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 Friday1011: Possible Signature Of Life Detected On Exoplanet—Maybe | A Colossal Squid Video
The Webb Space Telescope picked up traces of dimethyl sulfide on planet K2-18b. On Earth, the molecule comes from microbes and phytoplankton. Also, researchers…
Science Friday1010: How ‘Science Interpreters’ Make Hidden Science Visible
Imagine you’re diving into a cell. You’re paddling around in the cytoplasm, you’re climbing up a mitochondria. If you’re having a hard time picturing this…
Science Friday1009: The Navajo Researcher Reviving A Desert Peach | A New Dino With Blade-Like Horns
Bringing back Southwest peach orchards won’t be easy, but researchers are on the lookout for remaining trees—and they need help. And, the newly discovered…
Science Friday1008: How Interjections Regulate Conversation | Saccharin For Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
We are rounding up your questions about roads. What confounds you about traffic, or how interstates are laid out? Are there certain road design elements that…
Science Friday1007: Trump’s Nominee For NASA Administrator Meets Congress
On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation heard testimony from Jared Isaacman, President Trump’s nominee to lead NASA. During…
Science Friday1006: How Real Doctors Brought ‘The Pitt’ To Life
We go inside the scientifically accurate ER world created for the TV show with one of its medical consultants.What is it actually like to work in an emergency…
Science Friday1005: What Will Replace The International Space Station?
NASA is planning to decommission the International Space Station by the end of 2030. The ISS, which began operations in 2000, is reaching the end of its…
Science Friday1004: What Artificial General Intelligence Could Mean For Our Future
What happens when AI moves beyond convincing chatbots and custom image generators to something that matches—or outperforms—humans? Each week, tech companies…
Science Friday1003: Climate Change Has Made Allergy Season Worse. How Do We Cope?
In many parts of the United States, spring has sprung. There’s nothing quite like those first few beautiful days of spring. They’re delightful—until the…
Science Friday1002: Microdosing Peanut Butter Could Alleviate Some Peanut Allergies
Over the past two decades, rates of peanut allergies in children have more than tripled. A variety of theories has been proposed to explain this, from a rise…
Science Friday1001: The Department Of Health And Human Services Cuts 10,000 Jobs
The cuts hit multiple agencies, affecting work on HIV, gun violence prevention, vaccines, minority health research, and more. On April 1, thousands of federal…
Science Friday1000: Forecasting Cuts Spark Worries About Hurricane Season | Soothing Babies With Music
Emergency response experts say that funding and staff cuts at the National Weather Service could mean less reliable weather forecast. And, babies like music…
Science Friday999: Massive Iceberg Breaks Off Antarctica, Revealing Wonders Below
In January, an iceberg the size of Chicago splintered off from the Antarctic Peninsula and drifted away in the Bellingshausen Sea.As luck would have it, a team…
Science Friday998: TikTok Is Shaping How We Think About ADHD
Mental health information on social media can be both revelatory and misleading. How do clinicians and their patients make sense of it? TikTok and other social…
Science Friday997: Engineering Lessons One Year After The Baltimore Bridge Collapse
Engineers take an in-depth look at why the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed and how to prevent future tragedies.In the early morning of March…
Science Friday996: 23andMe Bankruptcy | A Coating That Can Slow A Golf Ball’s Roll
The company has genetic data of 15 million people, which could be shared with a future buyer. Here’s how to delete it. Plus, an experimental coating could make…
Science Friday995: AI Word Choice | When Dwarf Lemurs Hibernate, Their Chromosomes Do Something Odd
Certain words are overrepresented in text written by AI language models. A study investigates why such patterns develop. Also, the ends of chromosomes, called…
Science Friday994: Developing Faster, Simpler Tools To Treat Tuberculosis
TB kills more than a million people each year. Dr. Mireille Kamariza has spent her career developing better detection and treatment tools.As the United States…
Science Friday993: Author John Green On The Many Ways Tuberculosis Shaped Human Life
In a new book, author John Green traces how the disease has impacted culture, geography, and even fashion over the centuries. Tuberculosis (TB) has had an…
Science Friday992: DESI Data Strengthens Evidence Of Change In Dark Energy
Researchers built the largest 3D map of our universe yet. What they found supports the idea that dark energy could have evolved over time.One of the mysteries…
Science Friday991: NASA Astronauts Return To Earth After Extended Stay On The ISS | Bottle "Pop" Physics
After nine months aboard the International Space Station, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have finally landed back on Earth. Also, a German…
Science Friday990: The Evolving Science Of How Childhood Trauma Shapes Adults | Butterfly Memories
The framework of Adverse Childhood Experiences started with an unexpected finding over 30 years ago. How is our approach changing? We know that experiences…
Science Friday989: How NIH Cuts Could Affect U.S. Biomedical Research
Former NIH director Dr. Harold Varmus speaks out about what recent budget cuts and policy changes could mean for science.One of the areas targeted by President…
Science Friday988: Fungi Create Complex Supply Chains | A Rookie Robot Umpire Takes The Field
Fungal networks in the ground ferry crucial nutrients to plants. But how do brainless organisms form complex supply chain networks? Also, in this year’s…
Science Friday987: 10% Of NOAA Staff Laid Off | Frozen Funds Leave Farmers In Limbo
Layoffs at the agency, which releases weather forecasts and monitors extreme weather, could have serious implications. Also, funds for climate and…
Science Friday986: Pi, Anyone? A Celebration Of Math And What’s New
It’s March 14, or Pi Day, that day of the year where we celebrate the ratio that makes a circle a circle. The Greek letter that represents it is such a part of…
Science Friday985: How Plants Powered Prehistoric Giants Millions Of Years Ago
When you imagine prehistoric life, it’s likely that the first thing that comes to mind are dinosaurs: long-necked Apatosauruses, flying Pterosaurs, big toothy…
Science Friday984: How Narwhals Use Their Tusks To Hunt And Play | This Week's ‘Blood Moon’ Lunar Eclipse
An international team of researchers used drones to study narwhals and learn more about their behavior. And, a total lunar eclipse will be visible across most…
Science Friday983: Where Have All The Butterflies Gone?
A sweeping new study on one of the most beloved insects, maybe the only truly beloved insect—the butterfly—details its rapid population decline in the United…
Science Friday982: What Does Dismantling USAID Mean For Global Health?
On the very first day of Donald Trump’s second term, he signed an executive order targeting foreign aid programs, especially the U.S. Agency for International…
Science Friday981: Protesters ‘Stand Up For Science’ At Rallies Nationwide | Blue Ghost Lunar Lander
Scientists aren’t always encouraged to be politically active. But recent political interference by the Trump administration has many fired up. And, the Blue…
Science Friday980: The Effort To Save Thousands Of Donor Kidneys | Ocean Liner Will Become An Artificial Reef
Last year, 9,000 deceased donor kidneys were discarded due to storage and time limitations. A kidney “life support” machine could change that. Also, the SS…
Science Friday979: Where Does Plastic And Other Trash Go After We Throw It Away?
A journalist traveled to five continents to learn about the afterlife of our trash, and why most “recyclable” plastic actually isn’t.Have you ever gotten to…
Science Friday978: An Animal’s Size And Its Cancer Risk | Bastetodon, A 30 Million-Year-Old Apex Predator
A study finds that Peto’s Paradox, which states that larger animals are no more likely to get cancer than smaller ones, may not hold up. Also, a nearly…
Science Friday977: How Trump’s DEI Ban Will Affect Medical Research
Changes limiting programs, grants, and even the nature of studies are already underway at the NIH, NSF, FDA, CDC, and more.On President Trump’s first day in…
Science Friday976: Conflicting Directives Sow Confusion For NIH Workers | The Mycobiome
The acting head of the NIH reportedly pushed back against legal guidance to resume grant funding, leaving federal workers in the lurch. Also, though fungi make…
Science Friday975: The Best Tail For Balance | Bindi Irwin Wants Kids To Become ‘Wildlife Warriors’
The bone and joint structures in mammal tails help them keep their balance. Could those benefits be adapted for robots? And, in her first children’s book…
Science Friday974: A Vaccine For Pancreatic Cancer Continues To Show Promise
Pancreatic cancer is notoriously difficult to treat, and about 90% of diagnosed patients die from the disease. A team at Memorial Sloan Kettering has been…
Science Friday973: Why Are Flu And Other Viral Infection Rates So High This Year?
It’s been an unusually tough winter virus season. Rates of flu-like infections are higher than they’ve been in nearly 30 years. And for the first winter since…
Science Friday972: Making Sense Of Federal Cuts To Science—And What Comes Next
Last week, some 3,500 people from across scientific fields gathered in Boston for the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science…
Science Friday971: Tomb Of Egyptian King Unearthed | Why The Internet Was Captivated By A Hideous Fish
Finding the original tomb of the royal is one of the most significant developments in Egyptian archeology in recent history. Also, a video of a gloriously…
Science Friday970: What Happens To Your Body When You’re Grieving
We have lots of expressions to describe the pain of loss—heartache, a broken heart, a punch in the gut. These aren’t just figures of speech: While grief is an…
Science Friday969: Can Men and Women (Baboons) Really Just Be Friends? | The Best Bear Deterrent May Be Drones
Can Men and Women (Baboons) Really Just Be Friends? In the romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally,” the central premise, as Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan’s…
Science Friday968: Adventures In Science At The Icy ‘Ends Of The Earth’
The North and South Poles, also known as Earth’s iceboxes, help cool the planet, store fresh water, influence weather patterns, and more. They’re also the…
Science Friday967: FDA Approves A New, Non-Opioid Painkiller | Deep, Multi-Layer Oceans On Uranus And Neptune?
It’s the first FDA approval for a pain medication in 25 years. How does the drug work, and who is it for? Also, non-mixing layers of water and hydrocarbons…
Science Friday966: Most Powerful Neutrino Ever Is Detected In the Mediterranean | Nerdy Valentines
Most Powerful Neutrino Ever Is Detected In the MediterraneanNeutrinos are sometimes called “ghost particles,” because they are nearly weightless, rarely…
Science Friday965: ‘Common Side Effects’ And An All-Healing Mushroom | The Unique Smell Of Snow
In "Common Side Effects," the starring scientist finds a mushroom that can heal any ailment. But powerful people will do anything to stop him from cultivating…
Science Friday964: Investigating Fraud At The Heart Of Alzheimer’s Research
Every year, billions of dollars are funneled into Alzheimer’s research. And yet, so far, there’s no treatment that’s been able to reverse the disease, or even…
Science Friday963: Managing Wildfires Using A Centuries-Old Indigenous Practice
In late September, firefighters in flame-resistant Nomex were strung out along a fireline. It ran midslope through a pine and hardwood forest above the Klamath…
Science Friday962: Can Vaping Help You Quit Cigarettes? What Are The Risks?
The harms of smoking cigarettes are pretty clear. Smoking causes cancer as well as heart and lung diseases, and it’s the leading cause of preventable death in…
Science Friday961: How Lucy Runs On A Virtual Treadmill | Comparing DeepSeek’s AI To Other Models
Scientists determined that Lucy, a human ancestor from 3.2 million years ago, couldn’t have beaten modern humans in a foot race. Also, the Chinese AI company…
Science Friday960: Scientists Create Glowing ‘RNA Lanterns’ With Bioluminescence
The inner workings of our bodies, particularly what’s happening inside our cells, can be kind of a black box—with countless tiny molecules constantly working…
Science Friday959: What’s Next For Quantum Computing In 2025?
It seems that every few months, there’s an exciting breakthrough in quantum computing, a kind of computing that takes advantage of quantum physics to perform…
Science Friday958: Building Blocks Of Life Found On Asteroid Bennu
About four and a half years ago, a spacecraft called OSIRIS-REx touched down on the surface of an asteroid called Bennu. It drilled down and scooped up samples…
Science Friday957: The Toxic Aftermath Of An Urban Fire
After nearly four weeks of burning, the fires in Los Angeles are almost fully contained, and cleanup is underway. But as the dust literally settles, people in…
Science Friday956: Strain Of Bird Flu Discovered In California | Understanding Bipolar Disorder Through The Genome
The outbreak of H5N9 avian influenza occurred at a California duck farm in November 2024. Also, new research pinpoints 298 parts of the genome associated with…
Science Friday955: 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 Friday954: The Factors That Make Bird Sounds So Diverse Across The World
Birds are the master vocalists of the animal kingdom. They can make a remarkable variety of sounds.But why is a barred owl more of a baritone, while a cedar…
Science Friday953: Can Paxlovid Relieve Long COVID Symptoms? For Some, Yes
It’s been five years since the first laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S., a bleak milestone in the early days of a pandemic that touched the…
Science Friday952: AI Is Coming Up With Brand New Molecules, Fueling Drug Discovery
A recent study in the journal Nature unveiled new proteins that can neutralize the deadliest of snake venoms. They’re “new” in that they aren’t found in…