Bahar Gholipour
Personal page
I am a New York–based tech and science journalist with a background in computer science and neuroscience. I cover the brain, neuroscience, genetics, biomed research and AI.
For projects, story ideas and public speaking contact me at bahar.gholipour at gmail dot com
What I'm working on these days:
A feature documentary
about the simultaneously worrying and exhilarating state of fundamental physics—and by extension, the prospects for how much more we can continue to learn about the nature of reality. Through conversations with physicists and philosophers and science writers, we explore this moment, which some describe as a crisis, and some as the cusp of a revolution.
See updates.
Producing PBS Space Time
the popular YouTube show famous for elucidating most complex topics in physics. Created by Matt O'Dowd and Andrew Kornhaber, and grown into one of the longest running and most popular science channels on YouTube, at 11 years and 3.4 million subscribers. I feel
PBS Space Time has a simple mission: yes, we make videos about physics, but more importantly, we make physicists (and STEM adepts of all stripes). Space Time has inspired countless smart kids to pursue challenging technical careers. We know that because they tell us—in the comments, via email, and on the street when they run into Matt.If you also believe in the value of this and similar missions and interested in collaborating, whether via PBSST or otherwise, feel free to drop a message.
lucky to have co-produced over half of the >500 episodes.
Recent stories:
GOP's AI moratorium struck down ...AI regulation fights and the race to the bottom narrative—Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
In memoriam: Yves Frégnac, influential and visionary French neuroscientist — The Transmitter
A pioneer of combining experimental, computational and theoretical approaches to study the brain, Frégnac changed the nature of neuroscience research in France.
The conceptual form of Circular analysis that taints many neuroscience studies
These logical loops are harder to spot than the circularity involving noise in the data, but they result from neglecting something closer to home: existing knowledge about the brain.
Statistical errors may taint as many as half of mouse studies
Neuroscientists are sounding the alarm about ‘pseudoreplication,’ a widespread practice that studs the literature with false results.
What you get is not just what you see: Neuroscience, AI and predictive processing. Biological vision vs machines: a new vision of the brain, turning neuroscience on its head — Seek magazine
AI Is Helping Scientists Explain the Brain, But what if it’s telling them a false story? — Nautilus
Finding the origins of language in songbirds — Seek Magazine
The internal state, the Frames of Minds, Behind the brain’s remarkable adaptability is its ability to reach vastly different conclusions based on the same information. — Seek Magazine
Philosophers and neuroscientists join forces to solve the mystery of free will — Science
The tumultuous history of a brain signal that questioned free will — The Atlantic (featured in The Best American Science and Nature)
Old site..pre 2020
Writing
I have written for a variety of publications including Scientific American, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Science, Spectrum, WIRED, New York Magazine, the Washington Post, Live Science, NBC News and the Daily Beast.
Find me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram Email: bahar.gholipour at gmail dot com
Scientific American
The Future of Disease Outbreaks
The explosive growth of the human population—from 2.5 billion to 6 billion since the second half of the 20th century—may have already started changing how infectious diseases emerge.
By Bahar Gholipour, 2013 - Scientific American
The number of newly emerging infectious diseases has been rising significantly over time. Here's a time-lapse of new infectious diseases worldwide during 1944-2004. *The visualization is based on data gathered by Peter Daszak et al., for "Global trends in emerging infectious diseases," published in Nature, 2008
Video
I write and produce for Brain Craft, a PBS Youtube channel created by Vanessa Hill.
(new!) Attention Wars: a 6-episode series about the impact of
big tech and social media. Watch the episodes!
Bad Behavior: A Field Guide (Series)
Humans are complicated: a tangled web of amazing biology and bad behaviors.
This illustrated field guide will help you navigate the hostile wilderness of human nature.
Others:
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When AI hallucinates Artificial neural networks are pretty good at image recognition – but sometimes, they see things that...aren't there. Watch the episode!
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Reversing Brain Death? Nothing is as certain as death. Yet humans have come up with ways to push it further and further. The heart stops beating?
Do CPR. The lungs fail? Use a mechanical ventilator. These techniques have cheated death millions of times. But there is a point of no return: when the brain dies. Or is it? Watch the episode!
Braindecoder
In a project with GE and VaynerMedia I launched and served as the founding managing editor of Braindecoder, a neuroscience website with news and feature stories written by a team of esteemed science journalists.
Braindecoder reached nearly half a million unique readers every month and quickly gained loyal fans among both academics and the general public. You can check out archived versions on:
Here: http://behdad.org/mirror/www.braindecoder.com/
And: http://web.archive.org/web/20160729213044/https://braindecoder.com/
