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May 9, 2025
Some car designers are turning from touchscreen controls back to physical buttons. Two researchers explain why that could be better. Plus, geneticists used CRISPR gene editing to grow bigger fruits without sacrificing flavor. And, an executive order could change the political tides for deep sea mining.
1:19
One Last Thing: Left to Right
When we picture rapidly moving things, people seem to have a preference for ones that move from left to right, not right to left.
15:16
Michael Gazzaniga: Tales from Both Sides of the Brain
Cognitive neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga discusses his on discovering how these halves communicate.
17:19
Shaking Up the Climate Conversation, With Dance
A choreographer and a biologist team up to create a dance that’s part high art, part climate change consciousness raising.
11:35
‘Hellish’ Conditions Gave Spark to Life on Earth
The early Earth was no place for life as we know it: Belching volcanoes, meteor strikes, hydrogen cyanide and a healthy bombardment of ultraviolet rays.
22:10
Writing Women Back Into Science History
This Women’s History Month, Science Friday celebrates some of the unsung heroines of science.
17:24
What Will It Take to Land a Person on Mars?
What technological hurdles must be cleared for a successful manned mission to Mars?
12:18
Scientists Dip Into the Water on Jupiter’s Largest Moon
Scientists estimate that a subsurface ocean on Jupiter’s largest moon—Ganymede—could be 60 miles thick.
2:32
Sweeping the Skies, More Than 200 Years Ago
Astronomer Caroline Herschel was born 265 years ago this week, on March 16, 1750. She was the first woman to receive a salary for astronomical research.
16:50
Warming West Coast Waters Upset Food Chains
Warmer waters are changing the distribution of food in the Pacific, stranding hundreds of starving sea lion pups on shore, and causing the death of hundreds of thousands of birds.
22:34
Keeping the President in Tune With Tech
Megan Smith, a Google alum who once built and raced a solar car across Australia, came on board last year as U.S. Chief Technology Officer.