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.
A Grasshopper Storm, a Mental Shift
Humans’ perception of insects is deeply rooted in our evolutionary past.
Iowa Going Green: What Does It Mean for 2016?
Could new wind energy projects influence votes?
The Mystery Of Ice Spikes
One experiment shows that this little understood phenomenon seems to perform better with distilled water.
12:11
App Chat: Cutting Clutter From Your Inbox
Ellis Hamburger, a reporter for The Verge, talks about a few of his favorite mail-managing apps.
25:05
Forty Years Of The Endangered Species Act
Currently, there are 2,142 U.S. and foreign species protected under the Endangered Species Act.
8:27
Extracting Data From Photos of Our Eyes
Researchers used photographs to recover reflected images 30,000 times smaller than the actual subject.
22:28
Why Do Insects Bug Us?
Author Jeffrey Lockwood dissects our complicated relationship with insects.
43:28
Can Plants Think?
Plants can hear, taste and feel, as Michael Pollan writes in his latest piece for The New Yorker. But is any of that evidence of intelligence?
Out Of The Bottle: Tricks Of The Trade
Gavin Sacks of Cornell University translates popular wine jargon such as ‘breathing,’ ‘corked,’ and ‘wine tears’ into chemistry you can understand.
30:00
Carl Sagan: ‘Science Is a Way of Thinking’
In this 1996 interview, Carl Sagan talks about pseudoscience, UFOs, and the origins of the universe.
17:13
Temple Grandin: ‘My Mind Works Like Google Images’
In this 2006 interview, Temple Grandin explains how her autism helps her understand animal behavior.
46:44
Oliver Sacks And The Search For The Giant Squid
In this 1997 conversation, neurologist Oliver Sacks describes the island of the colorblind, then chats with a researcher searching for giant squid.
A Christmas Tree Grows In Oregon
The country’s Christmas tree capital is Oregon, where Douglas and noble firs reign thanks to accommodating climate and soil.
11:46
Unpacking DARPA’s and Google’s Robotics Interests
Google has purchased eight robotics companies in the last half-year.
27:26
Christmas Bird Count 2013
An update from the annual birding holiday tradition: the Audubon Christmas Bird Count.
6:35
Out of the Bottle: Wine Flavor
A researcher from Cornell details the chemical composition of wine’s diverse flavor profiles.
46:26
A Year of Ups and Downs for Science
Ira Flatow and a panel of editors and bloggers discuss the year’s biggest science stories.
Out of the Bottle: Wine Flavor
A researcher from Cornell details the chemical composition of wine’s diverse flavor profiles.
Holiday Gift Idea: Offbeat Science Books
From Rube Goldberg devices to jet packs, these books cover subjects that won’t disappoint.
6:50
Fixing ‘Misfolded’ Proteins for New Drug Treatments
Researchers were able to restore the function of incorrectly folded proteins in mice.