x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Science Friday

Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Covering the outer reaches of space to the tiniest microbes in our bodies, Science Friday is the source for entertaining and educational stories about science, technology, and other cool stuff.

science life sciences

All Episodes

00:18:08

‘Fire Amoeba’ Likes It Hot, And A Faraway Lava Planet

Science Friday ·

2025/12/18

While on a sampling trip in California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park, researchers stopped to sample a rather boring stream on their hike to Boiling Springs Lake. But when they incubated that water sample back in the lab, they discovered an amoeba that could still move and divide at 145 F, a new record for a eukaryotic cell. Microbiologist Angela Oliverio joins Host Flora Lichtman to describe the “fire amoeba,” Incendiamoeba cascadensis.Plus, planetary scientist Johanna Teske takes us to exoplanet

en-us

00:16:10

A Startling Plan To Save Spotted Owls—From Barred Owls

Science Friday ·

2025/12/03

The spotted owl has been a conservation flashpoint for more than 30 years. While habitat loss has been their historic foe, their most recent threat comes from within the owl family tree: the barred owl. Barred owls have expanded into the Pacific Northwest and are now outcompeting spotted owls for food and habitat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has put forth a strategy that some experts say is the only way to save the spotted owl, and it could involve killing hundreds of thousands of barred

en-us

00:12:34

Can A Microbe Conservation Movement Take Off?

Science Friday ·

2025/12/02

A team of scientists is trying to jumpstart a global conservation movement, on par with efforts to save the rainforests or protect the oceans. But it might be even more ambitious because the target of their quest is invisible, everywhere, and mostly something we try to hand-sanitize away: microbes.So how do you conserve something that is everywhere and in everything? And why do microbes need protecting to begin with? Host Flora Lichtman digs into it with microbial ecologist Jack Gilbert, who is

en-us

00:19:12

How To Tap Into The Hidden Histories Of Rocks

Science Friday ·

2025/12/01

When we try to commune with nature, many of us turn toward the living: a walk in the woods among swaying trees, chirping birds, blooming flowers.But earth scientist Anjana Khatwa says not to overlook the inanimate—don’t sleep on rocks. She joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk about her love for rocks beyond the scientific and her new book, The Whispers of Rock.Read an excerpt from The Whispers of Rock: The Stories That Stone Tells about Our World and Our Lives.Guest: Dr. Anjana Khatwa is a geologist

en-us

00:47:56

Fingernails And Indigestion At The 2025 Ig Nobel Prizes

Science Friday ·

2025/11/28

Each year, the Ig Nobel Prizes recognize scientific research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think. For instance, researchers who investigated the pizza preferences of lizards on the island of Togo. Or a man who kept track of his fingernail growth for 35 years.As is Thanksgiving tradition, we’re sharing highlights from this year’s Ig Nobels on Science Friday. Annals of Improbable Research editor Marc Abrahams acts as master of ceremonies for the 35th First Annual Ig Nobel Prizes, which

en-us

00:17:27

Why Is Working Out Good For Your Mental Health?

Science Friday ·

2025/11/27

A good workout can make you feel triumphant. And even if that isn’t your relationship with exercise, you’ve probably heard that working out can lift your mood, fight depression, and make you more resilient when life knocks back. But why exactly does exercise improve mental health? Is it all about those endorphins? Does the type or duration of a workout matter if you’re looking for a mental wellness boost?To help answer those questions and more, Host Flora Lichtman talks with Eduardo Esteban

en-us

00:18:29

Where Does Plastic And Other Trash Go After We Throw...

Science Friday ·

2025/11/25

Have you ever gotten to the end of, say, a jar of peanut butter and wondered if it should go in trash or recycling? If it’s worth rinsing out? And where will it actually end up?Journalist Alexander Clapp had those same questions, and went to great lengths to answer them—visiting five continents to chronicle how our trash travels. Along the way, he discovered a multibillion-dollar trash trade run by shady waste brokers, and a global industry powered by slimy spoons, crinkled plastic bags, and all the

en-us

00:13:45

African Grey Parrots Are Popular—And It’s Fueling...

Science Friday ·

2025/11/21

African grey parrots are internet stars. It’s easy to see why—the charismatic birds sing, tell jokes, and sling profanities. But how do the endangered birds get from African forests to your feed? Wildlife crime reporter Rene Ebersole joins Host Flora Lichtman to describe her investigation into the global parrot trade, and the black market for wild African greys that is threatening their existence.Guest: Rene Ebersole is Editor In Chief at Wildlife Investigative Reporters and Editors

en-us

00:18:40

Can Animal Super-Agers Teach Us Their Secrets?

Science Friday ·

2025/11/19

Some animals have a very different relationship to aging than we do: They don’t get cancer, they never go through menopause, and they live absurdly long lives. For instance, one bat species can live for more than 40 years, which may not sound like very long but that’s about nine times longer than expected based on its size. For comparison, if we aged on that scale, we’d live for hundreds of years. These bats aren’t the only animal super-agers—there’s a whole menagerie of them.So what’s their secret

en-us

00:18:08

How Alphafold Has Changed Biology Research, 5 Years On

Science Friday ·

2025/11/18

Proteins are crucial for life. They're made of amino acids that “fold” into millions of different shapes. And depending on their structure, they do radically different things in our cells. For a long time, predicting those shapes for research was considered a grand biological challenge.But in 2020, Google’s AI lab DeepMind released Alphafold, a tool that was able to accurately predict many of the structures necessary for understanding biological mechanisms in a matter of minutes. In 2024, the

en-us

00:18:32

How A Woodpecker Pecks Wood, And How Ants Crown A Queen

Science Friday ·

2025/11/17

If you’ve heard the hammering of a woodpecker in the woods, you might have wondered how the birds can be so forceful. What does it take to whack your head against a tree repeatedly, hard enough to drill a hole? A team of researchers wondered that too and set out to investigate, by putting tiny muscle monitors on eight downy woodpeckers and recording them with high-speed video as they pecked away in the lab.Integrative organismal biologist Nick Antonson, co-author of a report on the work, joins Host

en-us

00:18:39

Memories Change. But Can We Change Them On Purpose?

Science Friday ·

2025/11/14

Our memories make us who we are—just ask Barbra Streisand. But despite the lyrics in many popular songs, memories aren’t frozen in time. When we call them up, the details shift and change. And neuroscience research shows that we might be able to take that a step further—to manipulate our memories and even implant false ones.Neuroscientist Steve Ramirez joins Host Ira Flatow to explain how memory manipulation could revolutionize the way we treat brain disorders. They also discuss Ramirez’s book, How

en-us

00:12:41

Bearded Vulture Nests Hold Trove Of Centuries-Old...

Science Friday ·

2025/11/13

Bearded vultures build giant, elaborate nests that are passed down from generation to generation. And according to a new study, some of these scavengers have collected bits and bobs of human history over the course of centuries. Scientists picked apart 12 vulture nests preserved in Spain and discovered a museum collection’s worth of objects, including a woven sandal that could be more than 700 years old. Host Flora Lichtman talks with study author Ana Belen Marín-Arroyo, an archaeologist who

en-us

00:18:16

Why The Bassist From Phish Is Funding Research Into...

Science Friday ·

2025/11/12

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 to better understand flow state.Host Flora Lichtman sits down with Mike and his research collaborator,

en-us

00:35:47

Even Nobel Prize Winners Deal With Imposter Syndrome

Science Friday ·

2025/11/11

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 work. He joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk about his research, the odd jobs he worked along the way, and

en-us

00:13:07

Study Finds COVID mRNA Vaccines Boost Cancer Treatment

Science Friday ·

2025/11/10

Over the last five years, billions of people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. New research has found an unanticipated result of these vaccines: Cancer treatments are more effective for some vaccinated patients, and many live longer than their unvaccinated counterparts. This news comes at a time where the federal government is slashing funding for mRNA research. Host Ira Flatow speaks to lead study author Adam Grippin and vaccine expert Eric Topol.Guests: Dr. Adam Grippin

en-us

00:18:49

Were Dinos On Their Way Out Before The Asteroid Hit?...

Science Friday ·

2025/11/07

One of the biggest debates in the dinosaur world is what was happening right before they went extinct. Were they already declining, or would they have thrived if not for the asteroid? Two recent studies shed some light on this question: one that analyzes a trove of fossils from New Mexico and suggests there was more diversity in the Americas than previously thought, and another that reanalyzes a long-debated juvenile T. rex fossil and finds it’s likely a separate, smaller species.Host Ira Flatow is

en-us

00:18:26

Is There Such A Thing As Too Much Resolution On A TV?

Science Friday ·

2025/11/06

As Black Friday approaches, you’re probably being inundated with ads for bigger, better televisions. But just how good is good enough? Are there limits to what our eyes can even make out?Visual perception researcher Maliha Ashraf joins Host Flora Lichtman to describe her new study on display resolution—including a display calculator she and her colleagues developed to help you determine the optimal display characteristics for a given room. And retinal neuroscientist Bryan Jones joins the

en-us

00:19:00

Can A Billion-Dollar Barricade Keep Carp Out Of The...

Science Friday ·

2025/11/05

Decades ago, non-native carp were brought onto fish farms on the Mississippi River to control algae and parasites. They escaped, thrived, and eventually flooded the Illinois River, outcompeting native species and wreaking havoc. If the carp find their way into the Great Lakes, they could do major damage to those vital ecosystems.There’s a proposed project to stop the fish—but it’s expensive, and not everyone agrees it’s the best solution. Host Flora Lichtman speaks with WBEZ and Grist reporter

en-us

00:12:50

Inside The Race To Save Wild Axolotls

Science Friday ·

2025/11/04

Axolotls are one of the most charismatic and beloved amphibians out there. But did you know that there’s only one place in the whole world where you can find them in the wild? It’s Lake Xochimilco in Mexico City.There, scientists are scrambling to save them from extinction by creating refuges, using environmental DNA to track them down, and tag-teaming with the farmers who work on the lake. Luis Zambrano, one of the world’s leading axolotl experts, and Alejandro Maeda-Obregón, a molecular biologist,

en-us

412 results

Similar Podcasts

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Mission to Mars

Inception Point Ai

The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org

Creek Devil

william Jevning

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter