Science Friday

Microplastics and nanoplastics have been found just about everywhere: in our soil, our bodies, and our water. Recent research involving bioengineered algae has had success in capturing and removing microplastics from water.

Environmental reporter Kate Grumke joins Producer Kathleen Davis to talk about the latest approaches to addressing microplastics, and researcher Susie Dai discusses her work using algae to pull them out of wastewater.

Guests: 

Dr. Susie Dai is a professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the University of Missouri.

Kate Grumke is a senior environmental reporter for St. Louis Public Radio.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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On Wednesday, NASA’s Artemis II mission launched, kicking off on a roughly 10-day trip that will carry four astronauts around the moon and back to Earth. The flight is another test of the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion capsule that are intended to be used for an eventual crewed lunar landing.

Space reporter Brendan Byrne joins Producer Kathleen Davis to share his impressions of the launch and what’s ahead for the Artemis program. Then, moon book author Rebecca Boyle joins the discussion to tackle an important listener question: What if Earth didn’t have a moon?

Guests: 

Brendan Byrne is the host of the “Are We There Yet?” podcast, and assistant news director for Central Florida Public Media in Orlando, Florida.

Rebecca Boyle is a science journalist and author of “Our Moon: How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed The Planet, Guided Evolution, And Made Us Who We Are.” 

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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In 2006, a vote by the International Astronomical Union determined that Pluto was no longer a planet. The decision sparked a heated public debate, and many planetary scientists disagreed with kicking Pluto out of the planet club. 

Twenty years later, Pluto is back in the news: NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said he wants to make Pluto great again by declaring it… a planet again. And he’s urging President Trump to do so by executive order. Why does this Plutonian debate keep rearing its head? And does the president have the power to do that?

To answer those questions and more, Host Ira Flatow talks with planetary scientists and Pluto champions Amanda Bosh and Alan Stern. 

Guests:

Dr. Amanda Bosh is the executive director of the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, where Pluto was first discovered.

Dr. Alan Stern is the vice president at the Southwest Research Institute and principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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For many of us, what happens in the bathroom stays in the bathroom: According to a recent survey, 1 in 3 Americans are too embarrassed to talk about their poop or gut issues with their doctor. Gastroenterologists like Trisha Pasricha say that’s a problem, and that that stigma is getting in the way of our health and happiness.

She joins Host Flora Lichtman to share some crucial gut knowledge, and talk about her new book, “You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong.”

Read an excerpt from “You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong: How To Make Your Bowel Movements A Joy.”

Guest: Dr. Trisha Pasricha is a physician-scientist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, MA.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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A listener recently called in asking how they might get a pair of functioning web shooters so they could operate as a local Spider-Man. While web shooters (sadly) don’t exist, we can say that the ways real spiders use silk put Peter Parker’s powers to shame. Spiders can use their sticky threads to sail through the air, capture prey larger than them, and even live underwater. And scientists trying to harness those powers. 

Host Flora Lichtman chats with spider-silk aficionado Cheryl Hayashi about the wonders of silk, and Fiorenzo Omenetto shares how his engineering lab uses silk in the design of biomedical tools, like vaccines and sensors.

Guests:

Dr. Cheryl Hayashi is the senior vice president and provost of science at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. 

Dr. Fiorenzo Omenetto is a biomedical engineer and director of the Silklab at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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