Science Friday

While Tyrannasaurus rex has reached celebrity status in pop culture thanks to movies like “Jurassic Park” and famous fossils, it can be difficult to imagine what everyday life was like for this charismatic prehistoric predator.
Producer Kathleen Davis speaks to science writer Riley Black, who has investigated and reimagined life of the T. rex in her new book, “Tyrant Lizard Queen.” Prepare to get a grounding new perspective on this larger-than-life monster.
Read an excerpt from “Tyrant Lizard Queen: The Love, Life, and Terror of Earth’s Greatest Carnivore”
Guest:
Riley Black is a science writer and the author of several books, including “When the Earth Was Green,” “The Last Days of the Dinosaurs,” and “Tyrant Lizard Queen.”
Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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Pass the cocktail napkins and refill your glass because we’re having a dinner party. You’ll be between Isabella Rossellini, the Italian model, movie star, and director; and ecologist Carl Safina, author of many books, including “Beyond Words: What Animals Think And Feel."
This might seem like an unusual pairing, but it turns out they have a surprising amount in common. Both have a deep interest in animal cognition and our place in the natural world, but bring distinctly different lenses to their exploration of this corner of science. They join Host Flora Lichtman in the studio to discuss.
Guests:
Isabella Rossellini is an actor and director, and runs Mama Farm in Brookhaven, New York.
Dr. Carl Safina is an ecologist and the author of “Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel."
Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that’s keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374

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The time we see on our phones and clocks is based on the Earth’s rotation. But that rotation speed varies, so if it speeds up or slows down, our time measurements get thrown off. To solve this problem, timekeeping scientists have been deploying leap seconds to keep our clocks aligned with our planet. That is, until last week. After decades of debate, a global committee of timekeepers voted to kill the leap second.
Host Flora Lichtman speaks to journalist Emma Gometz, who reported on the change for Scientific American, and physicist Judah Levine, to understand why this decision is a big deal and what exactly it means for us.
Guests:
Emma Gometz is the associate newsletter editor at Scientific American, based in Queens, New York.
Dr. Judah Levine is a faculty member in the Department of Physics and a fellow of JILA at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.


Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that’s keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374

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The movie “Klara and the Sun,” in theaters now, is based on the 2021 novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro. The story is set in the future and is narrated by Klara, a robotic “Artificial Friend,” whose job is to be a companion to a sick teenage girl.
In the 5 years since the release of the novel, the AI landscape has changed profoundly. Flora talks to novelist Kazuo Ishiguro about the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence, the intersection of art and science, and his hopes—and fears—for the future of this tech.
Guest:
Kazuo Ishiguro is a novelist and Nobel laureate, based in London, England.
Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.


Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that’s keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374

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Have you ever wondered what it means for something to be bear resistant? How do manufacturers know that the cooler you take camping or the compost bin in your backyard will keep hungry bears out?
Wonder no more! Journalist Alex Davies’ new book “Kobuk the Destroyer: And Other Tales from the Wild, Unseen World of Test Engineering” takes you inside the workplace of the grizzly bears whose job it is to tear apart consumer goods. Davies joins Ira to discuss how bears do it, and other creative experiments to test the safety of jet engines, pill bottles and more.
Read an excerpt from “Kobuk the Destroyer.”
Guest:
Alex Davies is a journalist and author of “Kobuk the Destroyer: And Other Tales from the Wild, Unseen World of Test Engineering.”
Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that’s keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.