For the first time ever, scientists have heard the “low pitch hum” of gravitational waves rippling through the cosmos. It’s this ever-present background noise set off by the movement of massive objects—like colliding black holes—throughout the universe. Scientists have theorized that it’s been there all along, but we haven’t been able to hear until now. So what does this hum tell us about our universe?
SciFri producer Kathleen Davis talks with science writer Maggie Koerth about this discovery, as well as other science news of the week. They chat about the possibility of an icy planet hiding in the Milky Way, air quality problems due to wildfire smoke, an experimental weight loss drug that’s currently being tested, if our human ancestors were cannibals, and how dolphin moms use baby talk with their calves.
Celebrating The Weird, Wonderful World Of Cephalopods
Every year, Cephalopod Week reminds us of the fascinating and weird world of these sea creatures. And in this segment, recorded live at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science Auditorium, two cephalopod scientists share new research about our squishy sea-faring neighbors, how climate change is affecting squids and octopuses, and why they love working with them.
Ira Flatow talked to Dr. Lynne Fieber PhD., professor of marine biology and ecology who has studied the nervous systems of all types marine invertebrates including cephalopod and sea slugs, and Dr. Andrea Durant Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the Grosell Environmental Physiology and Toxicology Lab, who studies how tiny glass squid live in a rapidly-changing ocean.
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Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.
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
708: One Crisis After Another: Designing Cities For Resiliency
707: Using Sound To Unpack The History Of Astronomy
706: Colorectal Cancer Rates Rising In Young People | What An AI Learns From A Baby
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