Videos of humanoid robots dancing, doing cartwheels, putting clothes in a washing machine, and serving drinks are all over social media. And tech CEOs are telling us to prepare for the forthcoming humanoid army that’s going to totally change our lives for the better.

But what’s real? Where are we with this technology? Are these humanoids robots ready to take washing the dishes off our plates, or work beside us in warehouses?

Tech journalist James Vincent became an expert on the subject when he toured humanoid robot factories and rubbed shoulders with robots themselves for a feature story he wrote for Harper’s Magazine. He joins Host Flora Lichtman with perspective on the hype.

Guest: James Vincent is a journalist who’s written for The Verge and The Guardian, and author of the book Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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It’s that time of year: the Christmas Bird Count, when birders go out in flocks to record all the birds they see in a single day. The data collected during this annual tradition gets compiled by the National Audubon Society, and helps scientists understand bird population trends across the Americas.

If you participate in the bird count, chances are you’ll see a lot of the same birds you’d see any other day of the year—think sparrows, blue jays, blackbirds, cardinals. But that doesn’t make them any less special. So this year we’re turning our binoculars on a few (wrongfully) overlooked common birds.

Producer Kathleen Davis talks with two of our favorite birders, author and illustrator Rosemary Mosco, and conservation scientist Corina Newsome, to share some surprising facts about birds that don’t often make it to the top of pecking order.

Guests:
Rosemary Mosco is an author, illustrator, and speaker whose work connects people with the natural world.
Corina Newsome is a birder and conservation scientist at the National Wildlife Federation, based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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It’s winter, and the SciFri team is already dreaming of warmer weather. How about a mind vacation to one of the hottest places on earth, an erupting volcano? Tamsin Mather has trekked to volcanoes in Chile, Guatemala, Italy, and beyond to learn their secrets. She joins Host Flora Lichtman to field your burning volcano questions, like what’s the deal with glass shards that look like hairballs?

Guest: Dr. Tamsin Mather is a professor of Earth sciences at the University of Oxford in the UK.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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The sound of a choir performing in a cathedral is iconic for a reason. It’s this beautiful human experience: being side-by-side with other people, feeling the sound vibrate through you, reverberating around the space.

But how long has that been a part of our culture? And what role did sound play in the lives of people who lived during the Ice Age or the Stone Age? That’s the focus of a growing field of archaeology called archaeoacoustics, where researchers use the scientific tools of today to investigate the role of sound and music in the past.

To learn more, Host Flora Lichtman is joined by Margarita Díaz-Andreu, principal investigator of the Art Soundscapes project, and Rupert Till, head of the department of humanities at the University of Huddersfield in the UK.

Guests: Dr. Margarita Díaz-Andreu is an ICREA professor at the University of Barcelona in Spain and principal investigator of the Art Soundscapes project.
Dr. Rupert Till is a professor of music and head of the department humanities at the University of Huddersfield in the UK.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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As the planet warms, the world’s glaciers are melting faster than snow can replenish the ice. That has implications for sea level rise, ocean currents, and global weather patterns. But collecting data at the edge of a melting glacier can be risky.

Glaciologist Erin Pettit and her colleagues are listening to the sounds melting glaciers make—from the sizzling of trapped air bubbles bursting, to the deep rumbles of underwater calving of icebergs. She joins Host Flora Lichtman to share some glacial sounds, and describe the multi-stage robot tools she uses to monitor melting ice.

Guest: Dr. Erin Pettit is a professor of geophysics and glaciology at Oregon State University.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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In cancer research, the “seed and soil” hypothesis posits that the tumor is like a seed of misbehaving cells taking root in the body. Whether it grows—and where it grows—depends on the conditions, or soil. Since this hypothesis was proposed more than 100 years ago, most research and treatments have focused on the seed, or tumor.

For nearly 50 years, Rakesh Jain has been studying the soil. But in a seed-focused field, his work was seen as wasteful and radical. Now, that very same research has led to seven FDA-approved treatments for diseases including lung and liver cancer, and earned him a National Medal of Science in 2016. Host Flora Lichtman talks with Jain about how his fringe idea led to lifesaving cancer treatments.

Guest: Dr. Rakesh K. Jain studies the biology of tumors at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital as a professor of radiation oncology.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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For many people, bubonic plague is an illness that seems squarely situated in medieval times. But each year, a handful of human cases pop up in the western United States. Plague can be treated successfully with modern medicine. But why does it still exist, and how should we think about it both locally and globally?

Plague researcher Viveka Vadyvaloo joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk all things spread and containment.

Guest: Dr. Viveka Vadyvaloo is a plague researcher and director of the Allen School for Global Health at Washington State University.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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Today we’re spotlighting an underappreciated group of marine creatures: sea slugs. Don’t let their humble name fool you. They come in vivid neon colors, with patterns that rival the most beautiful butterflies and feather-like external gills and tentacles.

There are an estimated 10,000 species of sea slugs and they are incredibly diverse. Some are smaller than a quarter. And one species can weigh more than a terrier, up to 30 pounds. Not to mention their contributions to brain research—understanding their neural networks was the basis for a Nobel Prize in 2000.

Marine biologist Patrick Krug joins Host Ira Flatow to dive into the slimy science of sea slugs.

Guest: Dr. Patrick Krug is a sea slug researcher and professor of biological sciences at Cal State LA.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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