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
Yesterday
Is your body really full of microplastics?
Studies detecting microplastics throughout human bodies have made for alarming reading in recent years. But last week, the Guardian’s environment editor, Damian Carrington, reported on major doubts among a group of scientists about how some of this research has been conducted. Da ... Show More
14m 24s
Jan 15
The surprising science of dreams and nightmares
Ian Sample puts listeners’ questions on dreams and nightmares to Dr Michelle Carr, director of the Dream Engineering Laboratory in Montreal’s Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, and author of the new book Into the Dream Lab. They look at why we dream, what we can lear ... Show More
21m 43s
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