Stories
Science Friday is your trusted source for news and entertaining stories about science.
A Chair Fit for Dancing
A “smart” power wheelchair enables dancers to move in new directions.
Making An Entrance: The First Black Women At Langley Lab
In this excerpt from “Hidden Figures,” Margot Lee Shetterly describes the integration of Black female mathematicians at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory.
Above the Ice, an Artist Goes Deep
Artist Justin Brice Guariglia will be collaborating with NASA in Greenland to explore how its icy landscape is changing.
What Your Lips Might Say About You
Researchers are studying what lip prints and other subtle physical traits might reveal about the etiology of cleft lip and palate.
What It’s Like to Walk in Space for the First Time
Astronaut Mike Massimino describes his first spacewalk during the famous mission to repair the Hubble telescope.
Don’t Be Scared Of These ‘Dead Man’s Fingers’
These protrusions might look spooky, but they’re just the fruiting bodies of a wood decay fungus.
How To Survive The Anthropocene
A new collection of essays curated by environmentalist James Lovelock aims to help people better understand the earth.
Reimagining the Astronomical Objects of Messier
An artist finds inspiration in the celestial frustrations of astronomer Charles Messier.
The Comeback Kits: Saving California’s Island Foxes
Several subspecies of island fox have shown the fastest recovery of any mammal on the Endangered Species List.
Why Do We Use Shock Therapy?
Electroconvulsive therapy is generally a safe and effective treatment for depression and other mental illnesses.
50 Years of Star Trek, and the Influence of Science Fiction
Live long and prosper.
Five Back-To-School Books For Science-Loving Kids
A handful of good reads for the shark fans, budding architects, and other curious kids in your life.
Science Friday and Studio 360 Present: The Golden Record Remastered
What message would you send into the depths of space to represent humanity?
A Look Into the Future With Dean Kamen
The entrepreneur best known for inventing the Segway wants to create better medical devices and health technologies.
Margaret Atwood on Dystopia, CRISPR, and ‘Oryx and Crake’
Listen to a podcast extra: Margaret Atwood live with Ira at Housing Works in NYC.
A Portal to the Multiverse
Author Blake Crouch tells the story of a man who invents a machine that can access multiple realities.
Four Ways ‘Oryx and Crake’ Predicted the Future
Margaret Atwood’s book is fiction, but the cutting-edge research she writes about is real.
The Hottest Pepper in the World
Consuming the Carolina Reaper is “kind of like eating molten lava.”
Do Other Animals Show Handedness?
Humans aren’t the only species where righties outnumber lefties.
The Operation That Created ‘Patient H.M.’
Author Luke Dittrich retells the story of the surgery his grandfather performed on Henry Molaison, which resulted in an unintended, life-changing side effect.