Science Friday
Science Friday covers the outer reaches of space to the tiniest microbes in our bodies, providing entertaining and educational stories about science, technology, and other cool stuff. The podcast is produced by Science Friday and WNYC Studios.
Episodes
Could we live in a dinosaur world?
In the new movie “The End Of Oak Street,” bits of a suburban Michigan neighborhood get sucked back through time to a prehistoric world of dinosaurs. It made us wonder, aside from the danger of getting snacked on by an allosaurus, what other challenges would modern humans face in that ancient world?
Flora talks with paleontologist Steve Brusatte about the conditions of the late Cretaceous era.
Gues
Do microplastics in the body affect pregnancy?
Microplastics have been documented throughout the human body, including the reproductive system. But the field of microplastics research is very new, and it’s not yet clear if, or how, these tiny particles affect our health.
Producer Kathleen Davis has been reporting on the handful of scientists trying to uncover what microplastics mean for pregnancy and fetal development. She joins Host Flora Lic
Making a case for physicists to join climate research
When you think of physics, your mind might go to forces—like gravity, friction, and magnetism—or to astrophysics, like galaxies and exoplanets. But many of the same principles used to understand how the universe works can also be used to study Earth’s climate systems. At its core, climate change is a physics problem. But traditionally, research institutions have kept climate science and physics se
Creating 'world models' for robots + An AI math shakeup
When you ask an LLM like ChatGPT or Claude a question, the model goes through its massive amount of training data and guesses the answer by mathematically predicting the word most likely to appear next in a sentence.
This model, experts say, will not work well for technology designed to navigate the physical world. Something like a robot that works in a warehouse will instead require a “world mode
What can moments of lucidity teach us about Alzheimer’s?
Watching a loved one with Alzheimer's or dementia slowly lose their cognitive abilities can be heartbreaking. While the person you once knew seems to be slipping away, sometimes people with Alzheimer's briefly seem like their old selves again. They may remember a long-forgotten name or suddenly regain the ability to have a fluid conversation. What do these moments of lucidity really mean for the p
Colorado’s snow drought deals a major blow to recreation
Winter in Colorado looked very different this year. Many parts of the state experienced record-high temperatures and record-low snowpack, which had downstream effects on farming, sports, tourism, and more. For those economies and livelihoods that rely on snow, what happens when snow becomes unreliable? And can we prepare for it?
Producer Kathleen Davis speaks with Halle Zander, news director at As
How do you find a ‘lost’ species?
The earth is facing a biodiversity crisis, and there’s a lot of attention on species that are threatened, or at risk of dying out completely. But, there’s another critter category that’s a little more mysterious: species that are “lost to science.” This means scientists aren’t quite sure how many of them there are out there—or if there are any left at all.
Producer Kathleen Davis talks to biologis
What we get wrong about vaccine hesitancy
President Trump has signed an executive order calling for a change to the childhood vaccination schedule. Specifically, he wants to separate the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella, into three separate shots. There’s no scientific research to indicate that these changes would be beneficial, and the order has sparked backlash from medical associations and drug manufactur
Why this lab studies the speed of bug pee and other curiosities
In a lab in the Rocky Mountains, a group of scientists is hard at work trying to find answers across biology, physics, and engineering: They’re looking into things like the hydrodynamics of insect pee and the physics of sheepdog herding, and working to designing robots that resemble squid and hearing aids that only cost a dollar.
These endeavors may seem unrelated, but they’re glued together by bi
Some primates undergo even more extreme childbirth than humans
Human childbirth is often difficult and incredibly painful—just ask anyone who’s been through it. And for a long time, childbirth seemed to be uniquely difficult for humans. But a new study suggests that we aren’t alone: Some small primates birth offspring whose heads are nearly twice the size of the mother’s pelvic area.
So how do those primates go through difficult childbirths? Why didn’t evol
Deb Haaland is a politician, and proud of it
Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, was the first Native person to hold a cabinet position. Now she’s running to be governor of New Mexico.
Haaland joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk about her new memoir, “A Voice Like Mine,” her time at the Interior Department, and why she thinks lawsuits are a good thing when it comes to the environment.
Read an excerpt f
Sitting all day is terrible for us. Moving a little can help
Keeping your butt in a seat for hours a day increases the risk of heart attacks, diabetes, psychiatric conditions, and more. But in our tech-filled world, many of us lead sedentary lives, whether because of school, work, or leisure. Researchers set up an experiment to see how much movement would make a difference for people who spend their days at a desk—and 23,000 people signed up.
Joining Flora
A Nagasaki survivor and physician recounts his life's work
Dr. Masao Tomonaga was only 2 years old when the United States bombed his home city of Nagasaki. He survived, and grew up to become a physician for other survivors, known as hibakusha. He also studied hematology, and his research on leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes was foundational for understanding how radiation affects the body.
In August 2025, the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiro
What do people eat? Plant and animal DNA in sewage provide clues
Imagine you wanted to get a general idea of what people are eating in a given community. You could look at grocery store sales, or do surveys, but neither can capture a complete picture.
Microbiome researcher Lawrence David and his lab look to another source of data: genetic material in sewage water. It turns out that detectable DNA signatures of individual plant and animal species remain behind
3D images of galaxies will rock you (ft. Queen)
"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see."
There’s something about space that captures the imagination of scientists and artists alike. Just ask astrophysicist Derek Ward-Thompson and astronomer Brian May (yes, THAT Brian May, guitarist of Queen). In their book "Islands in Infinity: Galaxies 3-D," they
The evolution of an enzyme engineer who changed chemistry
In nature, enzymes are the catalysts that make much of biology work. They jumpstart chemical reactions that either wouldn’t happen, or would happen super slowly. They break down food, build other molecules, extract energy, and more. What if we could harness evolution to engineer designer enzymes that do other specific jobs that benefit us?
Putting that idea into practice changed the game for chem
Why is brain cancer so hard to treat?
Brain cancers are rare, but devastating. Patients face short life expectancies after diagnosis. Brain tumors are often impossible to remove completely. And radiation and chemotherapy don’t always stop them from spreading.
It’s a daunting class of disease to study, but that didn’t dissuade physician-researcher Michelle Monje from trying. She has spent two decades studying how brain tumors form and
How can astronaut food be better?
Astronaut food is not known as a frontier of culinary imagination, unless you count rehydrated shrimp cocktail. As NASA prepares for longer trips to the moon and Mars, is space cuisine ready for an overhaul?
Flora speaks with retired astronaut Clayton Anderson, who spent 167 days in space, and chef David Skinner, who has advised NASA on how to make food for astronauts better.
Guests:
Clayton And
The reality of living with extreme heat in India
At one point this year, the 50 hottest cities on the planet were all in one country: India. The average peak temperature in those cities was 112 F. India is one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world, and weather disasters, such as heat waves, have become more extreme and more common in recent years.
So how is this extreme heat affecting people in India? And what needs to change to
Tracking shark populations, one shark at a time
About 130 days a year, a research vessel leaves Miami and sets out to catch, measure, sample, tag, and release sharks in Florida’s coastal waters. Over the course of a year, they’ll encounter about 600 animals in a process called “fisheries independent monitoring,” an effort to gather data on sea creatures that isn’t skewed by changes in fishing procedures, equipment, or regulations.
Marine cons
The Black women codebreakers of the Cold War
During the early Cold War era, the United States Army and later the NSA began recruiting and training codebreakers and intelligence officers to decipher intercepted Soviet messages.
Among those recruits were a group of highly skilled Black women who were employed as cryptologists to decode these messages. But their role in Cold War intelligence operations has been largely overlooked, until now.
Ho
Asha de Vos’ journey from deck hand to marine science leader
The tropical waters of Sri Lanka, an island off the coast of India, are home to a population of blue whales unlike any other. These whales stay put, while every other known population migrates. That discovery was made by budding scientist Asha de Vos more than 20 years ago—it made a splash, and so did she. She later became the first Sri Lankan to earn a PhD studying marine mammals, charting a new
Why worry about my data If I have nothing to hide?
In the last couple months, Vermont, Alabama, and Oklahoma have passed data privacy laws. Massachusetts is negotiating its own version. Meanwhile, congressional lawmakers have introduced national privacy bills that would preempt these state laws.
In light of all this legislation, we’re revisiting an interview from February about how the United States’ data ecosystem makes it possible for any number
Peering through dust clouds to the center of the galaxy
In 2020, Andrea Ghez shared the Nobel Prize for her observations of a supermassive compact object at the center of the Milky Way galaxy—an object that has all the hallmarks of a supermassive black hole. Ghez had developed techniques that allowed her to peer through galactic dust clouds with the Keck telescopes and observe the movements of stars orbiting the galactic center. Measuring their velocit
Why a paper about relocating coastal communities hit a nerve
Back in May, a paper published in Nature Sustainability reignited a decades-old debate about coastal Louisiana: Should people leave? Climate researchers wrote that due to rising sea levels, coastal Louisiana has crossed the point of no return and that governments should be making plans now for places like New Orleans to relocate.
Jessica Dandridge-Smith, who runs The Water Collaborative in New Orl
How do you piece together what life was like in Pompeii?
Pompeii is known for its disastrous end with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, but for archeologists, what came before is just as interesting. Researchers are using artifacts left behind in the remarkably well-preserved Roman city to piece together what life was like for the thousands of people who lived there 2,000 years ago.
A new book and television show analyze some of these clues to tell the s
Hold the lettuce: Updates on the 'explosive' cyclospora outbreak
An outbreak of the foodborne illness cyclosporiasis has sent thousands of people running to the bathroom this summer. Health officials have linked the outbreak to lettuce served at Taco Bell locations in five states, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Food safety expert Byron Chaves joins Flora to talk about the “explosive” nature of the illness and why pinpointing a source of the
A space telescope launch + Alvin submersible check-up
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled for an early launch at the end of August. It will rest about a million miles from Earth at Lagrange point 2, where forces of gravity and motion balance out, allowing it to orbit the sun in sync with the Earth. The Roman Telescope is designed to collect masses of data that could inform questions about dark energy, dark matter, and exoplanets. Jacki
How does a tick bite cause a red meat allergy?
For two decades, a perplexing illness has been spreading: After a lone-star tick bite, people find themselves with a severe allergic reaction to red meat. The CDC estimates up to 450,000 people in the U.S. may be affected with alpha-gal syndrome, up from just a few dozen documented cases in 2009. New research finds that in some states, more than 30% of people are positive for alpha-gal antibodies—
What will our reaction be when we discover aliens?
One of the most irresistible questions in sci-fi stories about aliens is what our reaction will be when we learn of their existence. Horror? Bewilderment? Relief? Euphoria? It’s a scenario we love to imagine again and again, like in Steven Spielberg’s recent movie, “Disclosure Day.”
But how would humanity react if we learned of intelligent aliens? Can you actually study that? It turns out there’s
Beautiful botflies, luscious leeches, and the wonder of parasites
Dino Martins has plucked maggots out of a dead elephant, pulled botflies out of camel snot, and willingly let a horsefly feast on him. Why? Because he’s obsessed with parasites.
Dino is an entomologist who grew up in rural Kenya, and he’s worked all over the world studying how insects keep this planet alive. And along the way, he met some of the world’s most iconic freeloaders, which he describes
China's booming biotech, from a brain implant to drug discovery
In March, China became the first country to approve an invasive brain-computer interface beyond clinical trials. The implant, called NEO, is now available to some patients with limb paralysis due to a spinal cord injury. Ira talks with Wired staff writer Emily Mullin about the significance of this milestone.
Plus, brain implants aren’t the only development: China’s entire biotech industry has skyr
Reconnecting with the night sky and reining in light pollution
What happens when the skies are no longer dark at night? Writer Craig Childs biked from the brightest night sky, to the darkest, to find out what we lose when the lights don’t go out. He joins Host Ira Flatow to talk about his book “The Wild Dark,” our SciFri Book Club pick for July and August.
Plus, astronomer John Barentine fills us in on DarkSky International’s latest report, “Artificial Light
Amid shifting politics, can we build stable global health systems?
The ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda has become the third-largest on record. And while the regional response is more robust than it was during the largest outbreak, in 2014-2016, the U.S. has now largely divested from global health initiatives under President Trump. So it raises the question: What role should the U.S. play in global health? And how do we build
How does the gut-brain connection work?
Gut feelings, trusting your gut, butterflies: We have lots of expressions about how our brains and our bowels are intertwined. But how well do we understand the science of this on the biomolecular level? And which of those organs is actually in the driver's seat?
Flora churned through the details with gastroneurologists Emeran Mayer and Trischa Pasricha on stage at the 2026 Aspen Ideas Festival i
Investigating ‘flow state’ with the bassist from Phish
The band Phish has toured for over 40 years. One of the draws of their legendary live shows—which can go on for 8 hours—is finding moments of “flow,” when the band members lock into an improvised jam, finding new musical ideas in real time.
Phish fans live for these transcendent moments, but so do the musicians—to the point that Mike Gordon, the band’s bass player, is funding scientific research t
How the US patent system keeps drug prices high
Americans pay roughly three times as much for prescription meds as people in other wealthy nations. But why?
Tahir Amin argues it’s largely to do with how our patent systems work. He’s been on both sides of the issue: He spent a decade as an intellectual property lawyer, helping corporations use patents to protect their bottom lines. Then he moved to India and saw firsthand how the global patent s
What was science like in America 250 years ago?
If you hear “colonial America” and “science,” one name probably comes to mind: Benjamin Franklin. But he wasn’t the only one thinking big thoughts and asking big questions. Many other natural philosophers were also looking at the world in new ways, and trying to make sense of how it worked.
In honor of the nation’s 250th birthday, Host Ira Flatow traveled to Boston, the birthplace of the America
An artificial cell eats, grows, and reproduces. Is it alive?
Researchers have engineered an artificial cell out of chemicals and biomolecules that, at a basic level, can eat, grow, duplicate its own genetic code, and reproduce itself. The cell, dubbed SpudCell, is aimed at creating a chassis that can be adapted to create biological factories for the chemicals humans rely on for modern life, from fuels to pharmaceuticals. But it also raises the question of w
Growing lunar potatoes + Dealing with razor-sharp moon dust
Imagine this: You’re an astronaut, you’ve landed on the moon, and as you’re taking one small step for mankind, you kick up a bunch of lunar dirt. Now, tiny, jagged particles of dust are on your spacesuit, sticking to the spacecraft, getting in the machinery, and into your lungs. These are the kinds of problems planetary geologist Erica Jawin is trying to solve as NASA prepares for future moon base
Even Nobel Prize winners deal with imposter syndrome
Around 25 years ago, Ardem Patapoutian set out to investigate the fundamental biology behind our sense of touch. Through a long process of gene elimination, he identified a class of sensors in the cell membrane that turn physical pressure into an electrical signal. He changed the game in the field of sensation and perception, and in 2021 shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his wor
Squirrel poop drops Ice Age clues + The neuroscience of laughter
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, deep in the mountains of the Yukon, a ground squirrel pooped. That scat stayed frozen for millenia—until very recently, when researchers thawed it out and realized it was a literal data dump. They found traces of a surprising number of animals and plants, providing a detailed snapshot of life during the last ice age. Flora talks with biomolecular archaeologist T
Promising new treatments for pancreatic cancer and ALS
Pancreatic cancer is among the most deadly forms of cancer, and it can be difficult to catch early. But there’s some good news: Clinical trials of a new drug called daraxonrasib found that it doubled the survival time of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. And some oncologists are calling it a game changer—not just for pancreatic cancer, but potentially other forms of cancer too. Ira talks w
That chlorine smell at the pool? It’s pee
On a hot summer day, there’s nothing better than a dip in a cold pool. But you know who can ruin that for you? A scientist who studies pool chemistry. What chemical reactions are happening in that swimming pool when the water comes into contact with our bodily fluids and skin products?
Environmental engineer Ernest Blatchley sits down with Flora Lichtman to discuss his findings after two decades o
Under proposed rule, science funding must pass political review
The federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed rule changes that would bring a major shift in how scientific grants are awarded by U.S. government agencies. Under the current process, researchers submit grant proposals that are then vetted and scored by a committee of experts in that scientific field, with top-scoring proposals recommended for funding.
If its proposed changes are e
Can you learn to love the scorpion?
If you have arachnophobia, consider this your opportunity to try exposure therapy: A new study suggests that 415 million years ago, in modern-day England and Wales, a scorpion the length of a golden retriever was scurrying around, complete with 6-inch pincers. Flora talks with lead study author Richie Howard about the finding.
If you’re grossed out by a 3-foot scorpion, you’re not alone. But, scor
FDA approves a well-known sunscreen ingredient—finally
The FDA recently approved a sunscreen ingredient called bemotrizinol, or BEMT, that’s been used in Europe and Asia for years. This is the first new sunscreen ingredient approved in the United States in over two decades. Meanwhile, skin cancer has become the most common cancer in the U.S.
Flora discusses the chemistry of sunblock with a sunscreen chemist AJ Addae, and the regulatory process that l
Why do sports announcers talk like that?
If you watch sports, whether the recent NBA finals or the ongoing World Cup matches, you may have noticed that the athletes aren’t the only ones putting on a show. The announcers seem to be playing a beautiful game of their own, capturing the excitement and play-by-play of the game in a unique blend of sentence structure, elocution, and pitch. Linguists have even given this speech pattern a name:
Swords, cannibalism, poison: inside the world of killer microbes
There is a murderous crime spree happening right under—and perhaps inside—our noses. Killer microbes armed with weapons are eviscerating, assassinating, and detonating their fellow microbes. And the newest culprit? A protist that morphs into a cannibilastic supergiant when times get tough.
Host Flora Lichtman talks with Glen D’Souza and Ben Larson, two detectives who study these micro-murders. Th
When music transports you to a different place
Do you ever hear a song that transports you to a specific place and time? This auditory wormhole has a name: musical daydreams. Music cognition expert Elizabeth Margulis studies why they happen, and what they tell us about our brains. She joins Host Flora Lichtman to discuss this phenomenon.
Guest:
Dr. Elizabeth Margulis is a professor and director of Princeton’s Music Cognition Lab. She’s also th
A vast whale graveyard + Zombie sea cucumbers
Researchers just published details of a massive undersea graveyard of whales deep in the Indian Ocean. Spanning about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles), it contains whale remains dating back more than 5 million years—and at least five active whale fall sites still teeming with life. Fossil whale expert Nick Pyenson joins Host Flora Lichtman to discuss these findings.
Then, marine biologists Rachel Sipl
Should we bring mountain lions back to the Northeast?
Big cats used to roam the entire United States. You might know them as mountain lions, pumas, cougars, or catamounts. Though they go by many names, they're actually all the same species.
Their current population is mostly confined to the West, and part of Florida, though in recent years they’ve been spotted in other areas east of the Mississippi River. Most cougars were gone from the Northeast by
Blue Origin explosion hits NASA timeline + Artemis III crew
When Blue Origin’s New Glenn spacecraft exploded in an enormous fireball during a ground test a couple weeks ago, it sent shockwaves not only through the air, but through NASA’s timeline for the upcoming Artemis missions.
It also came at an especially bad time for Jeff Bezos’ rocket company—just days after it was awarded a slew of NASA contracts to deliver equipment to the moon. Blue Origin had al
Why can I handle tequila but not rum?
‘Tis the season for porch beers and happy hours, and we’re taking on listener questions about how alcohol affects us. Like, is a glass of wine at dinner really good for you? And why do sugary drinks give us hangovers?
Joining Guest Host Jane Lindholm to answer these questions and more are brewer and chemist Tom Shellhammer and neuroscientist Jacqui Barker.
Guests:
Dr. Jacqui Barker is an associate
AI + turfgrass science in the most high-tech World Cup yet
The 2026 World Cup will be the largest one yet, and FIFA is trying to make it the most high-tech, too. The federation has partnered with tech giant Lenovo to launch Football AI Pro, which is designed to analyze over 2,000 different metrics and deliver real-time insights to coaches, players, and analysts. Guest Host Jane Lindholm chats with ESPN writer Ryan O’Hanlon about how AI analytics actually
How extreme athletes like Alex Honnold keep their cool
Elite athletes spend a lot of time training their bodies for strength, endurance, coordination, and precision. But what about their brains? Can psychology help athletes achieve peak performance?
Joining Flora Lichtman to talk about this are professional climber Alex Honnold and Jessica Bartley, psychologist for U.S. Olympians and Paralympians.
Guests:
Alex Honnold is a professional climber, fou
Parenting tips from the animal kingdom
If you’ve ever been a child, had a child, or seen a child face down in a supermarket aisle screaming, you know that parenting can be tough. But humans aren’t the only ones raising their young, so how do animals deal with toddlers that won’t follow directions or little ones that are constantly begging for snacks?
Parent and science journalist Elizabeth Preston, who wrote the book “The Creatures' Gu
Wait, is my washing machine playing Schubert?
A few weeks ago, we talked to two sonic branding experts who compose music for household appliances. And we played for them a song “sung” by a washing machine that they didn’t really appreciate. But many of our listeners immediately identified the tune, a famous melody by 19th-century composer Franz Schubert.
And, as our guest tells us, it’s not just any tune—it’s one of Schubert’s most beloved co
A virus hunter in Nigeria has thoughts on the Ebola outbreak
The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring Uganda is caused by the Bundibugyo virus. There’s no specific treatment or vaccine for this strain, unlike the more common Zaire strain that caused the 2014 outbreak.
Molecular biologist Christian Happi has dedicated his career to improving genomic sequencing capabilities and virus monitoring across the continent o
How did Neanderthals deal with illness and injuries?
If you look up where medicine originated, or the earliest medical interventions, you’ll probably find yourself reading about ancient Greece or Egypt or Mesopotamia. But what about before that? How did early humans treat illnesses or cope with injuries? What did a Neanderthal do if she broke a rib or had a toothache?
Flora digs into these questions with archaeologist Penny Spikins and microbiologi
Looking for life in the clouds of Venus
A group of researchers and private investors are planning a series of privately funded missions to Venus, hoping to find signs of life. That may seem like a startling possibility. Although Venus is a close neighbor to Earth, it has a smothering atmosphere of carbon dioxide that has allowed the planet’s surface to heat to temperatures that would melt lead. There’s crushing pressure. And to top it o
Meet the drug developer taking on wildlife diseases
Many of the forces driving species to extinction—habitat destruction, pollution, climate change—also fuel the spread of disease. And plants and animals around the globe are facing their own little pandemics, from cancer to fungal diseases.
But what if we could treat them with cutting-edge medicines? Is there something drug developers could do to help? Chemist Tim Cernak thinks so. He has been deve
Can the shingles vaccine stave off dementia?
The benefits of getting a shingles vaccine seem relatively straightforward: It will prevent you from getting shingles, a painful rash caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. But researchers have found a surprising link between getting the shingles vaccine and a lower risk of developing dementia. And that’s not the only vaccine that seems to have additional benefits. So what’s going on her
Inside the Nebraska quarantine facility responding to hantavirus
Two disease outbreaks are dominating the news: Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and hantavirus, which started spreading on a cruise ship.
The U.S. has a one-of-a-kind medical facility that exists just for emergencies like this. It’s called the National Quarantine Unit, and it’s in Omaha, Nebraska. Right now, 18 Americans from the cruise ship where hantavirus broke out are in quaranti
Surveying wildlife along Lewis and Clark's route, 220 years later
When Lewis and Clark crossed the United States in the early 1800s, they recorded their wildlife observations along the way. Now, more than 200 years later, an expedition is following the same route and partnering with scientists across the U.S. to catalog animals and track the changes. Expedition leader Roland Kays joins Host Flora Lichtman to share some highlights.
Plus, using cell phone data and
Pope Leo's encyclical on AI, and the Vatican science advisors
On Monday, Pope Leo XIV presented his encyclical, an open letter from the church, on AI. The 42,000-word document covers a lot of terrain—from screen time to resource extraction to job loss—but the core message is summed up in the title: “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding The Human Person In The Time Of Artificial Intelligence.”
How did the pope arrive at these views? Among those advising him
Bizarre exoplanet clouds + Counting insects with weather radar
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have observed clouds on a hot gas giant exoplanet called WASP-94A b, some 700 light-years away. But these clouds aren’t your usual wisps of water vapor—they’re vaporized sand. Astronomer David Sing joins Host Flora Lichtman to describe the planetary weather, and how the researchers were able to observe it.
Then, ecologist Elske Tielens joins Flora
A trailblazing geneticist reflects on her life and work
It’s common knowledge that many diseases and conditions have some kind of genetic link. But that wasn't always the case. In 1990, long before the Human Genome Project tied so many health issues to differences in genetics, researchers identified a gene called BRCA1. It was the first gene linked to a hereditary form of any common cancer. People with certain variants of BRCA1 stood a higher risk of d
Is that spooky old house full of ghosts, or just infrasound?
Old creepy houses are a horror cliche, but why? Why do they freak us out? According to new research, it might have something to do with infrasound: a sound that’s below the range of human hearing, potentially emitted by low-rumbling pipes or old boilers more common in older houses.
Psychologist and pseudoscience researcher Rodney Schmaltz explains his new study, and what role infrasound could pl
How do clinical trials work, and who can participate?
We recently got a call from a SciFri listener in Florida who has autoimmune arthritis. He told us that over the years he’d taken 10 drugs, and each out eventually stopped working. He then tried to enroll in a clinical trial for a new drug for his condition, but he was rejected specifically because he was on his 10th drug.
Today we’re digging into clinical trials and how they work. Are there incent
Use of herbicide linked to Parkinson's is on the rise in the US
The herbicide paraquat is so toxic it’s banned in over 70 countries. But its use in the U.S. is growing, despite known links to Parkinson’s disease. In southeastern Mississippi, an industrial plant is leaking tens of thousands of pounds of the chemical into the air.
Environmental reporter Delaney Nolan and epidemiologist Beate Ritz join Host Flora Lichtman to discuss the implications of this leak,
Why does fashion repeat in 20-year cycles? Math has the answer
Bucket hats. Low-rise jeans. Track suits. As you might’ve noticed, Y2K fashion is in right now. People say that fashion moves in 20-year cycles, and it turns out…it does! At least according to math.
Host Flora Lichtman sits down with mathematician Emma Zajdela to figure out how she analyzed over 35,000 images of women's clothing dating all the way back to the 1860s to confirm this theory.
Guest:
Earth's ancient hydrogen, and fossilized vomit
A recent study simulated the extreme temperatures and pressure of the Earth’s interior by squeezing a sample between diamonds and heating it with a laser. In those simulations, researchers found that the Earth’s core may contain vast amounts of hydrogen, locked away in alloys with iron and silicon. Planetary scientist Anat Shahar joins Host Ira Flatow to discuss what this tells us about how the pl
How yawning might help clear dirty fluid from the brain
Just about every animal with a backbone yawns (maybe even dinosaurs), but why we do it is still something of a mystery. A SciFri listener from Texas recently spotted some research that suggests yawning could play a role in clearing waste products from the brain, and asked us to get to the bottom of it. Biomechanical engineer Lynne Bilston, an author on that study, joins Flora to discuss the findin
The new frontier of cancer research is in space
An upcoming resupply mission will carry tumor samples to the International Space Station for research. Experiments in microgravity have yielded shocking results: Some tumors triple in size in just 10 days—the kind of growth that could take 10 years on Earth. What does that mean for science, and for astronauts?
Joining Ira to discuss this new frontier in cancer research are hematologist Catriona J
Who's composing music for my washing machine?
Have you noticed that your newer appliances are serenading you? Many new washing machines, dishwashers, dryers, and vacuums have sonic signatures. But why? And who are the composers making music for the machines in your home?
Flora talks to sonic branding experts Audrey Arbeeny, who has developed sounds for washing machines; and Joel Beckerman, who has composed for Roomba.
Guests:
Audrey Arbeeny
How El Niño shapes the world’s weather trends
Scientists studying climate models say there’s a high chance this will be an El Niño year—and that we could be in for a “super” El Niño. The difference is indicated by sea surface temperatures in part of the Pacific Ocean rising a little—or a lot—above their long-term average.
El Niño is one half of what climatologists call the ENSO, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. The oscillation operates on a
Planning your photo ops for a trip around the moon
In April, the crew of Artemis II got an unprecedented tour of the far side of the moon, and they brought back a proverbial shoebox full of pictures. Lunar scientist Kelsey Young stayed on Earth, and helped guide the astronauts through their photo shoots from Mission Control.
Young talks with Host Flora Lichtman about how the science team chose their shot list, how to lead distant astronauts in the
Understanding the gynecological health crisis facing Black women
When Kemi Doll was in medical school, she learned that Black women are twice as likely to die from uterine cancer as white women, and also suffer disproportionately from other uterine-related conditions. What wasn’t explained was why. Now a gynecologic oncologist, Doll has made it her mission to change these trends and improve care for Black women.
She joins Flora to discuss her new book, “A Terr
Data about your body is up for sale. Who's buying it?
Cameras and sensors are just about everywhere, recording your face, how you walk, where you go, your heart rate. And AI is making it easy to amass and analyze that data about all of us.
Privacy attorney Anne Toomey McKenna joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk about the ubiquity of biometric surveillance and how data brokers are gathering and selling our information, including to law enforcement.
Gu
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