While there are a lot of dinosaur fossils, and a lot of plant fossils, the precise connection between the two has been something of a mystery. Now, researchers report that they’ve found what’s called a cololite, fossilized gut contents, in the remains of a sauropod—a massive, long-necked plant-eater. The dino’s last meal dates back 95 to 100 million years. Paleontologist Stephen Poropat joins Host Flora Lichtman to dig into the mysteries of a dinosaur’s tummy.And, for prairie dogs, communication is key. The rodents’ yips and barks can warn when danger is near—and not just to other prairie dogs. A new study suggests that birds called long-billed curlews are eavesdropping on this chatter to learn when a predator is lurking nearby. Using speakers and a taxidermied badger on wheels, ornithologists are untangling the social dynamics of black-tailed prairie dogs. Host Flora Lichtman talks with study author Andrew Dreelin about this eavesdropping behavior and what it means for conservation.Guests:Dr. Stephen Poropat is a paleontologist and deputy director of the Western Australian Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre at Curtin University in Perth, Australia.Andrew Dreelin is a research fellow with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and a PhD candidate at Northern Illinois University.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.
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20:46
What Are The Best Practices For Prostate Cancer Screening?
Last month, former President Joe Biden announced that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. The news sparked a larger conversation about what exactly the best practices are to screen for prostate cancer. Turns out, it’s more complicated than it might seem. Host Ira Flatow is joined by oncologist Matthew Cooperberg and statistician Andrew Vickers, who studies prostate cancer screening, to help unpack those complexities.Guests:Dr. Matthew Cooperberg is a urologic oncologist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco.Dr. Andrew Vickers is a statistician who studies the efficacy of prostate cancer screening at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center based in New York City.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.
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18:46
The Leap: Garbage In, Garbage Out
Biochemist Virginia Man-Yee Lee has spent a lifetime in the lab, figuring out what happens in the brains of people with neurodegenerative diseases. She’s made key discoveries about Parkinson's, ALS, and Alzheimer's.The secret to her success? Happiness. “If you're not happy, you don’t know what you’re capable of,” Lee says. Neurologist Ken Kosick reflects on the early days of Alzheimer’s research, and neurologist Alice S. Chen-Plotkin, a former postdoc in Virginia’s lab, gives us a fly-on-the-wall look at the unusual research partnership between Lee and her husband John Trojanowski.“The Leap” is a 10-episode audio series that profiles scientists willing to take big risks to push the boundaries of discovery. It premieres on Science Friday’s podcast feed every Monday until July 21. “The Leap” is a production of the Hypothesis Fund, brought to you in partnership with Science Friday.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com.
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29:38
RFK Jr. Reshuffles CDC Vaccine Panel With Vaccine Skeptics
On Monday, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the panel that advises the CDC on who should get certain vaccines and when. Then on Thursday, he appointed eight new members, some of whom have been critical of vaccines in the past. So who exactly is new on the panel and how are medical experts reacting?Sophie Bushwick from New Scientist breaks down this reshuffling and the other top science stories of the week, including Starlink’s leaky satellites, Earth’s possible past encounters with dark matter, IBM’s quantum computing plans, a device that can extract water from dry air, and how a paralyzed man was able to speak thanks to brain-controlled synthetic voice.Plus, nearly one in four Americans live within three miles of a Superfund site, places that are contaminated with hazardous waste and flagged for cleanup by the government. Amid sweeping cuts to science and environmental programs, the Trump administration appears to be prioritizing the cleanup of these polluted sites. But why? Host Flora Lichtman talks with science journalist Shahla Farzan about the Trump administration’s approach to cleaning up Superfund sites and what this means for impacted communities.Read Farzan’s full story about the move to expedite cleanup, and her past coverage of how floods can impact the areas surrounding Superfund sites.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.
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25:26
What’s Next For China’s Space Program?
This week, China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft sent back its first image from space. It’s headed to a rendezvous with the asteroid Kamoʻoalewa, one of Earth’s “quasi-moons,” where it will collect samples in 2026. The mission comes after several successful lunar missions, including a lunar rover and a sample return mission from the far side of the moon. Host Ira Flatow talks with reporter Ling Xin from the South China Morning Post about the goals of China’s space program, and what might be ahead.Plus, astronomer Dean Regas describes his new “tactile astronomy” book, which seeks to bring stories of the constellations to young blind and low-vision readers. Guests:Ling Xin is a science reporter at the South China Morning Post based in Ohio.Dean Regas is an astronomer, host of the “Looking Up” podcast, and author of the new book All About Orion.Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com.
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Covering the outer reaches of space to the tiniest microbes in our bodies, Science Friday is the source for entertaining and educational stories about science, technology, and other cool stuff.
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