Science Friday Archives - browsing recent stories

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

Using Math to Track Terrorists: Join guest host Joe Palca in this hour of Science Friday for a look at how mathematicians and computer scientists can help track terrorist activity. (first broadcast Friday, September 14, 2007)

Itch: From bug bites to serious illness -- what makes us itch, and how to make it stop. (first broadcast Friday, September 14, 2007)

Spinal Cord Injuries: In this segment, we'll look at treating spinal cord injuries. (first broadcast Friday, September 14, 2007)

Steven Pinker: A conversation with evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker about language and what makes us tick. (first broadcast Friday, September 14, 2007)

A More Detailed Genome: Researchers now know more about Craig Venter than ever before. Or, at least, the part of him that's defined by his genes. We'll talk about the work, and what it means for the field of genetics resear (first broadcast Friday, September 7, 2007)

Immigration and Sci-Tech Workers: Ira and guests talk about the immigration issue, and how it affects the scientific and technology communities. (first broadcast Friday, September 7, 2007)

Bee Virus: Recently, beekeepers across the country have been opening their hives to find the bees gone. Now, researchers suggest in a paper published in the journal Science that a newly-discovered virus may be (first broadcast Friday, September 7, 2007)

The World Without Us: Ira talks with author Alan Weisman about what the world might be like if humans were suddenly to disappear from the planet. (first broadcast Friday, September 7, 2007)

A Skinny Gene?: We'll hear about a discovery in genetics that could have implications for your waistline. (first broadcast Friday, September 7, 2007)

Simulating Mars: What would it be like to work on Mars? (first broadcast Friday, August 31, 2007)

Retail Clinics: Is it a good idea to get a medical diagnosis while you wait for the grocery store deli to finish slicing your order of cold cuts? (first broadcast Friday, August 31, 2007)

A Whole Lot of Nothing: Scientists studying several maps of space have found an area nearly a billion light-years across that contains nothing. (first broadcast Friday, August 31, 2007)

Virtual Worlds, Virtual Lives: Getting bored with your life? Maybe you need a second one. This hour, we'll be talking about virtual worlds and why we find them so addictive. (first broadcast Friday, August 31, 2007)

Hurricanes: Ira and guests talk about how Hurricane Dean fits into the record books -- and whether it's business as usual, or indications of the effects of global climate change. (first broadcast Friday, August 24, 2007)