Science Friday Audio Podcast: Episodes
In <em>Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food</em>, software engineer Jeff Potter discusses using the hacker mindset in the kitchen, from cooking salmon in the dishwasher to a warranty-voiding experiment on his oven to get the scorching temperatures necessary for perfect pizza crust.
Reporting in <em>Science</em>, researchers write that little brown bats, or <em>Myotis lucifugus</em>, are likely to disappear from the Northeast over the next 16 years. Study author Winifred Frick discusses white-nose syndrome, which is associated with die-offs and caused by a fast-moving fungus.
The <em>Open Notes</em> project connects some 25,000 patients with their doctors' medical notes through secure online portals. Participating doctors Tom Delbanco and Sara Fazio of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center discuss the program, and why it has some doctors worried.
The Gulf of Mexico has a few ways of cleansing oil from its waters: it hosts legions of microbes adapted to dine on natural oil seepages, and its warm water temperatures favor the evaporation of oil. But scientists say it's still too early to know how long it will take the Gulf to recover.
Reporting in the journal <em>PLOS Pathogens</em>, researchers write opossums have bits of the Ebola virus mixed into their genetic code and human genomes contain snippets of the Borna virus. Study author Anna Skalka says some of the virus genetic code was inserted 40 million years ago.
Spiders and silkworms make silk by the yard. Why can’t we copy them? Silk is strong, light and flexible and is being examined for use in everything from medical sutures to advanced electronics. Silk researcher David Kaplan explains the challenges in bioengineering silk.
How do scientists deal with sloppy or shoddy science? A survey found that researchers were often able to deal with minor misconduct informally. Gerald Koocher, one of the scientists behind the survey and co-author of a handbook for dealing with research misconduct, explains.
Influential and outspoken climatologist Stephen Schneider died this week of an apparent heart attack. Schneider's friend and colleague Dan Kammen describes Schneider's contributions to climate change research, and recalls the man he knew as "a wonderful, fearless soul."
How much oil is under the Gulf of Mexico and how did it get there? Columbia University geophysicist Roger Anderson, an expert in deepwater exploration and drilling, explains how the oil formed millions of years ago, and how companies go about finding and extracting it.
Researchers meeting at the 18th international AIDS conference this week say a new vaginal gel can cut HIV transmission rates in half, if used properly. AIDS experts Anthony Fauci and Kevin Fenton join Ira Flatow to discuss the gel study, and other news from the conference.
Based on mathematical models of the movement of fish, Maurizio Porfiri, engineering professor at Polytechnic Institute of NYU, built a robofish. When Porfiri let the robot go for a dip in the lab pool, the real fish started to mill about the robot and even follow it around.
In 1911, two groups of explorers set out to be first to reach the South Pole. One claimed victory, and the other perished on the return trip. Ross MacPhee of the American Museum of Natural History and polar explorer John Huston discuss these scientific pioneers.
Why do we enjoy things like bitter foods and horror films? And are we the only species that likes art? Paul Bloom, professor of psychology at Yale University and author of <em>How Pleasure Works,</em> explains our penchant for art and why we find some unpleasant things so enjoyable.
Last December, e-mails written by climate scientists raised suspicion of scientific misconduct and conspiracy. International investigations have since exonerated the scientists of accusations of manipulating data. <em>New York Times</em> contributor Andrew Revkin explains what happened.
The Nobel Prize winner and former NIH director has received another presidential appointment: director of the National Cancer Institute. Ira Flatow and Varmus discuss the intersection of politics and science, the genetics of cancer and the process by which basic research becomes medicine.
An international team of physicists reexamined the radius of a proton, and found it to be 4 percent smaller than previously thought. Are they mistaken, or is something missing from the long-held theory of quantum electrodynamics? Physicist Brian Odom of Northwestern University discusses.
Each summer, horseshoe crabs (<em>Limulus polyphemus</em>) along the Atlantic shore crawl onto beaches to mate and lay eggs -- making now a good time for marine scientists like John Tanacredi to monitor population size. <em>Science Friday</em> visits a New York beach to catch a glimpse of the action.
We have smart cars and smart phones, why not smart clothes? They might be coming soon. Materials scientist Yoel Fink describes his work developing fibers that take photos, listen and transmit sound. He says a shirt may one day monitor your health by tracking body sounds.
In his 1984 book, <em>Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution,</em> author Steven Levy profiled some of the personalities whose work brought PCs to the people, including Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Levy discusses his book, recently reissued, and hacker ethics in the Internet age.
A team of ocean scientists has a plan to track the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill, but so far they have no funding. Team leader Ira Leifer explains the proposed study. He says basic questions about the oil spill, such as where the oil is going, are not being answered.