Stories
Science Friday is your trusted source for news and entertaining stories about science.
Black Silicon and Smart Wind Turbines
Very quietly, solar and wind technologies are making some important advances. Here are a couple examples.
Is Cooking Baked Into Our Biology?
According to the “cooking hypothesis,” the advent of cooked food altered the course of human evolution.
The SciFri Book Club Takes a Walk
Get ready to trail along with writer Bill Bryson.
Time Crystals, Canine Conservationists, Copycat Monkeys, and More
A roundup of science stories or studies that blow our mind, tickle our funny bone, or generally strike our fancy.
April 19th SciFri Broadcast to Air at Later Date
NPR’s continuing live coverage of events in Boston will preempt today’s Science Friday. The recorded April 19th program will be broadcast nationwide in our regularly scheduled timeslot on a later date.
Go West, Young Man, and Grow Up With the Dinosaurs
A writer follows a childhood passion, surrounding herself with dinosaurania, in this excerpt from “My Beloved Brontosaurus.”
The Case Of The Barfing Blue Jay
For some predators, chowing on a monarch butterfly can have digestive repercussions.
These Dinosaurs Should Appear in Jurassic Park 4
Author and dino-lover Riley Black suggests several reptilian relics that deserve the spotlight.
Why Do I Get Nostalgic?
That bittersweet longing for the past can have an important impact on the present.
The Story of Saliva
Why do newborns drool excessively? How many pints of saliva does a person generate daily? (Hint, it’s more than one.) And more spit mysteries excerpted from “Gulp: Adventures Down the Alimentary Canal.”
Mapping the Monarchs
Any orange-and-black beauties in your neck of the woods? Add a photo to our Spring Monarch Migration 2013 Google map.
Milkweed for Monarchs
People can help monarch butterflies by planting milkweed, a plant the insects rely on for breeding and feeding.
Will There Be Another Ice Age?
If carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, we likely have a long thaw ahead of us.
What Scared the Fearless Woman?
Patients once considered insensitive to fear can experience the sensation in response to internal triggers, a new study shows.
What’s in a Label?
A new book looks at how the way we think and behave can be shaped by forces we aren’t aware of.
Would Usain Bolt Run More Slowly With the Name Usain Plod?
This excerpt from “Drunk Tank Pink” explores whether names affect major life outcomes.
Mama’s Boys, Black Sheep, and Peacekeepers
An excerpt from “The Bonobo and the Atheist.”
Building the Future of SciFri
A number of listeners have asked us what the end of “Talk of the Nation” means for us.
How to Get 6,000 People to Talk Science
Bill Nye and I were on a panel discussing how to tell stories about science.