A third of the world's reef-building coral species are vulnerable to extinction, a group of researchers says. We'll talk with one of the authors of a report about the plight of corals, and discuss whether anything can be done to turn...

Consumers often look for the Energy Star seal when buying appliances and devices. But is this a useful parameter when so many products meet this standard? And what other strategies could be used to change a person's behavior so that they...

Adam Katzman, the inventor and builder of the toilet-boat, says it's meant to be more inspirational than practical. "Poop and Paddle" demonstrates how sewage and rainwater can be converted to cattails and clean water. [4:02]

A discussion with Russ Parsons, author of How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor From Farm to Table, who talks about the history of food crop distribution, and the difficulty of buying produce that tastes fresh. Things are changing...

Join Ira Flatow for a talk with Body Farm founder and forensic anthropologist Bill Bass on what bones can tell police about a crime. [17:24]

When kids head back to school, there is always talk about the childhood vaccinations required in much of the country. Parental resistance to vaccines has diseases such as measles on the rise.

Google, Good Energy, and other investors threw financial support behind an idea to build a multi-billion-dollar power distribution line for offshore wind farm projects. The company called it "a superhighway for clean energy," collecting...

A toy kit made by littleBits and Korg teaches you how electronic music is made while you put it together.

A community organizer and a mycologist discuss the incidence of mold in buildings hit by Hurricane Sandy three months earlier. Volunteers are stripping buildings of all materials contaminated by mold so the structures can be treated....

In this video, we see how U.S. Olympic ski jumpers learn to perfect their aerodynamic technique with the help of a wind tunnel and a physics professor. Aired Feb. 4, 2014. [2:57]

A discussion with Everett Lehman from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health about a research finding that professional football players have a higher incidence of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and...

Sports technology has been making huge advances in recent years. When Oscar Pistorius ran in the 2012 London Olympics, he ran on prosthetic legs. In this interview, Philippa Oldham from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers recommends...

After spending 17 years underground, hear about the mysterious behavior of these periodical monsters!

Ira and guests talk about the physics and materials science that go into the making of a baseball bat.

Learn from a tomato farmer in Pennsylvania describe his battle with late blight during the summer of 2009.

Plants have a reputation for staying put. But some plants are moving so quickly, we can't see their motions. Biologist Joan Edwards and physicist Dwight Whitaker broke out the high-speed cameras to capture the story of exploding peat...

Why do we find cockroaches disgusting and spiders scary? Fear of snakes and spiders are two of the most common phobias in the world and researchers say evolution likely plays a role. But what explains our aversion to harmless insects--it...

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco discusses a proposal for the creation of a national climate forecasting department akin to the National Weather Service.

Genetic analysis of DNA from a single prehistoric finger bone may point to a new branch of the human family tree.

The discovery of unusual skeletal remains on the islands of Palau suggests that the so-called 'hobbits' found several years ago in Indonesia may have been dwarf humans, not a separate species.

An interview with primatologist Richard Wrangham, the author of Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human. He believes that cooking food led to humans' evolutionary success. Aired Aug. 28, 2009 [28:02]

An interview with glaciologist Ian Joughin about the Jakobshavn glacier in Greenland, the fastest moving glacier in the world. In 2012, researchers observed that this glacier was speeding up even more, and was traveling at a rate of 150...

Former climate change skeptic Richard Muller describes his evolving views on climate change science.

Apiculturist Eric Mussen discusses the plight of the modern honeybee and the threats the tiny pollinators face from disease and pesticides.