PRX - Pieces for Topic: Science

Can't find it? Try Advanced Search
View by:

66 results


The Number of Squirrels in NYC Parks in a Nutshell
From: Rebekah Robinson
Caption: Curious squirrel, Central Park, New York, Credit: basair is marked with CC BY-NC 2.0
How many squirrels are there in Central Park? It’s not just a trivia question for a dinner party. The answer tells us a lot about the urban environ...

  • Added: Apr 20, 2022
  • Length: 02:44
212: Peanut Butter Diamonds
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
With enough pressure and heat, just about anything with enough carbon in it could become a diamond. And thankfully for us, when a scientist was ask...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Apr 08, 2022
  • Length: 04:56
  • Purchases: 1
209: Detachable Tails
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
In cases of emergency, lizards pop off their tails to get away. Evolution made it possible for that tail to stay on when tugged but not twisted. It...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Mar 31, 2022
  • Length: 05:00
  • Purchases: 1
206 part two: Skeet Shooting Fish
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Sure, Archerfish can use a squirt of water to knock prey into the water to be eaten. But researchers wanted to know, could they count?

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Mar 11, 2022
  • Length: 04:53
  • Purchases: 1
202: Honeypot Ants
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Imagine you're an ant living in an arid climate. There's no grocery stores! How do you keep enough food on hand for when things are scarce? You won...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Feb 15, 2022
  • Length: 04:48
  • Purchases: 1
197: Singing Gorillas
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Give a captive gorilla tasty food, they often vocalize in ways that sound a lot like singing. It's so charming! But scientists thought this "singin...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jan 10, 2022
  • Length: 05:08
  • Purchases: 1
194: Iris Sphincters
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
You might think you're special because you can flex your nostrils or flap your ears--but it turns out that there's a person out there who can volun...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jan 10, 2022
  • Length: 11:34
  • Purchases: 1
187: Animal Buddy Cops
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
In an unexpected turn of events, two predators with very different hunting styles work cooperatively. During the summer months, badgers and coyotes...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Oct 11, 2021
  • Length: 04:32
  • Purchases: 1
173: Mushroom Lightning
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
There's a long tradition of Japanese folklore around the possible relationship between large mushroom harvests and lightning. Researchers decided t...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio and WRFA-LP


  • Added: Jun 14, 2021
  • Length: 04:54
  • Purchases: 2
167: Wormnado
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
When out on a walk, Tiffanie Fisher spotted a giant ring of worms and snapped a picture. She posted the photo in the hopes that someone could expla...

Bought by WRFA-LP and Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: May 24, 2021
  • Length: 04:55
  • Purchases: 2
165: Silently Screaming Tomato
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
In a pitched battle against voracious tomato fruit worms, (aka. corn earworms or cotton bollworm) tomato plants have one sneaky defense...a wasp. I...

Bought by WRFA-LP and Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: May 24, 2021
  • Length: 05:03
  • Purchases: 2
164: Bumblebee Tunnel
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Researcher Sridhar Ravi of UNSW Canberra looks to the humble bumblebee to answer questions about how to program a more nimble drone. The way he and...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: May 24, 2021
  • Length: 04:55
  • Purchases: 1
Vaccines
From: KSLU
Series: STEM Science Radio
Piece image
Rhett Allain and Adam Cortez discuss the science behind the vaccines and why they work

  • Added: May 06, 2021
  • Length: 11:59
161: Wild Hamsters
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Our best topics come from late night dinner table conversations with our kids. Amy attempts to answer the question: Are there herds of hamsters roa...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Mar 30, 2021
  • Length: 05:16
  • Purchases: 1
159: Wanna Cuttle?
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Can a cuttlefish master a test that very young children often struggle to pass? Instead of using marshmallows like we do with people, scientists us...

Bought by WRFA-LP


  • Added: Mar 30, 2021
  • Length: 05:05
  • Purchases: 1
111: Pigeons and Four Letter Words
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Might it be possible to teach a pigeon how to "read" a label for a person who can't read? Is there the possibility of a future where pigeon service...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: May 20, 2020
  • Length: 04:15
  • Purchases: 1
107: What Dogs Dream
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
You've probably seen a dog sleeping soundly with their legs pedaling. Is Fido really dreaming of chasing a tennis ball? Let's find out.

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Apr 29, 2020
  • Length: 04:49
  • Purchases: 1
98: Tenterhooks
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
If you're thinking, wait, I thought it was tenderhooks, you're not alone. Amy explains this early 18th century idiom that describes having a sense ...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Feb 20, 2020
  • Length: 03:13
  • Purchases: 1
93: Farting Herring
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Welcome to our funniest episode yet. Scientists avert international tension between Sweden and Russia, learn something we didn't know about herring...

  • Added: Jan 13, 2020
  • Length: 04:37
90: Full Moon Killers
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Barn owls come in three colors, a tawny brown, a mix of brown a white, and all white. It didn't make sense to researchers how a white owl could be ...

  • Added: Jan 06, 2020
  • Length: 06:15
87: Licorice or Liquorice?
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Either way you spell it, you either love that black candy or can't get away fast enough. Amy dives into why.

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Dec 03, 2019
  • Length: 06:27
  • Purchases: 1
82: Talking Eggs
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Before they even hatch, Yellow Legged Gull chicks seem to be communication to their nest mates. Amy dives into the how and why.

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Nov 24, 2019
  • Length: 04:58
  • Purchases: 1
29th Ig Nobel Prizes awarded at Harvard - science that makes you laugh, then think
From: WTIP
Series: The Roadhouse
Piece image
The 29th Ig Nobel Prize ceremony took place on September 12 at Harvard University.

  • Added: Nov 12, 2019
  • Length: 16:33
70: Galloping Crocodiles
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Like a scaly cheetah, galloping crocs were a terror both on land and in the water. Good thing they lived 100 million years ago.

Bought by Spokane Public Radio and KSFR


  • Added: Aug 06, 2019
  • Length: 04:15
  • Purchases: 2
65: Kidney Stone Roller Coaster
From: Trace Kerr
Series: Brain Junk
Piece image
Medical science on the fly. Turns out you only need to pull a few G's to loosen that stubborn kidney stone.

Bought by Spokane Public Radio


  • Added: Jun 26, 2019
  • Length: 03:24
  • Purchases: 1