Science Friday, as heard on NPR, is a weekly discussion of the latest news in science, technology, health, and the environment hosted by ...
Science & Medicine
Researchers describe a new predatory dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period in Europe. Balaur bondoc (Romanian for "stocky dragon") is huskier than its closest r...
[LESS INFO] 64 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 09/03/10
Researchers describe a new predatory dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period in Europe. Balaur bondoc (Romanian for "stocky dragon") is huskier than its closest relative the Velociraptor and has unusual feet.
Psychological Reapp...
56 Views 14:10:00 08/27/10
With daily reports of bedbugs in movie theaters, clothing stores -- let alone apartment buildings -- bedbug hysteria seems to be reaching new heights. Psychologist...
[LESS INFO] 56 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 08/27/10
With daily reports of bedbugs in movie theaters, clothing stores -- let alone apartment buildings -- bedbug hysteria seems to be reaching new heights. Psychologist Kevin Ochsner, of Columbia University, studies how people regulate emotion. He says "reappraising" a situation -- for example, thinking about a bedbug in a new way-- can help you get your fear under control.
CreatureCast: Fried...
77 Views 14:10:00 08/20/10
CreatureCast presents the tale of the fried egg jellyfish and the creatures that hang around it. Trisha Towanda explains the complex web of symbiotic relationships...
[LESS INFO] 77 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 08/20/10
CreatureCast presents the tale of the fried egg jellyfish and the creatures that hang around it. Trisha Towanda explains the complex web of symbiotic relationships between the jelly and other organisms, and how these relationships change over time.
The Secretly Speedy...
78 Views 14:10:00 08/13/10
Plants have a reputation for staying put. But some plants are moving so quickly, we can't see their motion. Biologist Joan Edwards and physicist Dwight Whitaker br...
[LESS INFO] 78 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 08/13/10
Plants have a reputation for staying put. But some plants are moving so quickly, we can't see their motion. Biologist Joan Edwards and physicist Dwight Whitaker broke out the high-speed cameras to capture the story of exploding peat moss.
A Robot That Swims ...
61 Views 14:10:00 07/23/10
Based on mathematical models of the movement of fish, engineer Maurizio Porfiri built a robofish. When Porfiri lets the robot go for a dip in the lab pool, the rea...
[LESS INFO] 61 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 07/23/10
Based on mathematical models of the movement of fish, engineer Maurizio Porfiri built a robofish. When Porfiri lets the robot go for a dip in the lab pool, the real fish mill about the robot and even follow it around.
Beach Season For Ho...
39 Views 14:10:00 07/16/10
Each summer, horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) along the Atlantic shore crawl onto beaches to mate and lay eggs -- making now a good time for marine scientists ...
[LESS INFO] 39 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 07/16/10
Each summer, horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) along the Atlantic shore crawl onto beaches to mate and lay eggs -- making now a good time for marine scientists like John Tanacredi to monitor population size. Visit a New York beach to catch a glimpse of the action.
Seeing A Star In A ...
61 Views 14:10:00 07/02/10
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), launched in February, has started to send back data. The instruments are giving solar scientists an unprecedented look at ...
[LESS INFO] 61 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 07/02/10
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), launched in February, has started to send back data. The instruments are giving solar scientists an unprecedented look at the sun, says Dean Pesnell, SDO project scientist.
Future Space Telesc...
48 Views 14:10:00 06/25/10
A full-scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope, the planned successor to Hubble, is on the circuit -- making appearances at science conferences and festivals...
[LESS INFO] 48 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 06/25/10
A full-scale model of the James Webb Space Telescope, the planned successor to Hubble, is on the circuit -- making appearances at science conferences and festivals around the world. Science Friday visited the observatory and spoke to its handlers who were in town for the World Science Festival in New York City's Battery Park.
DIY Eye In The Sky
58 Views 14:10:00 06/18/10
Need a new perspective on life? Try launching a video camera 50 feet in the air. This DIY sky-cam is one of many experiments outlined in Ken Denmead's new book Gee...
[LESS INFO] 58 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 06/18/10
Need a new perspective on life? Try launching a video camera 50 feet in the air. This DIY sky-cam is one of many experiments outlined in Ken Denmead's new book Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share.
Bringing Down The Bolt
28 Views 14:10:00 06/11/10
Lightning is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of the atmospheric sciences, researchers say. Scientists at the International Center for Lightning Research and ...
[LESS INFO] 28 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 06/11/10
Lightning is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of the atmospheric sciences, researchers say. Scientists at the International Center for Lightning Research and Testing in Florida are inducing lightning to strike so they can understand it better.
How Baby Bubbles Ar...
71 Views 14:10:00 06/11/10
James Bird estimates that he watched thousands of bubbles pop while he was getting his doctorate at Harvard University. With the help of high-speed cameras, he and...
[LESS INFO] 71 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 06/11/10
James Bird estimates that he watched thousands of bubbles pop while he was getting his doctorate at Harvard University. With the help of high-speed cameras, he and his colleagues discovered that bubbles birth baby bubbles when they burst, with implications ranging from hot tubs to global climate.
Ahoy, RoboSailor
54 Views 14:10:00 05/28/10
The Navy brought more than ships and sailors to New York for Fleet Week this year. Meet Octavia -- the Navy's humanoid robot. Greg Trafton, section head of intelli...
[LESS INFO] 54 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 05/28/10
The Navy brought more than ships and sailors to New York for Fleet Week this year. Meet Octavia -- the Navy's humanoid robot. Greg Trafton, section head of intelligent systems at the Naval Research Laboratory, describes the challenge of designing a robot that acts like a person.
Rumble In The Jungle
37 Views 14:10:00 05/21/10
They look cuddly, but red-eyed treefrogs have a secret dark side. When Michael Caldwell, Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow, filmed the frogs under infrared light he ...
[LESS INFO] 37 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 05/21/10
They look cuddly, but red-eyed treefrogs have a secret dark side. When Michael Caldwell, Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow, filmed the frogs under infrared light he saw a curious behavior: they started shaking.
This Field Rocks
42 Views 14:10:00 05/14/10
Tucked in a shallow valley in northeastern Pennsylvania is a mysterious geologic feature: 16 acres of sandstone boulders. Megan Taylor, environmental education spe...
[LESS INFO] 42 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 05/14/10
Tucked in a shallow valley in northeastern Pennsylvania is a mysterious geologic feature: 16 acres of sandstone boulders. Megan Taylor, environmental education specialist at Hickory Run State Park, explains the geologic history of the boulder field.
A Quest To See The ...
22 Views 14:10:00 05/07/10
Edith Widder, of the Ocean Research and Conservation Association, has been exploring the deep sea for 30 years. When Widder descended for the first time, she says ...
[LESS INFO] 22 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 05/07/10
Edith Widder, of the Ocean Research and Conservation Association, has been exploring the deep sea for 30 years. When Widder descended for the first time, she says she wasn't prepared for the light show she encountered and has been building tools to document bioluminescence ever since.
Finding The Notes A...
31 Views 14:10:00 04/30/10
The honk of a horn and the rumble of a truck sound like noise to most people. But to Lucy Fitz Gibbon, and others with absolute pitch, there are notes embedded in ...
[LESS INFO] 31 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 04/30/10
The honk of a horn and the rumble of a truck sound like noise to most people. But to Lucy Fitz Gibbon, and others with absolute pitch, there are notes embedded in the noise. Exactly why some people have this mysterious ability to recognize pitch isn't well understood.
Evolutionary psychologist Nick Neave filmed men dancing, converted the videos into dancing avatars and asked women to rate the avatars' dancing ability. The researchers found that the highly-rated male dancers had some moves in common.