On Today's Podcast
Making a case for physicists to join climate research
Physics and climate science use the same basic principles, but institutions often keep them separate. Morgan O’Neill is trying to change that.
Listen NowAugust 21, 2026
Microplastics have been found throughout the body, including in placentas and reproductive organs. What does that mean for pregnancy? Plus, little red dots appear all over images from the James Webb Space Telescope. They may belong to a new cosmic category called black hole stars. And, environmentalists and tribes are using state-level public trust doctrines to fight development.
6:28
Can’t Stop Worrying? Blame It on Your Habenula
The habenula is a pea-sized part of the brain that tracks our expectations of negative events.
16:29
Will Big Data Answer Big Questions on Health?
Google’s latest big idea is called “Baseline Study”—an effort to catalog the DNA of thousands of healthy people, along with their blood, urine, saliva, breath, and tears.
Animals Can Suffer From Mental Illness, Too
An excerpt from Laurel Braitman’s “Animal Madness.”
Balloon Rockets
In this lesson from the Chemical Educational Foundation, apply the concepts of pressure and Newton’s laws of motion to build balloon rockets.
A Galaxy Bonanza
This photograph of the universe taken by Hubble reveals more than 10,000 galaxies, including young ultraviolet ones.
Dune Discussion Question: Week #1
The first discussion question for this summer’s SciFri Book Club selection, “Dune.”
12:04
Mosquito-Borne Viruses Raise Public Health Concern
This summer, two different and currently untreatable mosquito-borne viruses were identified on the East Coast.
6:34
A Newly Discovered Virus That Lives in Our Gut
Researchers discovered a virus that lives in the gut of half of the world’s population.
10:59
What’s the Real Cost of Your Steak?
Cattle require 28 times more land and 11 times more irrigation water than eggs or poultry.
17:21
The SciFri Book Club Introduces Dune
Sci-fi author Kim Stanley Robinson and astrobiologist Sara Imari Walker introduce the SciFri Book Club’s summer selection: “Dune”.
11:45
New Online Tracking Tool Evades Privacy Settings
A new online tracker is snooping on visitors to over 5,600 popular sites—and it’s nearly impossible to block.
17:25
HIV/AIDS Update
A round-up of the latest HIV/AIDS research news and an update from the International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia.
10:09
‘Moth-ers’ Celebrate Less-Loved Lepidopterans
Elena Tartaglia, a co-founder of National Moth Week, gives tips on spotting butterflies’ neglected cousins.
6:09
Oarfish: The Ultimate Fish Tale
Little is known about the monstrously long oarfish, its life cycle, and how it navigates its deep sea environment.
Oarfish: The Ultimate Fish Tale
Thought to the be inspiration of sea serpent stories, the monstrously long oarfish provokes wonder in nearly all who witness it. Yet despite our fascination, little is known about this fish, its lifecycle, and how it navigates its deep-sea environment.
The Caterpillar With the Candy-Cane Stripe
This silk moth symbolizes National Moth Week, which has gone global.
The SciFri Book Club Reads Dune
This summer’s pick is a bona fide science fiction classic: Frank Herbert’s ecological epic, “Dune.”
Fashion Circuit
Add some pizzazz to your favorite clothing and accessories using some wire, tape, a battery, and an LED.
12:09
Scientists Call Whales the ‘Engineers’ of the Ocean Ecosystem
Whales stabilize the ocean ecosystem through a mechanism scientists call the “whale pump,” or fecal plumes.
7:39
Pacemaker Researchers Swap Batteries for Biology
With gene therapy, scientists reprogram pig heart cells to improve heartbeat.