Were Dinos On Their Way Out Before The Asteroid Hit? Maybe Not
One of the biggest debates in the dinosaur world is what was happening right before they went extinct. Were they already declining, or would they have thrived if not for the asteroid? Two recent studies shed some light on this question: one that analyzes a trove of fossils from New Mexico and suggests there was more diversity in the Americas than previously thought, and another that reanalyzes a long-debated juvenile T. rex fossil and finds it’s likely a separate, smaller species.Host Ira Flatow is joined by authors on those separate studies, paleontologists Steve Brusatte and Lindsay Zanno.Guests: Dr. Lindsay Zanno is division head of paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC.Dr. Steve Brusatte is a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.
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Is There Such A Thing As Too Much Resolution On A TV?
As Black Friday approaches, you’re probably being inundated with ads for bigger, better televisions. But just how good is good enough? Are there limits to what our eyes can even make out?Visual perception researcher Maliha Ashraf joins Host Flora Lichtman to describe her new study on display resolution—including a display calculator she and her colleagues developed to help you determine the optimal display characteristics for a given room. And retinal neuroscientist Bryan Jones joins the conversation to delve into the workings of human vision.Guests:Dr. Maliha Ashraf is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge in the UK.Dr. Bryan W. Jones is a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.
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Can A Billion-Dollar Barricade Keep Carp Out Of The Great Lakes?
Decades ago, non-native carp were brought onto fish farms on the Mississippi River to control algae and parasites. They escaped, thrived, and eventually flooded the Illinois River, outcompeting native species and wreaking havoc. If the carp find their way into the Great Lakes, they could do major damage to those vital ecosystems.There’s a proposed project to stop the fish—but it’s expensive, and not everyone agrees it’s the best solution. Host Flora Lichtman speaks with WBEZ and Grist reporter Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco and carp expert Cory Suski.Guests: Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco is an environmental reporter at WBEZ and Grist. Dr. Cory Suski is a professor of aquatic resources at the University of Illinois.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.
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Inside The Race To Save Wild Axolotls
Axolotls are one of the most charismatic and beloved amphibians out there. But did you know that there’s only one place in the whole world where you can find them in the wild? It’s Lake Xochimilco in Mexico City.There, scientists are scrambling to save them from extinction by creating refuges, using environmental DNA to track them down, and tag-teaming with the farmers who work on the lake. Luis Zambrano, one of the world’s leading axolotl experts, and Alejandro Maeda-Obregón, a molecular biologist, talk with Host Flora Lichtman about their work to protect these beloved amphibians.Guests: Dr. Luis Zambrano is a leading expert on axolotls and an ecologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.Dr. Alejandro Maeda-Obregón is a molecular ecologist at University College London who studies rare and endangered species.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.
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Endometriosis Is Common. Why Is Getting Diagnosed So Hard?
Endometriosis is a painful disease that occurs when endometrium-like tissue grows outside of the uterus. It’s extremely common—if you have a uterus, you have a 1 in 10 chance of getting it. Yet, it takes seven years on average to receive a formal diagnosis. What does the latest science tell us about the biology of the condition and how to treat it? And why do so many people have such a difficult time getting diagnosed? Host Flora Lichtman is joined by endometriosis researcher and patient Linda Griffith to answer those questions and more. Guest: Dr. Linda Griffith is a biological engineer and Scientific Director of The MIT Center for Gynepathology Research.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.
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Covering the outer reaches of space to the tiniest microbes in our bodies, Science Friday is the source for entertaining and educational stories about science, technology, and other cool stuff.
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