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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

00:18:42

Could bird flu still spark a pandemic?

Science Friday ·

2026/03/25

Bird flu has flown off the national news radar, with only scattered, local reports of dead birds in parks and poultry farms. Is it simply no longer a concern, or have cuts to federal science funding disrupted monitoring for this disease? Airborne pathogens expert Seema Lakdawala gives a flyover view on where bird flu stands today, and whether the government’s current monitoring efforts are enough to help prevent another pandemic.Guest: Dr. Seema Lakdawala is co-director of the Center for

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00:16:51

The secret powers of flowers

Science Friday ·

2026/03/24

Flowers peeking up through the soil are a welcome sight after a long cold winter—and are one of the first markers of spring. Biologist David George Haskell argues that flowers aren’t just beautiful: They’re also critical to most ecosystems and the diversity of life as we know it. Flowering plants also make up a large part of human diets (rice, maize, and wheat are all flowers). And homing in on orchids, Haskell says, can help us understand the complex relationship between flowers and

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00:17:58

Apple: trying to think different for 50 years

Science Friday ·

2026/03/23

The Apple Computer Company was founded on April 1, 1976, and in the 50 years since, the company has evolved from a handful of Silicon Valley misfits to a global technology and media powerhouse. Tech journalist David Pogue talks with Ira Flatow about the backstory of the company, and the leadership of the mercurial Steve Jobs. He offers a peek into some lesser known chapters of the company’s history, like the ill-fated Apple Paladin, a prototype Apple-produced fax machine. Pogue chronicles the

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00:24:46

‘Project Hail Mary’ brings a new kind of alien to the...

Science Friday ·

2026/03/20

Science fiction nerds, rejoice: the long-awaited adaptation of “Project Hail Mary” is in theaters now. Host Flora Lichtman chats with book author Andy Weir and astrobiologist Mike Wong about the film’s aliens, and how they buck the trend of what extraterrestrials usually look like on screen.Guest: Andy Weir is the author of “Project Hail Mary” and “The Martian.” Dr. Mike Wong is an astrobiologist and planetary scientist at Carnegie Science in Washington, D.C. Transcripts for each episode are

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00:17:44

Could a ‘digital twin’ help you get better health care?

Science Friday ·

2026/03/17

There’s an idea bubbling up in medicine called the “digital twin.” The concept is to take personal health data like genetics, blood test results, tissue samples, MRI scans, and family history, and create a digital model of a patient that can be used to predict how a treatment might work for them. Think personalized medicine supercharged by AI. For example, cancer researchers are working on models that would create radiation and chemotherapy treatment plans based on the specifics of a patient’s

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00:18:14

Who uses Farmers’ Almanacs? + Zebra finch home design

Science Friday ·

2026/03/16

Farmers’ Almanacs have been around for hundreds of years, offering detailed advice about things like the best time to plant certain crops, and when to wean your calves. But do farmers actually use them? Host Flora Lichtman discusses their place in modern life with astronomer and Farmers’ Almanac contributor Dean Regas, and Missouri farmer Liz Graznak. Plus, zebra finches build their nests with a keen eye for color. But is their style easily swayed by feathered peer pressure? Zebra finch expert

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00:12:41

Slow Breaking News: A Giant Tortoise Revival

Science Friday ·

2026/03/13

In February, conservationists released 158 young tortoises onto Floreana Island in the Galapagos. The Floreana tortoise subspecies had long been thought extinct, but the discovery of close relatives on another island made a captive breeding effort possible. SciFri turtle correspondent Charles Bergquist talks with conservationist Penny Becker about the science behind the reintroduction, and what it was like to return the species to an island that had not seen them since the 1850s. Plus, the latest

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00:14:25

How Is AI Being Used In The Iran War?

Science Friday ·

2026/03/12

The military use of AI is capturing headlines this month. After a dustup with the Pentagon, the AI company Anthropic is out, and OpenAI is in. Meanwhile, in the US war with Iran, AI is being deployed in ways we’ve never seen.To make sense of it all, Host Flora Lichtman talks with journalist Karen Hao, who covers AI and is the author of the book Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI. Guest: Karen Hao is a tech journalist and author of the book Empire of AI: Dreams and

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00:17:51

Can ‘Suggestion-Box Science’ Make Public Health More...

Science Friday ·

2026/03/07

Skepticism around public health policy, experts and institutions has left some researchers asking basic questions about their role and relationship with the public. Can public health be done better? Epidemiologist Erica Walker has a perspective on just that. She started off studying noise pollution, found her science wasn’t serving people as she hoped, and pivoted her approach in an effort to be more useful. Flora sits down with Walker to hear the story. Guest: Dr. Erica Walker is an assistant

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00:18:02

Fixing Society's Toughest Problems? ‘It’s On You’

Science Friday ·

2026/03/06

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 carbon footprint? The message is basically the same: These products and activities have risks. But mitigating them, well, that’s on you. How did we get this idea that it's our personal responsibility to make a dent in big problems like climate change—and not the job of the government to impose regulations? That’s the focus of the new book

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00:29:57

The Evolution Of An Enzyme Engineer Who Changed...

Science Friday ·

2026/03/03

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 slowly. They break down food, build other molecules, extract energy, and more. What if we could harness evolution to engineer designer enzymes that do other specific jobs that benefit us? Putting that idea into practice changed the game for chemistry, and earned Frances Arnold the Nobel Prize prize in 2018. She called it “directed evolution.”

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00:17:19

The Art And Science Of Staving Off Cognitive Decline

Science Friday ·

2026/03/02

The new semi-autobiographical play “The Reservoir” spins a comedic narrative around cognitive reserve, the idea that doing brain-stimulating activities can prevent or delay the onset of dementia symptoms. It’s currently running at the Atlantic Theater Company and co-produced by The Ensemble Studio Theater in New York.* Host Ira Flatow talks with playwright Jake Brasch about his inspiration for the play and how to mesh science into the theater. Then, neurologist Marilyn Albert discusses some of the

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00:12:28

EPA Repeals The Legal Basis For Regulating Greenhouse...

Science Friday ·

2026/02/26

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 called the endangerment finding. The finding, issued in 2009, basically says: Greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare—and because they’re harmful, they must be regulated. It's the legal basis for the federal government’s regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. So what does it mean that this finding has been

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00:12:30

How One Gene Affects Alzheimer’s Risk

Science Friday ·

2026/02/25

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 neurological mystery. A recent study looked at the role of variants in a gene called APOE in Alzheimer’s, and found that while it’s not a simple determinant of developing the disease, that one gene seems to play a significant role in promoting disease risk. Researchers hope work like this could point to new areas to study and even potential

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00:18:04

Autism Rates Appear To Be Even Across Sexes....

Science Friday ·

2026/02/21

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 reality is more complicated. In a new study, researchers tracked autism diagnoses in millions of Swedish people born from 1985 to 2022. They found that the prevalence of autism is actually pretty even across the sexes, but people with “female” stamped on their birth certificate are often diagnosed later in life. Host Flora Lichtman speaks

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00:12:16

AMA Joins Effort To Launch Independent Vaccine Review...

Science Friday ·

2026/02/20

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 Vaccine Integrity Project, based at the University of Minnesota, have announced that they are partnering to create their own vaccine review process, effectively creating a parallel system to the CDC’s. Host Ira Flatow talks with Michael Osterholm, executive director of the Vaccine Integrity Project, about the role of this new review

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00:17:57

What A Snow Drought In The West Means For The Rest Of...

Science Friday ·

2026/02/19

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 the tip of the melting iceberg: Snowpack is key to providing water throughout the year for the drought-stricken region. Joining Host Flora Lichtman to talk about this unusual winter are reporter David Condos and climate scientist Brad Udall.Guests:David Condos is the Southern Utah Reporter at KUER based in St. George.Brad Udall is a senior

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00:19:02

Who Wants To Smell An Ancient Embalmed Mummy?

Science Friday ·

2026/02/11

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 whiff of, say, a freshly embalmed mummy, or a 5,000-year-old Saudi Arabian incense burner? That’s exactly what some chemists and olfactory designers are trying to do.Producer Kathleen Davis talks with archeo-chemist Barbara Huber and perfumer Carole Calvez about how they scientifically recreated the scent of ancient Egyptian mummies and brought

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00:12:54

The Largest US Particle Collider Stops Its Collisions

Science Friday ·

2026/02/09

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), the largest particle collider in the United States, collided its last particles in early February. RHIC is a massive accelerator ring and set of instruments based at New York’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, and was designed to accelerate gold ions to near-light speed before collision. It was the second most powerful accelerator on the planet, second only to CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Since RHIC began running in 2000, scientists have used it to study

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00:16:07

Why Worry About My Data If I Have Nothing To Hide?

Science Friday ·

2026/02/05

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 people’s faces without consent, using private health records to make arrests, tracking people’s location in real time with phone data.So how does all this work? How does the United States’ data ecosystem make it possible for not just ICE, but any number of government agencies and businesses to buy our private data? And what actually happens

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444 results

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