Podcasts about Science Friday

Growing up, Daisy Hernández was told that her aunt had become ill from eating a bad apple. She watched as her aunt became sicker and sicker, and didn't learn until years later that she was living with Chagas disease. It affects around 8 million people, mostly across the Americas, and yet many of us have never heard of it.Hernandez's book, The Kissing Bug, is SciFri's first book club pick of the year. Host Flora Lichtman speaks with Hernández about her book, the story of her aunt who died of Chagas, and how a disease that affects so many people can be so neglected. Read an excerpt of The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation's Neglect of a Deadly Disease.Guest: Daisy Hernández is a journalist and the author of The Kissing Bug. She's based in 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.

What does it mean to be a wild animal in a world dominated by humans? A recent study found that city-dwelling raccoons' snouts are getting shorter—a sign of domestication. Another study on dark-eyed juncos living on a Los Angeles college campus found that their beaks changed shape during the COVID-19 lockdown, when there wasn't as much food and trash on campus.  Evolutionary biologist Pamela Yeh and animal domestication expert Raffaela Lesch join Host Flora Lichtman to discuss how wildlife is evolving in urban areas, what it means to be domesticated, and when we can expect to have a pet raccoon sleeping at the foot of the bed.  Guests:Dr. Pamela Yeh is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA.Dr. Raffaela Lesch is an assistant professor of biology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.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.

A year ago this week, the Eaton and Palisades fires broke out in Los Angeles, and ultimately became one of the most destructive urban fire events in recent history. Today we'll hear about a community brigade that is taking firefighting into its own hands through a technique called “home hardening.”Journalist Adriana Cargill, host of the new podcast “The Palisades Fire: A Sandcastle Special” from PRX, embedded with this group to understand what the future of firefighting could look like. She and Jack Cohen, a former research scientist with the USDA Forest Service, join Host Flora Lichtman to explain the science behind how people can prevent their own homes from burning.Guests:Adriana Cargill is a multimedia journalist and host of the podcast “The Palisades Fire: A Sandcastles Special.” She is based in Los Angeles, California.Dr. Jack Cohen is a former research physical scientist with the USDA Forest Service, based in Missoula, Montana.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.

When humans finally land on Mars, what should they do? A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine lays out the science objectives for a crewed Mars mission. Planetary scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton, who co-chaired the report committee, joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk about the plans to send people to Mars.We'll also get an update on the mission to survey the asteroid Psyche. Elkins-Tanton tells us how she managed the team that made the Psyche mission possible, and what she learned from her mistakes.  Guest: Dr. Lindy Elkins-Tanton is a planetary scientist.  She's the head of NASA's Psyche mission and director of UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory. 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.

Since President Trump returned to office, his administration has been aggressive in rolling back clean energy initiatives. Trump's “big beautiful bill” ended tax credits for solar panels and electric vehicles. And the EPA is moving to cancel $7 billion dollars in federal grants that were intended to help low- and middle-income families install solar on their homes.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 solar adoption stand in the US and across the world right now?In August, climate activist Bill McKibben joined Host Ira Flatow to talk about the recent wins and future challenges that sun-powered energy faces, which he writes about in his new book Here Comes The Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization.Read an excerpt from Here Comes The Sun.Guest: Bill McKibben is a climate activist and founder of Third Act. He's based in Middlebury, Vermont.Transcript for this episode is available at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

‘Tis the season for exercise resolutions. For a select few, an ultramarathon—a race of 50, 100, or even more miles—may be on the table for 2026. But is there a limit to what our bodies can endure? And what makes ultramarathoners capable of these tremendous feats? Joining Host Flora Lichtman are sports medicine expert Brandee Waite and biological anthropologist Andrew Best.Guests:Dr. Brandee Waite is the director of UC Davis Health Sports Medicine in Sacramento, California.Dr. Andrew Best is an assistant professor of biology at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.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 the last year, you've basically replaced your body weight in new cells. So yes, it's a new year, new you. To ring in 2026, we're talking about starting anew, and drawing inspiration from tiny worms that embody the ultimate growth mindset—they can regrow a whole body from just a tiny piece of their tail. In this festive episode, Host Flora Lichtman talks with biologist Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, a pioneer in the field of regeneration, about the science of regeneration and the biology lessons we can carry into the new year. Guest: Dr. Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado is a biologist and president and chief scientific officer of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Missouri.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 has been a busy year in science, from government budget cuts and policy changes affecting research, to the record rise of renewables, to the surge in AI, and everything in between.Science journalists Sophie Bushwick and Maggie Koerth join Host Ira Flatow to unpack some of the year's top stories, and some you might have missed.Guests:Sophie Bushwick is a freelance science journalist and editor based in New York.Maggie Koerth is climate and weather editor for CNN, based in Minneapolis.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.

Being able to belt out a tune like Adele or Pavarotti is not just about raw talent. The best singers in the world have to work on their technique—like how to control their breath and develop the stamina to hit note after note for a two-hour concert. But pop stars and opera singers aren't the only vocalists who have figured out how to harness their voices for maximum impact.Death metal vocalists also train their voices to hit that unique guttural register. And those iconic screams are not as easy to master as they might seem.Vocal scientists at the University of Utah are now bringing death metal singers into the lab to try to understand how they make their extreme vocalizations. What they're finding is not only insightful for metalheads, but might also help improve treatment for people with some types of vocal injuries.In a conversation from April, Host Flora Lichtman talks with speech pathologist Amanda Stark, and Mark Garrett, vocal coach and lead singer of the band Kardashev.Read the whole story at sciencefriday.com.Guests: Dr. Amanda Stark is a speech pathologist and vocology researcher at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.Mark Garett is a vocal coach and the lead singer of Kardashev. He's based in Phoenix, Arizona.Transcript available at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

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. In a conversation from July, 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 Aleksic is a linguist and content creator posting educational videos as the “Etymology Nerd” to an audience of more than three million. He is the author of Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language.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.

What have we learned in recent years about black holes? Can entangled quantum particles really communicate faster than light? What's the story behind Schrödinger's Cat? And, in this weird liminal space between the holidays, what even IS time, really? Physicist Sean Carroll and Host Ira Flatow tackled those big questions and more at a recent event at WNYC's Greene Space in New York City. Carroll's book The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion is the SciFri Book Club pick for December. Guest: Dr. Sean Carroll is the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.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.

Health psychologist Dr. Kari Leibowitz traveled to some of the coldest, darkest places on earth to learn how people there don't just survive, but thrive in winter. She says that one of the key ingredients is adopting a positive wintertime mindset by focusing on and celebrating the good parts of winter.In a conversation from last January, Flora Lichtman talks with Dr. Kari Leibowitz, author of How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days, about saunas, cold plunges, candles, and other small ways to make winter a season to look forward to rather than dread. Plus, she responds to some of our audience's own tips to make the season enjoyable.Guest: Dr. Kari Leibowitz is a health psychologist and author of How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days. She's based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.Transcript is available at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Imagine sitting at home and then all of a sudden you hear a men's choir belting out “The Star Spangled Banner.” You check your phone, computer, radio. Nothing's playing. You look outside, no one's there. That's what happened to neurologist Bruce Dobkin after he received a cochlear implant. He set out to learn everything he could about the condition, called musical hallucinosis.In a story from August, Host Ira Flatow talks with Dobkin about his decision to publish his account in a medical journal and why the condition is more common than he realized.Guest: Dr. Bruce Dobkin is a neurologist at UCLA Health.Transcript is available at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Koalas with the bodies of lions. Elephants the size of your dog. Gigantic, 8-foot-tall sloths. These aren't creatures found in science fiction: They walked our planet a million years ago, during the Ice Age.That's the focus of the third season of the Apple TV series “Prehistoric Planet,” which uses the latest paleontology research and photorealistic CGI to reimagine the lives of ancient creatures. So far, the series has focused on dinosaurs, but now it's taking that same approach to the huge and strange-looking animals that roamed the tundras and deserts of the Ice Age.Joining Host Ira Flatow to thaw out the new research featured in the show are two of its scientific consultants, paleontologist Darren Naish and La Brea Tar Pits curator Emily Lindsey.Guests: Dr. Darren Naish is a paleozoologist and author based in Southampton, U.K.Dr. Emily Lindsey is a paleoecologist, curator, and excavation site director at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum in Los Angeles, California. Transcript available at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Since 1955, when Congress passed the Polio Vaccination Assistance Act, the federal government has been in the business of expanding access to vaccines. That is, until this year.2025 has been filled with almost daily news stories about federal agencies, under the direction of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., casting doubts about vaccine safety, including unsubstantiated claims about links to autism. These agencies have also been taking steps that could roll back access to vaccines, including for hepatitis B and COVID-19.But we've found it very hard to sort out what these talking points and recommendations mean in practice. KFF Health News journalists Jackie Fortiér and Arthur Allen join Host Flora Lichtman to discuss, one year in, what this administration's stance on vaccines has meant practically—for vaccine access, and vaccine uptake.Guests: Arthur Allen is senior correspondent at KFF Health News and author of Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver.Jackie Fortiér is a Peggy Girshman fellow covering health policy at KFF Health News.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 year, comet 3I/Atlas broke into our solar system, but also the zeitgeist. This dirty snowball is a visitor from another solar system, and it's only the third interstellar object we've ever spotted. And today, it's closer to us than ever before—just 170 million miles away.Astronomy experts Stefanie Milam and Hakeem Oluseyi join Host Flora Lichtman to dish about 3I/ATLAS and how it captured the spotlight in a way that maybe no other big hunk of rock ever has.Plus, the sun is setting on the ISS, and the plan is to eventually crash it  into the ocean. But wouldn't it be cooler to send it into deep space instead? A listener pleads his case.Guests: Dr. Stefanie Milam is an astrochemist at NASA and a project scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope. She studies comets and interstellar objects.Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi is an astrophysicist and CEO of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.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 on a sampling trip in California's Lassen Volcanic National Park, researchers stopped to sample a rather boring stream on their hike to Boiling Springs Lake. But when they incubated that water sample back in the lab, they discovered an amoeba that could still move and divide at 145 F, a new record for a eukaryotic cell. Microbiologist Angela Oliverio joins Host Flora Lichtman to describe the “fire amoeba,” Incendiamoeba cascadensis.Plus, planetary scientist Johanna Teske takes us to exoplanet TOI-561b, a far-off “wet lava ball” which was recently observed by the James Webb Space Telescope. Researchers believe that the planet has the strongest evidence yet of an atmosphere on a rocky planet outside our solar system.Guests:Dr. Angela Oliverio is an assistant professor in the department of biology at Syracuse University. Dr. Johanna Teske is a staff scientist at Carnegie Science Earth and Planets Laboratory in Washington, D.C.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.

Videos of humanoid robots dancing, doing cartwheels, putting clothes in a washing machine, and serving drinks are all over social media. And tech CEOs are telling us to prepare for the forthcoming humanoid army that's going to totally change our lives for the better.But what's real? Where are we with this technology? Are these humanoids robots ready to take washing the dishes off our plates, or work beside us in warehouses?Tech journalist James Vincent became an expert on the subject when he toured humanoid robot factories and rubbed shoulders with robots themselves for a feature story he wrote for Harper's Magazine. He joins Host Flora Lichtman with perspective on the hype.Guest: James Vincent is a journalist who's written for The Verge and The Guardian, and author of the book Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement. 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 that time of year: the Christmas Bird Count, when birders go out in flocks to record all the birds they see in a single day. The data collected during this annual tradition gets compiled by the National Audubon Society, and helps scientists understand bird population trends across the Americas. If you participate in the bird count, chances are you'll see a lot of the same birds you'd see any other day of the year—think sparrows, blue jays, blackbirds, cardinals. But that doesn't make them any less special. So this year we're turning our binoculars on a few (wrongfully) overlooked common birds.  Producer Kathleen Davis talks with two of our favorite birders, author and illustrator Rosemary Mosco, and conservation scientist Corina Newsome, to share some surprising facts about birds that don't often make it to the top of pecking order.Guests:Rosemary Mosco is an author, illustrator, and speaker whose work connects people with the natural world.Corina Newsome is a birder and conservation scientist at the National Wildlife Federation, based in Atlanta, Georgia.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 winter, and the SciFri team is already dreaming of warmer weather. How about a mind vacation to one of the hottest places on earth, an erupting volcano? Tamsin Mather has trekked to volcanoes in Chile, Guatemala, Italy, and beyond to learn their secrets. She joins Host Flora Lichtman to field your burning volcano questions, like what's the deal with glass shards that look like hairballs? Guest: Dr. Tamsin Mather is a professor of Earth sciences at the University of Oxford in the UK.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 sound of a choir performing in a cathedral is iconic for a reason. It's this beautiful human experience: being side-by-side with other people, feeling the sound vibrate through you, reverberating around the space.But how long has that been a part of our culture? And what role did sound play in the lives of people who lived during the Ice Age or the Stone Age? That's the focus of a growing field of archaeology called archaeoacoustics, where researchers use the scientific tools of today to investigate the role of sound and music in the past.To learn more, Host Flora Lichtman is joined by Margarita Díaz-Andreu, principal investigator of the Art Soundscapes project, and Rupert Till, head of the department of humanities at the University of Huddersfield in the UK.Guests: Dr. Margarita Díaz-Andreu is an ICREA professor at the University of Barcelona in Spain and principal investigator of the Art Soundscapes project. Dr. Rupert Till is a professor of music and head of the department humanities at the University of Huddersfield in the UK.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 the planet warms, the world's glaciers are melting faster than snow can replenish the ice. That has implications for sea level rise, ocean currents, and global weather patterns. But collecting data at the edge of a melting glacier can be risky.Glaciologist Erin Pettit and her colleagues are listening to the sounds melting glaciers make—from the sizzling of trapped air bubbles bursting, to the deep rumbles of underwater calving of icebergs. She joins Host Flora Lichtman to share some glacial sounds, and describe the multi-stage robot tools she uses to monitor melting ice.Guest: Dr. Erin Pettit is a professor of geophysics and glaciology at Oregon State 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.

In cancer research, the “seed and soil” hypothesis posits that the tumor is like a seed of misbehaving cells taking root in the body. Whether it grows—and where it grows—depends on the conditions, or soil. Since this hypothesis was proposed more than 100 years ago, most research and treatments have focused on the seed, or tumor. For nearly 50 years, Rakesh Jain has been studying the soil. But in a seed-focused field, his work was seen as wasteful and radical. Now, that very same research has led to seven FDA-approved treatments for diseases including lung and liver cancer, and earned him a National Medal of Science in 2016. Host Flora Lichtman talks with Jain about how his fringe idea led to lifesaving cancer treatments. Guest: Dr. Rakesh K. Jain studies the biology of tumors at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital as a professor of radiation oncology.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 many people, bubonic plague is an illness that seems squarely situated in medieval times. But each year, a handful of human cases pop up in the western United States. Plague can be treated successfully with modern medicine. But why does it still exist, and how should we think about it both locally and globally? Plague researcher Viveka Vadyvaloo joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk all things spread and containment.Guest: Dr. Viveka Vadyvaloo is a plague researcher and director of the Allen School for Global Health at Washington State 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.

Today we're spotlighting an underappreciated group of marine creatures: sea slugs. Don't let their humble name fool you. They come in vivid neon colors, with patterns that rival the most beautiful butterflies and feather-like external gills and tentacles.There are an estimated 10,000 species of sea slugs and they are incredibly diverse. Some are smaller than a quarter. And one species can weigh more than a terrier, up to 30 pounds. Not to mention their contributions to brain research—understanding their neural networks was the basis for a Nobel Prize in 2000.  Marine biologist Patrick Krug joins Host Ira Flatow to dive into the slimy science of sea slugs. Guest: Dr. Patrick Krug is a sea slug researcher and professor of biological sciences at Cal State LA.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.

We have another episode in a series of discussions with well-vetted guests from companies that I feel my community would benefit from hearing about Today, I speak with Dr. Stephanie Venn Watson, a veterinary epidemiologist and the co-founder and co-CEO of Serafina Therapeutics. She has worked with the World Health Organization, DARPA, and the US Navy. She has over 70 patents and has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and her discoveries have featured on NPR, Science Friday, BBC, NBC, and National Geographic. Her groundbreaking discoveries around the health benefits of C15:0 are the topic of a recent book. In our conversation today, we explore longevity molecules and geno-protective molecules, why they matter, and how they work. We cover the basics of rapamycin and glucophage, then dig into the growing body of research on longevity and lifespan, specifically looking at C15:0, what it is, what it does, why it's important, and how it's the first essential fatty acid discovered in decades. We look at its wide-ranging pleiotropic effects on metabolic health, mood, sleep, the brain, gut, and immunity, as well as the signs of low C15:0 levels and the specific labs that can identify a deficiency. We also talk about the benefits of supplementation and improved bioavailability.  Since I have been taking C15:0 myself over the last four to five months and noticed improvements in my recovery and sleep, I'm excited to share this informative and helpful conversation, humbly dedicated to the essential saturated fatty acid, C15:0. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: • The role C15:0 plays in guiding the aging process and new findings about its benefits for the immune  system, brain, and longevity • C15:0's emerging importance as a key player in metabolic balance • What Dr. Venn-Watson's animal studies revealed about the mechanisms of aging in humans • Why women in midlife become more vulnerable to shifts in immune quality and cellular resilience • The ways nutritional deficiencies can appear in blood markers long before symptoms develop • What occurs with red blood cell stability and aging markers when C15:0 levels are too low • Which biomarkers are now being considered early indicators of biological aging • Formulation features of C15:0 that enhance its bioavailability • The multiple bodily systems that can benefit from supplementing with C15:0 Connect with Cynthia Thurlow   Follow on ⁠X⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠ & ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Check out Cynthia's ⁠website⁠ Submit your questions to ⁠support@cynthiathurlow.com⁠ Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community (The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow) ⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/themidlifepause⁠ Cynthia's ⁠Menopause Gut Book ⁠is on presale now! Cynthia's ⁠Intermittent Fasting Transformation⁠ Book ⁠The Midlife Pause supplement line⁠ Connect with Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson ⁠Fatty 15⁠ ⁠Discover C15:0⁠ ⁠Seraphina Therapeutics⁠ On⁠ LinkedIn⁠

There's an enormous buildout of data centers underway across the country to fuel the AI boom. Hundreds of billions of dollars have already been spent on data centers, with talk of spending trillions more. And these data centers use a lot of power: According to the Times Picuayune, Meta's new data center under construction in Louisiana will require nearly three times the power that New Orleans uses in a year. Residents across the country have taken note, and rising utility rates have become an issue in some recent elections.Casey Crownhart, senior climate reporter at MIT Technology Review, has been studying the costs and impacts of the data center boom. She joins Host Ira Flatow for an update on the latest.Guest: Casey Crownhart is a senior climate reporter at MIT Technology Review, based in New York, NY.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.

When you're asked to “sign in blue or black ink,” is that actually the law — or just an outdated rule we all obey? We begin with the surprising truth about which ink colors really matter when you're signing checks, contracts, or legal documents. Source: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/061314/dont-sign-legal-pitfalls-signatures.asp Why are humans endlessly fascinated by aliens? For thousands of years, every culture has looked to the sky and wondered who—or what—might be out there. Today, that fascination fuels movies, conspiracy theories, and serious scientific searches for extraterrestrial life. Science journalist Becky Ferreira, contributor to NPR's Science Friday, The New York Times, Wired, and Popular Science, joins me to explain why our obsession runs so deep. She's the author of First Contact: The Story Of Our Obsession with Aliens.(https://amzn.to/43HzgLp). Loneliness is rising, especially during the holidays. And the science is clear — friendships and social ties aren't just emotionally important; they directly affect your longevity, immune system, and overall health. Ken Stern, founder of the Longevity Project, former CEO of NPR, and author of Healthy to 100: How Strong Social Ties Lead to Long Lives (https://amzn.to/4ranyTB) , reveals why social connection is essential and how to build it, even if it feels hard. Finally, is sitting with your legs crossed actually bad for you? You've probably heard it causes varicose veins or circulatory issues — but is that true? We share what a top vascular surgeon says about the real risks (and the myths). Source: https://www.medicaldaily.com/no-sitting-your-legs-crossed-wont-harm-you-heres-how-seated-posture-affecting-your-357926 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! AURA FRAMES: Visit ⁠⁠⁠https://AuraFrames.com⁠⁠⁠ and get $45 off Aura's best selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code SOMETHING at checkout. DAVID GREENE IS OBSESSED: We love the "David Greene Is Obsessed" podcast! Listen at ⁠ https://link.mgln.ai/SYSK⁠ or wherever you get your podcasts. QUINCE: Give and get timeless holiday staples that last this season with Quince.  Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Quince.com/sysk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns! DELL: It's time for Cyber Monday at Dell Technologies. Save big on PCs like the Dell 16 Plus featuring Intel® Core™ Ultra processors. Shop now at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://Dell.com/deals ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ AG1: Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://DrinkAG1.com/SYSK ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get a FREE Welcome Kit with an AG1 Flavor Sampler and a bottle of Vitamin D3 plus K2, when you first subscribe!  NOTION: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Notion brings all your notes, docs, and projects into one connected space that just works . It's seamless, flexible, powerful, and actually fun to use! Try Notion, now with Notion Agent, at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://notion.com/something⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ PLANET VISIONARIES: In partnership with Rolex's Perpetual Planet Initiative, this… is Planet Visionaries. Listen or watch on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You might think about bats as flitting around in the dark and hunting insects, but some species feed on fruits or flowers—and play an important role as pollinators. One place that role is crucial is in the relationship between bats and agave plants. Bat conservationist Kristen Lear joins Host Ira Flatow to describe efforts to restore agaves in the Southwest and Mexico, which has consequences for bats, for the ecosystems around the agave, and for your liquor cabinet, since agave is the source of drinks like tequila and mezcal.Plus, journalist Dan Fagin joins Ira to discuss his recent New York Times article on a new technology that is letting researchers follow individual monarch butterflies over the course of a thousand-mile migration. Guests:Dr. Kristen Lear is director of the Agave Restoration Initiative at Bat Conservation International, based in Austin, Texas.Dan Fagin is a science journalist and the director of the Science, Health & Environmental Reporting Program at New York 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.

The spotted owl has been a conservation flashpoint for more than 30 years. While habitat loss has been their historic foe, their most recent threat comes from within the owl family tree: the barred owl. Barred owls have expanded into the Pacific Northwest and are now outcompeting spotted owls for food and habitat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has put forth a strategy that some experts say is the only way to save the spotted owl, and it could involve killing hundreds of thousands of barred owls.Ecologist and spotted owl expert Rocky Gutierrez joins Host Flora Lichtman to break down the plan, and explain how we got to this point.Guest: Dr. R.J. “Rocky” Gutierrez is an owl ecologist and professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota. He's now based in Humboldt County, California.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.

A team of scientists is trying to jumpstart a global conservation movement, on par with efforts to save the rainforests or protect the oceans. But it might be even more ambitious because the target of their quest is invisible, everywhere, and mostly something we try to hand-sanitize away: microbes.So how do you conserve something that is everywhere and in everything? And why do microbes need protecting to begin with? Host Flora Lichtman digs into it with microbial ecologist Jack Gilbert, who is leading this charge. They chat about the thinking behind microbe conservation plans, and why some scientists are hesitant to jump onboard.Guest: Dr. Jack Gilbert is a microbial ecologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and co-chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission's Microbial Conservation Specialist Group. 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.

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

Each year, the Ig Nobel Prizes recognize scientific research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think. For instance, researchers who investigated the pizza preferences of lizards on the island of Togo. Or a man who kept track of his fingernail growth for 35 years.As is Thanksgiving tradition, we're sharing highlights from this year's Ig Nobels on Science Friday. Annals of Improbable Research editor Marc Abrahams acts as master of ceremonies for the 35th First Annual Ig Nobel Prizes, which include 10 awards, several 24-second scientific lectures, and a mini-opera about indigestion.Guest: Marc Abrahams is the editor and co-founder of Annals of Improbable Research and the founder and master of ceremonies for the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony in Cambridge, Massachusetts.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.

A good workout can make you feel triumphant. And even if that isn't your relationship with exercise, you've probably heard that working out can lift your mood, fight depression, and make you more resilient when life knocks back. But why exactly does exercise improve mental health? Is it all about those endorphins? Does the type or duration of a workout matter if you're looking for a mental wellness boost?To help answer those questions and more, Host Flora Lichtman talks with Eduardo Esteban Bustamante and Jack Raglin, who both study the relationship between physical activity and mental health.Guests: Dr. Eduardo Esteban Bustamante studies the link between physical activity and mental health in kids as the director of the Healthy Kids Lab at the University of Illinois, Chicago.Dr. Jack Raglin studies exercise and sports science as a professor of kinesiology at Indiana 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.

It's a wonderful time of the year: squash, pumpkin, and gourd season. But how do those giant, award-winning pumpkins grow so big? And what's the difference between a gourd and a squash? In a conversation from 2023, Ira talks with Dr. Chris Hernandez, director of the University of New Hampshire's squash, pumpkin, and melon breeding program to explore all things winter squash and answer listener questions.Guests: Dr. Chris Hernandez is an assistant professor of Plant Breeding at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire.Dan Souza is co-Editor of Cook's Science: How to Unlock Flavor in 50 of our Favorite Ingredients (Cook's Illustrated, 2016). He's based in Boston, Massachusetts.Transcript is available at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Have you ever gotten to the end of, say, a jar of peanut butter and wondered if it should go in trash or recycling? If it's worth rinsing out? And where will it actually end up?Journalist Alexander Clapp had those same questions, and went to great lengths to answer them—visiting five continents to chronicle how our trash travels. Along the way, he discovered a multibillion-dollar trash trade run by shady waste brokers, and a global industry powered by slimy spoons, crinkled plastic bags, and all the other stuff we throw away. It's a putrid business that we're a part of, and many of us know little about.In a conversation from February, Host Flora Lichtman speaks with Clapp about the garbage business and his new book Waste Wars: The Wild Afterlife Of Your Trash.Guest: Alexander Clapp is a journalist and author of Waste Wars: The Wild Afterlife Of Your Trash. He's based in Athens, Greece.Transcript is available at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Twenty years ago, a young oncologist started journaling to process his experience treating cancer patients. That cathartic act became the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.Fifteen years after the book was published, how has our understanding of preventing and treating cancer changed? Host Flora Lichtman is joined by author Siddhartha Mukherjee to talk about what we now understand about screening, environmental risks, and rising cancer rates in young people.Read an excerpt of the new chapters added to The Emperor of Maladies on the 15th anniversary of the book's publication. This headline has been corrected from "Multi-Headed" to "Many-Headed" to accurately reflect Siddhartha Mukherjee's statement.Guest: Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee is a cancer physician and an associate professor of medicine at Columbia 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.

African grey parrots are internet stars. It's easy to see why—the charismatic birds sing, tell jokes, and sling profanities. But how do the endangered birds get from African forests to your feed? Wildlife crime reporter Rene Ebersole joins Host Flora Lichtman to describe her investigation into the global parrot trade, and the black market for wild African greys that is threatening their existence.Guest: Rene Ebersole is Editor In Chief at Wildlife Investigative Reporters and Editors (WIRE).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 this special interview episode of The Box of Oddities, Jethro sits down with acclaimed science journalist Becky Ferreira—author of the new book First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens. Together they explore humanity's oldest question: Are we alone? Ferreira, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, WIRED, Popular Science, MIT Technology Review, and NPR's Science Friday, guides us through the deep history of alien speculation—from ancient Greek and Roman philosophers to Hopi star-people traditions to the modern UAP debate. Jethro taps into his inner UFO enthusiast as they dive into:• Why ancient cultures believed the sky itself was communicating with them• The earliest “alien life” theories from Christian and Muslim scholars• The Fermi Paradox, Drake Equation, and what science gets wrong about “Where is everybody?”• Water worlds like Europa and Enceladus, and why alien life may be hiding inside dark interior oceans• Whether interdimensional phenomena at places like Skinwalker Ranch could explain UAP encounters• How humans might emotionally—and chaotically—respond if we picked up an alien signal• The surprising ways religion is preparing for extraterrestrial discovery• Whether we'll make contact in our lifetime… and what form it might take Ferreira's insights blend cutting-edge astronomy with anthropology, psychology, and the strange human tendency to project our own fears and hopes onto the stars. Equal parts science, myth, and cosmic mystery, this conversation asks why the idea of alien life has been with us since the beginning—and why we can't stop looking up. Becky Ferreira's book First Contact is available now in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook wherever books are sold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years of getting your emails and phone calls, we know that SciFri listeners are in the 99th percentile when it comes to nerdy knowledge. We're putting your fact retention skills to the test with the first ever Super Food Science Excellence Trivia Blowout (SFSETBO).Host Flora Lichtman teams up with trivia kingpin Mangesh Hattikudur, co-host of the podcast “Part-Time Genius,” to quiz one lucky listener on her food science knowledge.Guest: Mangesh Hattikudur is the co-host of “Part-Time Genius” and co-founder of Kaleidoscope.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.

Some animals have a very different relationship to aging than we do: They don't get cancer, they never go through menopause, and they live absurdly long lives. For instance, one bat species can live for more than 40 years, which may not sound like very long but that's about nine times longer than expected based on its size. For comparison, if we aged on that scale, we'd live for hundreds of years. These bats aren't the only animal super-agers—there's a whole menagerie of them.So what's their secret? And can we learn anything from them that might help us live longer, healthier lives? Host Flora Lichtman talks with longevity researchers Vera Gorbunova and Juan Manuel Vazquez about what animals are teaching us.Guests:Dr. Vera Gorbunova is a biologist and professor at the University of Rochester, and a co-director of the Rochester Aging Research Center.Dr. Juan Manuel Vazquez is a biologist and assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University studying the evolution of aging.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.

Proteins are crucial for life. They're made of amino acids that “fold” into millions of different shapes. And depending on their structure, they do radically different things in our cells. For a long time, predicting those shapes for research was considered a grand biological challenge.But in 2020, Google's AI lab DeepMind released Alphafold, a tool that was able to accurately predict many of the structures necessary for understanding biological mechanisms in a matter of minutes. In 2024, the Alphafold team was awarded a Nobel Prize in chemistry for the advance.Five years later after its release, Host Ira Flatow checks in on the state of that tech and how it's being used in health research with John Jumper, one of the lead scientists responsible for developing Alphafold.Guest: John Jumper, scientist at Google Deepmind and co-recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in chemistry.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.

If you've heard the hammering of a woodpecker in the woods, you might have wondered how the birds can be so forceful. What does it take to whack your head against a tree repeatedly, hard enough to drill a hole? A team of researchers wondered that too and set out to investigate, by putting tiny muscle monitors on eight downy woodpeckers and recording them with high-speed video as they pecked away in the lab.Integrative organismal biologist Nick Antonson, co-author of a report on the work, joins Host Flora Lichtmen to peck away at the mystery.Plus, you can take two ant eggs with the exact same genes, and one can grow up to be a queen, the other a worker. Neuroscientist and evolutionary biologist Daniel Kronauer joins Flora to share recent research into how an ant becomes a queen.Guests: Dr. Nick Antonson is an NSF postdoctoral research fellow in the department of ecology, evolution, and organismal biology at Brown University.Dr. Daniel Kronauer is the Stanley S. and Sydney R. Shuman Professor in the Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior at The Rockefeller University 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.

Our memories make us who we are—just ask Barbra Streisand. But despite the lyrics in many popular songs, memories aren't frozen in time. When we call them up, the details shift and change. And neuroscience research shows that we might be able to take that a step further—to manipulate our memories and even implant false ones.Neuroscientist Steve Ramirez joins Host Ira Flatow to explain how memory manipulation could revolutionize the way we treat brain disorders. They also discuss Ramirez's book, How to Change a Memory: One Neuroscientist's Quest to Alter the Past, and how the sudden death of his friend and scientific collaborator made him rethink the role of memory.Guest: Dr. Steve Ramirez is an associate professor of psychology and brain sciences at Boston University and the author of How to Change a Memory.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.

Bearded vultures build giant, elaborate nests that are passed down from generation to generation. And according to a new study, some of these scavengers have collected bits and bobs of human history over the course of centuries. Scientists picked apart 12 vulture nests preserved in Spain and discovered a museum collection's worth of objects, including a woven sandal that could be more than 700 years old.  Host Flora Lichtman talks with study author Ana Belen Marín-Arroyo, an archaeologist who studies ancient humans, about how the nests are giving us a glimpse into vulture culture as well as the lives of the people they lived beside.Guest: Dr. Ana Belen Marín-Arroyo is an archaeologist and professor of prehistory at the University of Cantabria in Spain.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 band Phish has toured for over 40 years. One of the draws of their legendary live shows—which can go on for 8 hours—is finding moments of “flow,” when the band members lock into an improvised jam, finding new musical ideas in real time.Phish fans live for these transcendent moments, but so do the musicians—to the point that Mike Gordon, the band's bass player, is funding scientific research to better understand flow state.Host Flora Lichtman sits down with Mike and his research collaborator, neuroscientist Greg Appelbaum, to unpack their research so far and how it's helping to inform other neuroscience.Guests:Mike Gordon is bassist and co-founder of the rock band Phish. Dr. Greg Appelbaum is a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.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.

Around 25 years ago, Ardem Patapoutian set out to investigate the fundamental biology behind our sense of touch. Through a long process of gene elimination, he identified a class of sensors in the cell membrane that turn physical pressure into an electrical signal. He changed the game in the field of sensation and perception, and in 2021 shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work. He joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk about his research, the odd jobs he worked along the way, and how he found a sense of belonging in science.Guest: Dr. Ardem Patapoutian is a professor and the Presidential Endowed Chair in Neurobiology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. 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.

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

One of the biggest debates in the dinosaur world is what was happening right before they went extinct. Were they already declining, or would they have thrived if not for the asteroid? Two recent studies shed some light on this question: one that analyzes a trove of fossils from New Mexico and suggests there was more diversity in the Americas than previously thought, and another that reanalyzes a long-debated juvenile T. rex fossil and finds it's likely a separate, smaller species.Host Ira Flatow is joined by authors on those separate studies, paleontologists Steve Brusatte and Lindsay Zanno.Guests: Dr. Lindsay Zanno is division head of paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC.Dr. Steve Brusatte is a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.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 Black Friday approaches, you're probably being inundated with ads for bigger, better televisions. But just how good is good enough? Are there limits to what our eyes can even make out?Visual perception researcher Maliha Ashraf joins Host Flora Lichtman to describe her new study on display resolution—including a display calculator she and her colleagues developed to help you determine the optimal display characteristics for a given room. And retinal neuroscientist Bryan Jones joins the conversation to delve into the workings of human vision.Guests:Dr. Maliha Ashraf is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge in the UK.Dr. Bryan W. Jones is a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh.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.