Science Friday

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Jun. 04, 2013

Horseshoe Crab Bandits, Quick Whiskey, Milky Way Map, and More

by Leslie Taylor

Each week we’ll round up links to science stories or studies that blow our mind, tickle our funny bone, or generally strike our fancy.

May. 28, 2013

Mine-detecting Honeybees, Deciphering Teenage Sounds, and More

by Leslie Taylor

Each week we’ll round up links to science stories or studies that blow our mind, tickle our funny bone, or generally strike our fancy.

honeybees, bees, mine detection, itch, neurotransmitter, neuron, practice, malcolm gladwell, conspiracy theory, linguistics, teenagers

May. 16, 2013

Don't Forget to Eat Your Creepy Crawlies!

by Leslie Taylor

In the mood for water beetles marinated in ginger and soy sauce? How about some mealworm spaghetti?

May. 14, 2013

Alien Invaders, Baby Seal Brains, and More

by Leslie Taylor

Each week we’ll round up links to science stories or studies that blow our mind, tickle our funny bone, or generally strike our fancy.

seal, robotongue, baseball, spatial awareness, hearing, ballast water, invasive species

May. 07, 2013

Smuggled Dinosaurs, Sick Sea Otters, Hairy Tongues, and More

by Leslie Taylor

Each week we’ll round up links to science stories or studies that blow our mind, tickle our funny bone, or generally strike our fancy.

paleontology, tyrannosaurus, hearing, sea otters, toxoplasmosis, psychology, natural selection, hearing

May. 07, 2013

Science Standards for the Next Generation

by Leslie Taylor

Newly released science standards expect students to be capable of designing experiments and making evidence-based arguments.

Next Generation Science Standards, engineering, technology, curriculum, curricula, science education

Apr. 30, 2013

Time Crystals, Canine Conservationists, Copycat Monkeys, and More

by Leslie Taylor

Each week we’ll round up links to science stories or studies that blow our mind, tickle our funny bone, or generally strike our fancy.

Apr. 25, 2013

Happy DNA Day!

by Leslie Taylor

Today is National DNA Day, an annual tribute to of the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and the discovery of DNA's double helix in 1953.

DNA, genetics, dna day

Apr. 19, 2013

April 19th SciFri Broadcast to Air at Later Date

NPR's continuing live coverage of events in Boston will preempt today's Science Friday. The recorded April 19th program will be broadcast nationwide in our regularly scheduled timeslot on a later date.

Apr. 11, 2013

Mapping the Monarchs

by Leslie Taylor

Any orange-and-black beauties in your neck of the woods? Add a photo to our Spring Monarch Migration 2013 Google map.

Apr. 09, 2013

What Scared the Fearless Woman?

by Leslie Taylor

Patients once considered insensitive to fear can experience the sensation in response to internal triggers, a new study shows.

neuroscience, fear, amygdala, patient SM, brain, panic attack

Mar. 14, 2013

Wildlife Portraits by Our Photo Contest Judge

by Leslie Taylor

Clay Bolt, co-founder of the Meet Your Neighbours photo project, shares some of his shots.

clay bolt, photo contest, winter nature photo contest, wildlife photography, field studio technique

Feb. 15, 2013

Watch the Asteroid Flyby Live

by Leslie Taylor

A roundup of live streams that will let you watch the approach of asteroid 2012 DA14 online.

asteroid, asteroid 2012 DA14, Earth, fly-by, live stream asteroid, live stream

Feb. 14, 2013

SciFri Quiz: Asteroid!

by Leslie Taylor

How much do you know about the object heading our way?

scifri quiz, comets, asteroid, 2012 DA14

Jan. 25, 2013

SciFri Book Club Open Thread: The Andromeda Strain

by Leslie Taylor

Here are some ideas to get the conversation started.

scifri book club, book club, The Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton, Richard Preston, science fiction, scifri, outbreak, astrobiology

Dec. 05, 2012

Ask an Astronaut

by Leslie Taylor

What do you want to know about living and working in space?

spaceflight, astronauts, ask an expert

Oct. 29, 2012

Share Signs of Sandy

by Leslie Taylor

Email your pics to photos@sciencefriday.com with Sandy in the subject line.

Oct. 26, 2012

SciFri Book Club Open Thread -- "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"

by Leslie Taylor

Today the SciFri Book Club will talk about Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman's book "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman." What did you think of the book?

Oct. 26, 2012

Bury Your Fears

by Leslie Taylor

In the mid to late 1800's, it seems we had a widespread fear of being buried alive -- a fear you can see played out in the quantity of patents issued to inventors hoping to innovate coffin technology.

patents, gadgets, inventions, coffins

Oct. 17, 2012

Science Rocks: The Nucleus I Like Best

by Leslie Taylor

The "percussion" in this song, by Science Groove, consists of actual sounds generated by a 1.5-Tesla NMR machine.

Science Rocks!, mri, physics, medicine, music

Oct. 05, 2012

Möbius Music Box

by Leslie Taylor

In the chapter about topology in his book The Joy of X, Steven Strogatz writes about Vi Hart, a "full-time recreational mathemusician," who created this Möbius music box.

math, music, mobius strip, topology

Sep. 25, 2012

Return of the Flame Challenge: Kids, What Would You Ask Next?

by Leslie Taylor

Attention 10 to 12-year-olds! Alan Alda wants to know what question you would like scientists to answer.

science education, flame challenge, Alan Alda, education, science communication, education, kids

Sep. 21, 2012

SciFri Book Club Open Thread -- Let's Talk about 'Flatland'

by Leslie Taylor

Hi SciFri Book Club members! We want to hear what you thought of the book.

scifri book club, flatland, math, geometry, books

Sep. 18, 2012

Track the Monarch Migration Using Your iPhone!

by Leslie Taylor

Depending where you live, you may have recently started to see an influx of orange and black winged visitors. The monarch butterflies have begun their fall migration.

butterflies, monarchs, nature, insects, monarch migration, citizen science, science app, migration tracker, education

Sep. 13, 2012

Behind the Scenes of a Spacecraft Assembly Facility

by Leslie Taylor

Just how clean is a clean room? And what goes on there?

nasa, jpl. mars, curiosity, rover, clean room, spacecraft, spacecraft assembly facility, jet propulsion laboratory, planetary protection officer

Sep. 11, 2012

Meet the Strandbeests

by Leslie Taylor

Meet Animaris gubernare and Animaris adulari, two of kinetic sculptor Theo Jansen's strandbeests.

Theo Jansen, strandbeests, kinetic sculpture, sculpture, visual art, art

Sep. 05, 2012

Name That Asteroid!

by Leslie Taylor

Students, NASA needs your help to find the perfect name for a near-Earth asteroid that will be visited by spacecraft later this decade.

asteroids, planets, space, space flight, planet formation, education, student contest, asteroid naming contest

Sep. 04, 2012

Neil Armstrong Tribute

by Leslie Taylor

This video, composed of NASA archive material and put together by Stephen Slater, is not just an excellent tribute to the first man to walk on the moon, but it's also a nostalgic snapshot of the early days of America's manned space program.

Aug. 29, 2012

How Cats Always Land on Their Feet

by Leslie Taylor

In a different take on the "cute cat video," a high speed camera records the movements of GiGi the stunt cat as she flips herself over to land smartly on her feet.

physics, cats, cat video, angular momentum, gravity, animals

Aug. 21, 2012

Mars Moment -- An Engineer's POV

by Leslie Taylor

A NASA engineer shares what he calls "one of the coolest moments of my life so far."

Aug. 09, 2012

Alzheimer's A to Z

by Leslie Taylor

A roundup of Science Friday coverage of recent breakthroughs in the detection and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

alzheimer's, mental health, dementia, health, medicine, alzheimer's disease, medical research

Jul. 27, 2012

Breaking the Silence about Science on the Campaign Trail

by Leslie Taylor

Last week, ScienceDebate released its list of 14 of the most important science questions facing the nation, based on submissions from thousands of scientists, engineers, and concerned citizens.

science debate, science policy, presidential election, presidential debate, Shawn Otto, ScienceDebate

Jul. 24, 2012

Ask an Astrophysicist

by Leslie Taylor

Want to talk about dark matter? Dark energy? Pluto's 5th moon? The new "spy" telescopes NASA inherited? We'll be looking to you to shape Friday's conversation with Nobel Prize winner Adam G. Riess.

dark matter, dark energy, physics, astronomy, Adam G. Riess, universe expansion, Nobel Prize

Jul. 19, 2012

Feeling the Heat? Cool Off at the South Pole

by Leslie Taylor

It's sweltering outside the SciFri offices, so we've happily paid extra attention to Antarctica this week.

Antarctica, South Pole, polar research, ice, snow

Jul. 19, 2012

SciFri Quiz: Test Your Smarts on Dope

by Leslie Taylor

How much do you know about the science of performance-enhancing drugs?

sports medicine, doping, performance enhancing drugs, EPO, human growth hormone

Jul. 10, 2012

Listeners Weigh in on 'Silent Spring'

by Leslie Taylor

The Science Friday Book Club met for the first time last week to talk about Rachel Carson’s classic book, "Silent Spring." If you missed the show (or you’re eager for more book talk) we've compiled some tweets and comments from listeners, along with some links we like.

book club, books, reading, summer reading, SciArts, science friday book club, silent spring

Jul. 05, 2012

Share Your Pickle Picks

by Leslie Taylor

Have you made your own pickles before? How'd they turn out? If you have a favorite pickle recipe, please share.

pickles, food science, fermentation, chemistry,

Jun. 28, 2012

The Winner of the Transit of Venus Photo Contest

by Leslie Taylor

Thank you everyone who submitted a photo to our transit of Venus photo contest. You captured some stunning images!

photography, transit of venus, astronomy, photo contest

Jun. 26, 2012

The Physics of Spider-Man: The Death of Gwen Stacy

by Leslie Taylor

What killed Spider-Man's girlfriend Gwen Stacy? In the infamous comic The Night Gwen Stacy Died, was it the fall from the George Washington bridge that killed her? Or was it whiplash from being caught by Spidey's web?

spiderman, physics, physics of superheroes, comic books, physics, gwen stacy, james kakalios, superheroes

Jun. 22, 2012

SciFri Book Club: What We'll Read

by Leslie Taylor

It's time to head out to the library or your favorite book store and pick up a copy of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.

Jun. 21, 2012

3D or Not 3D, That Is the Question

by Leslie Taylor

Check out our photo gallery of objects created by 3D printers. Then, take our quiz to test how well you know the capabilities and limits of current 3D printing technology.

Jun. 20, 2012

Vote for Your Favorite Transit of Venus Photo

by Leslie Taylor

Check out the ten finalists in our transit of Venus photo contest.

tranist of venus, telescope, photography, photo contest, transit of venus photo contest, astronomy, venus, planet

Jun. 19, 2012

The Best Tall Buildings in the World

by Leslie Taylor

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) recently announced the buildings they will honor in 2012 and boy are they beauties!

engineering, architecture, skyscrapers, tall buildings, civil engineering

Jun. 13, 2012

Take These Science Books to the Beach

by Leslie Taylor

Not all beach reads are spy novels or space operas. Science Friday is hosting a science book club, and our fans recommended these science-related books. Have suggestions? Leave them in the comments.

book club, books, reading, reading list, summer reading, SciArts, science friday book club

Jun. 11, 2012

Transit of Venus Photo Contest

by Leslie Taylor

Any SciFri listeners catch a glimpse of Venus last week? Were you able to snap a photo of the not-to-be-repeated-this-lifetime event? Submit your entry to our Transit of Venus Photo Contest by posting your photo to our Facebook page or by e-mailing it to photos@sciencefriday.com.

astronomy, photography, transit of venus, photo contest, sun, telescope

May. 24, 2012

Ascending Everest

by Leslie Taylor

Mountaineer and former Science Friday guest Conrad Anker will attempt to reach the peak of Mt. Everest tonight.

May. 16, 2012

Foraged Feasts

by Leslie Taylor

Coming up this Friday as part of a story on urban agriculture we'll talk with Tama Matsuoka Wong, author of Foraged Flavor: Finding Fabulous Ingredients in Your Backyard or Farmer's Market. She shared with us some recipes.

urban agriculture, food, recipe, chickweed, wild mustard, cooking, foraging, urban wildlife

May. 10, 2012

Science Debate 2012 -- What would you ask?

by Leslie Taylor

What would you ask the presidential candidates if you had a chance?

poll, politics, debate, scientific literacy, space, NASA, funding

May. 08, 2012

Supersized America

by Leslie Taylor

Coming up this Friday, we'll talk with the executive producer of The Weight of the Nation, HBO's new four-part documentary that looks at the causes and effects of being overweight and obese in America.

obesity, television, documentary, film, public health,