SciFri Radio: Microbiology

SciFri Radio: Childhood Vaccinations
With kids set to head back to school, we'll talk about the childhood vaccinations required in much of the country. Parental resistance to vaccines...

SciFri Radio: Stomach Bug May Help Battle Asthma
Could a bacterium thought to be responsible for stomach ulcers help ward off childhood asthma?

SciFri Radio: Tomatoes and Salmonella
At least 228 people in 23 states have gotten sick from eating suspect tomatoes, according to the CDC.We'll get the latest on the tomato/Salmonella...

SciFri Radio: Prochlorococcus
Just over twenty years ago, researchers discovered a photosynthetic marine microorganism now known as Prochlorococcus. In this segment, guest host...

SciFri Radio: A Real Computer Bug?
A group of scientists reports that they have created specially-modified E. coli bacteria capable of performing one specific type of calculation....

SciFri Radio: More Evidence for Dinosaur / Bird Link
Analysis of proteins found in a scrap of collagen from a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex leg bone provides strong evidence for the idea that...

SciFri Radio: Phages Fight Bacteria
In this segment, Ira and guests talk about bacteriophages -- bacteria-fighting viruses -- and their place in modern medicine.

SciFri Radio: Bacteria That Eat Antibiotics
It sounds like something out of science fiction -- instead of being killed by antibiotics, some bacteria instead eat antibiotics for lunch.

SciFri Radio: 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...

SciFri Radio: 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...

view more radio programs related to Microbiology

Particles of Science

Itsy Bitsy Spacecraft

SciFri guest Aaron Rowe explains the advantages of smaller spacecraft: Listen. Find out about a new development in the micro craft design--a material that can change color depending on whether the craft is in sun or shadow to reflect or absorb light. Listen to Rowe.

This Just In: Cattail Fuel

Ethanol isn't all about corn. SciFri guest David Blume suggests fuel from cattails. Listen here. They also clean the water and grow like weeds. Learn more.

This Just In

A positive drug test may not mean doping, according to SciFri guest Donald Berry. Berry said that the drug test being used to evaluate athletes has not been evaluated properly--it's not clear what its margin of error is. Listen to Berry explain. Ira asked why the doping test is not more scientific and this is what Berry said: Listen here.

Berry Power

New research explains why cranberry juice may ward off urinary tract infections. The berry beverage was shown to prevent disease-causing bacteria from attaching to urinary tract cells in the body.

SciFri Newsbriefs: Microbiology

Newsbrief: Ocean in a Bottle
Researchers figured out how the ocean smells like the ocean.

Newsbrief: Feeling Feverish? Sit Still
Viruses evolve differently depending on how free their hosts are to move and mingle.

Newsbrief: Spacebugs
When Salmonella goes up in space, it changes--and not for the better.

Newsbrief: Watch out hand sanitizer. Clay kills bacteria too.
A certain type of french clay wipes out bacteria.

Newsbrief: Genome of dandruff-inducing fungus sequenced
Unwanted flakes? Scientists inspect the genes of the fungus responsible for dandruff.

Newsbrief: Color from Nature
Clothing could get their color—and germ-fighting properties—from a strain of marine bacteria

see more newsbriefs related to Microbiology

SciFri Videos: Microbiology

Video: Life On Our Skin
What lives on our skin? Dr. Martin Blaser, the chairman of the department of medicine at NYU School of Medicine, is trying to find out. After...

Video: AAAS Video: The Art of Manure Digestion
Vidal Cortes explains the ins and outs of manure digestion. Cortes, a senior at the the University of California, Irvine, presented his research at...

Video: Cheese: Not the Same Mold Story
Science Friday investigates the secret life of cheese. We visited Hendricks Farms and Dairy in Telford, PA--home to award-winning cheese-maker...

Video: Brewing 101
Take a tour of Lakeside Brewery in Milwaukee, WI and find out how brewers turn barley and hops into a bubbly beverage.

Video: The Essence of Life
Meet Prochlorococcus--it might be the most important microbe you've never heard of.

Video: Making Spirits, Distilled
Thirsty? Learn how to make vodka and gin. Doug MacKenzie, master distiller at Great Lakes Distillery in Milwaukee, WI, and Kent Kirshenbaum, a...

view more videos related to Microbiology

Featured Video: How the Fly Evades the Swatter
view larger | credits

Footage courtesy of Michael Dickinson Lab, Caltech. Fruit fly electron microscope image: Jack Scott, Bio-DiTRL, Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta. Music by Synthar

watch more videos