Episodes

We talk the history of buttons and how they’ve changed our relationship with technology. Plus, a project aims to collect and organize maps of the Grand Canyon to help tell its geologic and cultural stories.

We reflect on the history and future of coding and technology in art. Plus, scientists study the viscosity and flow of searing-hot lava…from a parking lot.

How has the field of weather prediction improved over the past 100 years, and what challenges do forecasters still face? Plus, dozens of doctors have failed to disclose their industry ties to journals.

The SciFri Book Club tackles earthquakes and human disaster response with N.K. Jemisin’s apocalyptic ‘The Fifth Season.’ And a new play introduces us to the enslaved women whose bodies paved the way for modern gynecology.

Did you know a marathon runner’s heart is built differently from a weightlifter’s? We look at how exercise shapes and conditions your heart. Plus, a look at the effect of the partial government shutdown on scientists.

We celebrate winter birds and the people who love them. Plus, how does the movement of crowds change when they behave predictably, and when they don’t?

We recap the year in science news, from wildfires to space probes to CRISPR. Plus the story of a revolutionary physician, and the next target of the New Horizons space probe.

Does double-dipping a chip really infect the dip? Is the five-second rule real? Plus, what the Trump administration’s crack down on fetal cell research means for the field.

The James Webb Space Telescope is a decade late and billions of dollars over budget. But astronomers are already setting their sights on its successors. Plus, second-grader Nina Del Bosque wants to know about stinging caterpillars and their role in the ecosystem.

Ira and a panel of guests round up their favorite science books from 2018. Plus, with Congress poised to legalize growing hemp, how does a ‘new’ plant become a thriving agricultural product?