NPR: Science Friday Podcast: Episodes
How are the discovery of oxygen, the founding of the Unitarian Church and ecosystem science linked? Author Steven Johnson tells the story of scientist and theologian Joseph Priestley, a protege of Benjamin Franklin and friend of Thomas Jefferson, in <em>The Invention of Air</em>.
Whodunit? Was it Dr. Jones, in the lab, with the beaker? Eric and Natalie Yoder may have the answer. They are authors of <em>One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science</em>, a new book that uses mysteries and problem solving to get kids energized about science.
Both bring wintertime suffering, but how different is the common cold from influenza, scientifically speaking? Ira Flatow talks with cold and flu experts about how these viruses are transmitted, how best to dodge them, and why hand sanitizer may not be of much help.
Biologists identified bacteria that shorten the lifespan of disease-carrying mosquitoes. Shorter lives mean less time for the mosquitoes to incubate and transmit diseases like dengue and malaria. Biologist Andrew Read of The Pennsylvania State University explains the findings.
2009 marks 150 years since the publication of Darwin's <em>On The Origin of Species</em>, and the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of a telescope to study the skies. M. Lee Allison is an organizer of a "Year of Science 2009," a celebration of scientific methods and discoveries.
The pop-up book <em>Birdscapes</em> catalogues the calls of birds from all over the world, from Yellow-billed Loons on remote Arctic lakes to King Rails in southern swamps. Author Miyoko Chu of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology tells the stories behind how these bird songs were collected.
Shade-grown coffee is sometimes called "bird friendly coffee," but a new paper in the journal <em>Current Biology</em> suggests that the plantations also help maintain the genetic diversity of native tree species. Study author Shalene Jha discusses the research and its implications.
Get out those binoculars and notepads. For the 109th year, birders throughout the Americas are navigating tropical forests and crunching through snowy meadows to tally up birds. Count director Geoff LeBaron and Cornell ornithologist John Fitzpatrick discuss the annual event.
The language of our lives is changing faster than you can download an iPhone app. <em>Wired</em> magazine's "Jargon Watch" columnist (and conceptual artist) Jonathan Keats runs down the top tech jargon terms of 2008.
Are you vowing to stop smoking or start exercising on Jan. 1, 2009? Nearly half of U.S. adults will make resolutions to change in the New Year. Clinical psychologist John Norcross explains how to increase your odds for success.
Are mistletoe and poinsettia <em>really</em> holiday hazards? Poison expert Edward Krenzelok explains how to avoid accidental poisonings this season, and keep the holidays toxin-free.
What do graphene and autophagy have in common? They were two of the hottest topics in scientific literature this year. David Pendlebury, citation analyst with Thomson-Reuters, looks at the most-cited scientific papers of 2008, and explains why the research was so noteworthy.
From Flickr to Facebook, Twitter to MySpace, social media sites help people follow the news and, in some cases, become part of the story. Tim O'Reilly, founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media, looks back at the role of social media in 2008 and gives predictions for the future.
Astronomers using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have corroborated the presence of dark energy — a mysterious force pushing the universe outward. William Forman, an astrophysicist with the project, says the findings help explain how the universe evolved — and how it may end.
It's a question that many people have on their minds this season: Does spiking the homemade eggnog safeguard it against salmonella? Eggnog expert and microbiologist Vince Fischetti of The Rockefeller University in New York runs some tests to find out.
What were the most important scientific discoveries this year? From the discovery of ice in Martian soil, to the creation of the first synthetic genome, to learning of new exoplanets, Ira Flatow and guests discuss the science stories that captured the headlines and why.
What makes a shopper spend at one store and not others? Paco Underhill, founder and CEO of Envirosell and author of <em>Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping</em>, explains how he sizes up a shop for its selling potential. Also: why spending may not slow even in a slumping economy.
There may be a way of accounting for taste, after all. Tim Westergren, founder of Internet radio service Pandora, and Reed Hastings, founder and CEO of Netflix, explain how their companies are trying to develop algorithms that predict whether someone will like a song or film.
Looking for ways to jazz up that holiday party? Patrick Buckley, co-author of <em>The Hungry Scientist Handbook</em>, demonstrates how to make carbonated fruit. Materials required: fruit (the firmer the better), a pressure cooker and a handful of dry ice cubes.
The much-observed brain of amnesiac "H.M." will be sectioned and preserved for scientists to study. Jacopo Annese, director of The Brain Observatory at University of California, San Diego and the neuroscientist in charge of the procedure, explains what researchers hope to learn.