about water pollution?
With guest scientist Karthick Balasubramanian!
Talk to a Scientist about science in popular media
January 25, 2021
What did Inside Out tell us about memories? How is the movie Contagion related to our current pandemic situation? Why did Mark Watney in The Martian keep a log of his time on Mars?
A session that will 'science out' movies and more!
Talk to a Scientist about science in the kitchen
January 18, 2021
What makes idlis fluffy? How does a pressure cooker 'cook'? How do microbes help us make food yummy?
Join us as we 'science out' the everyday kitchen!
This will be a 'mouth watering' session :)
Talk to a Scientist about science in SPACE
January 11, 2021
How do telescopes work? What are observatories? Are we alone in the Universe?
Lets talk of ISRO's accomplishments!
With astronomer Aryan Mishra!
Talk to a Scientist about science in the medicine cabinet
January 4, 2021
How are medicine discovered and developed? How do common household medicines work?
We learnt how to assemble a first aid box!
Share pics when you get it done at home!
season 4
young HEALTH
Talk to a Scientist about how we maintain body temperature
December 28, 2020
A hands on session!
We even crowd-sourced the data and displayed it live!
From hypothesis, to experiment, to data, a complete science package!
Talk to a Scientist about sunlight and vitamin D
December 21, 2020
How much sunlight do we need? How do we acquire Vitamin D? What happens if we do not get enough sunlight?
Join us for a 'bright' and 'sunny' session!
Talk to a Scientist about exercise
December 14, 2020
Why do we need exercise? How does our body respond to exercise?
Join us for a fun session, that will keep you on the 'move'!
Talk to a Scientist about sleep
December 7, 2020
Why do we need to sleep? How does screen time affect our sleep?
Join us for a fun session, that will NOT put you to sleep!
We had 100 young minds join us for this session!
A TTAS milestone, made possible by our participants.
#100 participants started filling the chat window!
Talk to a Scientist about our body's matrix
November 30, 2020
What is the matrix? How does it hold us together? Why is it like 'Maggi' noodles?
With guest scientist Dr. Nagraj Balasubramanian
Talk to a Scientist about the microbiome
November 23, 2020
What is the 'microbiome'? How does it affect our health? What is the human microbiome project?
Join us for what promises to be a fun session!
Talk to a Scientist about How we Smell?
November 16, 2020
How is the nose connected to the brain? Can food be tasted without smell? How does COVID affect our ability to smell?
With guest scientist Dr. Radhika Vaishnav!
Talk to a Scientist about allergies
November 9, 2020
Why do allergies happen? What are the cells involved in allergies? How does this relate to symptoms?
A wonderful session - Aaa-chooo! :)
Talk to a Scientist about vaccineS
November 2, 2020
How do vaccines work? Why are certain vaccines given at birth? How did India become polio-free?
Talk to a Scientist about wounds and fractures
October 26, 2020
How do wounds heal? What are 'greenstick' fractures?
Understand what happens when you bruise or fall!
Our first session of Season 4!
season 3
science relevant to india
Talk to a Scientist about spiders of india
October 19, 2020
A hands on session with a difference - with guest scientist Dr. Vena Kapoor. Young minds observed spiders around them and sent them to us for the session.
See a happy email and stunning example from a young mind below!
Talk to a Scientist about skin pigmentation diversity in india
October 12, 2020
With guest scientist Dr. Chandana Basu.
Your skin is an example of evolution across centuries - evolution that you can touch, feel, and see!
Talk to a Scientist about rabies in india
October 5, 2020
What causes rabies? How are animals associated with the disease? How does the rabies vaccine work?
Join and share!
Talk to a Scientist about tiger conservation in india
September 28, 2020
With Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan, India's 'Tiger Woman'!
Will tigers in India survive to the year 2100?
How can genetics contribute to tiger conservation in India?
Talk to a Scientist about medical biotechnology in india
September 21, 2020
With Dr. Ashwini Kumar, a great friend and supported of our young minds platform!
Learn about India's accomplishments in vaccination, artificial heart valves, and COVID efforts!
Talk to a Scientist about tuberculosis and india
September 14, 2020
Know more about the organism that causes tuberculosis, available treatments and the unique vaccination approach for serious forms of this infection!
Talk to a Scientist about malaria and india
September 7, 2020
What causes malaria? How is the disease transmitted? What is India's place in the history of malaria research?
With guest scientist Dr. Shruti Vembar, who works on this parasite!
Talk to a Scientist about historical indian medicine
August 31, 2020
What is historical Indian medicine? How is it made and used? How can we test these remedies with modern science?
Talk to a Scientist about peafowl behavior
August 24, 2020
Learn more about human-wild life interactions!
With guest scientist Dr. Dhanashree Paranjpe who studies our national bird in the wild!
Talk to a Scientist about the science heritage of india
August 17, 2020
Great contributions on Indian Scientists!
History of Indian Science!
Join us as we embark on Season 3, focused on Science Relevant to India.
season 2
Deep-dive into science concepts
Talk to a Scientist about dna extraction!
August 10, 2020
A Hands on session!
Extract DNA from a Banana using soap and sanitizer!
Simple, at-home ingredients.
Join us, this is going to be fun!
A young mind had his 'lab bench' ready with experimental supplies!
Thank you for sharing this pic with us!
Talk to a Scientist about animal behavior!
August 3, 2020
Can dogs count? How do bees know where to find food? Why do crickets sing?
With guest scientist Dr. Anindita Bhadra, who studies behavior in free-ranging dogs!
Talk to a Scientist about Immunology in the lab!
July 27, 2020
What is the immune system? How does it recognize microbes? How is this used in the diagnosis of infections?
Talk to a Scientist about human cells in the lab!
July 20, 2020
How and why do we grow human cells in the lab? How do appear under a microscope?
You will never look at your skin the same way again! :)
Diversity is biology!
Using science to influence society.
One webinar for young minds at a time.
Talk to a Scientist about how organs develop!
July 13, 2020
How do different cells make up an organ? How do we grow from a few cells to a complete being?
We are joined by Dr. Anup Padmanabhan, guest scientist!
Talk to a Scientist about how we study molecules!
July 6, 2020
How do we 'make' DNA in the lab? Learn a cool computer tool to study genes from different organisms!
"DNA is the HTML language for organisms", said a 12 year old after this session! Never too early to bridge interdisciplinary concepts!
Talk to a Scientist about LIFE IN ANTARCTICA!
June 29, 2020
What is life like in Antarctica ?
How do living creatures survive in an extremely cold landscape?
We are joined by our guest scientist Dr. Avinash Sharma who visited Antarctica on an Indian mission to explore microbes and life!
Talk to a Scientist about MINI ORGANS!
June 22, 2020
What are mini organs?
How do scientists make them and what are their uses?
Talk to a Scientist about YOUR BRAIN!
June 15, 2020
Can we live without memories?
How does sleep, stress and exercise affect our memories?
Our first guest scientist Dr. Bhaktee Dongaonkar who studies the brain!
Talk to a Scientist about
BIOLUMINESCENCE!
June 8, 2020
How do organisms such as fire-flies glow?
How do we use 'glowing' organisms for science in the lab?
We have completed 10 interactive sessions over 10 weeks!
We have enjoyed the company of close to 400 participants (an average of 40 children in each session), from all over India, and even the UK, US, Singapore and Dubai.
We are excited to share that our next sessions will focus on a deep-dive into science, with a few surprise scientists! We will of course be there!
season 1
sharing the joy of biology!
Talk to a Scientist about
WINOGRADSKY Columns!
June 1, 2020
A Hands-on Session!
Microbial ecology in a Jar!
A Hands-on Biology experiment for young minds with easy, at-home supplies.
Talk to a Scientist about
DNA and Heredity
May 25, 2020
Why do my eyes look like Daddy's eyes? What does my blood group have to do with that of my parents? What is 'genealogy'?
Talk to a Scientist about
HOAXBUSTERS in Science!
May 18, 2020
Is animal protein essential for COVID-19 to survive in the human body? Are vegetarians affected by COVID-19? Should you believe everything on the internet? How do you bust 'magical cures'?
Talk to a Scientist about
DENGUE FEVER and the INDIAN MONSOON!
May 11, 2020
How do mosquitoes transmit Dengue? Why does it happen during the monsoon? How can we protect ourselves and our surroundings?
Talk to a Scientist about
A DAY in the LIFE of a BIOLOGIST!
May 4, 2020
A Virtual Tour of a Biology Laboratory!
See how we grow bacteria, use a microscope, and all that it takes to keep the lab running.
Talk to a Scientist about MICROBES in the FOOD WE EAT!
April 27, 2020
A great session - cheese, bread, dosas, kimchi - can it get better
Talk to a Scientist about VACCINES!
April 20, 2020
An opportunity to discuss India's success with Polio eradication!
Talk to a Scientist about ANTIBIOTICS!
April 13, 2020
In our third session, we talk about how antibiotics were discovered, how they act, and the huge global problem of antibiotic resistance!
Talk to a Scientist about BIOFILMS!
April 6, 2020
In our second session, we talk about how bacteria build houses, and share our work on these fascinating pieces of microbial architecture!
We heard a unique definition of biofilms from our young friend - 'Caramel sauce (matrix) with chocolate sprinkles (bacteria)!'
Talk to a Scientist about COVID-19!
March 30, 2020
Our first session was appropriate, much-needed and a widely appreciated!
We had over 65 young minds, and 100s of Qs!