Science Friday
Fridays 1 - 3 p.m.
Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, we focus on science topics that are in the news and try to bring an educated, balanced discussion to the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join Science Friday's host, Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science -- and to take questions from listeners.
To participate, call 1 (844) 724-8255 or Twitter users can tweet questions @scifri.
Latest Episodes
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Choreographer Elizabeth Streb pushes the boundaries of Newtonian physics--with dance. In her show Forces, dancers fly, fall, and collide in mid-air. No wonder the "action architect" has her share of scientist fans, among them, big-thinking particle physicist Lisa Randall.
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In Eating on the Wild Side, author Jo Robinson reveals how the nutrition and flavor has been bred out of supermarket fruits and vegetables. Robinson tells us what we can do to reclaim our wild roots and the nutrition from our foods.
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In a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers reported an association between daily nut consumption and a reduction in the risk of dying from cancer, heart disease, and other major chronic diseases. Lead author Charles Fuchs discusses these findings.
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Upcoming NASA budget cuts may force the agency to choose between two of its flagship planetary missions--the Mars Curiosity rover and the Cassini mission to Saturn. Wired reporter Adam Mann discuss how much it takes to run these missions and what discoveries we could miss out on.
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Retailers have used various techniques to analyze in-store buying behavior, such as surveys, video surveillance, and buyer reward programs. Some stores have been tapping into the technology in smartphones to track shoppers' actions. New York Times reporter Quentin Hardy discusses how they're doing this and what information they can gather.
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In Falling Upwards, writer Richard Holmes tells the story of early balloon flight--and of the nervy scientists who risked life and limb to take their experiments into the air. Among their discoveries? Insect migration and the stratosphere. Falling Upwards chronicles the balloonists who took science into the stratosphere.
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PayPal, Chase Quickpay, Venmo: all ways to transfer money quickly to your friends. But none is as simple as sending an e-mail. Enter Square Cash--a new service from the mobile-payments company Square. But should it be this easy? Ellis Hamburger, a reporter at The Verge, debates the pros and cons in this episode of App Chat.
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One in every five sunlike stars in the Milky Way may have an Earth-sized planet circling it in the Goldilocks zone--the sweet spot where liquid water could exist. That's according to a new analysis of data from the Kepler spacecraft. Sara Seager, an exoplanet hunter at MIT, talks about what's next in the hunt for Earth 2.0.
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This week, India launched Mangalyaan, its first robotic mission to orbit Mars and probe its atmosphere. Only Russia, Europe, and the U.S. have successfully orbited the planet. Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor in national security affairs, and planetary scientist Bruce Jakosky discuss the Indian space program, as well as NASA's upcoming mission to the Martian atmosphere.
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Legend holds that the length of a woolly bear caterpillar's color bands can be used to forecast how severe the winter weather will be. The myth dates back to colonial American folklore but was popularized by a 1948 study. SciFri finds out if there's any truth to the lore, and what the caterpillar's fuzzy bristles are really used for.