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
Astronaut Jeff Hoffman made five space flights. (Now he's a professor at MIT.) In 1985, Hoffman made his first trip on orbit in space shuttle Discovery. Go on a sp...
[LESS INFO] 332 VIEWS | ADDED 15:10:00 04/22/11
Astronaut Jeff Hoffman made five space flights. (Now he's a professor at MIT.) In 1985, Hoffman made his first trip on orbit in space shuttle Discovery. Go on a spacewalk with Hoffman and find out what a yo-yo does in zero gravity.
Physics Of The Ride...
490 Views 15:10:00 04/15/11
It looks like magic. A bike traveling at the right speed will steer itself--popping back up when it starts to fall. But why? A new paper challenges the conventiona...
[LESS INFO] 490 VIEWS | ADDED 15:10:00 04/15/11
It looks like magic. A bike traveling at the right speed will steer itself--popping back up when it starts to fall. But why? A new paper challenges the conventional wisdom of what's required for bike stability.
How Rats Feel: A Wh...
369 Views 15:10:00 04/08/11
Many mammals have whiskers but not all whisk. Cats don't. Rats do. To whisk, rats use special muscles in their face to brush their whiskers against an object. From...
[LESS INFO] 369 VIEWS | ADDED 15:10:00 04/08/11
Many mammals have whiskers but not all whisk. Cats don't. Rats do. To whisk, rats use special muscles in their face to brush their whiskers against an object. From the bending bristles, rats seem to be able to decode an object's shape and texture and Mitra Hartmann wants to understand how.
Bug Out
401 Views 15:10:00 04/01/11
Crocuses, robins, spring peepers aren't the only creatures to signal spring. We visited the "Insect Compactor" at the American Museum of Natural History in New Yor...
[LESS INFO] 401 VIEWS | ADDED 15:10:00 04/01/11
Crocuses, robins, spring peepers aren't the only creatures to signal spring. We visited the "Insect Compactor" at the American Museum of Natural History in New York to learn about which bugs to look out for as the weather warms. Keep your eyes on the willow trees--that's where early bees like to hang out.
A Spacesuit Ballet
466 Views 15:10:00 03/25/11
Of the suit he wore on the moon, Neil Armstrong wrote, “it was tough, reliable, and almost cuddly.” But that cuddly suit, made by the company Playtex, had some sti...
[LESS INFO] 466 VIEWS | ADDED 15:10:00 03/25/11
Of the suit he wore on the moon, Neil Armstrong wrote, “it was tough, reliable, and almost cuddly.” But that cuddly suit, made by the company Playtex, had some stiff competition (literally) from rival rigid, metal designs. This video features archival NASA footage of mobility tests for several spacesuit prototypes. Music is from the band One Ring Zero’s album "Planets".
Destination Mantle
258 Views 14:10:00 03/25/11
Doug Wilson, a geophysicist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, explains what we'd encounter if we drilled 6000 meters below the seafloor to the Earth'...
[LESS INFO] 258 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 03/25/11
Doug Wilson, a geophysicist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, explains what we'd encounter if we drilled 6000 meters below the seafloor to the Earth's mantle. The crust is made up of three layers--lava flows, sheeted dikes and gabbro--all formed from magma that seeped up from the mantle.
An Orchid Explosion
419 Views 14:10:00 03/18/11
The male orchid flowers in the genus catasetum evolved an unusual pollination program. They propel a package of pollen onto the backs of visiting bees. The bees en...
[LESS INFO] 419 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 03/18/11
The male orchid flowers in the genus catasetum evolved an unusual pollination program. They propel a package of pollen onto the backs of visiting bees. The bees endure the blow (which would be like a 150-pound person getting hit with a few bowling balls) in exchange for orchid aromas that the bees use to attract mates.
But it's a nice robot. McNally Jackson in New York is one of a growing number of bookstores that can print-on-demand. They've just installed an "Espresso Book Mach...
[LESS INFO] 459 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 03/11/11
But it's a nice robot. McNally Jackson in New York is one of a growing number of bookstores that can print-on-demand. They've just installed an "Espresso Book Machine," a printer that can produce books to order.
Priming The Mind's Eye
472 Views 14:10:00 02/25/11
French philosopher Henri Bergson has a famous quote: "The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend." Bergson probably meant it metaphorically, but it ...
[LESS INFO] 472 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 02/25/11
French philosopher Henri Bergson has a famous quote: "The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend." Bergson probably meant it metaphorically, but it seems to be literally true according to research by psychologist Martin Rolfs and colleagues. Rolfs studies the role of rapid eye movements in visual perception.
Secret Life Of Burr...
563 Views 14:10:00 02/18/11
Get up close and personal with burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia). Mac Stone, wildlife photographer and field biologist for the National Audubon Society, hid his ...
[LESS INFO] 563 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 02/18/11
Get up close and personal with burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia). Mac Stone, wildlife photographer and field biologist for the National Audubon Society, hid his camera in a traffic cone and set it up outside of an owl burrow to capture these beauty shots of the birds. The video is a time-lapse of their daily movements and behaviors.
Not The Fleas' Knees
332 Views 14:10:00 02/11/11
Fleas are admirable jumpers -- a talent that humans have recognized for thousands of years, according to engineer Greg Sutton. Yet, until this week, exactly how fl...
[LESS INFO] 332 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 02/11/11
Fleas are admirable jumpers -- a talent that humans have recognized for thousands of years, according to engineer Greg Sutton. Yet, until this week, exactly how fleas propel themselves wasn't understood. Sutton and Malcolm Burrows, of the University of Cambridge, filmed fleas jumping, analyzed flea anatomy, made mathematical models and cracked the flea leap mystery.
Aquarist To The Stars
324 Views 14:10:00 02/04/11
Justin Muir, founder of City Aquarium in Brooklyn, N.Y., designs custom fish tanks. But think big: these aquariums run his clients (primarily celebrities, professi...
[LESS INFO] 324 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 02/04/11
Justin Muir, founder of City Aquarium in Brooklyn, N.Y., designs custom fish tanks. But think big: these aquariums run his clients (primarily celebrities, professional athletes and Wall Street moguls) anywhere between $50,000 and $400,000. We went on a fish shopping expedition with Muir and visited his warehouse, where he cultivates giant clams and coral, and medicates his fish before they are transplanted to his client's aquariums.
How To Lift A Beat
202 Views 14:10:00 01/28/11
If the term "sample" reminds you more of a cheese tasting than music making, this video is for you. DJ, music producer and clothing designer Aaron LaCrate walks us...
[LESS INFO] 202 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 01/28/11
If the term "sample" reminds you more of a cheese tasting than music making, this video is for you. DJ, music producer and clothing designer Aaron LaCrate walks us through Sampling 101--taking a snippet of a song and repurposing it in another work. LaCrate explains the process but doesn't sample in his own music -- to "clear" a lifted beat for use is complicated, and expensive.
Garbage Monsters
213 Views 14:10:00 01/21/11
Your trash could come back to haunt you. That's the the moral of this cautionary tale created by students from Miami Beach Senior High. They won top honors in the ...
[LESS INFO] 213 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 01/21/11
Your trash could come back to haunt you. That's the the moral of this cautionary tale created by students from Miami Beach Senior High. They won top honors in the Oceans 2030: Youth Outlook Multimedia Contest.
Fossil From Dawn Of...
165 Views 14:10:00 01/14/11
Researchers unearthed Eodromaeus murphi from a valley in Argentina. This dinosaur was four feet long, fifteen pounds and lived 230 million years ago, just a few mi...
[LESS INFO] 165 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 01/14/11
Researchers unearthed Eodromaeus murphi from a valley in Argentina. This dinosaur was four feet long, fifteen pounds and lived 230 million years ago, just a few million years after dinosaurs first evolved.
Jim Smith, 23, is taking citizen science to another level. He designed and built his own 3D printer, which sits in the corner of his living room. We made a house c...
[LESS INFO] 1489 VIEWS | ADDED 14:10:00 01/07/11
Jim Smith, 23, is taking citizen science to another level. He designed and built his own 3D printer, which sits in the corner of his living room. We made a house call, got a tour of the machine and did some printing.
Stephen Mancusi worked for the New York Police Department for 27 years as a forensic artist. He specializes in composite sketching -- the process of interviewing victims and witnesses to create a drawing of a perpetrator that is released to help police find suspects.