Science Friday

Beavers could be humans' biggest ally, if we let them

05 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Beavers are having a moment, thanks to the new Pixar movie “Hoppers.” Amid some body-swapping shenanigans, the film is about humans coexisting wit...

Searching for dark matter, deep in the Earth

04 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Deep in an active nickel mine near Sudbury, Ontario, researchers are installing and calibrating a set of sensitive detectors. They hope that the locat...

The decades-long movement to kill FEMA

02 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Hurricane season officially begins in June. And in the event of a big storm, local and state governments often rely on help from the Federal Emergency...

What cats and dogs hear + A 'smell map' of the nose

01 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Animal neuroaudiologist Pete Scheifele joins us to answer some burning questions from SciFri listener Paul: Why can dogs and cats hear a wider range o...

How do you study microplastics in a plastic-filled lab?

30 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The news we hear about plastic is often alarming: We have a spoon’s worth of plastics in our brains, and there are microplastics in our hearts, lymp...

What is ibogaine, and why is it in the news?

29 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In mid-April, President Trump issued an executive order to set aside funding and loosen the bureaucratic process at the FDA to fast-track psychedelic ...

The long history of birds, from velociraptors to pigeons

28 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Comparing a backyard sparrow to a fearsome velociraptor seems odd, but modern birds are indeed living dinosaurs. Scientists are finding more and more ...

Your DNA is constantly mutating, and that’s a good thing

27 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Our bodily systems are rife with mutations. In fact, your DNA is mutating right now. These errors, and attempts to repair them, are a key to understan...

Maine nearly became the first state to ban data centers

25 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Data centers make controversial neighbors: They’re loud, they use a lot of water, and can drive electricity prices up. Following public concern and ...

What urban design tells us about democracy

24 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The way ancient societies like the Greeks, Maya, and Khmer Empire built their cities can tell us a lot about how a place was governed. Did rulers live...

Listening for the cosmic ‘dark ages,’ from the lunar far side

23 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What did the universe look like before any stars turned on? Astronomers call that time the “dark ages,” and while they think it may be possible to...

How do you describe nature? Two poets help us

22 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

To mark Earth Day, we asked you to tell us about your favorite places on the planet. You took us to the woods near Traverse City, Michigan, to a lake ...

The lucky breaks that make our Earth home

21 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What makes Earth special, and why are we here at all? In his book “Why Do We Exist? The Nine Realms of the Universe That Make You Possible,” astro...

How New Jersey tamped down PFAS in drinking water

20 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Nearly all Americans have some type of PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals,” in their blood. The chemicals, which are linked to numerous he...

How a particle accelerator illuminated 56 human organs

17 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A new imaging technique using a particle accelerator is giving researchers an unprecedented level of detail of our organs, producing scans 100 billion...

Simone Giertz’s journey from robot comedy to high-end design

16 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the 2010s, inventor Simone Giertz (pronounced “Yetch”) began making videos that straddled the line between practical and absurd. What if you ha...

When a dolphin whistles, what does it mean?

15 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What are dolphins actually saying with their iconic, high-pitched whistles? Dolphin communication researcher Laela Sayigh is trying to find out. She’...

Inside the lives of astronauts’ families

14 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

“This was not easy, being 200,000+ miles away from home. Like before you launch, it feels like it's the greatest dream on earth. And when you're out...

Green stuff, brown stuff: Secrets to a great compost pile

13 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

If you’re a gardener, thinking about getting your soil in shape probably means thinking about compost. But composting can be a mysterious process. W...

Why so many studies can’t be replicated

11 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How do we know what we know? That's where science comes in—it gives us a method for testing our ideas and getting trustworthy results. But some rese...

How a sound designer gave an alien its voice (and 250 words)

10 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Movies may be a largely visual medium, but sound plays a huge role in setting tone, creating new worlds, and fleshing out characters. Sound designer E...

Can GLP-1 drugs treat addiction?

09 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound are prescribed for weight loss, diabetes, and blood-sugar management. But as more people use them, pati...

What a sperm whale’s birth tells us about whale culture

08 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists recently published the first footage of a sperm whale birth, and it was a crowded ordeal. More than 10 other sperm whales were there for th...

Is the US backing out of the electric vehicle market?

07 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Last year, Chinese carmaker BYD sold millions of electric vehicles, overtaking Tesla to become the world’s biggest seller of EV cars. And BYD cars w...

Can algae help pull microplastics out of our water supply?

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Microplastics and nanoplastics have been found just about everywhere: in our soil, our bodies, and our water. Recent research involving bioengineered ...

Artemis II test flight heads toward the moon

03 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On Wednesday, NASA’s Artemis II mission launched, kicking off on a roughly 10-day trip that will carry four astronauts around the moon and back to E...

Should Pluto be a planet again?

02 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In 2006, a vote by the International Astronomical Union determined that Pluto was no longer a planet. The decision sparked a heated public debate, and...

How to poop better, according to a gastroenterologist

01 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

For many of us, what happens in the bathroom stays in the bathroom: According to a recent survey, 1 in 3 Americans are too embarrassed to talk about t...

Harnessing the superpowers of silk

31 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A listener recently called in asking how they might get a pair of functioning web shooters so they could operate as a local Spider-Man. While web shoo...

CERN finds a new particle + News alerts for the cosmos

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland have announced that they discovered a new subatomic particle. Roughly four times more massive ...

Move over, vibe-coding. Vibe-proving is here for math

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

When ChatGPT first came onto the scene, it wowed users with its writing abilities, but drew laughs for generating images of seven-fingered hands and s...

Is Punch the monkey really just like us?

26 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

When Punch the monkey was abandoned by his mother, zookeepers gave him a surrogate and unexpected source of comfort: a stuffed animal. Videos of Punch...

Could bird flu still spark a pandemic?

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Bird flu has flown off the national news radar, with only scattered, local reports of dead birds in parks and poultry farms. Is it simply no longer a ...

The secret powers of flowers

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Flowers peeking up through the soil are a welcome sight after a long cold winter—and are one of the first markers of spring. Biologist David George ...

Apple: trying to think different for 50 years

23 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Apple Computer Company was founded on April 1, 1976, and in the 50 years since, the company has evolved from a handful of Silicon Valley misfits t...

‘Project Hail Mary’ brings a new kind of alien to the big screen

20 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Science fiction nerds, rejoice: the long-awaited adaptation of “Project Hail Mary” is in theaters now. Host Flora Lichtman chats with book author ...

Building a digital ant gallery, from the ground up

19 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A project called Antscan has generated high resolution images of thousands of ants, representing over 700 species. To make it happen, researchers brou...

The heaviness and (not) hope of climate change

18 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, renowned environmental writer Elizabeth Kolbert has taken readers to remote corners of the planet to understand how all life is connected...

Could a ‘digital twin’ help you get better health care?

17 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

There’s an idea bubbling up in medicine called the “digital twin.” The concept is to take personal health data like genetics, blood test results...

Who uses Farmers’ Almanacs? + Zebra finch home design

16 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Farmers’ Almanacs have been around for hundreds of years, offering detailed advice about things like the best time to plant certain crops, and when ...

Slow Breaking News: A Giant Tortoise Revival

13 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In February, conservationists released 158 young tortoises onto Floreana Island in the Galapagos. The Floreana tortoise subspecies had long been thoug...

How Is AI Being Used In The Iran War?

12 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The military use of AI is capturing headlines this month. After a dustup with the Pentagon, the AI company Anthropic is out, and OpenAI is in. Meanwhi...

Is There Science Behind The ‘Nervous System Reset’?

11 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On social media, the vagus nerve often gets billed as the gateway to nervous system nirvana: It’s your ticket to better rest, relaxation, and health...

AI Music Is On The Charts. Where Does It Go From Here?

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In recent months, AI music has moved from novelty act into the realm of listenable music. For the first time, AI-generated songs from AI-generated art...

The Surprising Science Of Why Sneakers Squeak

09 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

March Madness is almost upon us, which means basketball arenas across the country will be filled with the thunderous roar of fans and the surprisingly...

Can ‘Suggestion-Box Science’ Make Public Health More Useful?

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Skepticism around public health policy, experts and institutions has left some researchers asking basic questions about their role and relationship wi...

Fixing Society's Toughest Problems? ‘It’s On You’

06 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ever heard an alcohol ad that tells you to “please drink responsibly”? Or a gambling ad that warns, "when the fun stops, stop”? Or been urged to...

3D Images Of Galaxies Will Rock You (Ft. Queen)

05 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see. There’s so...

Slow Release Of Federal Science Funds Holds Up Research

04 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this year, Congress pushed back on the Trump administration’s attempts to slash funding for many science research programs, and restored tha...

The Evolution Of An Enzyme Engineer Who Changed Chemistry

03 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In nature, enzymes are the catalysts that make much of biology work. They jumpstart chemical reactions that either wouldn’t happen, or would happen ...

The Art And Science Of Staving Off Cognitive Decline

02 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The new semi-autobiographical play “The Reservoir” spins a comedic narrative around cognitive reserve, the idea that doing brain-stimulating activ...

Into the Woods, From Chestnut Genetics To Tiny Forests

27 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

American chestnut trees once towered over the landscape, dominating forests in parts of the eastern United States. But in the late 1800s, a fungal bli...

EPA Repeals The Legal Basis For Regulating Greenhouse Gases

26 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On February 12, the Environmental Protection Agency dealt a major blow to the government’s power to fight climate change by rescinding a key piece o...

How One Gene Affects Alzheimer’s Risk

25 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

An estimated 500,000 people are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States each year, but the causes and mechanisms of the condition re...

Are My THC Gummies Going Away?

24 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Does the availability of “hemp-derived” THC products have you dazed and confused? A legal loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill lets these items be sold ...

Why Aren’t There Biomarkers For Mental Illness?

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Despite major advances in our understanding of the biology of mental health disorders,  there’s no blood test or brain scan that will confirm if yo...

Autism Rates Appear To Be Even Across Sexes. Diagnosis Is Not

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a long-held idea that autism is more prevalent in boys than girls—the CDC says it’s three times as common. But a growing body of researc...

AMA Joins Effort To Launch Independent Vaccine Review Panel

20 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The gap between vaccine science and vaccine policy has been widening under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Now, the American Medical Associatio...

What A Snow Drought In The West Means For The Rest Of 2026

19 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

While parts of the eastern and southern US have had unusually high snowfall this year, the West is in a snow drought. The abysmal winter sports season...

Jump, Spin, Glide: The Science Of Figure Skating

18 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Figure skating is a fan favorite at the Winter Olympics—for every event, the stands are packed to watch competitors glide, jump, and spin. But what ...

How Are State-Run Psilocybin Therapy Programs Going?

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In Oregon and Colorado, you can book an appointment for psilocybin therapy, where a licensed therapist takes you on a guided trip using the drug that ...

A Little Grime Can Boost Kids’ Health. But What Kind?

16 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

You may have heard that a little dirt is good for kids. It helps them build up their immune systems, and sets them on a path to future health. But wha...

Mating, Marriage, And Monogamy In The Age Of Apps

14 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

With so many dating apps—and so many people using them—why are a record number of American adults single? Is marriage as important as it was a gen...

What A Tea Party With A Bonobo Taught Us About Imagination

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Our ability to imagine is part of what makes us who we are—not just as individuals, but also as humans. It turns out, though, that we may not be the...

How Is Screen Time Affecting My Kid?

12 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Screens are ubiquitous in today’s world, and concerns about how they affect kids are mounting. Last month, Australia banned social media use for kid...

Who Wants To Smell An Ancient Embalmed Mummy?

11 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Wandering through a museum, you can get a glimpse of what life in ancient societies looked like. But what did it smell like? And is it even possible t...

Stressed About The World? Take A Cue From Cyanobacteria

10 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Cyanobacteria may be the ultimate lesson in resilience. These 3.5 billion-year-old organisms have lived through hell-on-earth conditions, and found cr...

The Largest US Particle Collider Stops Its Collisions

09 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), the largest particle collider in the United States, collided its last particles in early February. RHIC is...

Olympic Ski Mountaineering, And Mountain Goat Climbing Feats

06 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This year’s Winter Olympics feature a new event called “skimo,” or ski mountaineering. The racing event involves periods of skiing uphill using ...

Why Worry About My Data If I Have Nothing To Hide?

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

As ICE cracks down in Minneapolis and across the country, reporters and privacy advocates have drawn attention to how the agency is using technology: ...

Should Ultraprocessed Foods Be Off The Menu?

04 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The new dietary guidelines from the USDA call for Americans to “eat real food” and consume less “highly processed” food. But how? By some esti...

The Growing Experiment Of Putting Solar Panels On Farmland

03 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In an effort to make their farms more environmentally and economically sustainable, some farmers are experimenting with agrivoltaics: growing crops un...

We’re All Being Played By Metrics

02 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Point systems are everywhere. Ready for movie night? Consult Rotten Tomatoes. Vetting a new pediatrician? See how many stars they have. At work, it ca...

The Middle + SciFri: How Can Trust In Science Be Restored?

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We’re bringing you a special bonus episode from our friends at the live call-in show “The Middle with Jeremy Hobson.” Jeremy is joined by Scienc...

Untangling The History Of Dog Domestication

30 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

All the pups we love—from chihuahuas to great danes—are descendants of the mighty gray wolf. But how did we end up with so many breeds? The story ...

Are These Unprecedented Times for Science, Really?

29 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We keep hearing that these are unprecedented times for science: scientific skeptics running federal agencies, growing mistrust of vaccines, and messag...

How China Is Driving Down Electricity Costs With Renewables

28 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In a speech last week in a speech at the World Economic Forum, President Trump said China was making a lot of wind turbines, but not using much wind p...

Managing The Risks Of Spaceflight, 40 Years After Challenger

27 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Forty years ago this week, the space shuttle Challenger exploded in flight, 73 seconds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. All seven crew members were ...

How A Mutation Made This Year’s Flu Season So Bad

26 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A rogue strain of flu, subclade K, has sickened more than 19 million people in the US so far this season. And the flu shot hasn’t offered that much ...

Tracking The Toxic Fallout Of The LA Fires

23 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This time last year, Los Angeles was on fire, and more than 16,000 homes and buildings burned to the ground. Cars, batteries, solar panels, insulation...

Deepfakes Are Everywhere. What Can We Do?

22 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Deepfakes have been everywhere lately, from fake AI images of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro following his (real) capture by the United States, to ...

Looking Beyond Statins For New Ways To Lower Cholesterol

21 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to “bad” cholesterol, most cardiologists say lower is better. But what’s the best way to get that number down? Can diet and exerci...

States Expected To See More ‘Anti-Science’ Bills This Year

20 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

An Associated Press investigation found that more than 420 “anti-science” bills were introduced in statehouses last year, targeting protections ar...

What’s Happening On The Slippery Surface Of Ice?

19 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a wintertime question that you may have had as you struggled down a frozen sidewalk, or strapped on some ice skates: Just why is ice slippery, ...

Teasing Apart The Causes And Early Signs Of Parkinson’s

16 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Each year, around 90,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a neurodegenerative disease that can cause tremors and affect cognition....

What Greenland Sharks Are Teaching Us About Aging Eyes

15 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

As we age, our vision gets blurrier, we form cataracts, and we have a higher risk of glaucoma. But Greenland sharks live for hundreds of years and sti...

Secrets Of Ancient Concrete, And... Data Centers In Space?

14 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The concrete of ancient Rome is famous for its durability. Just look at the Pantheon and those iconic aqueducts that helped transport water throughout...

One Year Into Trump’s Term, Where Does Science Funding Stand?

13 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Last February, Sudip Parikh, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, issued a dire warning about federal cuts to science, sayi...

Drilling Into The Details Of Venezuela’s Oil

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

With President Trump’s moves to take control of Venezuela’s oil production—including the seizure of incoming and outgoing oil tankers—there’...

‘The Kissing Bug’ And The Story Of A Neglected Disease

09 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Are Raccoons On The Road To Domestication?

08 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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—...

The Community Group Rethinking LA's Approach To Wildfires

07 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 r...

What Should Astronauts Do First When They Reach Mars?

06 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 sc...

Can The Rise In Solar Power Balance Out Clean Energy Cuts?

05 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Since President Trump returned to office, his administration has been aggressive in rolling back clean energy initiatives. Trump’s “big beautiful ...

Are Ultramarathoners Just Built Different?

02 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

‘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....

Your Cells Are Always Building A Whole New You

01 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 abou...

A Look Back At 2025 In Science, From Federal Cuts To Space Junk

31 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 surg...

How Death Metal Singers Make Their Extreme Vocalizations

30 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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—li...

What The Sigma Is Algospeak?

29 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gen Alpha slang can seem unintelligible to adults, but linguist and TikToker Adam Aleksic argues language development in the internet age is worth leg...

Tangling With Entanglement And Other Big Ideas In Physics

26 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What have we learned in recent years about black holes? Can entangled quantum particles really communicate faster than light? What’s the story behin...