Eyes In The Sky: The Science Behind Modern Balloons
This month, the news cycle has been dominated by updates about suspicious objects being detected in the stratosphere. This bonanza started with a balloon from China, and escalated as four more objects—not all confirmed as balloons—have been shot down from the sky.
Although this might sound like a new proble ... Show More
Today
Could bird flu still spark a pandemic?
Bird flu has flown off the national news radar, with only scattered, local reports of dead birds in parks and poultry farms. Is it simply no longer a concern, or have cuts to federal science funding disrupted monitoring for this disease? Airborne pathogens expert Seema Lakdawala ... Show More
18m 42s
Mar 23
Apple: trying to think different for 50 years
The Apple Computer Company was founded on April 1, 1976, and in the 50 years since, the company has evolved from a handful of Silicon Valley misfits to a global technology and media powerhouse. Tech journalist David Pogue talks with Ira Flatow about the backstory of the company, ... Show More
17m 58s
Aug 2024
Have Swiss scientists made a chocolate breakthrough?
Chocolate is very important to Switzerland’s economy: with more than 200,000 metric tonnes produced each year, sales are worth almost $2 billion. But there are challenges – not just over sustainability, but over exploitation. And the volatile price of cacao.We meet the researcher ... Show More
17m 39s
Aug 2024
Peanut Allergy, Ancient Cancer Treatment, Cuckoo Evolution
Today, you’ll learn about why giving babies foods with peanuts could crack the peanut allergy problem, a wild discovery of cancer treatment 4,000 years ago, and the sneaky way cuckoos evolve to look like other birds so they can live in their nests. Peanut Allergy “Giving young ch ... Show More
10m 53s
Oct 2024
How Can Math Help Beat Cancer?
<p>When we think about medicine’s war on cancer, treatments such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy spring to mind first. Now there is another potential weapon for defeating tumors: statistics and mathematical models that can optimize the selection, combination or timing of t ... Show More
42m 52s
Aug 2025
Could Peanut Allergies Be Cured?
Peanut allergies have surged dramatically in recent decades, and scientists are still working to understand why. In this episode, journalist Maryn Mckenna, who recently authored an article on the subject, and host Rachel Feltman explore the latest research on causes, treatments a ... Show More
20m 29s
Mar 2024
Eat This, Not That: The Surprising Science of Personalized Nutrition (encore)
This episode, we've got the exclusive on the preliminary results of the world's largest personalized nutrition experiment. Genetic epidemiologist Tim Spector launched the study, called PREDICT, to answer a simple but important question: do we each respond to different foods diffe ... Show More
57m 30s