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 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…
Science Friday952: Trump Administration Cancels Meetings, Freezes Hiring At NIH | What Is A Meme Coin?
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health say the move has sent fear and confusion throughout the agency. Plus, what's the technology behind meme…
Science Friday951: Why Editors At Scientific Journals Are Resigning En Masse
Editors at scientific journals are quitting in droves. According to Retraction Watch, a watchdog publication, there have been at least 20 mass resignations…
Science Friday950: This January, See A ‘Planet Parade’ In The Night Sky
Rejoice, amateur and professional astronomers: This January is a fantastic time for looking up at the sky.The flashiest event of the season is also one of the…
Science Friday949: ‘Orbital’ Imagines The Inner Lives Of Astronauts On The ISS
From down here on Earth, life on the International Space Station seems magnificent: floating through the day, enjoying stunning views out your window, having…
Science Friday948: Fire Risk To Homes Where Cities And Wildlands Meet
Since January 7, wildfires have been devastating the Los Angeles area. In the span of 10 days, several different fires, including the Palisades and Eaton…
Science Friday947: 2 Private Lunar Landers | Cervical Cancer Deaths Plummet, Experts Credit HPV Vaccine
The SpaceX rocket carries lunar landers from companies based in Texas and Japan. They could arrive at the moon in the coming months. HPV can cause a variety of…
Science Friday946: ‘Artificial General Intelligence’ Is Apparently Coming. What Is It?
For years, artificial intelligence companies have heralded the coming of artificial general intelligence, or AGI. OpenAI, which makes the chatbot ChatGPT, has…
Science Friday943: NASA Considers Cheaper Ways To Retrieve Mars Samples | How Does A Hula Hoop Stay Up?
Scientists investigated how the shape of the human body makes hula hooping possible—and what hips and a waist have to do with it. And, the decision for how to…
Science Friday944: Surgeon General Highlights Link Between Alcohol And Cancer
Alcohol poses many risks to our health, including liver damage and driving under the influence.Now, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has highlighted…
Science Friday945: First U.S. Bird Flu Death Raises Concerns About Preparedness
On January 6, the U.S. reported its first human death from the bird flu. According to the CDC, more than 60 people were diagnosed with bird flu in the US last…
Science Friday942: Meet Flora Lichtman | Los Angeles Wildfires Stoked By Santa Ana Winds
After her SciFri internship 20 years ago, Flora went on to become a beloved science journalist, video producer, and podcaster. Now she’s back! Also, several…
Science Friday941: What Lichen Tell Us About Ecology, Air Quality, And More
Last October, Ira Flatow took a trip to the World Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon, for a daylong exploration of lichen—the fuzzy growths often found on…
Science Friday940: Biologists Call For A Halt To ‘Mirror Life’ Research
You’re probably familiar with the concept of handedness—a glove made for your left hand looks basically like the one for your right hand, but won’t fit—it’s a…
Science Friday939: The Breakthrough Technologies To Watch In 2025
Each year, the journalists at the MIT Technology Review publish a list of 10 breakthrough technologies: these are things poised to hit a tipping point, and…
Science Friday938: What Scientists Have Learned From 125 Years Of Bird Counts
This winter marks the 125th year of Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count, in which bird nerds across the Western Hemisphere venture outside to record all the birds…
Science Friday937: Scientists Predict Loss Of Deep Snow In Most Of U.S.
Researchers have projected that by the end of the century, days where snow covers the ground will virtually disappear in the United States, except for in very…
Science Friday936: Jane Goodall On Life Among Chimpanzees
Few living scientists are as iconic as Dr. Jane Goodall. The legendary primatologist spent decades working with chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park…