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Science Friday is your trusted source for news and entertaining stories about science.
Are Generics the Same As Brand Name Drugs?
An excerpt from “Generic: The Unbranding of Modern Medicine,” by Jeremy A. Greene.
How Is a Spider Like a Disco Ball?
This spider, likely a member of the Thwaitesia genus, was photographed in Singapore.
Could You Hit a Baseball Pitched Near the Speed of Light?
An excerpt from the xkcd creator’s new book, “What If?”
How Pinball Helps Explain Ways We Think and Learn
An excerpt from “A Mind for Numbers.”
Insect Microfossils Provide Prehistoric Insights
Discovered at La Brea Tar Pits, the pupa helps reveal clues to what the environment was like in Southern California during the Pleistocene Epoch.
What Can We Learn From On-Screen Psychopaths?
Few psychopaths who terrorize the big screen could pass a reality check, but those who do can be used as teaching tools for aspiring psychiatrists.
The Ultimate Bachelor Pad: Great Bowerbird’s Bower
Male great bowerbirds build these structures strictly to attract females for mating.
10 Questions for Biruté Mary Galdikas, Orangutan Expert
The primatologist chats about her adventures with the red ape, her affinity for the forest, and her advice to budding conservationists.
A Growing Starfish
Biologists photograph the first days of a fiery orange starfish common to Brazil’s rocky southern shores.
Dune Discussion Question: Week #4
The fourth and final discussion question for this summer’s SciFri Book Club selection, “Dune.”
Secrets of the Sauce (and Other Edible Liquids)
Culinary scientist Ali Bouzari weighs in on the four ways to change the thickness of any sauce, soup, or liquid.
Share Your Favorite ‘Dune’ Quote
Record yourself reading your favorite quote from “Dune,” and share it with SciFri.
Is Your Hot Sauce Up to Snuff?
Use science to improve your latest spicy concoction.
An Ephemeral River, Viewed From Space
This ephemeral river may only last a few days a year, but it’s life sustaining.
Dune Discussion Question: Week #3
The third discussion question for this summer’s SciFri Book Club selection, “Dune.”
Build Your Own Radio Telescope to Listen to Meteors
Even if it’s cloudy or you can’t get outside at night, you can still listen to the Perseid meteor shower using a simple FM radio setup or by building a radio telescope at home.
Getting Hooked on Forensic Pathology
An excerpt from “Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner.”
Medical Mystery: The Pink Eye of Death
Can you solve this real-life medical mystery?