Science Friday, as heard on NPR, is a weekly discussion of the latest news in science, technology, health, and the environment hosted by Ira Flatow. Ira interviews scientists, authors, and policymakers, and listeners can call in and ask questions as well. Hear it each week on NPR stations nationwide -- or online here!
Updated: 4 min 15 sec ago
September 3, 2010 - 4:03pm
Clifford Nass, a communications professor at Stanford University, has been studying the ways humans interact with computers to tease out some of the intricacies of how people relate to each other. He talks about those findings in his new book The Man Who Lied to His Laptop.
September 3, 2010 - 4:03pm
Reporting in the journal PLoS ONE, researchers write that organically grown strawberries contain more antioxidants and vitamin C than conventional berries. Ira Flatow and guests discuss the findings, and whether the differences would have any meaningful impact on Americans' health.
September 3, 2010 - 4:03pm
Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers describe a new predatory dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period in Europe. Balaur bondoc (Romanian for "stocky dragon") is huskier than its relative the Velociraptor.
September 3, 2010 - 4:03pm
New research suggests that seniors who did mentally stimulating activities such as crossword puzzles postponed the loss of thinking skills, but had an accelerated rate of decline once dementia set in later in life. Neuropsychologist Robert S. Wilson explains the finding.
September 3, 2010 - 4:03pm
A new study says men who reported having insomnia and who slept less than 6 hours a night were four times more likely to die over a 14-year period when compared to men who reported sleeping well. Sleep researcher and psychiatrist Alexandros Vgontzas explains the finding.
September 3, 2010 - 4:02pm
With no climate change legislation coming out of the Senate, Sierra Club head Michael Brune says it's time to try a new strategy to fight global warming. Author Bill McKibben says it's time to get angry. Brune and McKibben discuss their ideas for curbing climate change.
August 27, 2010 - 5:05pm
There are hundreds of receptors in the human nose that can pick up thousands of odors with each sniff. But how do we make sense of the scents? Smell researchers Stuart Firestein and Donald Wilson discuss the complexities of olfaction and how the brain sorts out what the nose picks up.
August 27, 2010 - 5:05pm
Researchers reporting in the journal Science say they have discovered a new species of oil-eating bacteria living half a mile down in the Gulf of Mexico. Study author Terry Hazen discusses the finding and what these bacteria might mean for future oil spills.
August 27, 2010 - 5:05pm
The future as imagined in science fiction sometimes becomes a reality. Michael and Denise Okuda, graphic designers for Star Trek, and John Underkoffler, science adviser on Minority Report , talk about envisioning the future.
August 27, 2010 - 5:05pm
With daily reports of bedbugs in movie theaters and clothing stores -- let alone apartment buildings -- bedbug hysteria seems to be reaching new heights. Psychologist Kevin Ochsner studies how people regulate emotion and shares tips for how to get your bedbug fear under control.
August 27, 2010 - 5:04pm
Construction is now under way on the world's biggest wind farm in California's Mojave Desert. Federal and state regulators have given the green light to several large solar thermal projects in the Mojave as well. Ira Flatow and guests discuss the future of clean energy in the U.S.
August 27, 2010 - 5:04pm
A federal judge has blocked President Obama's 2009 executive order expanding embryonic stem cell research. U.S. Rep. Diana DeGett (D-Colo.) and stem cell researcher Rudolph Jaenisch discuss the ruling's impact on scientists, and whether Congress can pass stem cell legislation.
August 20, 2010 - 4:06pm
Margaret Atwood's new book The Year of the Flood describes a dystopic world full of evil corporations, barbaric criminals and science gone wrong. She talks about the real science in the novel and what can be done to keep her fiction from becoming reality.
August 20, 2010 - 4:05pm
It's back-to-school season and college kids have a lot on their minds: can you compost pizza? What's more sustainable: kegs or cans? Can you have a party with low-flush toilets? Ira Flatow and guests discuss how students and universities are making the college life greener.
August 20, 2010 - 4:05pm
Tiny pieces of plastic are aggregating hundreds of miles offshore in concentrations equivalent to those in the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," according to a Science study. Oceanographer and study author Kara Lavender Law talks about the new questions the study raises.
August 20, 2010 - 4:05pm
Researchers say a type of meditation called integrative mind-body training can strengthen connections in certain areas of the brain, even when practiced for as little as 11 hours. Psychologist Michael Posner describes the study, and explains the brain changes he documented.
August 20, 2010 - 4:04pm
Some scientists say they're being locked out of research on the oil spill because they refuse to sign confidentiality agreements. Ira Flatow and guests discuss the problems of doing scientific research when a lawsuit is pending. Is there a way to keep science independent?
August 20, 2010 - 4:04pm
Scientists say images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been circling the moon for more than a year, show that the moon contracted about a billion years ago, relatively recently in geologic time. Space scientist Thomas Watters describes the lunar images.
August 13, 2010 - 4:11pm
Although Charles Darwin's tome The Origin of Species is associated with the theory of evolution today, Darwin himself preferred terms such as "transmutation by means of natural selection." Science historian Howard Markel discusses how “evolution“ entered the scientific -- and popular -- vocabulary.
August 13, 2010 - 4:10pm
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute -- SETI -- turns 25 this year, and it's celebrating with "SETIcon." Participants, including SETI father Frank Drake and the director of the Center for SETI Research, Jill Tarter, discuss the conference and their work.
