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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.

society & culture

All Episodes

21:25

704: Faraway Planets With Oceans Of Magma | The Art...

Science Friday ·

2024/02/09

Hycean planets were thought to be covered by oceans of water, but a new study suggests it could be magma instead. And, author Rafi Kohan explains the psychological and physiological responses to trash talk, ahead of Super Bowl Sunday. Faraway Planets Could Have Oceans Of Magma Far beyond our solar system are hycean planets—planets that have hydrogen-rich atmospheres and are covered in giant oceans. Scientists have long believed that those oceans were made of water, but a new study throws a wrench in

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19:33

701: Is Each Fingerprint On Your Hand Unique? | In...

Science Friday ·

2024/02/08

A new study uses artificial intelligence to show that each of our ten fingerprints are remarkably similar to one another. Plus, honey could be the secret ingredient in building a more eco-friendly “memristor,” which transmits data through malleable pathways. Is Each Fingerprint On Your Hand Unique? We often think about each fingerprint as being completely unique, like a snowflake on the tip of your finger. But a new study shows that maybe each person’s fingerprints are more similar to each other

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19:00

700: The FDA Approved The First CRISPR-Based Therapy....

Science Friday ·

2024/02/07

Last month the FDA approved a new treatment for sickle cell disease, the first medical therapy to use CRISPR gene editing technology. It works by identifying the gene or genes causing the disorder, modifying those genes and then returning them to the patient’s body. There are now two gene therapies offered by pharmaceutical companies for sickle cell disease: Casgevy from Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics, and Lyfgenia from BlueBird Bio. But prices for these one-time treatments are

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18:44

703: Protecting The ‘Satan’ Tarantula | If Termites...

Science Friday ·

2024/02/06

A team of scientists in Ecuador is on a mission to describe new-to-science tarantula species to help secure conservation protections. And, undergraduate researchers pasted striped capes onto termites’ backs to see if a well-known warning sign would fend off predators. Protecting The ‘Satan’ Tarantula and Other Lovable Giant Spiders A team of scientists in Ecuador is on a mission to find and describe species of an understudied, often unpopular group of critters: mygalomorphs, a group of large, stocky

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18:44

699: Scientists Are Uncovering A World Of ‘Dark...

Science Friday ·

2024/02/05

Cancer, at its core, is a genetic disease: the result of DNA mutations that cause cells to grow out of control and develop tumors. And over the years, scientists have identified certain chemicals, called carcinogens, that are directly linked to those cancer-causing mutations, like those found in cigarettes. But the rates of some cancers, like colorectal and lung, are rising dramatically in certain populations, leaving scientists to wonder what carcinogens they might be missing, and how traditional

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26:29

702: Syphilis Cases Up 80% Since 2018 | The Largest...

Science Friday ·

2024/02/02

There has been a boom of syphilis cases, including a 180% increase in congenital syphilis cases, despite other STI levels staying stable. Also, the world's largest deep-sea reef stretches for hundreds of miles in near-freezing waters and total darkness, but it’s bustling with life. Syphilis Cases Are Up 80% Since 2018 Syphilis is rearing its ugly head again in the United States. A new report on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a

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17:54

698: Expanding Our Umwelt: Understanding Animal...

Science Friday ·

2024/02/01

Take a quick moment to think about your surroundings. Tune into your senses, and contemplate what’s happening around you. What do you see, hear, and smell? Now take a moment to imagine: What if you were a bat? How would you experience your environment differently? Maybe you could sense a nearby spider through echolocation, or feel minute changes in air pressure and temperature to know where to fly next. This world of perception is unique to each organism. It’s what scientists call umwelt, from the

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19:01

695: How Signing Characters Help Deaf Children Learn...

Science Friday ·

2024/01/31

This radio interview is an abbreviated version of the full video interview, available with ASL interpretation on Youtube. Think back to your favorite childhood TV show—was it “Blue’s Clues”? “Little Bear”? “Winnie the Pooh”? Animated TV shows are important for kids because they can teach them to read, draw, spell, and talk. Plus, the ways these shows tell stories and create colorful, fictitious worlds can broaden children’s knowledge and capacity to imagine. But children’s shows aren’t accessible to

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18:25

696: ‘Mysterious’ Canine Illness: What Dog Owners...

Science Friday ·

2024/01/30

Over the past few months, there have been reports about a mysterious canine respiratory illness. It’s easy to get a little scared: Some dogs are developing a severe illness that lasts a long time and doesn’t respond to treatment. And in some cases, dogs have died. In the age of social media, it’s hard to know just how widespread this actually is, and how it compares to a more familiar canine illness like kennel cough. Joining guest host Arielle Duhaime-Ross to break down this potential new pathogen

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19:12

694: An App For People Of Color To Rate Their...

Science Friday ·

2024/01/29

Irth is a “Yelp-like” app to help expectant parents make informed decisions by exposing bias and racism in healthcare systems. Also, a new video camera system shows the colors of the natural world as different animals see them. An App For People Of Color To Rate Their Birthing Experiences For some patients, finding a good doctor can be as simple as looking up a doctor’s degrees and accolades. But for people who are more likely to experience discrimination in a medical setting—perhaps due to their

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26:00

697: NASA Opens Canister With Asteroid Sample | ADHD...

Science Friday ·

2024/01/26

Engineers had to design bespoke tools to open the OSIRIS-REx capsule nearly four months after it arrived back on Earth. Also, prescription rates for ADHD drugs rose by 30% from 2020-2022, with large increases among women and young people. NASA Finally Opens Canister Containing Asteroid Sample NASA’s OSIRIS-REx was the first U.S. mission to retrieve fragments of an asteroid, which arrived in September 2023. There was just one small issue: NASA technicians couldn’t open the capsule, which held space

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18:44

693: AI Helps Find Ancient Artifacts In The Great...

Science Friday ·

2024/01/25

Researchers in Michigan modeled a prehistoric land bridge and used AI to predict where caribou–and humans–might have traveled along it. Also, artist Sarah Rosalena uses Indigenous weaving, ceramics, and sculpture practices to create art that challenges tech’s future. Using AI To Help Find Ancient Artifacts In The Great Lakes At the bottom of Lake Huron there’s a ridge that was once above water. It’s called the Alpena Amberley Ridge and goes from northern Michigan to southern Ontario. Nine thousand

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32:31

691: When The ‘Personal’ Computer Turned 30

Science Friday ·

2024/01/24

When Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple Macintosh in January of 1984, the visual user interface, all-in-one design, and mouse-controlled navigation were revolutionary. Design team member Andy Hertzfeld and industry observer Steven Levy look back on the early days of personal computing, and talk about how the Macintosh came to be. Transcripts for each segment are available on sciencefriday.com To stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

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28:17

690: How The Moon Transformed Life On Earth, From...

Science Friday ·

2024/01/23

For almost their entire 4.5 billion-year existence, Earth and its moon have been galactic neighbors. And the moon isn’t just Earth’s tiny sidekick—their relationship is more like that of siblings, and they’re even cut from similar cosmic cloth. Without the moon, Earth and its inhabitants wouldn’t be what they are today: The climate would be more extreme, lunar tides wouldn’t have given rise to life on Earth, biological rhythms would be off-beat, and even timekeeping and religion would have evolved

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34:59

692: From Scans To Office Visits: How Will AI Shape...

Science Friday ·

2024/01/22

Researchers continue to test out new ways to use artificial intelligence in medicine. Some research shows that AI is better at reading mammograms than radiologists. AI can predict and diagnose disease by analyzing the retina, and there’s even some evidence that GPT-4 might be helpful in making challenging diagnoses, ones missed by doctors. However, these applications can come with trade-offs in security, privacy, cost, and the potential for AI to make medical mistakes. Ira and guest host Sophie

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13:06

689: Rhesus Monkey Cloned With Modified Approach Has...

Science Friday ·

2024/01/19

This week, a research team in China reported that it had successfully cloned a rhesus monkey, which has lived normally for over two years and reached maturity. It marks the first time that a rhesus monkey has been successfully cloned. Rhesus monkeys are used widely in medical research, making the advance potentially useful for medical trials. Cloning of primates in general has been difficult. Six years ago researchers cloned long-tailed macaques using the technique originally used for Dolly the

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19:55

688: 3,000 Types Of Brain Cells Categorized In...

Science Friday ·

2024/01/18

In October 2023, an international group of scientists released an impressively detailed cell atlas of the human brain, published in 21 papers in the journals Science, Science Advances and Science Translational Medicine. The human brain has roughly 171 billion cells, which makes it a herculean task to categorize them all. Scientists collected samples from different parts of the brain and have identified 3,000 different types of cells. Each cell contains thousands of genes and each cell type only

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14:10

685: Brain ‘Organoids’: Lab-Grown Cell Clusters Model...

Science Friday ·

2024/01/17

Brain organoids are grown in a lab using stem cells, and can mimic the functions of different regions of the brain like the cortex, retina, and cerebellum. Though it may sound a bit like science fiction, this technology is increasingly being used to better understand brain disorders and eventually develop better treatments. Ira talks with neuroscientist Dr. Giorgia Quadrato, assistant professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at the University of Southern California, about the state

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19:32

687: The Lasting Allure Of Shackleton’s ‘Endurance’

Science Friday ·

2024/01/16

In a conversation from March 2023, the maritime archeologist who found the storied wreck discusses the mission and his new book. There are few stories about heroic survival equal to Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic rescue of his crew, which turned disaster into triumph. In August of 1914, 28 men set sail from England to the South Pole. Led by Shackleton himself, the group hoped to be the first to cross Antarctica by foot. However, their ship, the Endurance, became stuck in ice. It sank to the

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34:36

684: How Close Are We To Answers About Aliens?

Science Friday ·

2024/01/15

The idea of creatures from another planet is part of our culture, from the warnings of the alien in “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” to the plaintive desire to return home in “E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” to the hulking creature of “Nope.” Aliens appear in movies, books, comics, you name it. But are they more than science fiction? And if they were, how would scientists prove it? The government has investigated reports of alien sightings, including in Project Blue Book, which ran from 1947 to 1969

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787 results

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