As Science Friday’s director and senior producer, Charles Bergquist channels the chaos of a live production studio into something sounding like a radio program. He coordinates in-studio activities each week from 1-4. And then collapses. He also produces pieces for the radio show. His favorite topics involve planetary sciences, chemistry, materials, and shiny things with blinking lights.
Charles has been at Science Friday longer than anyone on staff except Ira, and so serves as a repository of sometimes useful, sometimes useless knowledge about the program. He remembers the time an audience member decided to recite a love poem during a live remote broadcast, the time the whole staff went for ice cream at midnight in Fairbanks, Alaska, and the name of that guy Ira is trying to remember from a few years back who did something with space.
He hails from southeastern Pennsylvania and worked for a while as a demonstrator at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia’s science museum (favorite devices: Maillardet’s Automaton, the stream table, the Chladni plates). He has a degree in chemistry from the University of Delaware, home of the Fighting Blue Hens, and a master’s in journalism from New York University’s Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program. However, he attended the program prior to the addition of ‘Health’ to its name, which may explain his slight unease when covering medical topics.
Outside the walls of Science Friday, he enjoys backpacking, camping, cooking not-entirely-healthy things, reading escapist fiction, and trying to unravel his children’s complicated stories.
5:17
Controlling Mosquitoes, By Releasing Mosquitoes
A mosquito-control trial in California involves producing—and releasing—millions of bacteria-infected males into the ecosystem.
7:19
InSight Settles In On Mars
After celebrating earlier this week, the robotic lander Mars InSight gets ready to research.
4:38
Conflict Is Blowin’ In The Wind
“Wake effects” from one wind farm can affect the performance of another—even miles away.
44:18
A Salute To Head-Scratching Science
As a SciFri holiday tradition, we present highlights from the 28th first annual Ig Nobel Awards ceremony.
6:44
Beneath The Ice, A Massive Crater
Researchers have found evidence for an ancient collision with a 1 km-wide meteorite.
11:43
‘Oumuamua Is Probably Not Aliens—But It’s Still Really Interesting
Some researchers said the interstellar object ʻOumuamua could be an alien spacecraft, but there are other, more conventional explanations.
11:45
Sick? ‘Tis The Season.
Many diseases, beyond flu, may have a hidden seasonal component.
4:19
Crowdfunding Can Lead To Sketchy Medicine
A survey of crowdfunding sites found campaigns raising funds for scientifically unsupported, ineffective, or potentially dangerous medical treatments.
7:37
An Aborted Launch Brings Space Station Questions
On Thursday, two astronauts en route to the International Space Station had to abort their launch, making a ‘ballistic descent’ back to Earth.
4:37
Eagles And Foxes, Plants And Ants
Ecologists are using tools—from captive breeding programs to ant-sniffing dogs—to restore and protect the unique ecosystem of California’s Channel Islands.