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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

00:18:18

How AI Advances Are Improving Humanoid Robots

Science Friday ·

2025/09/25

Robots are just about everywhere these days: circling the grocery store, cleaning the floor at the airport, making deliveries. Not to mention the robots on the assembly lines in factories. But how far are we from having a human-like robot at home? For example, a robot housekeeper like Rosie from “The Jetsons.” She didn’t just cook and clean, she bantered and bonded with the Jetsons. Stanford roboticist Karen Liu joined Host Ira Flatow to talk about how AI is driving advances in humanoid robotics at

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00:18:17

The High-Tech Lab Unlocking Secrets Of Coral...

Science Friday ·

2025/09/24

In the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, scientists are on the cutting edge of growing coral. Rising ocean temperatures have caused mass coral bleaching, and experts are racing against the clock to figure out how to help corals be more resilient to stress.Coral scientist Rebecca Albright joined Host Ira Flatow at our live show at the Fox Theater in Redwood City, California, to talk about the work her lab does to help corals reproduce—romantic lighting and full moons included.Guest: Dr

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00:12:48

The Humble Microbe Could Help Us Understand Life Itself

Science Friday ·

2025/09/23

Sift through your memories and excavate an image of a fossil. Maybe you’re picturing dinosaur bones, the imprint of an ammonite, or the fronds of a fern etched into stone. But there’s a whole other category of fossilized remains that can tell us about life way before T. rexes, or even twigs, existed on this planet. That’s fossilized evidence of microbes.Microbiologist Paula Welander uses these ancient remains to understand how life began on Earth. She joined Host Flora Lichtman for our live show at

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00:18:41

Raising A New Generation Of Bat Conservationists In...

Science Friday ·

2025/09/22

Nigeria is home to 100 known species of bats—about a third of Africa’s bat species—but scientists don’t know much about them. Ecologists Iroro Tanshi and Benneth Obitte, collaborators and life partners, are trying to change that. In addition to studying and protecting the bats of their homeland, they’re also working to raise up a whole network of bat scientists across West Africa. Host Flora Lichtman talks with them about how they started their work, what they’ve learned, and how they’re paving the

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00:18:11

How Conservation Efforts Brought Rare Birds Back From...

Science Friday ·

2025/09/19

The overall state of birds can seem rather grim. Almost a third of North American bird species are in decline, and in the last five decades, more than 100 species have lost over half of their populations. This is primarily due to lack of food—fewer insects to eat—and habitat loss, like the development of grasslands. But there’s a bright spot: Some birds that were once rare are now abundant, like the merlin, sandhill crane, and pileated woodpecker. Host Ira Flatow talks with biologist Tom Langen, who

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00:18:31

Teamwork Between Species Is The Key To Life Itself

Science Friday ·

2025/09/18

Codependency between humans gets a bad rap. But in nature, species often rely on each other for survival. While humans think they’re in control of relationships between other species, like dogs and even the yeast for our breads, the opposite is often true.Host Flora Lichtman speaks with ecologist Rob Dunn, whose new book, The Call of the Honeyguide, argues that mutualisms are the story of life itself.Read an excerpt of The Call of the Honeyguide: What Science Tells Us about How to Live Well with the

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00:18:39

If An Asteroid Were Headed For Earth, Would We Be Ready?

Science Friday ·

2025/09/17

You might remember news reporting from earlier this year that a 180-foot asteroid had about a 3% chance of hitting Earth in 2032. And if it did, it would unleash energy equivalent to hundreds of nuclear bombs. After further observations, astronomers revised that probability way down, to close to zero. So what is our current capability to spot Earthbound asteroids? And how are governments preparing to communicate and respond to a potential impact on a populated area?Joining Host Ira Flatow with some

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00:48:13

A Trailblazing Geneticist Reflects On Her Life And Work

Science Friday ·

2025/09/16

It’s common knowledge that many diseases and conditions have some kind of genetic link. But that wasn't always the case. In 1990, long before the Human Genome Project tied so many health issues to differences in genetics, researchers identified a gene called BRCA1. It was the first gene linked to a hereditary form of any common cancer. People with certain variants of BRCA1 stood a higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer than those without those mutations. Geneticist Mary-Claire King and

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00:18:41

What The Label Of ‘Genius’ Tells Us About Our Society

Science Friday ·

2025/09/15

What makes someone a genius? Are they the smartest, most creative, most innovative people? Those with the highest IQ? Who we consider a genius may actually tell us much more about what we value as a society than any objective measure of brilliance. A compelling or quirky life story often shapes who is elevated to genius status.Host Ira Flatow unpacks the complicated and coveted title of genius with Helen Lewis, author of The Genius Myth: A Curious History of A Dangerous Idea.Read an excerpt of The

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00:19:12

A Delicious But Invasive Mushroom Could Affect Fungal...

Science Friday ·

2025/09/11

It all started harmlessly enough: People bought kits to grow mushrooms at home. But then, scientists in the upper Midwest noticed something strange. The golden oyster mushroom, which is not native to the United States, was thriving in local forests. Those homegrown mushrooms escaped our basements into the wild. Fungal ecologist Aishwarya Veerabahu joins Host Ira Flatow to discuss what impact these invasive mushrooms might have on the ecosystem.Plus, nightshade expert Sandra Knapp describes the

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00:13:17

How Common Household Products Pollute Our Indoor Air

Science Friday ·

2025/09/03

You have probably given some thought to outdoor air pollution, whether it’s wildfire smoke or smog from traffic. You may even check AQI measurements on your phone. But what about the air inside your home? Host Flora Lichtman talks to civil and environmental engineer Nusrat Jung, who studies indoor air pollution, about how we create toxic air without even knowing it, and what we can do to avoid it. Guest: Dr. Nusrat Jung is a civil and environmental engineer at Purdue University.Transcripts for each

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00:18:52

An Archaeologist And A Tattoo Artist Decipher Ancient...

Science Friday ·

2025/08/28

Researchers recently used near-infrared photography to get a detailed look at ancient artwork showing scenes of wild animals tangled in a fight. But these weren’t paintings on a cave wall. They were tattoos on the arms of a Siberian woman who lived 2,300 years ago. What can ancient ink tell us about our ancestors? Sticking and poking their way into this with Host Flora Lichtman are archaeologist Aaron Deter-Wolf and his research collaborator, tattoo artist Danny Riday.Guests: Aaron Deter-Wolf is an

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00:12:52

What Lies Beneath The Outer Layers Of A Star?

Science Friday ·

2025/08/27

You might think of a star as a mass of incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace where hydrogen is turned into helium at a temperature of millions of degrees. But researchers recently reported that they’d observed some of what lies beneath all that hydrogen and helium, at least inside one unusual supernova. The star, named supernova 2021yfj, had its outer layers stripped away, leaving behind a silicon- and sulfur-rich inner shell.Astrophysicist Steve Schulze joins Host Flora Lichtman to describe

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00:18:44

Can The Rise In Solar Power Balance Out Clean Energy...

Science Friday ·

2025/08/21

Since President Trump returned to office, his administration has been aggressive in rolling back clean energy initiatives. But that isn’t the whole story. Texas, California, and other states are bringing so much solar and battery power online that in March, fossil fuels generated less than half the electricity in the US for the first time ever. And internationally, solar has gotten so cheap to build and install that it’s fundamentally transforming many countries’ power grids. So where exactly does

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00:18:30

The Uncertain Science Behind What We Understand As...

Science Friday ·

2025/08/19

Throughout history, humans have been on a search for truth. From the ancient Greeks and their belief in a universal truth, to our Founding Fathers writing, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” In a world of disinformation, conspiracy theories, and the rising influence of artificial intelligence, where does truth fit in? Mathematician Adam Kucharski, author of Proof: The Art and Science of Certainty, joins Host Ira Flatow to discuss the complicated truth.Read an

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00:17:33

How Agatha Christie Used Chemistry To Kill (In Books)

Science Friday ·

2025/08/18

Did you know that murder mystery writer Agatha Christie had a background in chemistry? In about half of her stories, the murder is committed using poison—something she was very, very familiar with. She had even trained in apothecaries to mix prescriptions by hand before she became a novelist. Chemist-turned-author Kathryn Harkup wrote about them in her new book, V is for Venom: Agatha Christie’s Chemicals of Death. Harkup talks with Host Flora Lichtman about the science of poisons, why they’re so

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00:18:47

Breast Milk Is Understudied. What Are Scientists...

Science Friday ·

2025/08/14

If you’ve found yourself scrolling through the breastfeeding world online, you know that people have a lot of strong opinions about breast milk. But what exactly do we know about the biology of it? Does breast milk really adapt to a baby’s needs? Does it confer immunity? How does making breast milk impact the breastfeeder? Joining Host Flora Lichtman to spin through the science of this sophisticated substance are experts Shelley McGuire and Deepshika Ramanan.Guests: Dr. Shelley McGuire is the

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00:28:58

Remembering Apollo 13 Astronaut James Lovell

Science Friday ·

2025/08/12

Last week, astronaut James Lovell died at the age of 97. In April of 1970, he was the commander of the Apollo 13 mission, which launched with three astronauts en route to the moon. While in space, however, the craft encountered a serious problem: an explosion in one of its fuel tanks that severely damaged the craft and disabled its electrical system, prompting the famous phrase, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” In 1995, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the mission, Host Ira Flatow spoke

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00:18:34

‘Underground Atlas’ Shows How Vulnerable Fungal...

Science Friday ·

2025/08/11

Fungal networks in the soil are arguably the basis of much of life on Earth, but they’re understudied and underappreciated in the conservation world. Scientists at the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) are trying to fix that. They just unveiled a global map of mycorrhizal fungal networks, which highlights how widespread they are and how little protection they have. Host Flora Lichtman talks with two of the SPUN mapmakers, Adriana Corrales and Michael Van Nuland, about the

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00:26:30

Lithium May Have A Role In Causing—And...

Science Friday ·

2025/08/08

The mechanisms behind Alzheimer’s disease have eluded scientists for decades. But a new breakthrough points to lithium as a possible explanation—not only does it occur naturally in the brain, but a deficiency causes dementia in mice. This research is one of thousands of projects that have lost funding due to President Trump’s cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Host Ira Flatow speaks with Alzheimer’s researcher Bruce Yankner about this new finding, and then to epidemiologist Katelyn

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202 results

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