On Today's Podcast
'Just' A Blue Jay? Don't Overlook These Magnificent Common Birds
This Christmas Bird Count, we salute the fabulous, underappreciated, common species. Here's to you, house sparrow.
Listen NowDecember 12, 2025
Over the past century, most cancer research has focused on the tumor itself. Rakesh Jain focused on the tumor’s environment instead. Plus, a glacier’s edge can be a dangerous place to do research. One team is using robots and sound samples to monitor the melting ice. And, when cases of plague pop up in the US, it can feel straight up medieval. It’s treatable, but how and why does it persist?
The Big Sort: An Insider’s Tour Of A Recycling Plant
Every day at the Sims Municipal Recycling facility in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, roughly 800 tons of recyclables meander through a tangle of machines, scanners, and conveyor belts.
Hearing Color Through A Cyborg
At the electronic music festival Moogfest, self-described cyborg artist Neil Harbisson showed an audience what it’s like to hear color.
6:12
The Art, and Science, of the Biodesign Challenge
A competition challenges art and design students to face the brave new world of biotechnology.
17:29
Building Better Violins…With Science
Self-taught scientist and luthier Carleen Hutchins brought new scientific rigor to violin-making.
4:50
Does Human Specimen Research Always Need Consent?
Why scientists don’t want to ask your permission to study your old blood samples.
11:34
As the Climate Warms, What Toll Will Heatwaves Take?
With an eye on New York City, an epidemiologist looks at how many deaths extreme heat could cause, and how we can prevent them.
7:25
A Jovian Arrival, Titan’s Chemistry, and a Goat’s Gaze
Researchers have found that Saturn’s moon Titan could have the right chemical conditions to create precursors to life. Plus, what a goat’s gaze has in common with puppy behavior.
10:13
A Geological Tour From 30,000 Feet Up
Flyover Country, a new app, will help you spot geological features during your next long-haul flight.
17:29
A New Threat to Cell Phone Videos?
Apple patents a technology that could stop our phones from recording concerts. How does it work, and could this be abused?
17:20
Protecting The Historic Human Record In Space
How could historically significant satellites, spacecraft, and landing sites be preserved in space?
A Peek at the Possibilities of Biodesign
An air purifier filled with spider webs, a toilet insert that filters estrogen, a cactus-like water harvester—these were just a few of the ambitious and creative ideas presented at the first Biodesign Challenge, which took place on June 23, 2016.
A Peek at the Possibilities of Biodesign
Art and design students envision the future of biotech.
12:02
Crowdsourcing Data, While Keeping Yours Private
“Differential privacy” allows companies to randomize user data, preserving individual privacy while pulling out larger trends.
26:18
Checking In on Our Planetary Neighbors
From Jupiter to Pluto, new windows into the origins of our largest and smallest friends around the sun.
12:07
Crime Algorithm, Space Junk, and Stem Cell Therapies
The legalities of algorithms to predict “high risk” criminals, and the dangers of unapproved stem cell therapies.
8:11
Zika Vaccines Ready for Testing, While Yellow Fever Shots Fall Short
Several vaccines for Zika virus have triumphed in animal tests and are now ready for human trials, but stores of vaccine for another, older tropical disease are running out.
34:11
Looking At The Brain For Hidden War Wounds
Military doctors are starting to pay more attention to concussions and other traumatic brain injuries on the battlefield.
Who Should Your Autonomous Car Save?
Should it save you, or the people outside your car?
Step Into a Hive
Wolfgang Buttress’ giant sculpture interprets the activity of a real beehive.
How Does ‘Brexit’ Affect Science?
In the lead-up to the Brexit vote, 13 Nobel Prize winners warned that departing the EU would be bad for British scientific research.