Science Friday
Friday at 1:00 PM
Science Friday is a weekly talk show that has become a trusted source for news and entertaining stories about science. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow to discuss science - and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program. "SciFri" is brain fun, for curious people.
Credit Carl Flatow
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In Einstein and the Quantum: The Quest of the Valiant Swabian, theoretical physicist A. Douglas Stone writes that whereas Einstein is best known for his theory of relativity, his truly revolutionary idea was the development of quantum theory — an idea that escaped many of the age's most brilliant minds.
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Retired astronaut Chris Hadfield, author of the new book An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, has flown three space missions, including 144 days on the International Space Station. Hadfield talks about life in zero gravity, his one fear while in orbit, and how he went from test pilot to astronaut.
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Digital cameras are ubiquitous today — even $20 cell phones have them built in. But few people actually know how a digital camera works. Shree Nayar, a computer scientist at Columbia University, set out to change that with his Bigshot Do-It-Yourself Digital Camera kit, which gives tinkerers a view of a camera's anatomy.
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Beneath their nearly blind and hairless appearance, naked mole rats have evolved hidden molecular adaptations for life underground. In this week's video pick, new research by Vera Gorbunova and Andrei Seluanov of the University of Rochester shows how these aesthetically challenged creatures live long, cancer-free lives.
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With the astronaut flick Gravity dominating box offices and dinner table conversation, Science Friday brings in the experts to fact-check. In our first installment of "Science Goes to the Movies," astronauts Jeffrey Hoffman and Don Pettit answer your Gravity questions and explore the real risks of spaceflight.
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In his new book Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life, Craig Venter writes of the brave new world synthetic biology may some day deliver: from consumer devices that print out the latest flu vaccine to instruments on Mars landers that analyze Martian DNA and teleport it back to Earth to be studied�"or recreated.
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Modern science infographics can show everything from rising temperatures to population growth�"if you know how to read them. The Best American Infographics 2013 editor Gareth Cook and neuroscientist Stephen Kosslyn explain how to be a savvier infographics reader, and how to spot graphics that mislead.
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It's a rivalry as old as forests themselves: the ancient battle between trees and their competitors, the vines. But now, ecologists say, the vines are winning. Bill Laurance, of Australia's James Cook University, says increased forest fragmentation and a boost in carbon dioxide may be contributing to the vines' domination.
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The U.S. government shutdown may be over, but J. Marshall Shepherd, president of the American Meteorological Society, says American science has suffered a lasting blow. He says the shutdown has delayed potentially life-saving research, weakened our international credibility, and signaled to youth that government science may not be a wise career option.
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Current treatments for the Ebola virus only work when they are given immediately after infection. A recent study published in Science Translational Medicine describes a new antibody cocktail that was effective in macaques up to four days after infection. Lead author Gary Kobinger discusses how the treatment targets the virus's quick replication process.