First up this week, although long touted as a green fuel, the traditional approach to hydrogen production is not very sustainable. Staff writer Robert F. Service joins producer Meagan Cantwell to discuss how researchers are aiming to improve electrolyzers—devices that split water into hydrogen and oxygen—with more efficient and durable designs.
Next, Rober ... Show More
Mar 19
Rethinking the peopling of the Americas, and the best ways to get groundwater back
First up on the podcast, we discuss a finding that’s likely to reignite debate over how humans first spread through the Americas. In the late 1990s, a site in southern Chile called Monte Verde forced archaeologists to adjust their views of the peopling of South America because it ... Show More
33m 28s
Mar 12
What Alaska’s eroding coastline says about Earth’s future, and how Yellowstone ravens use their smarts to find wolf kills
First up on the podcast, freelance journalist Evan Howell traveled to Cape Blossom, Alaska, where the receding coastline has revealed an ancient trove of glacial ice that may have survived for 350,000 years—making it the oldest ice in the Northern Hemisphere. Now researchers just ... Show More
42m 50s
Feb 2022
Science Advisor Resigns, COVID Drug Treatments, Science Drag Artists. Feb 11, 2022, Part 1
<p>An Abrupt Departure For Biden’s Science Adviser</p>
<p>This week, Eric Lander, the Presidential science advisor and head of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, <a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/eric-lander-resignation/?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=podcast& ... Show More
53m 30s
Feb 2022
Successful HIV Treatment, Improving Health Equity, Fusion Energy Record. Feb 18, 2022, Part 1
<p>Third Person Cured From HIV, Thanks To Umbilical Cord Stem Cells</p>
<p>The third person ever, and the first woman, <a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/hiv-cure-stem-cells/?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=scifri" target="_blank">has been cured of th ... Show More
47m 30s
Oct 2025
Elizabeth Sawin, "Multisolving: Creating Systems Change in a Fractured World" (Island Press, 2024)
Now, Dr. Elizabeth Sawin has dedicated her career to the theory and practice of creating change in complex systems. In 2021, she founded and is currently the Director of the Multi-solving Institute. This interview discusses her book Multisolving: Creating Systems Change in a Fr ... Show More
55m 31s
Feb 2025
Can I trust the FDA? (from thalidomide to cough medicine)
<p><strong>#206</strong></p>
<p>Melissa and Jam address a listener's question about the FDA's reliability in approving products. They discuss the intersection of chemistry, government, and society, focusing on FDA's role in regulating food and drugs. The episode includes a deep d ... Show More
30m 23s