On Today's Podcast
What Lies Beneath The Outer Layers Of A Star?
Astronomers found a supernova whose lighter outer layers had been stripped away, revealing an inner shell rich in silicon and sulfur.
Listen NowAugust 22, 2025
Humans drove wolves nearly to extinction in the American West. Reintroducing them in 1995 was, and still is, controversial. Plus, the FDA and HHS plan to eliminate petroleum-based food dyes as part of the MAHA agenda. What does science say about their effects on health? And, astronomers found a supernova whose lighter outer layers had been stripped away, revealing an inner shell rich in silicon and sulfur.
16:38
Tracking the Hidden Trail Left by Your Smartphone
How much data is being transmitted through phone metadata and third-party keyboard apps?
12:03
Dog Longevity, Depression Treatments, and the Trouble With Wolves
An old drug’s new tricks could prolong your dog’s life, plus the controversy over wild wolves and their management.
08:04
The Flight of the RoboBees
What can we learn from the quest to build a better tiny, flying robot?
17:14
Lessons From the History of the Gene
Siddhartha Mukherjee’s new book, “The Gene,” is a reminder that the history of genetics is fraught with ethical conundrums.
17:10
Physicist Sean Carroll Finds Meaning in the Chaos of the Cosmos
Does the Big Bang mark the beginning of the universe or the end of our current scientific knowledge?
Tracing Mental Illness Through a Family History
Author Siddhartha Mukherjee outlines his family’s genetic history with mental illness.
Finding Our Place in the Universe, One Discovery at a Time
Author Sean Carroll tells us how a multitude of discoveries in the last few hundred years has changed how we view our place in the universe.
Is DNA the Future of Digital Data Storage?
A team of researchers were able to store 150 kilobytes—a handful of simple emails—on a strand of DNA.
The Eerie Glow Of Blue Ghost Fireflies
From afar, these fireflies glow blue-white instead of flashing yellow-green.
A Tale Of Two Glassworkers And Their Marine Marvels
Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka are perhaps best known for crafting a collection of glass flowers for Harvard. But together they made their mark fashioning thousands of marine invertebrate models.
11:54
Wireless 5G Data, Earth’s Magnetic Bubble, and a Sea Star Mystery
Engineers are competing to build faster wireless data speeds to accommodate streaming video and virtual reality.
11:39
A Bounty of Planets in a Tiny Patch of Space
This week NASA Kepler mission scientists confirmed a record haul of exoplanets: 1,284.
13:32
Mushrooms: On the Hunt for Edibles
A foray into the delicious world of mushroom hunting.
16:54
To Answer Questions About Your World, You Took a Sample
The Science Club meets to review responses to its #TakeASample challenge.
17:24
Finding Ramanujan
Within less than a decade, an impoverished Indian clerk upended mathematics with strange and beautiful equations.
20:24
The Birds and the Bees
Celebrating spring science and the wonders of observation.
Good Mushroom, Bad Mushroom: Fun(gus) Trading Cards
Learn about mushrooms, and trade your favorites with your friends!
Twitter Polling and Sample Bias: A Case Study
As part of our #TakeASample Science Club, Science Friday asked its Twitter audience a few simple survey questions, and they answered by the thousands. But do the data mean anything?
Stopping a Speeding Bullet…With Foam
Researchers have developed a foam capable of shattering bullets on impact.