 NPR: Science Friday Podcast Science Friday, as heard on NPR, is a weekly discussion of the latest news in science, technology, health, and the environment hosted by Ira Flatow. Ira interviews scientists, authors, and policymakers, and listeners can call in and ask questions as well. Hear it each week on NPR stations nationwide -- or online here! 2 Jan 2009 at 6:04pm How are the discovery of oxygen, the founding of the Unitarian Church and ecosystem science linked? Author Steven Johnson tells the story of scientist and theologian Joseph Priestley, a protege of Benjamin Franklin and friend of Thomas Jefferson, in The Invention of Air. Listen 2 Jan 2009 at 6:04pm Whodunit? Was it Dr. Jones, in the lab, with the beaker? Eric and Natalie Yoder may have the answer. They are authors of One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science, a new book that uses mysteries and problem solving to get kids energized about science. Listen 2 Jan 2009 at 6:04pm Both bring wintertime suffering, but how different is the common cold from influenza, scientifically speaking? Ira Flatow talks with cold and flu experts about how these viruses are transmitted, how best to dodge them, and why hand sanitizer may not be of much help. Listen 2 Jan 2009 at 6:04pm Biologists identified bacteria that shorten the lifespan of disease-carrying mosquitoes. Shorter lives mean less time for the mosquitoes to incubate and transmit diseases like dengue and malaria. Biologist Andrew Read of The Pennsylvania State University explains the findings. Listen 2 Jan 2009 at 6:04pm 2009 marks 150 years since the publication of Darwin's On The Origin of Species, and the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of a telescope to study the skies. M. Lee Allison is an organizer of a "Year of Science 2009," a celebration of scientific methods and discoveries. Listen 26 Dec 2008 at 6:03pm The pop-up book Birdscapes catalogues the calls of birds from all over the world, from Yellow-billed Loons on remote Arctic lakes to King Rails in southern swamps. Author Miyoko Chu of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology tells the stories behind how these bird songs were collected. Listen |