This week, SpaceX attempted the first uncrewed orbital test flight of its massive Super Heavy rocket topped with an experimental crew capsule known as Starship. After one aborted launch earlier in the week, the huge rocket successfully lifted off Thursday morning—but minutes later, the Starship component failed to separate from the Super Heavy booster, and the combined rocket stack exploded. While a setback for the team, SpaceX head Elon Musk said that a lot had been learned from the flight, and another test launch would take place in several months.
Purbita Saha, senior editor at Popular Science, joins SciFri’s John Dankosky to talk about the launch and other stories from the week in science, including an Earth Day look at water conservation issues across the country, a new named COVID variant, work on an experimental skin cancer vaccine, and the materials science of Mayan plaster.
Plus, you can now listen to Science Friday's new arts podcast, Universe of Art. SciFri producer and Universe of Art host D Peterschmidt joins John to give a sneak peak of some of the episodes.
Dismantling Myths About Menstruation
Saying the phrase “menstrual blood” or or the word “period” can feel almost dirty. That’s because in the western world, people with periods are taught not to discuss this exceedingly normal biological process. Half the world will menstruate at some point in their lives, and yet menstruation remains exceedingly under-studied.
Biological anthropologist Kate Clancy dug into the history of menstruation research, and the myriad misconceptions about it, while working on her book “Period: The Real Story of Menstruation.” What she found was a lack of basic understanding of the biological process, from physicians and menstruators alike. Clancy speaks with guest host Maddie Sofia about the misconceptions of a “normal” menstrual cycle, and other persisting period myths.
Fighting Climate Change With Genetically Modified TreesVince Stanley has a saying, which he holds as true in a commercial forest as on a row crop farm: Every acre has a plan. In a wetland he owns in Tattnall County, about 70 miles west of Savannah, downhill from an orderly grove of predictably profitable loblolly pines, he is trying out something new. “Now, look at this guy right here,” Stanley said, pointing out what looked more like a stick in the mud compared to the tupelos growing a few yards away in the deeper water. This stick, surrounded by pin flags and planted about six feet away from its sister, had signs of new life: dark green leaves. “That’s impressive,” Stanley said.
And the germ of the new plan for these acres, is something that, until now, Stanley said he didn’t really have. “We’re just leaving this up to Mother Nature,” he said. “So now with Living Carbon, we’ve gone to Option B.” This nascent tree and 10,499 others are at the heart of Option B, what might be the first effort of its kind in the nation: genetically engineered trees planted in a forest. What’s more, these trees are for sale.
Read the rest at sciencefriday.com.
All You Need To Know About Anesthesia
If you’ve ever had surgery, you’ve probably wondered about how anesthesia works, or maybe even lied awake at night anxious about going under. If you’ve ever been there, I’m sure you remember: Right before surgery, you get rolled into the operating room. The anesthesiologist tells you to start counting down from 10. The next thing you know, you’re awake in the recovery room and you don’t remember anything that just happened to you. How exactly did anesthesiologists manage to get you safely into that state and back out again?
Guest host John Dankosky talks with Dr. Louise Sun, professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine at Stanford University Health and Dr. Gunisha Kaur, anesthesiologist, director of the Human Rights Impact Lab, and medical director of Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights at Weill Cornell Medicine about the basics of how anesthesia works.
726: A New Book Puts ‘Math in Drag’
725: With This Rare Disorder, No Amount Of Sleep Is Enough
724: How Election Science Can Support Democracy | The Genetic Roots Of Antibiotic Resistance
728: Triple Feature: Dune, Mars, And An Alien On Earth
727: Could This Be The End Of Voyager 1?
723: What It Takes To Care For The US Nuclear Arsenal
722: A Young Scientist Uplifts The Needs Of Parkinson’s Patients
721: Snakes Are Evolutionary Superstars | Whale Song Is All In The Larynx
720: What’s Behind The Measles Outbreak In Florida?
719: Pythagoras Was Wrong About Music | Biochar's Potential For Carbon Capture
718: As Space Exploration Expands, So Will Space Law
717: Blood In The Water: Shark Smell Put To The Test
714: How Trivia Experts Recall Facts | One Ant Species Sent Ripples Through A Food Web
716: OpenAI’s New Product Makes Incredibly Realistic Fake Videos
715: Private Spacecraft Makes Historic Moon Landing | New Cloud Seeding Technique
713: Making Chemistry More Accessible To Blind And Low-Vision People
712: Understanding And Curbing Generative AI’s Energy Consumption
711: Which Feathered Dinosaurs Could Fly? | Some French Cheeses At Risk Of Extinction
710: Climate Scientist Michael Mann Wins Defamation Case
709: Odysseus Lander Heads To The Moon | Ohio Chemical Spill, One Year Later
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