Shows
Universe of ArtHow Death Metal Singers Make Their Extreme VocalizationsBeing able to belt out a tune like Adele or Pavarotti is not just about raw talent. The best singers in the world have to work on their technique—like how to control their breath and develop the stamina to hit note after note for a two-hour concert. But pop stars and opera singers aren’t the only vocalists who have figured out how to harness their voices for maximum impact.Death metal vocalists also train their voices to hit that unique guttural register. And those iconic screams are not as easy to master as they might seem...
2025-05-2012 min
Science FridayLesser Prairie Chicken May Lose Endangered Species StatusThe lesser prairie chicken was granted endangered species status in 2023. Now the Department of the Interior is moving to revoke those protections. What can this bird known for its flamboyant courtship rituals tell us about the Trump administration’s approach to environmental policy and protections for endangered species? Host Flora Lichtman is joined by Producer Shoshannah Buxbaum and Vox environmental reporter Benji Jones to talk about his reporting on the lesser prairie chicken and other science stories of the week including, Trump supporters in the wind energy sector, at-home cervical cancer screening, a new fossil from an anc...
2025-05-1618 minanimalsLesser Prairie Chicken May Lose Endangered Species StatusThe lesser prairie chicken was granted endangered species status in 2023. Now the Department of the Interior is moving to revoke those protections. What can this bird known for its flamboyant courtship rituals tell us about the Trump administration’s approach to environmental policy and protections for endangered species? Host Flora Lichtman is joined by Producer Shoshannah Buxbaum and Vox environmental reporter Benji Jones to talk about his reporting on the lesser prairie chicken and other science stories of the week including, Trump supporters in the wind energy sector, at-home cervical cancer screening, a new fossil from an anc...
2025-05-1600 min
Science FridayLesser Prairie Chicken May Lose Endangered Species StatusThe lesser prairie chicken was granted endangered species status in 2023. Now the Department of the Interior is moving to revoke those protections. What can this bird known for its flamboyant courtship rituals tell us about the Trump administration’s approach to environmental policy and protections for endangered species?
Host Flora Lichtman is joined by Producer Shoshannah Buxbaum and Vox environmental reporter Benji Jones to talk about his reporting on the lesser prairie chicken and other science stories of the week including, Trump supporters in the wind energy sector, at-home cervical cancer screening, a new fossil from an anc...
2025-05-1619 min
Science FridayUntangling The Mind-Body Connection In Chronic PainResearch suggests that better understanding the psychological and neurological components of chronic pain may lead to better treatments.Chronic pain is remarkably common: Roughly 20% of adults in the US live with it. And people with chronic pain are more likely to have depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders. But this relationship between physical and mental health is not as straightforward as you might think, and there’s still a stigma attached to neuro-psychological causes of chronic pain.The latest research suggests that untangling the connections between mind and body is a key part of developing be...
2025-04-2918 min
Science FridayUntangling The Mind-Body Connection In Chronic PainResearch suggests that better understanding the psychological and neurological components of chronic pain may lead to better treatments.
Chronic pain is remarkably common: Roughly 20% of adults in the US live with it. And people with chronic pain are more likely to have depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders. But this relationship between physical and mental health is not as straightforward as you might think, and there’s still a stigma attached to neuro-psychological causes of chronic pain.
The latest research suggests that untangling the connections between mind and body is a key part of developing be...
2025-04-2918 minUniverse of ArtOur favorite 2024 science books for kidsIt’s that time of the year when you’re making your list, checking it twice, for gifts that spark a love of science for the kids in your life. Ira talks with Mahnaz Dar, young readers’ editor at Kirkus Reviews and Carrie Wolfson, collection development librarian at the Boulder Public Library to round up some of the top kids’ science books of 2024 and make recommendations based on listener questions.Still looking for a specific kids science book, but didn’t get a chance to ask our experts in advance? Carrie and Mahnaz will be on hand to gi...
2024-12-1018 min
Science FridayNasal Rinsing Safely | How Your Brain Constructs Your Mental HealthA recent study looked into life-threatening Acanthamoeba infections, and a few deaths, linked to the use of tap water with devices like neti pots. And, in ‘The Balanced Brain,’ Dr. Camilla Nord explores the neuroscience behind mental health, and how our brains deal with life’s challenges.Scientists Warn Against Nasal Rinsing With Unboiled Tap WaterResearchers at the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention published a study Wednesday that examined 10 cases of life-threatening Acanthamoeba infections that occurred after people cleaned their sinuses with neti pots, squeeze bottles, or other nasal rinsing devices. In most of the...
2024-03-1524 min
Science FridayNasal Rising Safely | How Your Brain Constructs Your Mental HealthA recent study looked into life-threatening Acanthamoeba infections, and a few deaths, linked to the use of tap water with devices like neti pots. And, in ‘The Balanced Brain,’ Dr. Camilla Nord explores the neuroscience behind mental health, and how our brains deal with life’s challenges.
Scientists Warn Against Nasal Rinsing With Unboiled Tap Water
Researchers at the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention published a study Wednesday that examined 10 cases of life-threatening Acanthamoeba infections that occurred after people cleaned their sinuses with neti pots, squeeze bottles, or other nasal rinsing devices. In most of the...
2024-03-1525 minUniverse of ArtHow gamification has crept into school, work, and fitnessGamers often spend hours embarking on quests, unlocking new levels, and collecting badges. But what about when aspects of games start popping up in other parts of life—like work, school, and exercise?Adrian Hon created the fitness app “Zombies, Run!” and has thought a lot about how the principles of gaming have crept into so many different corners of our lives, and why it may not always be as innocent as it seems. Ira Flatow and co-host Kathleen Davis talk with Adrian Hon, author of You’ve Been Played: How Corporations, Governments, and Schools Use Games...
2024-02-2017 min
Science FridayThe Unseen World Of Seaweeds | Should 'Dark Fungi' Species Get Names?The Unseen World Of SeaweedsChances are you don’t give much thought to seaweed unless you’re at the beach, or perhaps when you’re considering a dinner menu. But the thousands of seaweed species around the world are a key part of our coastal ecosystems.Seaweeds photosynthesize, provide food and shelter for marine animals, stabilize the coastlines, and even contribute to making your ice cream creamier (through an ingredient called carrageenans, extracted from red seaweeds in the Rhodophyceae family). Increasingly, they’re also being investigated as a source of biofuels and as biological factorie...
2023-12-2730 min
Science FridayTree Soil, Rodent Biologist, Soundscape Artist. Sept 8, 2023, Part 2Where Soil Grows Above The TreesYou might be used to the feeling of Earth under your feet, but did you know that there’s soil high above your head? Way up in the treetops, where ferns, mosses, flowers, and even trees grow on top of the forest. A new study in Geoderma describes the factors that contribute to how canopy soil is formed.Ira talks with lead author Jessica Murray, an ecologist and PhD candidate at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. They discuss the importance of canopy soil, what we do and don’t kn...
2023-09-0946 min
The latest segments from Science FridayWeight and Health Myths, A Corvid Invasion. May 19, 2023, Part 1Can Science Find An Antidote to Americium?
With some poisons, there’s an antidote — something you can take to block the effects of the poison, or to help remove it from your body. But when the harmful chemical is a radioactive element, options are limited. Iodine pills can be used to help block radioactive iodine I131 from being absorbed by the thyroid, but there aren’t many other drugs that can help deal with contamination with other radioactive substances. One of the two existing medications can only be delivered via IV in a clinic.
This week, the NIH an...
2023-05-1948 minScience FridayWeight and Health Myths, A Corvid Invasion. May 19, 2023, Part 1Can Science Find An Antidote to Americium?
With some poisons, there’s an antidote — something you can take to block the effects of the poison, or to help remove it from your body. But when the harmful chemical is a radioactive element, options are limited. Iodine pills can be used to help block radioactive iodine I131 from being absorbed by the thyroid, but there aren’t many other drugs that can help deal with contamination with other radioactive substances. One of the two existing medications can only be delivered via IV in a clinic.
This week...
2023-05-1948 minScience FridayChampagne Fizzics, Last Days of the Dinosaurs, Vole Girl. Dec 30, 2022, Part 1Keeping The Bubbly In Your Holidays, With Fizzical Science
As the year winds to a close, you may be attending gatherings where a festive flute of champagne is offered. Champagne production starts out with a first fermentation process that turns ordinary grape juice into alcoholic wine. A second fermentation in the wine bottle produces the dissolved carbon dioxide responsible for the thousands of fizzy bubbles that are a distinctive part of the experience of drinking champagne and other sparkling wines.
In this archival interview from 2012, Ira talks with Stanford University chemist Richard Zare about the i...
2022-12-3047 minScience FridayEndangered Birds, Urban Wildlife, Lyme Disease Test, Rodent Social Behavior. August 26, 2022, Part 2Attracting Birds To Prime Habitat By Playing Recordings Of Their Calls
How do you know a restaurant is good? If the parking lot is full of cars, that’s a pretty good indication. If it’s empty, you probably won’t bother stopping.
In this case, the restaurant is a newly restored wetland in Michigan and the customers are rails. The birds migrate at night, so if they don’t hear other rail calls in an area, they’re not likely to stop. Researcher Dustin Brewer is broadcasting recorded rail calls to try to bring the secret...
2022-08-2647 minScience FridayAlzheimer’s Research Fraud, Extreme Heat Health, Piping Plovers, Octaglove. July 29, 2022, Part 1Decades Of Alzheimer’s Research Could Be Based On Fraudulent Data
Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating brain disorder that slowly affects memory and thinking skills. For many people who worry that loved ones may succumb to this disorder, the possibility of research in the field of Alzheimer’s is a balm of hope. However, a massive report from Science Magazine highlights a startling discovery: that decades of Alzheimer’s research are likely based on faulty data. Alzheimer's researchers are grappling with the revelation, and what it means for future research of the disease.
In other sc...
2022-07-2946 minScience FridaySIDS Research, Period Tracking Apps, Women And Girls In Science. May 27, 2022, Part 2‘Breakthrough’ In Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Research Is Misleading
Last week, headlines made the rounds in online publications and social media that there was a massive breakthrough in research about SIDS: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. A study out of Australia concluded that babies who died of SIDS had significantly lower levels of an enzyme called BChE. This study was met with cheers by people desperate to understand why SIDS happens.
But many experts say we need to pump the brakes on the celebration. While the study may be promising, it was based on a very limi...
2022-05-2746 min