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Tracking The 'Truthiness' Of Tweets
October 8, 2024 2:43 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsComputer scientists at Indiana University in Bloomington have developed a tool to track the flow of information in Twitter. The goal is to identify deliberately deceptive tweets, and trace them back to their origins. Researcher Johan Bollen explains how the analysis works.
Does Sleep (Or Lack Of It) Affect Weight Loss?
October 8, 2024 2:43 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsA new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that dieters' sleep duration affects weight loss. Those who slept less lost more muscle than fat, while dieters who slept more took off more fat. Sleep researcher Michael Lacey explains how sleep relates to weight.
4-H Clubs Conduct Nationwide Science Experiments
October 8, 2024 2:43 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsAdd an extra "H" for "hypothesis" to the head, heart, hands, and health that make up the 4-H club motto. This week, 4-H chapters across the country are taking part in science experiments that aim to teach kids in rural and urban areas about water use and carbon footprints.
A History of Space Science, In Ink
October 8, 2024 2:42 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsScience Friday listener Josh Scott is on a mission: He wants to get a pictorial history of space exploration tattooed on his arm. What missions or satellites should be included? Apollo? Hubble? Call in with your suggestions and help Scott get sleeved in space science style.
Futures in Biotech 68: Rats Will Inherit The Earth
October 5, 2024 11:41 am | by Futures in Biotech Podcast Podcasts CommentsHost: Marc Pelletier How studying mammalian biological history can help us better understand ourselves. Guest: Darin Croft, Ph.D, Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, Case Western Reserve University We invite you to read, add to, and amend our show notes. Comments and suggestions...
How Do You Catch An Atom And Pin It Down?
October 1, 2024 2:42 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsMikkel Andersen, a physicist at New Zealand's University of Otago, isolated a single atom of rubidium and then used a special astronomical camera to snap its picture. Andersen describes the process of turning lasers into optical tweezers and what catching atoms means for quantum computing.
What Are The Challenges Of 'Trailblazing Mars'?
October 1, 2024 2:42 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsWhat grows best in Martian soil? How do you get oxygen out of thin air? Pat Duggins, author of Trailblazing Mars: NASA’s Next Giant Leap, talks about the questions NASA will face if it sends astronauts to the Red Planet and how to choose the right people for the job.
Newly Discovered Exoplanet Ripe For Life
October 1, 2024 2:42 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsGliese 581g, a planet orbiting the dwarf star Gliese in the constellation Libra, is Earth-like in a few key ways. It's not much bigger than Earth, and its temperature seems mild enough for liquid water. Steven Vogt, of the University of California, Santa Cruz, explains how he found the planet.
Smelly Invaders Want To Crawl Into Your Home
October 1, 2024 2:42 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsThe brown marmorated stink bug, which hails from Asia, had a population boom this year -- terrorizing farmers and homeowners up and down the Eastern U.S. USDA entomologist Tracy Leskey explains what's known about the bug and how to cope.
New Species Of Extinct Giant Penguin Discovered
October 1, 2024 2:42 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsScientists report finding the fossilized remains of a new species of giant penguin in a Peruvian desert. Paleontologist Julia Clarke of the University of Texas, Austin describes what these huge birds looked like and how the new finding can help explain penguin evolution.
Are 'Stuxnet' Worm Attacks Cyberwarfare?
October 1, 2024 2:42 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsComputer experts say a sophisticated computer worm dubbed "Stuxnet" exploits vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows to attack industrial control systems, including one at an Iranian nuclear power plant. Computer security experts discuss the worm and its impact on security.
Celebrating Carl Sagan And 'Cosmos'
October 1, 2024 2:42 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsThe television series Cosmos, which first aired 30 years ago this week, made a celebrity of science communicator Carl Sagan. In this archival 1994 Science Friday interview, Sagan discusses his book The Pale Blue Dot and shares his thoughts on manned space exploration.
Mark Twain And Science: It's Complicated
October 1, 2024 2:42 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsDid you know Mark Twain tried his hand at science fiction? In the book The Disappearing Spoon, author Sam Kean writes about Twain's prescient story "Sold to Satan." In the story, Satan’s problems stem, in part, from the fact that he is made entirely of the newly discovered radioactive...
World's Most Precise Clocks Test Relativity
September 24, 2024 2:43 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsThe world's most precise clocks can reveal tiny time dilations predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity -- but that's not all. Tom O'Brian of the National Institute for Standards and Technology talks about using these precise clocks in everything from cell phones to satellites.
Defining Human Uniqueness In 'Almost Chimpanzee'
September 24, 2024 2:43 pm | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsHumans and chimpanzees share very similar genes -- some analyses peg the differences at just 1 percent. But in his book Almost Chimpanzee, science writer Jon Cohen focuses on our differences, from the way we eat and communicate to our susceptibilities to disease and aging.
