Best React Universe On Air Podcasts (2025)

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A headless mystery, and a deep dive on dog research 32:35

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2h ago32:35

32:35

First up on the podcast: the mysterious fate of Europe’s Neolithic farmers. They arrived from Anatolia around 5500 B.C.E. and began farming fertile land across Europe. Five hundred years later, their buildings, cemeteries, and pottery stopped showing up in the archaeological record, and mass graves with headless bodies started to appear across the …

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Solving the ‘golfer’s curse’ and using space as a heat sink 28:13

8d ago28:13

28:13

First up on the podcast, Online News Editor David Grimm joins host Sarah Crespi for a rundown of online news stories. They talk about lichen that dine on dino bones, the physics of the lip-out problem in golf, and a brain-computer interface that can decode a tonal language (Chinese) from brain waves. Next on the show, Jeremy Munday, a professor of …

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Understanding early Amazon communities and saving the endangered pocket mouse 35:03

16d ago35:03

35:03

First up on the podcast, Contributing Correspondent Sofia Moutinho visited the Xingu Indigenous territory in Brazil to learn about a long-standing collaboration between scientists and the Kuikuro to better understand early Amazon communities. Next on the show, we visit the Pacific pocket mouse recovery program at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance…

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Detecting the acidity of the ocean with sound, the role of lead in human evolution, and how the universe ends 45:27

24d ago45:27

45:27

First up on the podcast, increased carbon dioxide emissions sink more acidity into the ocean, but checking pH all over the world, up and down the water column, is incredibly challenging. Staff Writer Paul Voosen joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss a technique that takes advantage of how sound moves through the water to detect ocean acidification. Ne…

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The contagious buzz of bumble bee positivity, and when snow crabs vanish 27:13

1M ago27:13

27:13

First up on the podcast, the Bering Sea’s snow crabs are bouncing back after a 50-billion-crab die-off in 2020, but scientists are racing to predict what’s going to happen to this important fishery. Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss what’s next for snow crabs. Next on the show, freelance producer Elah Fed…

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Hunting ancient viruses in the Arctic, and how ants build their nests to fight disease 26:38

1M ago26:38

26:38

First up on the podcast, Contributing Correspondent Kai Kupferschmidt takes a trip to Svalbard, an Arctic archipelago where ancient RNA viruses may lie buried in the permafrost. He talks with host Sarah Crespi about why we only have 100 years of evolutionary history for viruses such as coronavirus and influenza, and what we can learn by looking dee…

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React Native at Scale With NFL 55:32

1M ago55:32

55:32

The NFL runs on tight deadlines. Every kickoff and Super Bowl demands that millions of fans get flawless live video, stats, and fantasy features, whether they’re on iPhones, Xboxes, or connected TVs.In this episode of React Universe On Air, Mike Grabowski talks with Michael Blanchard (Director of Engineering at the NFL), about how React Native beca…

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How birds reacted to a solar eclipse, and keeping wildfire smoke out of wine 37:00

1M ago37:00

37:00

First up on the podcast, producer Kevin McLean talks with Associate Online News Editor Michael Greshko about the impact of wildfires on wine; a couple horse stories, one modern, one ancient; and why educators are racing to archive government materials. Next on the show, research that took advantage of a natural experiment in unnatural lighting. Hos…

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A new generation of radiotherapies for cancer, and why we sigh 34:48

2M ago34:48

34:48

First up on the podcast, Staff Writer Robert F. Service joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about a boom in nuclear medicine, from new and more powerful radioisotopes to improved precision in cancer cell targeting. Next on the show, we talk about why we sigh. Maria Clara Novaes-Silva, a doctoral student at ETH Zürich, discusses how deep breaths cause m…

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Salty permafrost’s role in Arctic melting, the promise of continuous protein monitoring, and death in the ancient world 46:22

2M ago46:22

46:22

First up on the podcast, Science News Editor Tim Appenzeller joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss why a salty layer of permafrost undergirding Arctic ice is turning frozen landscapes into boggy morasses. Next on the show, glucose isn’t the only molecule in the body that can be monitored in real time; proteins can be, too. Freelancer producer Zakiya W…

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Core Contributor Summit 2025 Highlights | Coffee Talk 36:55

2M ago36:55

36:55

What really happens when React Native’s core contributors gather behind closed doors?In this episode of React Universe On Air, recorded live at React Universe Conf 2025, host Łukasz Chludziński sits down with Joel Arvidsson, Jay Meistrich, and Thibault Malbranche to unpack the hottest debates and wisest insights from the Core Contributor Summit.The…

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Protecting newborns from an invisible killer, the rise of drones for farming, and a Druid mystery 35:00

2M ago35:00

35:00

First up on the podcast, freelance science journalist Leslie Roberts joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the long journey to a vaccine for group B streptococcus, a microbe that sickens 400,000 babies a year and kills at least 91,000. Next on the show, there are about 250,000 agricultural drones employed on farms in China. Countries such as South …

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An aggressive cancer’s loophole, and a massive field of hydrogen beneath the ocean floor 35:14

2M ago35:14

35:14

First up on the podcast, aggressive tumors have a secret cache of DNA that may help them beat current drug treatments. Freelance journalist Elie Dolgin joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about targeting so-called extrachromosomal DNA—little gene-bearing loops of DNA—that help difficult-to-treat cancers break the laws of inheritance. Next on the show, …

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Finding HIV’s last bastion in the body, and playing the violin like a cricket 32:57

3M ago32:57

32:57

First up on the podcast, despite so many advances in treatment, HIV drugs can suppress the virus but can’t cure the infection. Where does suppressed HIV hide within the body? Staff Writer Jon Cohen joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the Last Gift Study, in which people with HIV donate their bodies for rapid autopsy to help find the last reservoi…

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A mother lode of Mexican mammoths, how water pollution enters the air, and a book on playing dead 55:07

3M ago55:07

55:07

First up on the podcast, Staff Writer Rodrigo Pérez Ortega joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about a megafauna megafind that rivals the La Brea Tar Pits. In addition to revealing tens of thousands of bones from everything from dire wolves to an ancient human, the site has yielded the first DNA from ammoths that lived in a warm climate. Next on the sh…

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New insights into endometriosis, and mapping dengue in Latin America 32:07

3M ago32:07

32:07

First up on the podcast, Staff Writer Meredith Wadman joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss recent advances in understanding endometriosis—a disease where tissue that resembles the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, causing pain and other health effects. The pair talk about how investigating the role of the immune system in this disease is…

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Why chatbots lie, and can synthetic organs and AI replace animal testing? 31:53

3M ago31:53

31:53

First up on the podcast, producer Meagan Cantwell and Contributing Correspondent Sara Reardon discuss alternative approaches to animal testing, from a heart on a chip to a miniorgan in a dish. Next on the show, Expert Voices columnist Melanie Mitchell and host Sarah Crespi dig into AI lies. Why do chatbots fabricate answers and pretend to do math? …

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Observability & OpenTelemetry in React Native 56:44

3M ago56:44

56:44

Many React Native apps ship without full observability. The result? Blind spots in performance, crashes, and user behavior once your app is in the wild.In this episode of React Universe On Air, Łukasz Chludziński sits down with Jonathan Munz (Senior Software Engineer at Embrace) and Adam Horodyski (React Native Expert at Callstack) to unpack how Op…

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Why anteaters keep evolving, and how giant whales get enough food to live 28:08

4M ago28:08

28:08

First up on the podcast, Online News Editor David Grimm brings stories on peacock feathers’ ability to emit laser light, how anteaters have evolved at least 12 times, and why we should be thanking ketchup for our French fries. Next on the show, rorqual whales, such as the massive blue whale, use a lunging strategy to fill their monster maws with se…

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Wartime science in Ukraine, what Neanderthals really ate, and visiting the city of the dead 51:33

4M ago51:33

51:33

First up on the podcast, Contributing Correspondent Richard Stone joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the toll of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and how researchers have been mobilized to help the war effort. In June, Stone visited the basement labs where Ukrainian students modify off-the-shelf drones for war fighting and the facilities where bi…

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Robots that eat other robots, and an ancient hot spot of early human relatives 34:45

4M ago34:45

34:45

First up on the podcast, South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind is home to the world’s greatest concentration of ancestral human remains, including our own genus, Homo, Australopithecus, and a more robust hominin called Paranthropus. Proving they were there at the same time is challenging, but new fossil evidence seems to point to coexistence. Producer…

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Studying a shark-haunted island, and upgrading our microbiomes with engineered bacteria 36:50

4M ago36:50

36:50

First up on the podcast, Réunion Island had a shark attack crisis in2011 and closed its beaches for more than a decade. Former News Intern Alexa Robles-Gil joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about how researchers have used that time to study the island’s shark populations and test techniques for preventing attacks, in the hopes of protecting lives and…

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Monorepo Architecture with Nx 48:48

4M ago48:48

48:48

Should you be afraid of monorepos? Not with Nx. Tune in and learn how to scale apps without scaling pain.In this episode of React Universe On Air, Łukasz Chludziński chats with Jordan Powell from Nx to explore what it really takes to build and manage a monorepo at scale. From dependency graphs to distributed CI tasks, they break down how Nx helps t…

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A tardi party for the ScienceAdviser newsletter, and sled dog genomes 25:52

5M ago25:52

25:52

First up on the podcast, Newsletter Editor Christie Wilcox joins host Sarah Crespi to celebrate the 2-year anniversary of ScienceAdviser with many stories about the amazing water bear. They also discuss links between climate change, melting glaciers, and earthquakes in the Alps, as well as what is probably the first edible laser. Next on the show, …

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Losing years of progress against HIV, and farming plastic on Mars 31:12

5M ago31:12

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First up on the podcast, U.S. aid helped two African countries rein in HIV. Then came President Donald Trump. Senior News Correspondent Jon Cohen talks with producer Kevin McLean about how in Lesotho and Eswatini, treatment and prevention cutbacks are hitting pregnant people, children, and teens especially hard. This story is part of a series about…

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Will your family turn you into a chatbot after you die? Plus, synthetic squid skin, and the sway of matriarchs in ancient Anatolia 44:57

5M ago44:57

44:57

First up on the podcast, Contributing Correspondent Andrew Curry joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss a pair of Science papers on kinship and culture in Neolithic Anatolia. The researchers used ancient DNA and isotopes from 8000 to 9000 years ago to show how maternal lines were important in Çatalhöyük culture. ● E. Yüncü et al., Female lineages and c…

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How effective are plastic bag bans? And a whole new way to do astronomy 37:25

5M ago37:25

37:25

First up on the podcast, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is just coming online, and once fully operational, it will take a snapshot of the entire southern sky every 3 days. Producer Meagan Cantwell guides us through Staff Writer Daniel Clery’s trip to the site of the largest camera ever made for astronomy. Next on the show, probing the impact of plas…

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Why peanut allergy is so common and hot forests as test beds for climate change 37:22

5M ago37:22

37:22

First up on the podcast, Staff Writer Erik Stokstad talks with host Sarah Crespi about how scientists are probing the world’s hottest forests to better understand how plants will cope with climate change. His storyis part of a special issue on plants and heat, which includes reviews and perspectives on the fate of plants in a warming world. Next on…

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From 30min to 3min Build Times With React Native Enterprise Framework 1:07:54

5M ago1:07:54

1:07:54

What if you could skip most native builds—and still ship confidently? In this episode of React Universe On Air, we explore how the React Native Enterprise Framework (RNEF) helps large teams dramatically reduce build times and streamline development at scale.Our guest Michał Pierzchała, Principal Engineer at Callstack, shares how RNEF was built to s…

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Farming maize in ice age Michigan, predicting the future climate of cities, and our host takes a quiz on the sounds of science 42:05

6M ago42:05

42:05

First up on the podcast, we hear from Staff Writer Paul Voosen about the tricky problem of regional climate prediction. Although global climate change models have held up for the most part, predicting what will happen at smaller scales, such as the level of a city, is proving a stubborn challenge. Just increasing the resolution of global models req…

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Tickling in review, spores in the stratosphere, and longevity research 52:30

6M ago52:30

52:30

First up on the podcast, Online News Editor Michael Greshko joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about stories set high above our heads. They discuss capturing fungal spores high in the stratosphere, the debate over signs oflife on the exoplanet K2-18b, and a Chinese contender for world’s oldest star catalog. Next on the show, a look into long-standing …

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Strange metals and our own personal ‘oxidation fields’ 40:13

6M ago40:13

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First up on the podcast, freelance journalist Zack Savitsky joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about the strange metal state. Physicists are probing thebehavior of electrons in these materials, which appear to behave like a thick soup rather than discrete charged particles. Many suspect insights into strange metals might lead to the creation of room-t…

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A horse science roundup and using dubious brain scans as evidence of crimes 30:27

6M ago30:27

30:27

First up on the podcast, freelance journalist Jonathan Moens talks with host Sarah Crespi about a forensic test called brain electrical oscillation signature (BEOS) profiling, which police in India are using along with other techniques to try to tell whether a suspect participated in a crime, despite these technologies’ extremely shaky scientific g…

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You Don’t Need a Rewrite, You Need React Native Brownfield | React Universe On Air Coffee Talk #27 48:38

6M ago48:38

48:38

Is rewriting your native app really the only way to go cross-platform?In this Coffee Talk episode, we explore how React Native Brownfield offers a smarter path forward.Łukasz Chludziński invites Oskar Kwaśniewski and Burak Güner—who work directly on React Native Core and brownfield tooling—to discuss how recent advances in React Native have made br…

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Analyzing music from ancient Greece and Rome, and the 100 days that shook science 33:17

7M ago33:17

33:17

First up on the podcast, producer Meagan Cantwell worked with the Science News team to review how the first 100 days of PresidentDonald Trump’s administration have impacted science. In the segment, originally produced for video, we hear about how the workforce, biomedical research, and global health initiatives all face widespread, perhaps permanen…

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Tales from an Italian crypt, and the science behind ‘dad bods’ 32:28

7M ago32:28

32:28

First up on the podcast, Contributing Correspondent Andrew Curry talks with host Sarah Crespi about his visit to 17th century crypts under an old hospital in Italy. Researchers are examining tooth plaque, bone lesions, and mummified brains to learn more about the health, diet, and drug habits of Milan’s working poor 400 years ago. Next on the show,…

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A caterpillar that haunts spiderwebs, solving the last riddles of a famed friar, and a new book series 45:52

7M ago45:52

45:52

First up on the podcast, bringing Gregor Mendel’s peas into the 21st century. Back in the 19th century Mendel, a friar and naturalist, tracked traits in peas such as flower color and shape over many generations. He used these observations to identify basic concepts about inheritance such as recessive and dominant traits. Staff Writer Erik Stokstad …

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Linking cat domestication to ancient cult sacrifices, and watching aurorae wander 26:36

7M ago26:36

26:36

First up on the podcast, Online News Editor David Grimm joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about how an Egyptian cult that killed cats may have also tamed them. Next on the show, we hear about when the aurorae wandered. About 41,000 years ago, Earth’s magnetic poles took an excursion. They began to move equatorward and decreased in strength to one-ten…

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The metabolic consequences of skipping sleep, and cuts and layoffs slam NIH 28:34

8M ago28:34

28:34

First up on the podcast, ScienceInsider Editor Jocelyn Kaiser joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss big changes in science funding and government jobs this month, including an order to cut billions in contracts, lawsuits over funding caps and grant funding cancellations, and mass firings at the National Institutes of Health. Next on the show, taking s…

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TanStack Ecosystem with Tanner Linsley: React Query to TanStack Start | React Universe On Air #50 1:20:57

8M ago1:20:57

1:20:57

Tanner Linsley joins React Universe On Air to unpack the evolution of the TanStack ecosystem—from React Table and React Query to TanStack Router and the newest addition to the family, TanStack Start ✨What started as internal tooling for Nozzle became a suite of libraries that shaped how developers think about server state, routing, and full-stack R…

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Talking about engineering the climate, and treating severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy 31:56

8M ago31:56

31:56

Geoengineering experiments face an uphill battle, and a way to combat the pregnancy complication hyperemesis gravidarum First up on the podcast, climate engineers face tough conversations with the public when proposing plans to test new technologies. Freelance science journalist Rebekah White joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the questions people …

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Studying urban wildfires, and the challenges of creating tiny AI robots 32:46

8M ago32:46

32:46

First up this week, urban wildfires raged in Los Angeles in January. Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall discusses how researchers have come together to study how pollution from buildings at such a large scale impacts the environment and health of the local population. Next on the show, Mingze Chen, a graduate student in the mechanical engin…

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How Definitely Typed Changed TypeScript Forever | React Universe On Air #26 38:59

8M ago38:59

38:59

Ever wondered why TypeScript works so well with JavaScript libraries? It’s thanks to Definitely Typed, a project that helps developers use these libraries with type safety and autocompletion 🚀In this Coffee Talk episode of React Universe On Air, Mike Grabowski https://x.com/grabbou chats with Boris Yankov https://x.com/borisyankov, the creator and …

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Why seals don’t drown, and tracking bird poop as it enters the sea 38:13

8M ago38:13

38:13

First up this week, Newsletter Editor Christie Wilcox joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss stories from the sea, including why scientists mounted cameras on seabirds, backward and upside-down; newly discovered organisms from the world’s deepest spot, the Mariana Trench; and how extremely venomous, blue-lined octopus males use their toxin on females i…

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Why sign language could be crucial for kids with cochlear implants, studying the illusion of pain, and recent political developments at NIH 42:40

8M ago42:40

42:40

First up this week, science policy editor Jocelyn Kaiser joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the latest news about the National Institutes of Health—from reconfiguring review panels to canceled grants to confirmation hearings for a new head, Jay Bhattacharya. Next, although cochlear implants can give deaf children access to sound, it doesn’t always …

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Intrusive thoughts during pregnancy, paternity detectives, and updates from the Trump Tracker 55:09

9M ago55:09

55:09

First up this week, International News Editor David Malakoff joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the most recent developments in U.S. science under Donald Trump’s second term, from the impact of tariffs on science to the rehiring of probationary employees at the National Science Foundation. Next, we tackle the question of extra-pair paternity in peo…

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Multiple TV Platforms, One Codebase: React Native TV App Development | React Universe On Air #49 54:30

9M ago54:30

54:30

Eighteen TV platforms, one codebase—what could possibly go wrong? Tune in to find out how to tackle the technical and UX challenges of building for Android TV, Apple TV, Fire TV, Tizen, and more—all with React Native!In the 49th episode of React Universe On Air, Łukasz Chludziński (https://x.com/lukasz_app) teams up with Michael Khirallah (https://…

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Keeping transgenic corn sustainable, and sending shrunken heads home 35:58

9M ago35:58

35:58

First up this week, Kata Karáth, a freelance journalist based in Ecuador, talks with host Sarah Crespi about an effort to identify traditionally prepared shrunken heads in museums and collections around the world and potentially repatriate them. Next, genetically modified Bt corn has helped farmers avoid serious crop damage from insects, but planti…

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Shrinking AI for use in farms and clinics, ethical dilemmas for USAID researchers, and how to evolve evolvability 42:25

9M ago42:25

42:25

First up this week, researchers face impossible decisions as U.S. aid freeze halts clinical trials. Deputy News Editor Martin Enserink joins host Sarah Crespi to talk about how organizers of U.S. Agency for International Development–funded studies are grappling with ethical responsibilities to trial participants and collaborators as funding, suppli…

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Reanimated 4 is the Future of Smooth React Native Animations | React Universe On Air #48 49:28

9M ago49:28

49:28

Reanimated 4 is here to change the way we build animations in React Native. With CSS-style animations and transitions, animations are now easier to write, more predictable, and work more like they do on the web.In this episode, Ola Desmurs-Linczewska (https://x.com/p_syche_) sits down with Tomasz Zawadzki (https://x.com/tomekzaw_) and Mateusz Łopac…