On Today's Podcast
Is that spooky old house full of ghosts, or just infrasound?
Low-frequency noises that humans can feel, but not hear, may be behind the spooky feeling of old houses—and serve as a warning to animals.
Listen NowMay 22, 2026
Low-frequency noises that humans can feel, but not hear, may be behind the spooky feeling of old houses. Plus, a processing plant in Mississippi is leaking massive amounts of the herbicide paraquat into the air. Its biological link to Parkinson’s is becoming clear. And, a bioethicist walks us through the complexity of clinical trials, from their core scientific questions to patient selection to FDA approval.
17:14
Lessons From the History of the Gene
Siddhartha Mukherjee’s new book, “The Gene,” is a reminder that the history of genetics is fraught with ethical conundrums.
17:10
Physicist Sean Carroll Finds Meaning in the Chaos of the Cosmos
Does the Big Bang mark the beginning of the universe or the end of our current scientific knowledge?
Tracing Mental Illness Through a Family History
Author Siddhartha Mukherjee outlines his family’s genetic history with mental illness.
Finding Our Place in the Universe, One Discovery at a Time
Author Sean Carroll tells us how a multitude of discoveries in the last few hundred years has changed how we view our place in the universe.
Is DNA the Future of Digital Data Storage?
A team of researchers were able to store 150 kilobytes—a handful of simple emails—on a strand of DNA.
The Eerie Glow Of Blue Ghost Fireflies
From afar, these fireflies glow blue-white instead of flashing yellow-green.
A Tale Of Two Glassworkers And Their Marine Marvels
Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka are perhaps best known for crafting a collection of glass flowers for Harvard. But together they made their mark fashioning thousands of marine invertebrate models.
11:54
Wireless 5G Data, Earth’s Magnetic Bubble, and a Sea Star Mystery
Engineers are competing to build faster wireless data speeds to accommodate streaming video and virtual reality.
11:39
A Bounty of Planets in a Tiny Patch of Space
This week NASA Kepler mission scientists confirmed a record haul of exoplanets: 1,284.
13:32
Mushrooms: On the Hunt for Edibles
A foray into the delicious world of mushroom hunting.
16:54
To Answer Questions About Your World, You Took a Sample
The Science Club meets to review responses to its #TakeASample challenge.
17:24
Finding Ramanujan
Within less than a decade, an impoverished Indian clerk upended mathematics with strange and beautiful equations.
20:24
The Birds and the Bees
Celebrating spring science and the wonders of observation.
Good Mushroom, Bad Mushroom: Fun(gus) Trading Cards
Learn about mushrooms, and trade your favorites with your friends!
Twitter Polling and Sample Bias: A Case Study
As part of our #TakeASample Science Club, Science Friday asked its Twitter audience a few simple survey questions, and they answered by the thousands. But do the data mean anything?
Stopping a Speeding Bullet…With Foam
Researchers have developed a foam capable of shattering bullets on impact.
The Week-After SciFri Quiz! 5/11/16
How much do you know about the history of GPS?
How Electronic Ink Was Invented
The screen technology used in e-readers like the Amazon Kindle was conceived by undergraduates at MIT.
