Science Friday

When states began legalizing recreational cannabis a couple decades ago, 25 million Americans said they used the drug. That number nearly tripled to 70 million by 2023.
There are a lot of open questions about how it affects us. Why do some people find more pain relief from THC than traditional painkillers? Is it really better for sleep? What are the effects of long-term use?
Host Flora Lichtman is joined by two scientists taking on these kinds of questions: Experimental psychologist Ryan Vandrey, who’s studied the health effects of cannabis for 26 years, and neuropsychologist Natasha Wade, who studies the effects of substance abuse on adolescent brains. She recently analyzed data from 11,000 teens to understand how cannabis affects development.
Guests:
Dr. Ryan Vandrey is an experimental psychologist and professor at the Johns Hopkins University Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit and helps lead the Johns Hopkins Cannabis Science Lab.
Dr. Natasha Wade is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego and licensed clinical neuropsychologist.
Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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There’s a flashy new find in the hunt for dark matter—the stuff that makes up 85% of all matter in the universe, but we have no clue what it is.
A mile under Lead, South Dakota, is a giant cauldron filled with 7 tons of liquid xenon, encased in water and surrounded by super-sensitive photodetectors. Known as the LZ detector, its job is to look for flashes of light that come from particles bumping into xenon atoms. And during its observations, the researchers saw a very weird flash—a bump that doesn’t look like it came from any particle we know of.
Flora talks with physicist Richard Gaitskell about the hunt for a dark matter particle and why he’s excited about this weird little finding.
Guest:
Dr. Richard Jeremy Gaitskell is a physicist at Brown University and a leading scientist in the search for particle dark matter. He is a co-founder of the Large Underground Xenon experiment.
Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.

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Once upon a time, much of what we call “science” was performed by people called “natural philosophers,” delving into mysteries of nature, physics, chemistry, and more. Physicist and author Carlo Rovelli argues that there’s still a great need for philosophy, and that the two fields can and should learn from each other in investigating reality.
Rovelli joins Host Ira Flatow to talk about big ideas in physics, and his new book, “On The Equality of All Things: Lessons on Physics and Philosophy.”
Read an excerpt from “On The Equality of All Things.”
Guest:
Dr. Carlo Rovelli is an Italian theoretical physicist and the author of “On The Equality of Things.”
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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Between E. coli in blueberries, glass in popsicles, and that dreaded cyclospora, this summer was all about keeping a wary eye on the groceries in the fridge. But how does the recall data stack up against previous years? And are federal cuts to food safety agencies to blame? Flora talks to food safety expert Brian Ronholm to get the big picture.
Plus, more than 1.5 million cars have been recalled this year for risk of bursting into flames. As automotive journalist Jason Torchinsky explains, it's a miracle it doesn’t happen more often.
Guests:
Brian Ronholm is the director of food policy at Consumer Reports.
Jason Torchinsky is an automotive journalist and co-founder of Autopian.
Transcript will be available after the show airs on 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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On social media, the vagus nerve often gets billed as the gateway to nervous system nirvana: It’s your ticket to better rest, relaxation, and health if you “stimulate” it correctly. Where did this idea come from, and what does the research say?
In March, Host Flora Lichtman talked with neurosurgeon Kevin Tracey, a pioneer of a field called bioelectronic medicine, which uses techniques to stimulate the nervous system with electricity. Back in the 1990s, he was the first to discover that the vagus nerve regulates the immune system and inflammation.
Guest:
Dr. Kevin Tracey is a neurosurgeon, and president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health. He is the author of The Great Nerve.
Transcript will be available after the show airs on 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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