Science Friday

Gen Alpha slang can seem unintelligible to adults, but linguist and TikToker Adam Aleksic argues language development in the internet age is worth legitimate study. Adam talks to Host Flora Lichtman about how algorithms and social media are changing the way we speak, and discusses his new book, Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language.Guest:Adam Aleksik is a linguist and content creator, and the author of Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

The New World screwworm has cattle ranchers, entomologists, and the federal government on edge. The pest was successfully eradicated from the US decades ago, but has recently been moving north from South America into Central America and Mexico, with concerns that it may cross the border into Texas. It's notorious for laying eggs in the wounds of animals and slowly eating them from the inside out. Host Flora Lichtman speaks with entomologist Sonja Swiger about past efforts to get rid of the New World screwworm, and why that process involves dropping millions of bugs out of airplanes.Guest: Dr. Sonja Swiger is an entomologist and professor at Texas A&M in Stephenville, Texas.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

In July 1925, the Scopes “Monkey” Trial captivated the nation. On its face, the case was relatively straightforward: A Tennessee biology teacher named John Scopes was accused of teaching human evolution to his students. At the time, that was against state law. Both sides enlisted the help of big name lawyers to represent them, and the case turned into a national spectacle. But, why has the legacy of the case persisted? And what can it help us understand about our current moment?Host Ira Flatow talks with Brenda Wineapple, author of Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial that Riveted a Nation. Read an excerpt of the book at sciencefriday.com.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

It's shaping up to be one of the worst tick years yet, and concerns about Lyme disease—which is transmitted through the bites of some species—are high. Aside from a short-lived vaccine released in the late 1990s, people have not had the opportunity to get vaccinated against Lyme disease. But if our dogs can get vaccinated, why can't we? Host Flora Lichtman speaks with immunologist and Lyme disease expert Linden Hu about the ongoing quest for a vaccine against Lyme disease, and our evolving understanding of the disease.  Guest: Dr. Linden Hu is a Professor of immunology at Tufts University School of Medicine.Read an article from SciFri about the research towards finding an anti-tick vaccine.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

About 7% of veterans experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and that number can be closer to 30% for those who have served in a war zone.  But PTSD has been treated pretty much the same way since the disorder was first recognized roughly four decades ago: Patients are instructed to revisit their trauma until the memory no longer creates an emotional response. This process can be so harrowing that over half of veterans are unable to complete the full course of treatment. But what if there was a way for PTSD treatment to be virtually painless?Host Flora Lichtman talks with Yasmin Tayag, staff writer at The Atlantic, who explored a controversial treatment called Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories, and the challenges of even studying a treatment that bucks conventional wisdom.  Guest: Yasmin Tayag is a staff reporter for The Atlantic.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.  Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

For decades, astronomers have been trying to nail down the value of the Hubble constant—a measure of how fast the universe is expanding. But some cosmologists say there's evidence that the universe is expanding faster than physics can explain, and our current models of it might be broken. Hosts Flora Lichtman and Ira Flatow talk with Wendy Freedman and Dan Scolnic, two cosmologists with different takes on this constant controversy.Guests: Wendy Freedman, a former team leader of the Hubble Key Project, is a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.Dr. Dan Scolnic is a cosmologist and associate professor of physics at Duke University in North Carolina.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

For decades, residents of the small city of Newburgh, New York, were unknowingly drinking water contaminated with toxic PFAS—also known as forever chemicals. The source turned out to be firefighting foam used on a nearby air base that had seeped into streams and creeks, and ultimately the city's main drinking water reservoir.Now, Newburgh is one of 10 sites that are part of a CDC-led study investigating the health effects of PFAS exposure. Early data out of Newburgh links PFAS with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Host Flora Lichtman discusses the research with environmental epidemiologist Erin Bell and reporter Shantal Riley.Read our full story about what PFAS contamination has meant for Newburgh in English and in Spanish.Guests: Shantal Riley is an award-winning journalist and science writer, focused on environmental health.Dr. Erin Bell is an environmental epidemiologist at the University at Albany in New York.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Oceanographer Victoria Orphan's dream was coming true. She was sitting in the Alvin submersible, on one of its deepest science dives ever. But the trip was anything but smooth sailing. Victoria takes us inside the sub, where her dream turns nightmarish as things start to go wrong, and Alvin pilot Nick O'Sadcia works frantically to troubleshoot. Oceanographer Shana Gofreddi, who's also Victoria's wife, tells us about the tense scene unfolding on the ship miles above, as they wait for word from the sub. “The Leap” is a 10-episode audio series that profiles scientists willing to take big risks to push the boundaries of discovery. It has premiered on Science Friday's podcast feed every Monday since May 12. This is the final episode of the 2025 season.“The Leap” is a production of the Hypothesis Fund, brought to you in partnership with Science Friday.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Researchers found a new sea spider with a giant nose, leg cannons, and—most remarkably—a novel way of surviving in the lightless, freezing environment miles below the sea surface. These oceanic arthropods are powered by methane that seeps out of the ocean floor.Biologist Shana Goffredi joins Host Flora Lichtman to tell us more about the discovery and explain how we're connected to these little beasts.Guest: Dr. Shana Goffredi is a biology professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.  Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

President Trump has said that he wants to phase out FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and move responsibility for dealing with major disasters to the state level. Since its creation in 1979, the agency has played a key role in coordinating emergency response nationally. Host Ira Flatow talks with Samantha Montano, an emergency management specialist and author of Disasterology: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis, about the path forward for FEMA and how US emergency response efforts might change in the coming years. Plus, how much can extreme flooding events be attributed to climate change? Host Flora Lichtman breaks down the science with Andrew Dessler, Director of the Texas Center for Extreme Weather.Guests:Dr. Samantha Montano is an associate professor of emergency management at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.     Dr. Andrew Dessler is the Director of the Texas Center for Extreme Weather.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Most pasta is made from just two ingredients—flour and water. For decades this humble food has prompted physicists around the world to try to understand its mysterious properties and answer questions like: Why does a stick of spaghetti break into three pieces and not cleanly into two? And why is cacio e pepe so hard to perfect? The answers reveal more about the building blocks of the universe than you might expect. Host Ira Flatow talks with Joseph Howlett, math writer at Quanta Magazine, and author of a recent story for the BBC about spaghetti science.And, if you frequent the wellness world on social media, you may have seen a trend popular with influencers: using adhesive tape to seal one's mouth shut while sleeping. This is intended to help the sleeper breathe through their nose all night, which people claim has a slew of benefits including improved quality of sleep, reduced sleep apnea, a more defined jawline, and a brightened complexion. But should you add mouth taping to your nighttime routine? According to Dr. Linda Lee, physician and surgeon at Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston, you should be evaluated by a professional first.Dr. Lee joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk about the right way to start nose breathing, what the scientific literature says (and doesn't say) about mouth taping, and how social media is changing the information patients seek from their physicians. Transcripts for each episode are available at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

We live in a world filled with microbes—they're inside our bodies, in soil, in deep sea hydrothermal vents, and in your window AC unit. Some microbiologists are hopeful that finding more of these tiny organisms could help us address the climate crisis. Joining Host Flora Lichtman to talk about how are microbiologists James Henriksen and Lisa Stein.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

GLP-1 medications like Ozempic have dominated headlines over the past couple of years. When writing his new book, Diet, Drugs and Dopamine: The New Science of Achieving a Healthy Weight, former FDA commissioner David Kessler wanted to unpack the science beyond those headlines. He also has a personal relationship with the subject, having taken GLP-1 medications himself. Host Flora Lichtman joins Kessler to talk about the latest science on metabolism, weight loss, and how these blockbuster drugs actually work.Guest: Dr. David Kessler is the former commissioner of the FDA and the author of Diet, Drugs and Dopamine: The New Science of Achieving a Healthy Weight.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

In both her life and her work, researcher Karmella Haynes has never followed the pack. Karmella explains why she created her own area of research at the intersection of synthetic biology and epigenetics. Emory colleague David Katz weighs in on the challenges Karmella faces in pioneering a new research field. Plus Karmella's sister Sherrone Wallace fills us in on their family life, and how their father raised them to inhabit spaces that weren't always welcoming. Karmella has been recognized by the Hypothesis Fund as a Scout for her bold science and enabling others to pursue their big ideas. “The Leap” is a 10-episode audio series that profiles scientists willing to take big risks to push the boundaries of discovery. It premieres on Science Friday's podcast feed every Monday until July 21. “The Leap” is a production of the Hypothesis Fund, brought to you in partnership with Science Friday.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

In excerpts of two conversations from the Science Friday archives (originally recorded in 2000 and 2009), oceanographer Robert Ballard joins Host Ira Flatow to discuss the 1985 expedition in which he discovered the wreck of the Titanic. He also emphasizes the value of combining the efforts of oceanographers, engineers, and social scientists to study the world's deep oceans.Guest: Robert Ballard is a National Geographic Explorer-at-Large and a Professor of Oceanography in the Center for Ocean Exploration at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, Rhode Island.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.  Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Summer is here, which means it's the season for soaking up the sun. But it's important to do so responsibly, considering the strong link between sun exposure and skin cancer. There are a lot of sunscreens on the market, so Hosts Flora Lichtman and Ira Flatow join dermatologist Jonathan Ungar to discuss what ingredients to look for and how they work.Guest: Dr. Jonathan Ungar is a dermatologist and director of the Waldman Melanoma and Skin Cancer Center at Mount Sinai in New York, New York.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

The latest Jurassic World movie, “Jurassic World Rebirth,” is out today. The movie stars Scarlett Johansson (“The Avengers”) and Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”). Their characters make a dangerous journey to an island chock-full of dinosaurs to get their hands on some dino blood for a life-saving heart medicine. But unfortunately for them, and luckily for us, things do not go as planned.Producer Dee Peterschmidt saw the movie and has a behind-the-scenes look with the movie's scientific consultant, paleontologist Steve Brusatte.Guest: Dr. Steve Brusatte is a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

AI is not just for automating tasks or coming up with new recipe ideas. Increasingly, people are turning to AI chatbots for companionship. Roughly half a billion people worldwide have downloaded chatbots designed specifically to provide users with emotional and social support. And while these human-chatbot relationships might ease loneliness or simply be fun to have, these digital friends can also cause real harm by encouraging dangerous or inappropriate behavior—especially in children or teens.To explore the emerging world of AI companion chatbots, Host Flora Lichtman is joined by freelance science reporter David Adam, who recently wrote about the effect of AI companions on mental health for Nature magazine; and Rose Guingrich, a psychology researcher studying interactions between humans and AI at Princeton University.Guests: David Adam is a freelance science reporter based in London.Rose Guingrich is a researcher in the department of psychology at Princeton University.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Geologist Steve Squyres risked his career and millions of dollars to get two rovers roaming on Mars. But the mission almost didn't make it to the launch pad. Steve and NASA engineer Jennifer Trosper describe the many obstacles the team faced in getting Spirit and Opportunity ready, from ripped parachutes to fuzzy camera feeds, and the problem-solving it took to safely land the twin vehicles on Martian soil.“The Leap” is a 10-episode audio series that profiles scientists willing to take big risks to push the boundaries of discovery. It premieres on Science Friday's podcast feed every Monday until July 21. “The Leap” is a production of the Hypothesis Fund, brought to you in partnership with Science Friday.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Since January, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has made sweeping cuts to science. It's hard to keep track of how many research grants were canceled, but they add up to hundreds of millions—possibly billions—of dollars of research funding lost. Some scientists, like Dr. Katie Edwards, are taking the fight to the courts. Edwards studies interpersonal violence at the University of Michigan, and she speaks with Host Flora Lichtman about why she's suing the NIH.Guest: Dr. Katie Edwards is the director of the Interpersonal Violence Research Laboratory and a professor of social work at the University of Michigan. She studies violence against marginalized communities.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

The first images from the brand new Vera C. Rubin Observatory have finally been unveiled, and they show us the cosmos like never before. The camera captures so much detail that its first complete image contains about 10 million galaxies. Host Flora Lichtman talks with Dr. Federica Bianco about our dazzling new view of the night sky, how the camera works, and what cosmic mysteries it may reveal.See images from the telescope on our website.Guest: Dr. Federica Bianco is an astrophysicist at the University of Delaware and the deputy project scientist for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.  Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Last month, scientists reported a historic first: they gave the first personalized gene-editing treatment to a baby who was born with a rare life-threatening genetic disorder. Before the treatment, his prognosis was grim. But after three doses, the baby's health improved. So how does it work? What are the risks? And what could this breakthrough mean for the 30 million people in the US who have a rare genetic disease with no available treatments?To help get some answers, Host Flora Lichtman is joined by the physician-scientists who led this research: geneticist Dr. Kiran Musunuru and pediatrician Dr. Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas.Guests: Dr. Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas is an assistant professor of pediatrics and genetics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania.Dr. Kiran Musunuru is a professor of translational research at the University of Pennsylvania.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Australia is known for its unusual animal life, from koalas to kangaroos. But once upon a time, the Australian landscape had even weirder fauna, like Palorchestes azael, a marsupial with immense claws and a small trunk. There was Protemnodon mamkurra, a massive, slow-moving, kangaroo-like creature. And Zygomaturus trilobus, a wombat the size of a hippo. They're all extinct now, and researchers are trying to figure out why. Host Flora Lichtman talks with researcher Carli Peters about ZooMS, a technique that allows researchers to use collagen from ancient bone fragments to identify species, offering clues to those ancient extinction events. Peters recently described using the technique in the journal Frontiers in Mammal Science.And, a recent study in the journal Nature Astronomy hints that our own Milky Way galaxy may not be doomed to collide with Andromeda after all. Till Sawala, an astrophysicist at the University of Helsinki, joins Flora to talk about the finding.Guests: Dr. Carli Peters is a postdoctoral researcher at the Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behavior at the University of Algarve in Faro, Portugal.Dr. Till Sawala is an astrophysicist at the University of Helsinki.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

As a grad student, Suchitra Sebastian wasn't sure she wanted to be a physicist. But when one of her experiments gave an unexpected result, she was hooked. Suchitra's former PhD student Beng Sing Tan describes the late-night experiments that led to an “impossible” finding—a potentially new state of matter. Theoretical physicist Piers Coleman tells us about working on the edges of a scientific field, and what happens when a new theory ruffles old feathers.“The Leap” is a 10-episode audio series that profiles scientists willing to take big risks to push the boundaries of discovery. It premieres on Science Friday's podcast feed every Monday until July 21. “The Leap” is a production of the Hypothesis Fund, brought to you in partnership with Science Friday.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) started collecting data nearly three years ago, and it has already transformed our understanding of the universe. It has spotted the earliest galaxies ever seen, and, closer to home, captured auroras around Jupiter. So what's the latest from the JWST? In this live broadcast, Hosts Flora Lichtman and Ira Flatow talk with astrophysicist Macarena Garcia Marin, deputy project director for the James Webb Space Telescope.Guest: Dr. Macarena Garcia Marin is an astrophysicist and instrument scientist for the European Space Agency. She's also deputy project director for the James Webb Space Telescope.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Ever noticed how some people get to their 80s and 90s and continue to be healthy and active? They spend their days playing mahjong, driving to lunch, learning shuffle dancing, and practicing Portuguese. Those are “super agers,” seniors who stay fit well into old age. How do they do it? Is it luck or genetics? In this live broadcast, Hosts Flora Lichtman and Ira Flatow discuss the science of aging with two experts on the topic, cardiologist Eric Topol and neuroscientist Emily Rogalski.Guests:Dr. Eric Topol is an author, practicing cardiologist at the Scripps Clinic, and a genomics professor at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.Dr. Emily Rogalski is a clinical and cognitive neuroscientist, and the director of the Healthy Aging & Alzheimer's Research Care Center at the University of Chicago.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

While there are a lot of dinosaur fossils, and a lot of plant fossils, the precise connection between the two has been something of a mystery. Now, researchers report that they've found what's called a cololite, fossilized gut contents, in the remains of a sauropod—a massive, long-necked plant-eater. The dino's last meal dates back 95 to 100 million years. Paleontologist Stephen Poropat joins Host Flora Lichtman to dig into the mysteries of a dinosaur's tummy.And, for prairie dogs, communication is key. The rodents' yips and barks can warn when danger is near—and not just to other prairie dogs. A new study suggests that birds called long-billed curlews are eavesdropping on this chatter to learn when a predator is lurking nearby. Using speakers and a taxidermied badger on wheels, ornithologists are untangling the social dynamics of black-tailed prairie dogs. Host Flora Lichtman talks with study author Andrew Dreelin about this eavesdropping behavior and what it means for conservation.Guests:Dr. Stephen Poropat is a paleontologist and deputy director of the Western Australian Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre at Curtin University in Perth, Australia.Andrew Dreelin is a research fellow with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and a PhD candidate at Northern Illinois University.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Last month, former President Joe Biden announced that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. The news sparked a larger conversation about what exactly the best practices are to screen for prostate cancer. Turns out, it's more complicated than it might seem. Host Ira Flatow is joined by oncologist Matthew Cooperberg and statistician Andrew Vickers, who studies prostate cancer screening, to help unpack those complexities.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Biochemist Virginia Man-Yee Lee has spent a lifetime in the lab, figuring out what happens in the brains of people with neurodegenerative diseases. She's made key discoveries about Parkinson's, ALS, and Alzheimer's.The secret to her success? Happiness. “If you're not happy, you don't know what you're capable of,” Lee says. Neurologist Ken Kosick reflects on the early days of Alzheimer's research, and neurologist Alice S. Chen-Plotkin, a former postdoc in Virginia's lab, gives us a fly-on-the-wall look at the unusual research partnership between Lee and her husband John Trojanowski.“The Leap” is a 10-episode audio series that profiles scientists willing to take big risks to push the boundaries of discovery. It premieres on Science Friday's podcast feed every Monday until July 21. “The Leap” is a production of the Hypothesis Fund, brought to you in partnership with Science Friday.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

On Monday, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the panel that advises the CDC on who should get certain vaccines and when. Then on Thursday, he appointed eight new members, some of whom have been critical of vaccines in the past. So who exactly is new on the panel and how are medical experts reacting?Sophie Bushwick from New Scientist breaks down this reshuffling and the other top science stories of the week, including Starlink's leaky satellites, Earth's possible past encounters with dark matter, IBM's quantum computing plans, a device that can extract water from dry air, and how a paralyzed man was able to speak thanks to brain-controlled synthetic voice.Plus, nearly one in four Americans live within three miles of a Superfund site, places that are contaminated with hazardous waste and flagged for cleanup by the government. Amid sweeping cuts to science and environmental programs, the Trump administration appears to be prioritizing the cleanup of these polluted sites. But why? Host Flora Lichtman talks with science journalist Shahla Farzan about the Trump administration's approach to cleaning up Superfund sites and what this means for impacted communities.Read Farzan's full story about the move to expedite cleanup, and her past coverage of how floods can impact the areas surrounding Superfund sites.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

This week, China's Tianwen-2 spacecraft sent back its first image from space. It's headed to a rendezvous with the asteroid Kamoʻoalewa, one of Earth's “quasi-moons,” where it will collect samples in 2026. The mission comes after several successful lunar missions, including a lunar rover and a sample return mission from the far side of the moon. Host Ira Flatow talks with reporter Ling Xin from the South China Morning Post about the goals of China's space program, and what might be ahead.Plus, astronomer Dean Regas describes his new “tactile astronomy” book, which seeks to bring stories of the constellations to young blind and low-vision readers. Guests:Ling Xin is a science reporter at the South China Morning Post based in Ohio.Dean Regas is an astronomer, host of the “Looking Up” podcast, and author of the new book All About Orion.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

The prairie might just be the most underappreciated landscape in the United States. Beginning in the early 1800s, the majority of these grasslands were converted into big industrial farms. Now, some unaffectionately refer to it as “flyover country.”Host Ira Flatow talks with Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty, authors of Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie, about the loss of biodiversity on the American prairie and those working to restore what remains.Guests: Dave Hage is a longtime environmental reporter and co-author of Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie, based in St. Paul, Minnesota.Josephine Marcotty is a longtime environmental reporter and co-author of Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Transcript will be available on sciencefriday.com.  Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Bedbug infestations are not just a modern problem—these pests have been with early human ancestors for 245,000 years, causing problems long before the invention of beds. Lindsay Miles, an entomologist at Virginia Tech, has found that changes in bedbug population size mirrored those of humans, proving they might be our first pest. Miles talks with Host Flora Lichtman about our history with bedbugs and why they're such prolific pests. Plus, the discovery of a new wasp that catches its prey… with butt flaps. Dr. Lars Vilhelmsen, curator at the Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen tells us all about it.Guests: Dr. Lindsay Miles is an entomologist at Virginia Tech. Dr. Lars Vilhelmsen is a curator at the Natural History Museum of Denmark in CopenhagenTranscript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Manu Prakash is many things—biologist, engineer, inventor, philosopher—but what he isn't is conventional. Following his instincts has led Manu to his most ambitious project yet: mapping the whole tree of life, with the help of everyone on this planet. Step one: make a cheap microscope anyone can use. Foldscope co-inventor Jim Cybulski describes their invention, and their dream to supply millions of microscopes to the masses. Manu has been recognized by the Hypothesis Fund as a Scout for his bold science and enabling others to pursue their big ideas. “The Leap” is a 10-episode audio series that profiles scientists willing to take big risks to push the boundaries of discovery. It premieres on Science Friday's podcast feed every Monday until July 21. “The Leap” is a production of the Hypothesis Fund, brought to you in partnership with Science Friday.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

A mysterious disease called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) has been appearing in emergency rooms for about a decade. The disease has caused otherwise healthy children to lose the ability to move their arms and legs, and some become completely paralyzed. AFM is caused by a virus that's a cousin of the polio virus, earning it the nickname "the new polio.” Journalist and physician Eli Cahan joins Host Flora Lichtman to explain what doctors have been observing, the research efforts toward developing a vaccine, and what this emerging disease reveals about our readiness for future outbreaks and pandemics.Read Cahan's article about what fighting this “new polio” might look like as our healthcare infrastructure gets dismantled.And, learning more about some non-cancerous cells may help researchers better understand how cancer progresses. When you think about how cancer spreads in the body, you're probably thinking about cancer cells—they divide uncontrollably, form into tumors, and hide from the immune system. So, it makes sense that studying the behavior of these cells is critical to our understanding of cancer. But now, researchers are looking more closely at the non-cancerous cells that co-exist within tumors and the surrounding tissues. They make up what's called the “colocateome.” Taking this more holistic approach to cancer research may help explain why some treatments don't work for all patients, and eventually may lead to more effective therapies. To better understand this expanding field, Host Ira Flatow talks with Sylvia Plevritis, a Stanford University cancer researcher. Guests:Dr. Eli Cahan is a journalist and physician based in Boston, Massachusetts.Dr. Sylvia Plevritis is a professor of biomedical data science and radiology at Stanford University.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

It's a precarious time for science in the United States. Federal funding is being slashed, career scientists are being laid off, and researchers are considering leaving to work abroad. On top of that, public trust in science and experts has declined. Besides acknowledging the federal attacks on science, a lot of scientists are also asking themselves: What are we doing wrong? How do we engage the public? And what could we do better?Joining Host Flora Lichtman to dig through these questions is Felice Frankel, a science photographer and chemical engineer at MIT. She's also the author of the upcoming book Phenomenal Moments: Revealing the Hidden Science Around Us, out this fall.Guest: Felice Frankel is a science photographer and a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the department of chemical engineering.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

South American cane toads were brought to Australia in 1935 to help eradicate native beetles that were destroying sugar cane crops. The toads didn't care much for the beetles, but they did spread across the coast of Queensland and beyond, with no natural predators to stop them. Their own deadly toxin devastated local reptiles along the way, and they now number over 200 million.Invasive biologists have long tried to curb Australia's cane toad population. The newest approach uses CRISPR gene-editing technology to create cannibalistic “Peter Pan” cane toad tadpoles: tadpoles that don't fully mature and instead feast on the tens of thousands of eggs that the toads produce.How was this approach developed, and how do these researchers think about making a potentially massive change to the ecosystem? Biologist Rick Shine, who has led the effort, joins Host Flora Lichtman to discuss it. Later, science journalist Elizabeth Kolbert talks about her experience reporting on similar monumental efforts to control nature—and what they say about us.Guests: Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer at The New Yorker and author of Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future (Crown, 2021). She's based in Williamstown, Massachusetts.Dr. Rick Shine is a professor of biology at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Birding is a hobby that attracts a very particular group of people: the kind who get up at sunrise, go into the woods, and wait for hours for a little tiny feathered friend to fly past. Author and illustrator Rosemary Mosco guides us into the world of birding with her new book, The Birding Dictionary. Plus, biologist Sara Lipshutz fills us in on the surprisingly high-drama world of some female birds.Guests: Rosemary Mosco is an author, illustrator, and speaker whose work connects people with the natural world. Her latest book is The Birding Dictionary.Dr. Sara Lipshutz is an assistant professor in biology at Duke University. Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

As a young plant scientist, Joanne Chory shook up the research establishment with her unconventional approach to figuring out how plants work. Her methods and success changed the field, and led her to her biggest project yet—tackling climate change, with the help of millions of plants. Colleagues Steve Kay, Detlef Weigel, and Jennifer Nemhauser describe what made Joanne outstanding in the field of plant scientists. Plus Joanne's sister, Mary Ann Chory, describes their early family life and the sibling relationships that shaped them. Joanne Chory died in November 2024 at age 69 from complications due to Parkinson's disease.“The Leap” is a 10-episode audio series that profiles scientists willing to take big risks to push the boundaries of discovery. It premieres on Science Friday's podcast feed every Monday until July 21. “The Leap” is a production of the Hypothesis Fund, brought to you in partnership with Science Friday.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Grant funding by the National Science Foundation has been cut by more than half this year, bringing the foundation's science funding to its lowest level in decades. Katrina Miller, who covers science for the New York Times, joins Host Flora Lichtman to unpack the cutbacks and discuss where the funding changes might lead.And, the FDA has cleared a blood test to help diagnose Alzheimer's disease. The first-of-its-kind test measures the levels of amyloid and tau proteins in a patient's blood, two major biomarkers of the disease. Alzheimer's researcher Jason Karlawish joins Flora to explain this new diagnostic tool and what it means for patients.Guests:Katrina Miller is a science reporter for The New York Times based in Chicago.Dr. Jason Karlawish is a professor of medicine, medical ethics and health policy, and neurology at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, and co-director of the Penn Memory Center, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

At the end of April, air traffic control radar surveillance and radio communication systems at Newark airport went dark for over a minute. A week and half later, radar went down again briefly. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has since cut down the number of flights in and out of Newark. But, how does our air traffic control system work? How do air traffic controllers keep track of all of the planes in the sky? And what happens when systems fail? Michael McCormick, a former air traffic control operations manager at the FAA, joins Host Flora Lichtman to dive into the science of air traffic control. Guest: Dr. Michael McCormick is a former vice president of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization,  and an associate professor and program coordinator of Air Traffic Management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.Transcripts for the segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

At the beginning of May, the National Institutes of Health, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced a plan to develop a universal vaccine platform. Think: a single shot for flu or COVID-19 that would last years, maybe a lifetime. The plan—called Generation Gold Standard—has a reported budget of $500 million, and a tight deadline. But will it work? And where does the science on this actually stand? In this live broadcast, Hosts Flora Lichtman and Ira Flatow talk with epidemiologist Michael Osterholm and vaccine researcher Ted Ross.Guests: Michael Osterholm is Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Dr. Ted Ross is the global director of vaccine research at the Cleveland Clinic's Florida Research and Innovation Center in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Betül Kaçar started her scientific career as a biochemist, working on an enzyme found in zebrafish. But then she found her calling: investigating some of the hardest questions in evolutionary biology by resurrecting ancient life forms. NASA administrator Melissa Kirven-Brooks recalls the fellowship application that put Betül on her radar. And evolutionary biologist and geneticist Harmit Malik weighs in on what makes Betül's project so hard, and why he's kind of jealous he didn't think of it first. Betül previously received a Hypothesis Fund Award for her research.Guest:Dr. Betül Kaçar, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and leader of a NASA-funded multi-institutional research center focusing on life's early evolution“The Leap” is a 10-episode audio series that profiles scientists willing to take big risks to push the boundaries of discovery. It premieres on Science Friday's podcast feed every Monday until July 21. “The Leap” is a production of the Hypothesis Fund, brought to you in partnership with Science Friday.Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

The “Mission: Impossible” franchise is known for its big stunts, and the newest film is no exception. Producer Kathleen Davis talks to the film's stunt coordinator, Wade Eastwood, about the science behind one big underwater scene. Plus, psychologist Kenneth Carter joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk about what makes high-adrenaline adventurers tick.Take this questionnaire to see where you fall on the "sensation scale" Carter mentioned in this episode.Guests: Wade Eastwood is a stunt coordinator, stunt performer, and director in the film and television industry. He was the second unit director and stunt coordinator on "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning."Dr. Kenneth Carter is a Professor of Psychology at Oxford College of Emory University, and the author of Buzz!: Inside the Minds of Thrill-Seekers, Daredevils, and Adrenaline Junkies.Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Climate scientist Jagadish Shukla grew up in a small village in rural India, where people starved if the monsoon season didn't bring rain. To help his village, he set out to become a scientist and discover a way to predict the seasons—an unthinkable idea at the time, in the 1960s and ‘70s. Shukla became a pioneer in modern weather forecasting, and he tells his unlikely story in his new memoir, A Billion Butterflies: A Life in Climate and Chaos Theory. He talks with Host Flora Lichtman about his journey to becoming a leading climate scientist, the state of weather forecasting today, and why forecasting is more important than ever in the face of climate change.Guest:Dr. Jagadish Shukla, author of A Billion Butterflies: A Life in Climate and Chaos Theory and climate scientist at George Mason UniversityTranscripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

In recent years, digital touchscreens have replaced many of the buttons and knobs that control various functions in cars. But when Host Ira Flatow went shopping for a new car, he noticed that physical controls seemed to be making a comeback. But will the rise of technologies like voice recognition and automation make cars more button-centric, or less? Ira talks with car ergonomics engineer James Forbes and buttonologist Rachel Plotnick about the advantages and disadvantages of the physical button or knob, and what might lead an automaker to choose one type of control over another.Guests: James Forbes, professor of practice in the department of automotive engineering at Clemson University.Rachel Plotnick, author of Power Button: A History of Pleasure, Panic, and the Politics of Pushing (The MIT Press, 2018).Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Tomatoes come in all kinds of colors, sizes, and flavors. But what's going on at the genetic level? What makes a tomato red or yellow? Tiny or giant?Researchers are mapping the genomes of 22 varieties of nightshades—the family of plants that includes tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants. They located the genes that control the size of tomatoes and eggplants and then used CRISPR gene editing to grow bigger fruits without sacrificing flavor.Geneticist Michael Schatz joins Host Ira Flatow to talk about his latest research into nightshade genomes and the current state of genetically modified crops.Guest: Dr. Michael Schatz, professor of computational biology and oncology at Johns Hopkins University, based in Baltimore, Maryland.Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

As a teenager living in St. Vincent, Richie Robertson saw first-hand what a volcanic eruption did to life on the island. Forty years later, he was the scientist the community turned to when the same volcano roared back to life. Richie's colleague, Stacey Edwards of the UWI Seismic Research Centre, explains how Richie earned the trust of the community, and why it was important to have a Vincentian leading the way in a crisis.Guests: Dr. Richard Robertson, geologist at the UWI Seismic Research Centre Stacey Edwards, education & outreach manager at the UWI Seismic Research Centre“The Leap” is a 10-episode audio series that profiles scientists willing to take big risks to push the boundaries of discovery. It premieres on Science Friday's podcast feed every Monday until July 21. “The Leap” is a production of the Hypothesis Fund, brought to you in partnership with Science Friday.Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

The lesser prairie chicken was granted endangered species status in 2023. Now the Department of the Interior is moving to revoke those protections. What can this bird known for its flamboyant courtship rituals tell us about the Trump administration's approach to environmental policy and protections for endangered species? Host Flora Lichtman is joined by Producer Shoshannah Buxbaum and Vox environmental reporter Benji Jones to talk about his reporting on the lesser prairie chicken and other science stories of the week including, Trump supporters in the wind energy sector, at-home cervical cancer screening, a new fossil from an ancient bird ancestor, the latest brood of cicadas emerging, and how flamingos eat with their heads upside down underwater. Guests:Benji Jones, environmental correspondent at VoxShoshannah Buxbaum, producer at Science FridayTranscripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Firefighting is a career with an inherent cancer risk, but a full understanding of what those risks are has been elusive. An important registry designed to help understand the link between firefighters and cancer was taken offline on April 1 because of federal cuts, then restored six weeks later. Host Flora Lichtman discusses this with firefighter health researcher Sara Jahnke and reporter Murphy Woodhouse from Boise State Public Radio and the Mountain West News Bureau. Plus, pests and pathogens are ravaging keystone tree species in forests across the country. Flora discusses the innovative science behind breeding pest-resistant trees with Leigh Greenwood from The Nature Conservancy.Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

What does it take to create and maintain one of the largest repositories of botanical information in the world? For starters, it can mean helicopter-ing into remote nooks of the Amazon, hiking through rough terrain, looking for strange fruits and flowers, and climbing trees to pluck specimens from the branches. Then there's all the science required to identify, classify, and codify those species. Botanists Lúcia Lohmann and Charlotte Taylor join Host Flora Lichtman to discuss their work discovering new plant species and maintaining the storied Missouri Botanical Garden.And, what does it mean to be a superfood? What is the science of micronutrient-dense foods like millet, which get less hype than foods like açaí, goji berries, and quinoa? Flora talks with biological engineer Kiruba Krishnaswamy, who puts food under a microscope—literally—and studies the nutrients that help make our bodies function, in hopes of harnessing them to fight hunger worldwide.Guests: Dr. Lúcia Lohmann, professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and president and director of the Missouri Botanical GardenDr. Charlotte Taylor, botanist and senior curator at the Missouri Botanical Garden Dr. Kiruba Krishnaswamy, assistant professor in the Colleges of Engineering and Agriculture at the University of MissouriTranscript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.