Science Friday

The news we hear about plastic is often alarming: We have a spoon’s worth of plastics in our brains, and there are microplastics in our hearts, lymph nodes, and bloodstreams. Plastics are ubiquitous, but the reality might be more complicated than it seems. 

It turns out that measuring microplastics is really, really difficult. One reason? Because we’re surrounded by plastics! Think of the pipettes and petri dishes and gloves we use in labs.

Host Flora Lichtman chats with microplastics researcher Cassandra Rauert about the difficulties of studying plastics in the human body and what she’s doing about it—like how she designed a whole lab made almost entirely of stainless steel and glass. 

Guest: 

Dr. Cassandra Rauert is a senior research fellow studying microplastics exposure at the University of Queensland in Australia. 

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Can algae help pull microplastics out of our water supply?

Where Does Plastic And Other Trash Go After We Throw It Away?

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

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In mid-April, President Trump issued an executive order to set aside funding and loosen the bureaucratic process at the FDA to fast-track psychedelic therapy research. One obscure psychedelic got a particularly bright spotlight: ibogaine.

Originating from the root bark of the iboga plant of central Africa, the psychedelic has shown promise for curbing opioid addiction and treating PTSD. But it also can be risky to take, and hasn’t made it to the medical mainstream like psilocybin or ketamine. So what’s the story with this drug? 

Joining Host Flora Lichtman to talk about its history is neurologist and pharmacologist Deborah Mash, who secured the first FDA approval for clinical trials involving ibogaine in the 1990s. And to tell us how it fits in with the growing interest in medical psychedelics is Jane Hu, journalist for The Microdose newsletter. (Disclosure: Deborah Mash is founder and CEO of a company that’s developing a therapeutic drug based on ibogaine.) 

Guests: 

Jane C. Hu is a journalist for the psychedelic science newsletter The Microdose, based in Seattle, WA.

Dr. Deborah Mash is professor emeritus of neurology and molecular and cellular pharmacology at the University of Miami School of Medicine. She is the also founder and CEO of DemeRx.

Other episodes you may enjoy:

How One Gene Affects Alzheimer’s Risk

Is This PTSD Treatment Too Good To Be True?

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

Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Comparing a backyard sparrow to a fearsome velociraptor seems odd, but modern birds are indeed living dinosaurs. Scientists are finding more and more connections between the past physiology of dinos and the present physiology of birds. 

Joining Ira Flatow to talk about some forgotten species from the past tens of millions of years—think gorilla-sized penguins—is Steve Brusatte, paleontologist and author of “The Story of Birds: A New History from their Dinosaur Origins to the Present.”

Read an excerpt from “The Story of Birds”

Guest: 

Dr. Steve Brusatte is a paleontologist and author of “The Story of Birds: A New History from their Dinosaur Origins to the Present.” He’s based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Other episodes you may enjoy:

Do Birds Sing In Their Dreams?

Were Dinos On Their Way Out Before The Asteroid Hit? Maybe Not

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

Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Our bodily systems are rife with mutations. In fact, your DNA is mutating right now. These errors, and attempts to repair them, are a key to understanding immune function, aging, and even how heart disease develops. Gene mutations can even mitigate the harm caused by some inherited diseases. 

Host Ira Flatow goes on a journey through the illuminating science of genetic mutations with Roxanne Khamsi, science writer and author of “Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health.”

Guest: 

Roxanne Khamsi is a science writer and author of the book, “Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health.”

Other episodes you may enjoy:

How One Gene Affects Alzheimer’s Risk

65 Genomes Expand Our Picture Of Human Genetics

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

Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

Data centers make controversial neighbors: They’re loud, they use a lot of water, and can drive electricity prices up. Following public concern and organizing efforts, Maine nearly implemented an 18-month ban on data center construction, before a governor veto.

Joining Flora to talk about real changes communities can advocate for in regards to data centers are Pete McGuire, climate reporter at Maine Public, and Lauren Keeler, director of ASU’s Just Energy Transition Center.

Guests: 

Pete McGuire is climate reporter at Maine Public. 

Dr. Lauren Keeler is an associate professor and director of the Just Energy Transition Center at Arizona State University.

Other episodes you may enjoy:

As Companies Build Data Centers For AI, Communities Push Back

Secrets Of Ancient Concrete, And… Data Centers In Space?

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

Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.