A program trains women as tactile medical examiners to identify tumors before they show up on imaging scans. And, in a materials science discovery, scientists made a liquid silk solution that hardens and picks up objects—not unlike Spider-Man’s web.

How Blind Women In India Are Detecting Early Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide, just behind lung cancer. And the earlier a breast tumor is found, the more likely it is that the person survives their diagnosis.

An international program called Discovering Hands trains blind women to detect even the smallest lumps and bumps through breast exams. The idea is to leverage the blind examiners’ sense of touch, which may be more acute than sighted people’s, to feel for breast abnormalities and, hopefully, catch cancer in an early stage.

Discovering Hands has a cohort in India, a country where only around one in every two people diagnosed with breast cancer survive, and imaging equipment can be expensive or hard to come by.

SciFri producer Rasha Aridi talks with science journalist Kamala Thiagarajan, who reported on Discovering Hands’ program in India for NPR’s global health blog, Goats and Soda.

Accidental Breakthrough Makes Web-Slinging Silk A Reality

We’re all familiar with Spider-Man—the red-suited hero who swings through New York using spider silk that shoots from his hands. While Peter Parker has a radioactive spider to thank for his shooting webs, scientists at Tufts University have made their own version of liquid silk that solidifies and can pick up objects.

This discovery was made accidentally, says biomedical engineer Dr. Marco Lo Presti of the Tufts University Silklab. Lo Presti found that combining silk from a silkworm with dopamine and acetone made the silk change from a flexible liquid to a hardened fiber that attaches to objects.

Lo Presti joins guest host Kathleen Davis to talk about the possibilities of liquid silk adhesives, and the advancements he’d like to see to make the technology better.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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Sitting is a big part of modern life. Many people work at a desk all day, have long commutes, or at least enjoy some time relaxing on the couch at the end of the day. But sitting has gained a reputation as being bad for us—with some going so far as to call it “the new smoking.”

A recent study in the journal PLOS One sheds more light on just how much sitting is too much, using a cohort of more than 1,000 young adults, including 730 twins. The results showed that sitting for more than about eight and a half hours per day is linked to a higher total cholesterol and body mass index than sitting for less than that amount of time.

But there’s good news: 30 minutes of vigorous exercise per day may counter the negative effects that come from long days of sitting.

Joining guest host Kathleen Davis to discuss the findings are two of the study authors: Dr. Chandra Reynolds, professor in the Institute of Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado, Boulder; and Ryan Bruellman, PhD candidate in genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics at the University of California, Riverside.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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The Accidental Discovery That Gave Us ‘Forever Chemicals’

When it comes to PFAS chemicals—known as “forever chemicals”—we often hear that they’re used in nonstick coatings, flame retardants, and stain repellants. But those examples can hide the truth of just how widespread their use has been in modern life.

A new season of the “Hazard NJ” podcast looks at the origin story of PFAS chemicals, and the accidental discovery of PTFE—aka Teflon—in a DuPont laboratory in southern New Jersey. “Hazard NJ” host Jordan Gass-Pooré joins guest host Kathleen Davis to talk about the history of PFAS, their effect on the environment and health of New Jersey residents, and work towards cleaning up the PFAS mess.

A Play About Pregnancy Inspired By Mushroom Research

People are finding all sorts of uses for mushrooms these days, but we’re going to focus on two of them: how scientists are using them in robots and how playwrights are using them in theater. A few weeks ago, SciFri producer and host of our “Universe of Art” podcast D Peterschmidt moderated a panel at the Science In Theater Festival in Brooklyn, New York.

The festival is put on by a company called Transforma Theatre that stages science-inspired plays. Each year, they pair playwrights with scientists to make short plays that explore the research focus of the scientist.

Director and playwright Hannah Simms was paired with Dr. Andrew Adamatzky, a professor of unconventional computing, who’s learning how to connect various parts of nature, like mushrooms, to computers, and consulted with Hannah during the writing process. The play, called “Fruiting Body,” is about a fungal-computing scientist who, while pregnant, creates a fetal heart monitor powered by mycelium, which turns out to be sentient. While the concept is definitely science fiction, it is based on real unconventional mushroom research.

D talks with Hannah to learn why she wanted to explore her pregnancy through the lens of mushroom research. They’re also joined by Dr. Anand Mishra, a research associate at Cornell University’s department  of mechanical and aerospace engineering, who explains how he helped build a robot that’s powered by king oyster mushroom mycelium.

Transcript for this segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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“The Burning Earth” examines over 800 years of history to demonstrate how violence against people and the planet are one and the same. Also, the host of the “Hazard NJ” podcast talks about the origins of PFAS “forever chemicals” and their impact on New Jersey residents.

How Empire and Environmental Destruction Go Hand-In-Hand

A new book called The Burning Earth: A History takes on a massive question: How did we get here? “Here” being this point in environmental history and decades deep into the climate crisis. Over the span of 800 years of history, the book connects the dots of how the pursuit of empire, environmental destruction, and human migration led us to this moment in time.

SciFri producer Kathleen Davis talks with author Dr. Sunil Amrith, a historian at Yale University. They discuss some common threads that run through human and environmental history, why peace has to be a part of climate action, and what we can learn from understanding the past.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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The effect, known as the Hubble Tension, has been confirmed by James Webb Space Telescope observations. Also, despite near daily warnings of food recalls, 2024 hasn’t been that different from previous years.

The Universe Is Expanding Faster Than Expected

There’s still a lot to be learned about the physics of our universe—and one of the most perplexing ideas is something called the Hubble Tension. That’s an observation, made around a decade ago, that the universe seems to be expanding faster than it should be according to cosmologists’ understanding of its earliest days. Now, two years of James Webb Space Telescope observations of supernovae have confirmed those previous measurements made by the Hubble telescope, meaning that the puzzle isn’t just due to some instrumental error.

Casey Crownhart, climate reporter at MIT Technology Review, joins Kathleen Davis to talk about that finding and other stories from the week in science, including a new quantum computing chip from Google, efforts to improve electrical control of prosthetics, proposed new protections for monarch butterflies, and more.

Are Food Recalls Actually On The Rise? Not Really.

It feels like there’s been an onslaught of food recalls this year. The Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture have issued recalls for items like cucumbers and carrots, deli meat and smoked salmon, which have been contaminated with pathogens like salmonella, E. coli, and listeria.

There were just over 1,900 food recalls in the fiscal year ending in October 2024. While that number has been increasing since an initial dip in recalls early in the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s still lower than the numbers seen in the several years before the pandemic.

SciFri producer Kathleen Davis talks with Dr. Byron Chaves, food scientist and professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, about why it feels like there are so many food recalls this year, how a recall happens, and what food safety tips you should know as a consumer.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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The microbiome, the network of tens of trillions of microbes that live in and on our bodies, helps us digest food and protects us from diseases. And depending on what species of bacteria you have, your microbiome could impact your stress response, decision-making, and how likely you are to develop arthritis and depression.

Scientists have known that your microbiome is partially shaped by your environment, and the people you spend your time with. But they haven’t had a lot of clarity on how exactly social networks outside of home and family impact our microbiome makeup.

To learn more, a team from Yale University mapped the connections among 2,000 people in isolated villages in Honduras and compared their microbiomes to see how exactly their social closeness impacted their gut bacteria. And it turns out, we’re more connected to people in our lives than you may think. Their research was published in the journal Nature.

Ira Flatow is joined by sociologist and physician Dr. Nicholas Christakis, who directs the Human Nature Lab at Yale University. He studies the biology of human social interactions and was an author on the recent paper. They discuss how the researchers worked with villages in Honduras to gather samples and how they can tell who your friends are, just by looking at your poop.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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When you consider someone’s legacy in science, you might think about their biggest discovery, their list of publications, or their titles, awards, and prizes. But another kind of scientific legacy involves the students and colleagues that passed through a scientist’s orbit over the course of a career.

A new book, The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science, takes a look at the legacy of Madame Marie Curie, one of the most recognizable names in science history. But instead of looking only at Curie’s own life, author Dava Sobel views her through the lens of some of the 45 women who trained in Curie’s lab during her research into radioactivity.

Ira Flatow talks with Sobel about her research into Curie’s life, some of the anecdotes from the book, and how she interacted with some of her lab assistants and colleagues.

Transcript for this segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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There are a lot of holiday gatherings at this time of year, and families getting together can mean that kids are in places that don’t normally have a lot of kid visitors. And, as we know, curious kids can get into trouble.

Dr. Sing-Yi Feng, a pediatric emergency physician and medical toxicologist with the North Texas Poison Center, joins Ira to talk about some of the most common toxic exposures seen in hospital emergency rooms over the holidays. She stresses that even more than protecting against consumption of poinsettia plants or the cleaning supplies under the sink, households with young kids should be sure to control access to prescription medications, alcohol, and cannabis gummies.

Transcript for this segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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It’s that time of the  year when you’re making your list, checking it twice, for gifts that spark a love of science for the kids in your life. 

Ira talks with Mahnaz Dar, young readers’ editor at Kirkus Reviews and Carrie Wolfson, collection development librarian at the Boulder Public Library to  round up some of the top kids’ science books of 2024 and make recommendations based on listener questions.

See their full list of recommendations on sciencefriday.com.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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The Supreme Court hears a case centering on the FDA’s denial of applications for nicotine-based vapes containing flavored liquid seen as addictive for young people. And, damaged lithium-ion batteries can cause deadly explosions. An algorithm could help detect when they’re about to happen.

Supreme Court Hears Case On FDA Regulation Of Flavored Vapes

On Monday, the US Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could change the Food and Drug Administration’s power to regulate nicotine-based vapes. It revolves around the FDA’s denial of applications from two vape companies that sell flavored liquids in their products, citing that the liquids presented a danger in addicting young people to nicotine. But a lower court rejected that denial, saying the agency was inconsistent in its approval process. The decision could impact the FDA’s regulatory power to ban the sale of some of these vapes in the US.

Ira Flatow is joined by Rachel Feltman, host of the Popular Science podcast “The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week,” to talk about the health implications of the case. They also discuss other top science stories of the week, including why there’s been a large decrease in cervical cancer rates over the past decade, why Venus probably wasn’t able to support ancient life (contradicting some hopeful theories), and new information about when humans might’ve started to wear clothing, thanks to some clues from lice.

A Warning For When A Lithium-Ion Battery Is About To Explode

Lithium-ion batteries are used in all sorts of electronics, like smart phones, laptops, and e-bikes. That’s because they can store a lot of energy in a small package. Unfortunately, this also means that when a battery is damaged, there’s a lot of energy to expel, which can lead to explosions and fires.

While there are no national statistics available, in New York City alone, there have been 733 fires started by lithium-ion batteries since 2019, which killed 29 people and injured 442. Most of these fires are a result of e-bike or scooter batteries catching fire.

Now, researchers have trained AI algorithms to be able to better predict when a lithium-ion battery is about to explode. The battery makes a hissing sound two minutes before an explosion.

Ira talks with two researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology about their work on the subject: Dr. Andy Tam, mechanical engineer in the Fire Research Division, and Dr. Anthony Putorti, fire protection engineer and leader of the Firefighting Technology Group.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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The Ig Nobel awards are a salute to achievements that, in the words of the organizers, “make people laugh, then think.”  Each year, the editors of the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research choose 10 lucky(?) winners who have unusual achievements in science, medicine, and other fields. This year’s awards were presented in a theatrical extravaganza in an MIT lecture hall in September.

They included awards for studying coin flipping (including hundreds of thousands of real coin flips), the movements of a dead trout, and an opera about Murphy’s Law. In a Science Friday holiday tradition, Ira hosts an hour of highlights from the ceremony.

Transcripts for each segment will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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