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Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Covering the outer reaches of space to the tiniest microbes in our bodies, Science Friday is the source for entertaining and educational stories about science, technology, and other cool stuff.

Science Friday

GLP-1 medications like Ozempic have dominated headlines over the past couple of years. When writing his new book, Diet, Drugs and Dopamine: The New Science of Achieving a Healthy Weight, former FDA commissioner David Kessler wanted to unpack the science beyond those headlines. He also has a personal relationship with the subject, having taken GLP-1 medications himself. Host Flora Lichtman joins Kessler to talk about the latest science on metabolism, weight loss, and how these blockbuster drugs actually work.

Guest: 
Dr. David Kessler is the former commissioner of the FDA and the author of Diet, Drugs and Dopamine: The New Science of Achieving a Healthy Weight.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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How Do GLP-1 Drugs Override Our Biology?

For decades, residents of the small city of Newburgh, New York, were unknowingly drinking water contaminated with toxic PFAS—also known as forever chemicals. The source turned out to be firefighting foam used on a nearby air base that had seeped into streams and creeks, and ultimately the city’s main drinking water reservoir.

Now, Newburgh is one of 10 sites that are part of a CDC-led study investigating the health effects of PFAS exposure. Early data out of Newburgh links PFAS with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Host Flora Lichtman discusses the research with environmental epidemiologist Erin Bell and reporter Shantal Riley.

Read our full story about what PFAS contamination has meant for Newburgh in English and in Spanish.

Guests: 
Shantal Riley is an award-winning journalist and science writer, focused on environmental health.
Dr. Erin Bell is an environmental epidemiologist at the University at Albany in New York.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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How PFAS From A Military Base Has Sickened Nearby Residents

For its 10th anniversary, the science advisor for “Interstellar” discusses the film’s impact and how new information about gravitational waves could have changed it.

The science fiction film “Interstellar” turns 10 years old this month. For many of us, it was our first encounter with some pretty advanced astrophysics, taking sci-fi concepts like wormholes and time warping, and backing them up with actual science. Now, we’re revisiting the impact that movie’s science had on pop culture, and how astrophysics has advanced in the past decade. If it were made today, what would be different?

Ira Flatow sits down with “Interstellar” science advisor Dr. Kip Thorne, a professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology. Since the film’s release, he has won a Nobel Prize for his contributions to the detection of gravitational waves generated from black holes. They discuss how the film inspired people to pursue scientific careers and how recent astrophysics discoveries, like gravitational waves, could’ve made it into the movie.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

 

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If ‘Interstellar’ Were Made Today, What Would Be Different?

On December 24, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will make the closest-ever approach to the sun by a spacecraft. Parker has made more than 20 close approaches to the sun before, but this one will swoop in even closer than 3.8 million miles away from the sun’s surface.

Since the probe was launched back in 2018, it’s helped scientists better understand our star and unravel mysteries about solar wind, high-energy solar particles, the sun’s corona and more. Scientists hope that this upcoming approach will reveal even more about the star at the center of our solar system.

Ira Flatow talks with Dr. Nour Rawafi, project scientist for NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission and astrophysicist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. They discuss the goal of this close approach, how the spacecraft will stand the heat, and what else there is to learn about our sun.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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Parker Solar Probe Will Make Closest-Ever Approach To Sun

To wrap up 2024, science writer Riley Black shares her favorite paleontology discoveries of the year. And, if treated properly, even old-fashioned eggnog made with cream and raw eggs can be a safe holiday beverage.
The Most Exciting Dino Discoveries Of 2024
December is, traditionally, a time to reflect on the events of the past year—including dinosaur discoveries. In 2024, researchers learned more about T. rex and the spiky tails of stegosaurs as well as how dinosaurs evolved, lived, and more.

For Smithsonian Magazine, dinosaur enthusiast and science writer Riley Black rounded up her top dino discoveries of the year. She talks with Ira Flatow about the most exciting paleontology news of 2024.
Can Spiking Eggnog Kill Bacteria From The Raw Eggs?
It’s a question that occasionally comes up over the course of a holiday celebration, at least in certain circles: whether or not the alcohol in old-fashioned eggnog made with real cream and raw eggs can protect against foodborne pathogens such as salmonella.

Around 15 years ago, Science Friday investigated, enlisting the help of a lab at Rockefeller University that has a tradition of mixing up a big batch of old-fashioned eggnog around Thanksgiving, then serving it weeks later at a lab holiday party. The researchers kindly conducted a controlled study in which they deliberately spiked samples of their potent eggnog with salmonella, then followed the mixture’s bacterial status over the course of several weeks.

Science Friday’s Charles Bergquist checks in with Dr. Vincent Fischetti, a bacteriologist at Rockefeller, to see if there have been any advances in the field of eggnogology.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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The Top Dino Discoveries Of 2024 | Can Spiking Eggnog Kill Bacteria From Raw Eggs?

What makes three very different conservation projects so successful? These experts say it’s getting the community involved. And, archaeologists make a case for tracking and preserving artifacts left on Mars to chronicle humans’ first attempts at interplanetary exploration.
Meet 3 Leaders Addressing Local Conservation Problems
While 2024 saw a lot of governments and institutions falling short on climate goals, there were also smaller, localized efforts making a big difference for the environment.

To understand more about the creative ways that people are protecting nature, Science Friday began a newsletter series called “Tiny Nature Triumphs.” It highlights small conservation projects that have helped scientists and communities alike—and inspired people to get involved in solutions in their own backyard.

SciFri Digital Producer Emma Gometz sits down with leaders on three projects featured in “Tiny Nature Triumphs”—Claire Lane, an urban ecologist and leader on the Hamilton County Invasive Species Trade In Program; Jake Rose, co-founder of Chronolog; and Shaun Preston, yardmaster at Camp Small. They discuss how their programs address local conservation problems, and how to get involved.
A New Argument For Preserving ‘Space Junk’ Left On Mars
Over the past 60 years or so of space exploration, humans have left some things behind: bits of satellites, moon buggies, Mars rovers, even human excrement. It’s all part of the countless bits of human-made material that some people have dubbed “space junk.”

But what if, many, many years from now, archeologists wanted to trace the chronology of space exploration by examining the items we left in our wake? A new paper in the journal Nature Astronomy argues just this, that artifacts should be considered heritage, rather than trash.

Lead author Dr. Justin Holcomb, assistant research professor at the University of Kansas, joins Ira to discuss shifting our mindset on “space junk.”

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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Meet Leaders Of 3 Local Conservation Projects | Preserving ‘Space Junk’ Left On Mars

It’s been an exciting and hectic year in science discovery and innovation. We’ve reported on stories from across many fields of science—from city climate plans and panda conservation to AI energy consumption and the spread of bird flu.

Earlier this month, Ira sat down in front of a live audience at The Greene Space in New York City with Drs. Céline Gounder, Jackie Faherty, and Kevin Reed, three researchers from different areas of science. Together, they reflected on the most exciting discoveries in their fields, important stories you might have missed, and what they're looking forward to in 2025.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Health, Astronomy, And Climate Experts On 2024’s Coolest Science

Today, we’re taking time to reflect on all that 2024 brought us in the world of science, from the total solar eclipse in April to the demise of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars and the rise of the blockbuster GLP-1 weight-loss medications. SciFri producers Kathleen Davis and Charles Bergquist join Ira to wrap up the year in science, in a conversation recorded in a live event at WNYC’s Greene Space.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

The Science That Captivated SciFri’s Reporters In 2024

Few living scientists are as iconic as Dr. Jane Goodall. The legendary primatologist spent decades working with chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park. More recently, Goodall has devoted her time to advocating for conservation, not just in Africa, but worldwide.

Ira spoke with Goodall in 2002, after she had published her book The Ten Trusts: What We Must Do to Care for the Animals, and an IMAX film about her work with chimpanzees had just been released.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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Jane Goodall On Life Among Chimpanzees

Researchers have projected that by the end of the century, days where snow covers the ground will virtually disappear in the United States, except for in very high mountains like the Rockies. This would affect entire ecosystems, disrupting animals and plants that live beneath the snow and increasing flooding and runoff.

Ira talks with Sophie Bushwick, senior news editor at New Scientist, about the latest snow projections and other top science news of the week, including the discovery of an ancient piece of clothing, how blinking can give you a “cognitive break,” and how dolphins could be using their teeth to improve hearing.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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Scientists Predict Loss Of Deep Snow In Most Of U.S.

Tomatoes come in all kinds of colors, sizes, and flavors. But what’s going on at the genetic level? What makes a tomato red or yellow? Tiny or giant?

Researchers are mapping the genomes of 22 varieties of nightshades—the family of plants that includes tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants. They located the genes that control the size of tomatoes and eggplants and then used CRISPR gene editing to grow bigger fruits without sacrificing flavor.

Geneticist Michael Schatz joins Host Ira Flatow to talk about his latest research into nightshade genomes and the current state of genetically modified crops.

Guest: Dr. Michael Schatz, professor of computational biology and oncology at Johns Hopkins University, based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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Scientists Identify Genes For Tomato And Eggplant Size

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