On Today's Podcast
The Human Obsession With Aliens Goes Way, Way Back
A new book charts the millennia-old history of our fascination with aliens, and how myth transformed into research.
Listen NowSeptember 12, 2025
Octopuses can use their suckers to detect harmful microbes on the surface of objects like crab shells, or their own eggs. Plus, a new book charts the millennia-old history of our fascination with aliens, and how myth transformed into research. And, golden oyster mushrooms have escaped from home growing kits into the wild. Could they affect fungal diversity in North American forests?
15:36
‘ResearchKit’ Taps iPhone Users for Clinical Trials
Apps on the new platform allow iPhone users to enroll in clinical trials on heart health, Parkinson’s, or asthma. But critics say the smartphone-driven studies have flaws.
22:48
Rise of the Bot Author
Algorithms already write financial and sports news articles. Could they break into fiction?
14:52
SciFri Celebrates π
This year holds an unusually special treat for enthusiasts of the constant π: March 14, 2015 approximates π not just to the usual three digits (3.14) but to five: 3.14.15.
6:45
Food Failures: Crafting Pie Crust
The science behind baking the perfect pie crust.
0:35
How An 11-Year-Old Named A (Dwarf) Planet
Venetia Burney, age 11, came up with the name “Pluto” for a newly-discovered planet 85 years ago this week.
The Art of Scent in Los Angeles
A nonprofit in Los Angeles opens the door on the secretive world of perfuming.
Beauty and the Brain: Understanding Our Responses to Art
The field of neuroaesthetics uses techniques of neurology to understand our response to art.
There Is Such a Thing As Too Much Medical Care
An excerpt from “Less Medicine, More Health.”
22:06
One Hundred Years of General Relativity
Albert Einstein published his theory of general relativity on December 2, 1915.
9:03
Dawn Arrives at Ceres
Mission director and chief engineer Marc Rayman gives an update on the Dawn mission, scheduled to arrive in orbit around dwarf planet Ceres this week.
14:31
Avoid the Doctor—For Your Health
How much medical care is too much medical care?
17:27
The Interstellar Tourist’s Guide to Exoplanets
Exoplanet hunter Sara Seager explains how biosignature gases could help identify life on exoplanets, and The Takeaway’s John Hockenberry takes Ira on a futuristic tour of exoplanet vacation destinations.
12:08
Fossil Jaw Turns Back Clock on Human Evolution
A newly discovered fossil jaw pushes the date of Homo’s evolution back to 2.8 million years ago.
15:39
Balancing Surveillance: Privacy and Security in the Digital Age
Is it possible to keep our personal information secure in the digital age?
0:39
Mysteries of the Mars Plume
Wayne Jaeschke, a patent attorney and amateur astronomer, captured a photo of a wispy cloud rising 120 miles into the Martian atmosphere.
Step Inside A Mad Scientist’s Lab
Take a video tour of the California-based prop shop Jadis, where technological curiosities both real and imagined intermingle.