Science Friday

“This was not easy, being 200,000+ miles away from home. Like before you launch, it feels like it's the greatest dream on earth. And when you're out there, you just wanna get back to your families and your friends.” – Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman

Last week, the crew of Artemis II made it safely home. Throughout the journey, we heard the astronauts talk about moonjoy, awe, wonder, and—without exception—gratitude for their families. 

To learn more about what it's like to be part of an astronaut family, Host Flora Lichtman chats with Tracy Scott, whose dad was a c...

If you’re a gardener, thinking about getting your soil in shape probably means thinking about compost. But composting can be a mysterious process. What can go into the pile? How do you balance carbon and nitrogen? And how do you do it in a city?

Compost expert Cassandra Marketos joins Host Ira Flatow to break down the basics of what she calls “purposeful decomposition,” and give practical tips for the backyard composter.

Read an excerpt from Marketos’ new book, “Compost after Reading.”

Guest: 

Cassandra Marketos is the author of “Compost After Reading...

How do we know what we know? That's where science comes in—it gives us a method for testing our ideas and getting trustworthy results. But some researchers have warned that many scientific studies can't be replicated.

To find out how deep the problem goes, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency funded one of the largest analyses of social science, called the SCORE project. They checked the results of thousands of papers across economics, education, and psychology—and found that only half of them could be replicated.

Joining Host Ira Flatow to discuss the find...

Movies may be a largely visual medium, but sound plays a huge role in setting tone, creating new worlds, and fleshing out characters. Sound designer Erik Aadahl has brought some of Hollywood’s iconic creatures to life with sound, like the Transformers, 2014’s Godzilla, and Rocky the alien from “Project Hail Mary.” He joins Flora to talk about the science of sound design, and how he uses his background in biology to look for sounds in the animal kingdom.

Guest: 

Erik Aadahl is a sound designer and editor at E² in Los Angeles, California.

Transcri...

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound are prescribed for weight loss, diabetes, and blood-sugar management. But as more people use them, patients are reporting a decrease in cravings for drugs and alcohol. Researchers are now investigating whether GLP-1s might be effective for treating alcohol and drug addiction. 

How much do we know? What are the risks? And do these drugs tell us anything new about the biology of addiction?

Host Flora Lichtman talks with neuroscientist Joseph Schacht, who is conducting a clinical trial on GLP-1s and alcohol use; and Sarah Carstens, addictions c...

Scientists recently published the first footage of a sperm whale birth, and it was a crowded ordeal. More than 10 other sperm whales were there for the delivery and helped keep the baby whale afloat—and not all of them were related to mom. How much do we actually understand whale culture? And how should we think about altruism in the animal kingdom?

Host Flora Lichtman chats with whale biologist Shane Gero about what it was like to witness this birth and what it tells us about whale culture. 

Guest:

Dr. Shane Gero is a w...

Last year, Chinese carmaker BYD sold millions of electric vehicles, overtaking Tesla to become the world’s biggest seller of EV cars. And BYD cars weren’t just for the Chinese market. They went to Europe, Asia, and Mexico, and may soon be available in Canada. But thanks to tariffs and regulations, BYDs are not available to U.S. buyers.

China policy expert Kyle Chan joins Host Ira Flatow for a look at the growing EV market worldwide, and how the U.S. seems to be putting the brakes on battery-powered cars.

Guest: 

Kyle...

Microplastics and nanoplastics have been found just about everywhere: in our soil, our bodies, and our water. Recent research involving bioengineered algae has had success in capturing and removing microplastics from water.

Environmental reporter Kate Grumke joins Producer Kathleen Davis to talk about the latest approaches to addressing microplastics, and researcher Susie Dai discusses her work using algae to pull them out of wastewater.

Guests: 

Dr. Susie Dai is a professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the University of Missouri.

Kate Grumke is a senior environmental reporter for St. Louis P...

On Wednesday, NASA’s Artemis II mission launched, kicking off on a roughly 10-day trip that will carry four astronauts around the moon and back to Earth. The flight is another test of the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion capsule that are intended to be used for an eventual crewed lunar landing.

Space reporter Brendan Byrne joins Producer Kathleen Davis to share his impressions of the launch and what’s ahead for the Artemis program. Then, moon book author Rebecca Boyle joins the discussion to tackle an important listener question: What if Earth didn’t have a...

In 2006, a vote by the International Astronomical Union determined that Pluto was no longer a planet. The decision sparked a heated public debate, and many planetary scientists disagreed with kicking Pluto out of the planet club. 

Twenty years later, Pluto is back in the news: NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said he wants to make Pluto great again by declaring it… a planet again. And he’s urging President Trump to do so by executive order. Why does this Plutonian debate keep rearing its head? And does the president have the power to do that?

To answe...

For many of us, what happens in the bathroom stays in the bathroom: According to a recent survey, 1 in 3 Americans are too embarrassed to talk about their poop or gut issues with their doctor. Gastroenterologists like Trisha Pasricha say that’s a problem, and that that stigma is getting in the way of our health and happiness.

She joins Host Flora Lichtman to share some crucial gut knowledge, and talk about her new book, “You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong.”

Read an excerpt from “You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong: How To Make Your Bowel Movements A...

A listener recently called in asking how they might get a pair of functioning web shooters so they could operate as a local Spider-Man. While web shooters (sadly) don’t exist, we can say that the ways real spiders use silk put Peter Parker’s powers to shame. Spiders can use their sticky threads to sail through the air, capture prey larger than them, and even live underwater. And scientists trying to harness those powers. 

Host Flora Lichtman chats with spider-silk aficionado Cheryl Hayashi about the wonders of silk, and Fiorenzo Omenetto shares how his engineering lab uses...

Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland have announced that they discovered a new subatomic particle. Roughly four times more massive than a standard proton, this short-lived piece of matter called Ξcc⁺(Xi-cc-plus) is like an extra-heavy proton, researchers say. Physicist Hassan Jawahery joins Host Flora Lichtman to unpack how the particle was found, and what its discovery means for theoretical physics. 

Then, astronomer Eric Bellm describes a new alert system that could flag potentially significant changes in the southern night sky in real time. On its first night of testing at the Rubin Observatory in Chil...

When ChatGPT first came onto the scene, it wowed users with its writing abilities, but drew laughs for generating images of seven-fingered hands and struggling with basic math, where 2+2 didn’t always equal 4. But more recently, things have changed: Google and OpenAI’s models bagged gold medals at the International Mathematical Olympiad last year, and now some experts say AI could pose an existential threat to the field of mathematics itself.

Mathematicians Emily Riehl and Daniel Litt join Host Flora Lichtman to explore how this technology could change the way math discoveries are made—and what could be los...

When Punch the monkey was abandoned by his mother, zookeepers gave him a surrogate and unexpected source of comfort: a stuffed animal. Videos of Punch snuggling the stuffie went viral, and, as his stardom rose, millions of us began wondering,  “Is Punch OK? Does he have a girlfriend?” Primatologist Christine Webb joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk about the ways humans relate to our closest relatives, and whether we can—and should—map human feelings onto other primates.

Guest:

Christine Webb is an assistant professor of environmental studies (CK) at New York University. She is the autho...

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 Transmission of Airborne Pathogens and an associate professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

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 pollinators.

Guest:

Dr. David George Haskell is a biologist and au...

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 company’s history in his latest book, “Apple: The First 50 Years.”

Guest:

David Pogue is...

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 available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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A project called Antscan has generated high resolution images of thousands of ants, representing over 700 species. To make it happen, researchers brought preserved ants from collections around the world to a particle accelerator in Germany. There, a powerful synchrotron X-ray source combined with a vial-swapping robot allowed the researchers to build a collection of 3D ant images, inside and out. Each voxel (like a 3D pixel) has a resolution of 1.22 micrometers—enough to see the tiny hairs on ant bodies, and distinguish individual muscle fibers.

Antscan researcher Julian Katzke joins us to describe the background of the pr...

For decades, renowned environmental writer Elizabeth Kolbert has taken readers to remote corners of the planet to understand how all life is connected—and how our planet is changing. She’s covered everything from the collapse of insect populations to the success of one town’s effort to go carbon neutral. 

Host Flora Lichtman speaks with Kolbert about the undeniable heaviness of our current climate moment, how the splendor of the Great Barrier Reef “tilted” her worldview, and the messy business of trying to solve environmental problems. 

In March and April, the Science Friday Book Club is read...

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 tumor. But these models aren’t ready for the clinic yet, and with so much patien...

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 Lauren Guillette fills us in.

Guests:

Dean Regas is an astronomer and forme...

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 on sea turtle nesting season, and an ancient sea turtle stampede.

Guest:
Dr. Penny Becker is CEO of the n...

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 Ni...

On social media, the vagus nerve often gets billed as the gateway to nervous system nirvana: It’s your ticket to better rest, relaxation, and health if you “stimulate” it correctly. Where did this idea come from, and what does the research say? 

Host Flora Lichtman talks with neurosurgeon Kevin Tracey, a pioneer of a field called bioelectronic medicine, which uses techniques to stimulate the nervous system with electricity. Back in the 1990s, he was the first to discover that the vagus nerve regulates the immune system and inflammation.

Guest:

Dr. Kevin Tracey is a ne...

In recent months, AI music has moved from novelty act into the realm of listenable music. For the first time, AI-generated songs from AI-generated artists are on the Billboard top 100 charts, and more musicians are coming out saying they use AI in their songwriting process. 

Is this just another tech upgrade to the music-making process or does it signal something bigger in the industry? To investigate, SciFri producer and musician Dee Peterschmidt talks to journalist Kristin Robinson, who covers AI in the music industry, and Laurie Spiegel, an electronic and algorithmic music pioneer.

Guests:
K...

March Madness is almost upon us, which means basketball arenas across the country will be filled with the thunderous roar of fans and the surprisingly loud squeaks of basketball shoes. At his first NBA game, physicist Adel Djellouli was surprised by the constant noise from the court and wondered, why do basketball shoes squeak? Turns out, the physics of a squeak involves lightning bolts and earthquakes.

Host Flora Lichtman talks with Djellouli about his research and the joy of investigating seemingly simple questions.

Guest:
Dr. Adel Djellouli is an experimental physicist at Harvard University.<...

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 professor of epidemiology and director of the Community Noise Lab at Brown University in Prov...

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 It’s on You.

Host Flora Lichtman tal...

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see.

There’s something about space that captures the imagination of scientists and artists alike. Just ask astrophysicist Derek Ward-Thompson and astronomer Brian May (yes, THAT Brian May, guitarist of Queen). In their new book Islands in Infinity: Galaxies 3-D, they turn flat images of the galaxies to three dimensional spacescapes that leap off the page. 

Host Flora Lichtman talks with Ward-Thompson and May about the enchanting nature of spa...

Earlier this year, Congress pushed back on the Trump administration’s attempts to slash funding for many science research programs, and restored that money to the budget. But despite the funds existing in the budget, they have not yet been released to some researchers. 

Science journalist Alexandra Witze joins Host Ira Flatow to walk through the details of the government funding process, and her recent report in Nature about the funding slowdown. 

Guest: Alexandra Witze is a correspondent for the journal Nature. She's based in Boulder, Colorado.

Transcripts for each episode are available with...

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.” Today, thousands of labs use her methods to coax enzymes into doing things no one ever thought of. She joi...

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 latest science of mental stimulation and dementia. After following a diverse group of older adults for 20 years, her research...

American chestnut trees once towered over the landscape, dominating forests in parts of the eastern United States. But in the late 1800s, a fungal blight virtually wiped them out across the country. Chestnut restoration scientist Jared Westbrook tells Host Ira Flatow how new genetic work could speed up efforts to breed fungal resistance into hybrid chestnuts and create a heartier chestnut population. 

Then, author Hanna Lewis introduces Ira to the concept of miniforests, self-sustaining native forest ecosystems on a tiny footprint, like an empty lot or a schoolyard. The planting method, developed by botanist Akira Miyawaki, can h...

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 thrown out?

Host Flora Lichtman digs into this question with Andy Miller, an original author on the enda...

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 treatments.

Epidemiologist Dylan Williams joins Host Ira Flatow to explain the findin...

Does the availability of “hemp-derived” THC products have you dazed and confused? A legal loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill lets these items be sold over the counter. But state actions, and a federal law that could come in November, aims to snuff these products out. 

Host Flora Lichtman talks to cannabis expert Cinnamon Bidwell about the confusing legal landscape, and the real differences between products. Plus, investigative reporter Joe Hong talks to Flora to break down his findings of what’s lurking in NYC’s dirty snowbanks.

Guest:
Dr. Cinnamon Bidwell is a clinical psycholog...

Despite major advances in our understanding of the biology of mental health disorders,  there’s no blood test or brain scan that will confirm if you have depression, anxiety, PTSD, or any other psychiatric illness. 

And yet, the American Psychiatric Association recently announced that it will be including biomarkers for mental conditions in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which guides diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. So how close are we to pinpointing the biological markers of mental illness, and what does that mean for diagnosis? It’s complicated. 

H...

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 with epidemiologist Caroline Fyfe about what this study teaches us about the prevalence of autism...