Squeezing two people into an MRI machine, and deciding between what’s reasonable and what’s rational
Getting into a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine can be a tight fit for just one person. Now, researchers interested in studying face-to-face interactions are attempting to squeeze a whole othe...
9 Jan 202022min
Areas to watch in 2020, and how carnivorous plants evolved impressive traps
We start our first episode of the new year looking at future trends in policy and research with host Joel Goldberg and several Science News writers. Jeffrey Mervis discusses upcoming policy changes, K...
2 Jan 202026min
Breakthrough of the Year, our favorite online news stories, and the year in books
As the year comes to a close, we review the best science, the best stories, and the best books from 2019. Our end-of-the-year episode kicks off with Host Sarah Crespi and Online News Editor David Grim...
19 Dec 201943min
Hunting for new epilepsy drugs, and capturing lightning from space
About one-third of people with epilepsy are treatment resistant. Up until now, epilepsy treatments have focused on taming seizures rather than the source of the disease and for good reason—so many roa...
13 Dec 201930min
Debating lab monkey retirement, and visiting a near-Earth asteroid
After their life as research subjects, what happens to lab monkeys? Some are euthanized to complete the research, others switch to new research projects, and some retire from lab life. Should they ret...
5 Dec 201931min
Double dipping in an NIH loan repayment program, and using undersea cables as seismic sensors
The National Institutes of Health’s largest loan repayment program was conceived to help scientists pay off school debts without relying on industry funding. But a close examination of the program by ...
28 Nov 201939min
Building a landslide observatory, and the universality of music
You may have seen the aftermath of a landslide, driving along a twisty mountain road—a scattering of rocks and scree impinging on the pavement. And up until now, that’s pretty much how scientists have...
21 Nov 201938min
How to make an Arctic ship ‘vanish,’ and how fast-moving spikes are heating the Sun’s atmosphere
The Polarstern research vessel will spend 1 year locked in an Arctic ice floe. Aboard the ship and on the nearby ice, researchers will take measurements of the ice, air, water, and more in an effort t...
14 Nov 201925min
