February 28, 2025
A federal DEI ban is already prompting changes across science agencies. How will it affect medical research? A journalist traveled to five continents to learn about the afterlife of our trash, and why most “recyclable” plastic actually isn’t. And, the ocean liner SS United States will become an artificial reef in Florida. How do artificial reefs work?
4:33
A Mood Ring for Your Wrist
A new wearable aims to help people who feel socially awkward interpret others’ emotions.
16:29
Booting Up the Search for Better Batteries
New battery technology could make our devices safer, and help squeeze more power out of the grid.
11:57
How Will Net Neutrality and Telecomm Fare Under the New Administration?
The newly appointed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has said that “net neutrality is a solution in search of a problem.”
17:19
The Price of ‘Free’ Internet Services? Your Privacy
As we trade more and more of our personal data to big companies in exchange for their services, internet users must decide for themselves where to draw the line on internet privacy.
16:10
How Humans Might Really Colonize The Solar System
The minds behind the “The Expanse” chat about space flight, space politics, and how they keep the show feeling real.
17:22
Which New Battery Technology Will Take Electric Vehicles To The Finish Line?
Lithium ion may be good enough for now, but experts say that new battery tech will bring EVs to the next level.
Tips to Keep Your Drinking Water Clean
A few key points from experts on the Flint water crisis.
The Mysterious ‘Alien Soil’ Growing Deep Underground
These labyrinthine ecosystems can be found growing on cave walls.
SciFri Book Club: Kim Stanley Robinson
Join us for a live conversation about climate change, fiction, and New York in the year 2140.
Make a Kite With Physics
Build a delta kite and explore some of the forces involved in flight. Challenge your design skills to improve your kite’s stability in the air.
07:21
An Advance Towards Male Birth Control, Sequencing the Quinoa Genome, and Slip-Off Gecko Skin
A male contraceptive gel prevented pregnancies for a year in rhesus monkeys.
4:30
Should A.I. Have a Role in Science Publishing?
Artificial intelligence won’t take over peer review anytime soon, but it may help combat fraud.
8:02
Consider the Universe. Now, Subtract Time and Gravity.
Holographic cosmology is a way of simplifying mind-boggling mathematical models of our universe. But it doesn’t necessarily mean we live in a hologram.
11:54
Why So (Heat) Sensitive?
A new plant-derived material claims the title of most heat-sensitive.
6:35
Harvesting Power From the Gut
Researchers have designed a battery that runs on stomach acid to power ingestible sensors.
25:14
From the Arctic to Enceladus: A Celebration of Unusual Ice
Researchers who study icy places have discovered uncanny phenomena.
On Earth, Echoes of Space
Astronomical artist Michael Carroll traveled to Antarctica for otherworldly inspiration.
How to Listen to Data
Scientists, composers, and programmers are experimenting with methods of conveying data audibly.