Butterfly numbers in the UK appear to be at the lowest on record after a wet spring and summer dampened their chances of mating. This comes on top of a long and worrying trend of decline. To find out what’s going on and what we can all do to help butterflies cope with extreme weather patterns, Phoebe Weston speaks to Dr Richard Fox, the head of science for t ... Show More
Jun 9
The dinosaurs who survived the asteroid
While many dinosaurs were wiped out when a colossal asteroid struck Earth 66m years ago, one group survived: birds. Prof Steve Brusatte, a palaeontologist at the University of Edinburgh, has written a new book, The Story of Birds, tracing the evolution of our feathered friends fr ... Show More
17m 15s
Jun 4
Heatstroke, sports washing and VAR psychology: the science of the World Cup
It’s just a week until the first whistle of the 2026 World Cup. To mark the occasion, Madeleine Finlay talks to Ian Sample about the science behind the tournament. It’s likely to be one of the hottest ever World Cups, and scientists have written to Fifa asking it to reconsider it ... Show More
20m 48s
May 2023
The B Broadcast: Bees, Beans, Bears, and Butterflies. May 19, 2023, Part 2
<p><a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/science-eat-beans-recipe/?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=scifri" target="_blank">Science Says Eat More Beans</a></p>
<p>Beans are delicious, high in protein, inexpensive, efficient to grow, and an absolute staple ... Show More
47m 49s
Jun 2023
Rewilding, Allergy Season, Sharing Science Rejections. June 2, 2023, Part 1
<p>Could Restoring Animal Populations Store More Carbon?</p>
<p>Did you know that land and ocean ecosystems absorb about half of the carbon dioxide we emit each year? But what if the earth had the capacity to absorb even more? With the help of some furry, scaly, and leathery crit ... Show More
47m 3s
Jul 2024
Searching for Butterflies
In the mountains of Latakia, Syria, Mudar Salimeh devotes much of his time to searching for butterflies. A geologist, artist, and nature lover, Mudar's fascination with butterflies began in the spring of 2018 when a great number of caterpillars appeared in his art studio. Over ti ... Show More
28m 52s
Jan 2025
Moths, Owls And Fungi With Over 20,000 Sexes...Oh My!
Put on your headphones. In today's episode, host Emily Kwong leads us on a night hike in Patuxent River State Park in Maryland. Alongside a group of naturalists led by Serenella Linares, we'll meet a variety of species with unique survival quirks and wintertime adaptations. We'll ... Show More
13m 29s
May 2024
Do we need a new model of cosmology?
Earlier this week, some of the world's leading astrophysicists came together at The Royal Society to question the very nature of our Universe. Does the Lambda Cold Dark Matter model, which explains the evolution of the cosmos and the Big Bang, need a rethink? Dr Chris North, an a ... Show More
31m 39s
Jan 2025
The rising threat of bird flu
More species infected than ever, an uptick in human cases, and some concerning biological modifications. How close are we to a bird flu pandemic? We digest the last year of bird flu changes with virologist Tom Peacock and public health journalist Melody Schreiber. Also this week, ... Show More
28m 8s