Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Science Diction: Atom

9th - 10th
What is the origin of the word "atom?"
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Science Sees Further

9th - 10th
A new collection of essays looks at the contributions of the Royal Society to scientific knowledge.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Can Dogs Smell Cancer?

9th - 10th
A new study says a dog did better than conventional tests in identifying patients with cancer.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Night Vision and Dna

9th - 10th
Why do some animals have much better night vision than others? We'll talk about new research tracing the root of improved night vision to the architecture of the DNA inside the photoreceptor rod cells of the animals' eyes.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Towards a Super Lens or Invisibility?

9th - 10th
Ira talks with one of the researchers behind a material that can make light bend in unusual ways -- potentially leading to more powerful optics, or even a cloak of invisibility.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Micro Microscope

9th - 10th
We'll talk with one of the inventors of a new on-chip, lens-free microscope.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Internet Privacy

9th - 10th
Who's watching how you browse the web - and what do they know about you? We'll talk about internet privacy and calls for a 'do not track' function in web browsers.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Taxidermy and 'A Kingdom Under Glass'

9th - 10th
A new book profiles the life of Carl Akeley, a pioneering taxidermist responsible for the look of natural history museum displays around the country.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Why the Former Planet Pluto Got Demoted

9th - 10th
The author of 'How I Killed Pluto' talks about the celestial object's status change.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Did Ancient Eruptions Form Life's Building Blocks?

9th - 10th
A 1958 experiment mimicking a volcanic eruption formed many amino acids, according to new analysis.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Probing the Sun"s Spots

9th - 10th
High resolution images from the Swedish Solar Telescope gives scientists a new view of a sunspot's penumbra.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Science Diction the Origin of the Word "Radio"

9th - 10th
Scientists originally used 'radio' to refer to devices that employed electromagnetic radiation.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Funding for James Webb Space Telescope in Jeopardy

9th - 10th
A bill approved by the House Committee on Appropriations cuts funding for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope in 2012. (The bill has not yet been approved by the full House and Senate). Ira Flatow and guests discuss the status of the...
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Two Cold Winters Don't Make a Climate Trend

9th - 10th
Atmospheric scientist John Wallace says he's cautious to link weird weather to global warming.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Privacy at Stake as Sites Track Online Preferences

9th - 10th
Bit.ly's Hilary Mason talks about services sites hope to provide by collecting online browsing data.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: An Earlier Departure Out of Africa?

9th - 10th
Learn how the discovery of a stone toolkit may push back the date when humans first left Africa in this audio lecture. [0:48]
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Digital Sampling and Remix Culture: Creativity or Criminality?

9th - 10th
How much of someone else's work should artists be able to use? How much should they pay for it? Is copyright law stuck in the age of analog?
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Science Diction: The Origin of the Word "Syphilis"

9th - 10th
Medical historian Dr. Howard Markel and STD expert Dr. Peter Leone discuss the history of syphilis.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Can Literature Make a Better Doctor?

9th - 10th
Proponents of the field of "narrative medicine" believe the humanities could help doctors be better caregivers.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Novelist, Doctor Chris Adrian

9th - 10th
Pediatric oncologist and novelist Chris Adrian talks about his new novel, The Great Night.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Is Preventive Medicine Actually Overtreatment?

9th - 10th
Dr. H. Gilbert Welch discusses his book Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Scientific Case Still Open on 2001 Anthrax Attacks

9th - 10th
New reports question whether scientific evidence against the prime suspect was ready for court.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: New Tuberculosis Strain Thwarts All Antibiotics

9th - 10th
Maryn McKenna, author of Superbug, discusses the possible origins of the strain.
Audio
Science Friday Initiative

Science Friday: Tracing Signals in the Brain

9th - 10th
Existing ideas of how neurons send and receive information may not be complete.