February 7, 2025
Some research shows that e-cigarettes can be a useful tool for quitting cigarettes, but that strategy is hotly contested by scientists. Plus, an investigative journalist outlines how fraud and misconduct have stalled the search for effective Alzheimer’s treatments in a new book. And, why snow has that crisp, clean smell.
12:13
After Hurricane Ian, Robots To The Rescue
Flying, swimming, and even crawling robots are becoming vital tools in disaster response. How data from robotic partners can help steer scarce human resources in dangerous terrain.
9:30
Vague Medical Marijuana Rules Leave Workers And Employers In The Dark
More than a dozen lawsuits reveal a program that’s confusing for 400,000 statewide medical marijuana patients.
7:48
The DART Asteroid Impact Mission: It’s A Cosmic Smash
How (and why) NASA successfully caused a collision between a small spacecraft and an asteroid.
10:53
High-Flying Trick-Or-Treat Delivers Rabies Vaccines For Raccoons
How do you vaccinate a wild animal? Hint: Fish-flavored candy, and a few helicopters.
6:28
Can Lanternflies’ Excretions Be Used To Quell Their Spread?
Honeydew, the sticky residue excreted by the spotted lanternfly, may contain chemicals that signal to other lanternflies.
17:33
Bangladeshi Farmers Found A Way To Save Massive Amounts Of Water
By intensively using groundwater to irrigate, the country’s farmers are creating space to capture freshwater from monsoons.
How Science Friday Used A/B Testing To Guide Audience Engagement
When the pandemic began, we had to rethink how we engaged with audiences interested in science. Here’s what we learned.
Bright Idea: Science Friday’s Sun Camp
The Sun Camp educational program features easy-to-do, hands-on STEAM activities for families and educators curious about Sun science.
12:17
Biden Declares The COVID-19 Pandemic Over. Is It?
One country cannot declare a global health crisis over, but when a pandemic officially ends is not easy to determine.
Read ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ With The SciFri Book Club
‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ combines Potawatomi knowledge and scientific inquiry in a deep, reverent essay series. Read it with us this October.
Robin Wall Kimmerer Wants To Extend The Grammar Of Animacy
How our scientific perspective of a bay changes when language frames it as a verb—to be a bay—instead of a noun.
12:13
Was ‘Soylent Green’ Right About 2022?
Climate catastrophe? Check. Here’s what this classic science fiction film got right about 2022.
4:22
Saturn’s Rings Might Be Made From A Missing Moon
A new theory suggests that Saturn’s gravity shredded up a moon and flattened it, giving us the planet’s iconic rings.
11:00
Sperm Swim Together To Help Each Other Reach The Egg
Researchers created a simulation of the female reproductive tract and, rather than compete, sperm may cooperate to swim upstream.
17:15
Mars Rover, Move Over: Making A Rover To Explore The Deep Sea
The Benthic Rover trawls an abyssal plain, 4000 meters below the ocean surface, for vital data about carbon dioxide on a warming planet.
7:44
Ukraine’s Ongoing Tragedy Inspires Teenage Inventor To Locate Landmines
There are 100 million unexploded landmines around the world. Igor Klymenko’s invention uses a drone to help find them.
8:57
Getting The Dirt On The World Of Competitive Soil Judging
In this international competition, contestants compete to analyze, identify, and describe the layers of soil in a landscape.
16:52
Diving Into The Biggest Ideas In The Universe
Can mere mortals learn real physics, without all the analogies? Spoiler: A professor of natural philosophy says yes, but there may be math.
Sean Carroll Wants You To Talk About Physics Like A Baseball Game
The renowned cosmologist wants to make the ideas of modern physics accessible to anyone who’s willing to do a bit of extra thinking.
Advances In Understanding Depression Offer Potential New Treatments
While more than one in ten Americans take antidepressants, some scientists think popular depression treatments don’t fully address the leading causes of depression.