Multimedia
Bee Bonanza: From Hive Politics To Beekeeping
December 24, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsThis Christmas marks the 200th birthday of Lorenzo Langstroth, the "Father of American Beekeeping." May Berenbaum discusses Langstroth's life and his beekeeping inventions, and Tom Seeley talks about the collective decision-making of honeybees, the subject of Seeley's new book, Honeybee Democracy.
Remembering The Y2K Problem
December 24, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsOn New Year's Eve in 1999, many people were celebrating the arrival of the year 2000. Some computer experts, however, were on alert, hoping that work reprogramming computers to deal with a date change bug would pay off. Science Friday opens the archives for a look back at the Y2K problem.
How Science and Technology Influence Language
December 24, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsHave you ever been Plutoed (demoted)? Is your inbox clogged with "bacn" (spam by personal request)? Are you a lifehacker (master at optimizing everyday routines)? Jonathon Keats, artist and author of Virtual Words, explains how science and technology influence language, and vice versa.
Lunar Eclipse Is A Winter Sky Highlight
December 17, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsThe shadow of the Earth will pass over the moon late Monday, Dec. 20, into Tuesday morning. Meteorologist and sky watcher Joe Rao discusses the lunar eclipse, and other astronomical events to look out for this winter, including an early dawn visit by Venus on Christmas Day.
Living Without Fear
December 17, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsDoctors at University of Iowa have been studying a female patient they call "SM" for more than 20 years. SM has a damaged amygdala, a part of the brain. As a result, she doesn't experience fear. Daniel Tranel explains what doctors have learned about fear from SM, and how that information...
Visions Of Energy Efficiency Danced In Their Heads
December 17, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsHomeowners hoping to save on utility bills may want to ask Santa for a storm door or insulation. Dec. 31 is the deadline for the energy tax credits that could cut your tax bill by up to $1,500. Science Friday runs down how to save some green this winter.
Science Diction: The Origin Of The Word 'Comet'
December 17, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsAlthough comets were sighted at least as early as 1000 B.C., Greek natural philosophers named them sometime around 500 B.C., using the Greek word kometes for "a head with long hair." Science historian Howard Markel discusses the word's origins and the study of comets through the centuries.
Who's Tracking You Online?
December 17, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsMany top websites deposit tracking tools on Internet surfers' computers, in order to help online marketers target ads. Ira Flatow and guests discuss Internet tracking, and the Federal Trade Commission's suggestion that browser makers build in a sort of "do not track" button.
The Man Who Turned Taxidermy Into An Art Form
December 17, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsIn Kingdom Under Glass, author Jay Kirk tells the life story of Carl Akeley, the pioneering taxidermist and adventurer who hunted elephants alongside Teddy Roosevelt and once killed a leopard with his bare hands. Taxidermist David Schwendeman runs his family's 90-year-old studio and...
Futures in Biotech 72: A Four Billion Year Old Social Network
December 14, 2010 2:42 pm | by Futures in Biotech Podcast Podcasts CommentsHost: Marc Pelletier How controlling bacterial behavior may lead to an new class of urgently needed antibiotics. Guest: Dr. Bonnie Bassler: Hughs Medical Insitute Investigator; Professor of Molecular Biology and Professor of Chemistry, Princeton University. We invite you to read, add to,...
Teaching Computers To Be More Empathetic
December 10, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsHigh school juniors Matthew Fernandez and Akash Krishnan took the grand prize in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology for designing software that decodes emotions in human speech. They say the software could be used by call centers, to direct angry callers to a human.
Rossellini's 'Seduce Me' Looks At Animal Courtship
December 10, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsActress and model Isabella Rossellini's video series, Seduce Me, investigates the strange and fascinating mating behaviors of animals. Rossellini plays a diverse cast of characters from the animal kingdom -- from hermaphroditic earthworms to swinging deer to asexual lizards.
Chemistry Keeps Christmas Trees Alive, For Longer
December 10, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsJust as an avocado ripens quickly in a paper bag, bathed in the ethylene gas it releases, Christmas trees may lose their needles because of a similar "ripening" process. Raj Lada, of Nova Scotia's Christmas Tree Research Center, discusses how to block this process to prolong the life of cut firs.
Thinking About Eating May Mean Eating Less
December 10, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsResearchers at Carnegie Mellon University say that repeatedly thinking about eating a certain food -- M&Ms or cheese -- led study participants to eat less of the food once it was presented to them. Researcher Carey Morewedge describes the work and its implications for dieters.
Celebrating The Royal Society
December 10, 2010 9:43 am | by Science Friday Podcast Podcasts CommentsBritain's premier science institution, the Royal Society, turns 350 this year. A new collection of essays called Seeing Further, edited by Bill Bryson, looks at the society's history. Writer Richard Holmes and outgoing society President Martin Rees discuss the institution.
