On Today's Podcast
What’s The Reality Behind The Humanoid Robot Hype?
Humanoid robots are all over social media, doing everything from dancing to serving drinks. But are they really going to show up in our lives?
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?
34:40
Knock Knock. Who’s There? Science!
How do you integrate science into standup comedy? Comedians Chuck Nice, Kasha Patel, and Kyle Marian Viterbo tell us how.
17:05
What Was It Like To Witness The End Of The Dinosaurs?
How fossil records are helping scientists paint a picture of what happened shortly after a massive asteroid hit Earth.
16:31
‘I Will Not Be Vole Girl’—A Biologist Warms Up To Rodents
From land-mine sniffing rats to to the mice in your backyard, biologist Danielle Lee is asking big questions about how ecology shapes behavior.
12:14
How To Feed The International Space Station
NASA’s team of food scientists must make food delicious, nutritious, and fit for spaceflight.
17:13
This Soundscape Artist Has Been Archiving The Sounds Of Science
Jim Metzner, a pioneer of science radio, looks back on his lifetime of recordings, now heading for the Library of Congress.
16:57
When ‘Nope’ Needed Aliens, Director Jordan Peele Looked To The Ocean
(Spoilers abound!) Jordan Peele’s film ‘Nope” used inspiration from the oceans to make its new creature.
11:50
Keeping The Bubbly In Your Holidays, With Fizzical Science
We pour over the science of the effervescent bubbles of champagne.
5:07
In A New Hampshire Town, It’s Snowmobilers Vs. Beavers
Some residents want to leave a pond to beavers; others want it drained for snowmobile trails.
16:28
How Science Can Keep Your Christmas Tree Merry And Bright
Science Friday is coming in hot with tips to help keep your holidays stress- and needle-free.
11:51
Glitter Gets An Eco-Friendly Glimmer
Chemists have developed a new way to make eco-friendly glitter from plant fibers.
12:05
The Resurrection Of The American Chestnut
A once-common food staple, this giant tree has essentially disappeared from American forests. Can we bring it back—and should we?
17:13
A DNA Map You Can Touch—Or Walk Through
What started as an inside joke has turned into a fantastical collaboration between an artist and a physicist studying DNA.
12:03
A Look Back At The Top Science Stories of 2022
Tim Revell of New Scientist recaps the year in science, from the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope to the spread of Mpox.
5:16
The Secret Life Of Mistletoe (When It’s Not Christmas)
This parasitic plant grows in deserts and forests around the world and steals trees’ nutrients.
12:24
How The Humble Beaver Shaped A Continent
European settlers nearly wiped out the North American beaver. Bringing them back may soften future floods and fires.
Read ‘Beaverland’ By Leila Philip With The SciFri Book Club
This book gives space to all walks of life touched by beavers—with a lot of science tucked into every page.
Honoring The Deep Weirdness That Is The Beaver
How smart are beavers? Why did they start building dams? We may never know, but Leila Philip’s new book ‘Beaverland’ starts the conversation.
Welcome to Beaverland: SciFri Book Club Author And Expert Livestream
On January 26, join our chat with the author of ‘Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America’ about this peculiar keystone species.
A Middle School Celebrates STEAM
Science Friday and Richmond Hill Middle School have partnered to bring you a series of middle school STEAM lessons designed to slide into any subject
12:15
Scientists Reach Breakthrough In Nuclear Fusion
After decades of research, scientists announced they created a reaction that made more energy than they put in.