Shows / Science Friday
Science Friday
Science Friday, as heard on PRI, is a weekly discussion of the latest news in science, technology, health, and the environment hosted by Ira Flatow. Ira interviews scientists, authors, and policymakers, and listeners can call in and ask questions as well.
Episodes
Science Friday1253: Is There Science Behind The ‘Nervous System Reset’?
On social media, the vagus nerve often gets billed as the gateway to nervous system nirvana: It’s your ticket to better rest, relaxation, and health if you…
Science Friday1252: AI Music Is On The Charts. Where Does It Go From Here?
In recent months, AI music has moved from novelty act into the realm of listenable music. For the first time, AI-generated songs from AI-generated artists are…
Science Friday1251: The Surprising Science Of Why Sneakers Squeak
March Madness is almost upon us, which means basketball arenas across the country will be filled with the thunderous roar of fans and the surprisingly loud…
Science FridayCan ‘Suggestion-Box Science’ Make Public Health More Useful?
Skepticism around public health policy, experts and institutions has left some researchers asking basic questions about their role and relationship with the…
Science Friday1250: Fixing Society's Toughest Problems? ‘It’s On You’
Ever heard an alcohol ad that tells you to “please drink responsibly”? Or a gambling ad that warns, "when the fun stops, stop”? Or been urged to reduce your…
Science Friday1249: 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…
Science Friday1248: Slow Release Of Federal Science Funds Holds Up Research
Earlier this year, Congress pushed back on the Trump administration’s attempts to slash funding for many science research programs, and restored that money to…
Science Friday1247: 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…
Science Friday1246: The Art And Science Of Staving Off Cognitive Decline
The new semi-autobiographical play “The Reservoir” spins a comedic narrative around cognitive reserve, the idea that doing brain-stimulating activities can…
Science Friday1245: Into the Woods, From Chestnut Genetics To Tiny Forests
American chestnut trees once towered over the landscape, dominating forests in parts of the eastern United States. But in the late 1800s, a fungal blight…
Science Friday1244: EPA Repeals The Legal Basis For Regulating Greenhouse Gases
On February 12, the Environmental Protection Agency dealt a major blow to the government’s power to fight climate change by rescinding a key piece of research…
Science Friday1243: How One Gene Affects Alzheimer’s Risk
An estimated 500,000 people are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States each year, but the causes and mechanisms of the condition remain a…
Science Friday1242: Are My THC Gummies Going Away?
Does the availability of “hemp-derived” THC products have you dazed and confused? A legal loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill lets these items be sold over the…
Science Friday1241: Why Aren’t There Biomarkers For Mental Illness?
Despite major advances in our understanding of the biology of mental health disorders, there’s no blood test or brain scan that will confirm if you have…
Science Friday1240: Autism Rates Appear To Be Even Across Sexes. Diagnosis Is Not
There’s a long-held idea that autism is more prevalent in boys than girls—the CDC says it’s three times as common. But a growing body of research suggests the…
Science Friday1239: AMA Joins Effort To Launch Independent Vaccine Review Panel
The gap between vaccine science and vaccine policy has been widening under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Now, the American Medical Association and the…
Science Friday1238: What A Snow Drought In The West Means For The Rest Of 2026
While parts of the eastern and southern US have had unusually high snowfall this year, the West is in a snow drought. The abysmal winter sports season is just…
Science Friday1237: Jump, Spin, Glide: The Science Of Figure Skating
Figure skating is a fan favorite at the Winter Olympics—for every event, the stands are packed to watch competitors glide, jump, and spin. But what does it…
Science Friday1236: How Are State-Run Psilocybin Therapy Programs Going?
In Oregon and Colorado, you can book an appointment for psilocybin therapy, where a licensed therapist takes you on a guided trip using the drug that makes…
Science Friday1235: A Little Grime Can Boost Kids’ Health. But What Kind?
You may have heard that a little dirt is good for kids. It helps them build up their immune systems, and sets them on a path to future health. But what kind of…
Science FridayMating, Marriage, And Monogamy In The Age Of Apps
With so many dating apps—and so many people using them—why are a record number of American adults single? Is marriage as important as it was a generation or…
Science Friday1233: What A Tea Party With A Bonobo Taught Us About Imagination
Our ability to imagine is part of what makes us who we are—not just as individuals, but also as humans. It turns out, though, that we may not be the only…
Science Friday1232: How Is Screen Time Affecting My Kid?
Screens are ubiquitous in today’s world, and concerns about how they affect kids are mounting. Last month, Australia banned social media use for kids under 16…
Science Friday1231: Who Wants To Smell An Ancient Embalmed Mummy?
Wandering through a museum, you can get a glimpse of what life in ancient societies looked like. But what did it smell like? And is it even possible to get a…
Science Friday1230: Stressed About The World? Take A Cue From Cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria may be the ultimate lesson in resilience. These 3.5 billion-year-old organisms have lived through hell-on-earth conditions, and found creative…
Science Friday1229: The Largest US Particle Collider Stops Its Collisions
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), the largest particle collider in the United States, collided its last particles in early February. RHIC is a…
Science Friday1228: Olympic Ski Mountaineering, And Mountain Goat Climbing Feats
This year’s Winter Olympics feature a new event called “skimo,” or ski mountaineering. The racing event involves periods of skiing uphill using “skins” for…
Science Friday1227: Why Worry About My Data If I Have Nothing To Hide?
As ICE cracks down in Minneapolis and across the country, reporters and privacy advocates have drawn attention to how the agency is using technology: scanning…
Science Friday1226: Should Ultraprocessed Foods Be Off The Menu?
The new dietary guidelines from the USDA call for Americans to “eat real food” and consume less “highly processed” food. But how? By some estimates…
Science Friday1225: The Growing Experiment Of Putting Solar Panels On Farmland
In an effort to make their farms more environmentally and economically sustainable, some farmers are experimenting with agrivoltaics: growing crops underneath…
Science Friday1224: We’re All Being Played By Metrics
Point systems are everywhere. Ready for movie night? Consult Rotten Tomatoes. Vetting a new pediatrician? See how many stars they have. At work, it can be even…
- Science Friday
The Middle + SciFri: How Can Trust In Science Be Restored?
We’re bringing you a special bonus episode from our friends at the live call-in show “The Middle with Jeremy Hobson.” Jeremy is joined by Science Friday Host…
Science Friday1222: Untangling The History Of Dog Domestication
All the pups we love—from chihuahuas to great danes—are descendants of the mighty gray wolf. But how did we end up with so many breeds? The story that's often…
Science Friday1221: Are These Unprecedented Times for Science, Really?
We keep hearing that these are unprecedented times for science: scientific skeptics running federal agencies, growing mistrust of vaccines, and messaging from…
Science Friday1220: How China Is Driving Down Electricity Costs With Renewables
In a speech last week in a speech at the World Economic Forum, President Trump said China was making a lot of wind turbines, but not using much wind power in…
Science Friday1219: Managing The Risks Of Spaceflight, 40 Years After Challenger
Forty years ago this week, the space shuttle Challenger exploded in flight, 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. All seven crew members were killed…
Science Friday1218: How A Mutation Made This Year’s Flu Season So Bad
A rogue strain of flu, subclade K, has sickened more than 19 million people in the US so far this season. And the flu shot hasn’t offered that much protection…
Science Friday1217: Tracking The Toxic Fallout Of The LA Fires
This time last year, Los Angeles was on fire, and more than 16,000 homes and buildings burned to the ground. Cars, batteries, solar panels, insulation, and…
Science Friday1216: Deepfakes Are Everywhere. What Can We Do?
Deepfakes have been everywhere lately, from fake AI images of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro following his (real) capture by the United States, to X’s Grok…
Science Friday1215: Looking Beyond Statins For New Ways To Lower Cholesterol
When it comes to “bad” cholesterol, most cardiologists say lower is better. But what’s the best way to get that number down? Can diet and exercise alone do the…
Science Friday1214: States Expected To See More ‘Anti-Science’ Bills This Year
An Associated Press investigation found that more than 420 “anti-science” bills were introduced in statehouses last year, targeting protections around public…
Science Friday1213: What’s Happening On The Slippery Surface Of Ice?
It’s a wintertime question that you may have had as you struggled down a frozen sidewalk, or strapped on some ice skates: Just why is ice slippery, anyway? It…
Science Friday1212: Teasing Apart The Causes And Early Signs Of Parkinson’s
Each year, around 90,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a neurodegenerative disease that can cause tremors and affect cognition. Scientists…
Science Friday1211: What Greenland Sharks Are Teaching Us About Aging Eyes
As we age, our vision gets blurrier, we form cataracts, and we have a higher risk of glaucoma. But Greenland sharks live for hundreds of years and still…
Science Friday1210: Secrets Of Ancient Concrete, And... Data Centers In Space?
The concrete of ancient Rome is famous for its durability. Just look at the Pantheon and those iconic aqueducts that helped transport water throughout the…
Science Friday1209: One Year Into Trump’s Term, Where Does Science Funding Stand?
Last February, Sudip Parikh, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, issued a dire warning about federal cuts to science, saying the…
Science Friday1208: Drilling Into The Details Of Venezuela’s Oil
With President Trump’s moves to take control of Venezuela’s oil production—including the seizure of incoming and outgoing oil tankers—there’s been a lot of…
Science Friday1207: ‘The Kissing Bug’ And The Story Of A Neglected Disease
Growing up, Daisy Hernández was told that her aunt had become ill from eating a bad apple. She watched as her aunt became sicker and sicker, and didn’t learn…
Science Friday1206: Are Raccoons On The Road To Domestication?
What does it mean to be a wild animal in a world dominated by humans? A recent study found that city-dwelling raccoons’ snouts are getting shorter—a sign of…
Science Friday1205: The Community Group Rethinking LA's Approach To Wildfires
A year ago this week, the Eaton and Palisades fires broke out in Los Angeles, and ultimately became one of the most destructive urban fire events in recent…
Science Friday1204: What Should Astronauts Do First When They Reach Mars?
When humans finally land on Mars, what should they do? A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine lays out the science…
Science Friday1203: Can The Rise In Solar Power Balance Out Clean Energy Cuts?
Since President Trump returned to office, his administration has been aggressive in rolling back clean energy initiatives. Trump’s “big beautiful bill” ended…
Science Friday1202: Are Ultramarathoners Just Built Different?
‘Tis the season for exercise resolutions. For a select few, an ultramarathon—a race of 50, 100, or even more miles—may be on the table for 2026. But is there a…
Science Friday1201: Your Cells Are Always Building A Whole New You
In the last year, you’ve basically replaced your body weight in new cells. So yes, it’s a new year, new you. To ring in 2026, we’re talking about starting…
Science Friday1200: A Look Back At 2025 In Science, From Federal Cuts To Space Junk
This has been a busy year in science, from government budget cuts and policy changes affecting research, to the record rise of renewables, to the surge in AI…
Science Friday1199: How Death Metal Singers Make Their Extreme Vocalizations
Being able to belt out a tune like Adele or Pavarotti is not just about raw talent. The best singers in the world have to work on their technique—like how to…
Science Friday1198: What The Sigma Is Algospeak?
Gen Alpha slang can seem unintelligible to adults, but linguist and TikToker Adam Aleksic argues language development in the internet age is worth legitimate…
Science Friday1195: Tangling With Entanglement And Other Big Ideas In Physics
What have we learned in recent years about black holes? Can entangled quantum particles really communicate faster than light? What’s the story behind…
Science Friday1197: The Science Of Thriving In Winter—By Embracing It
Health psychologist Dr. Kari Leibowitz traveled to some of the coldest, darkest places on earth to learn how people there don’t just survive, but thrive in…
Science Friday1196: A Neurologist Investigates His Own Musical Hallucinations
Imagine sitting at home and then all of a sudden you hear a men’s choir belting out “The Star Spangled Banner.” You check your phone, computer, radio…