Science Friday Archives - browsing recent stories

International Space Station following most recent upgrade. Credit: STS-119 Shuttle Crew, NASA.

Antarctic Glaciers Moving to the Sea: Glaciers in a remote part of Antarctica appear to be speeding up their slide towards the sea. We'll talk with a researcher trying to figure out why. (first broadcast Friday, March 7, 2008)

Persuasive Technologies: How can devices, environments, or computer programs be designed to change how people behave? We'll talk about the field of 'persuasive technology.' (first broadcast Friday, March 7, 2008)

Anticipating Synthetic Biology: As researchers draw nearer to the ability to design and grow new organisms from scratch, what planning and protections need to be in place to cope with the consequences? (first broadcast Friday, February 29, 2008)

Telling Time: Leap Year, Leap Day: This Friday is a date that comes only once every 28 years - Friday, February 29th. We'll talk about leap years, leap days, and the finer points of telling time. (first broadcast Friday, February 29, 2008)

Animal Testing and Research Ethics: Join Joe Palca and guests in this segment for a discussion of animal testing, alternatives to testing, and research ethics. (first broadcast Friday, February 29, 2008)

A Connection Between Bacteria and Meteorology?: There's a good chance that pile of snow in your yard contains bacteria -- but not because it's dirty. The bacteria may have played an important role in helping those snow crystals form. (first broadcast Friday, February 29, 2008)

Mapping Emerging Diseases: Researchers have mapped out likely 'hot spots' for the development of emerging infectious diseases. We'll talk about the threat of outbreaks of diseases such as SARS and Ebola, and whether outbreaks of emerging diseases are on the rise. (first broadcast Friday, February 22, 2008)

What Makes Stem Cells Stem Cells?: Joe Palca talks with stem cell researcher George Daley about the discovery of a protein that may help give stem cells their unusual multi-function abilities. (first broadcast Friday, February 22, 2008)

Gecko-Inspired Bandages for Medical Use: Researchers have developed an adhesive surgical bandage inspired by the structures on the feet of a gecko. (first broadcast Friday, February 22, 2008)

See You from The Dark Side of the Moon: NASA has given the go-ahead to researchers to begin planning an array of radio telecopes on the far side of the moon. (first broadcast Friday, February 22, 2008)

A Grammy in Math: Joe talks with Kevin Short, a mathematician at the University of New Hampshire who shared in a Grammy award for work in restoring an historic recording of Woody Guthrie. (first broadcast Friday, February 22, 2008)

Mapping Human Genetic Diversity: We'll talk about a new study that looks at genetic variation across different populations and uses that information to trace the migration of the first modern humans--lending support to the theory that the first humans moved out of Africa across the globe (first broadcast Friday, February 22, 2008)

Federal Government and Science: In this hour, Ira and guests look at ways to strengthen science in the federal government -- including making sure the president gets sound science advice, ensuring that scientists can communicate their findings, and encouraging Congress to tackle tough s (first broadcast Friday, February 15, 2008)

State of the Oceans: We depend on them for food, recreation, and more -- so why do we treat our oceans so badly? In this hour, Ira and guests take a look at the state of the world's ocean ecosystems. The prognosis isn't good -- but is it hopeless? (first broadcast Friday, February 15, 2008)