Water bears, also known as tardigrades, can survive boiling, freezing, the vacuum of space and years of desiccation. Biologist Bob Goldstein, of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, describes water bears and explains why he studies them.

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“If you're a cephalopod, you're super easy to eat,” says Sarah McAnulty, a squid biologist. “You're basically a swimming protein bar.” McAnulty studies a species of cephalopod called the Hawaiian bobtail squid. While most cephalopods have flashy adaptations to stay off predators’ dinner menus this particular squid relies on something that many other cephalopods don’t—its bacteria BFF.



Produced by Luke Groskin
Edited by Erika Sutter
Music by Audio Network
Additional Footage and Stills Provided by Sarah McAnulty, Nyholm Lab, Pond5
Sacrificial Hemocyte Research Conducted by the Ruby-McFall-Ngai Lab

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Brett Grasse lovingly calls the Cephalopod Operations division at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) the “cephalopod empire.” The lab in Woods Hole, Massachusetts houses roughly 2,000 to 3,000 cephalopods—likely the largest collection of cephalopods of any research laboratory. And it’s possible that one day, these creatures will be as ubiquitous in labs as mice or fruit flies.

Produced by Luke Groskin
Music by Audio Network
Additional Footage and Stills Provided by Bret Grasse and Taylor Sakmar

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Since the founding of colonial Jamestown, cockroaches have scuttled through the dark spaces of our homes and our nightmares. But just recently, a new roach has appeared on the New York scene; one with ability to tolerate the cold. What is this hearty roach and where did it come from? Join Rutgers University roach researchers as they unravel the clues to identify this intruder and what its emergence represents.
Produced by Emily Driscoll
Filmed by Stavros Basis
Lighting by Ben Effinger
Music by Audio Network
Narration by Travis
Additional video and Still courtesy of
Oswin Ambrice , Barcode of Life Data Systems , ELearningExamples.com, Joseph Evangelista, Shutterstock
Sydney King and National Park Service, Reto Stockli, NASA Earth Observatory, Peter Vransky, and Dusan Chorvat

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For many of us, there are few creatures more nefarious and loathsome as leeches. But do these parasites deserve their bad reputation as mindless bloodsuckers? Dr. Mark Siddall a.k.a. "The Leech Guy," exposes our many misconceptions of these carnivorous worms and details his on-going research at the American Museum of Natural History into each species' unique cocktail of anti-clotting blood poisons.
Produced by Luke Groskin
Music by Audio Network
Additional Footage and Stills by Dr. Mark Siddall Shutterstock, Derek Morisson (C.C. 3.0), Alan Kuehner (C.C. 3.0), Rebecca VO (C.C. 3.0) Leo Kenney / Vernal Pool Association Steven Johnson, William Moser, Landcare Research – Manaaki Whenua

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Shots of Sandra Bullock floating through the Internation Space Station in "Gravity," inspired astronaut Don Pettit to share some of his own ISS footage.

Ira Flatow reads fan mail from Larkspur, Ca. He's in for a sweet surprise.

In 2004, pediatric audiologist Allyson Sisler-Dinwiddie plunged into a world of silence after a car accident damaged her hearing. Under the care of hearing researcher Rene Gifford, she became one of the first test subjects of a new technique to improve cochlear implants, devices that use electrodes to stimulate cells in the inner ear. Since then, Sisler-Dinwiddie and Gifford have worked together to restore other patients' hearing. Watch the pair and their team at Vanderbilt University as they develop a resounding remedy to help people hear again.
A film by Science Friday. Produced in collaboration with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Produced by Emily V. Driscoll and Luke Groskin
Directed by Emily V. Driscoll
Filmed by Jeff Nash
Edited by Erika Sutter
Music by Audio Network
Photographs by Vanderbilt University, Rene Gifford, Allyson Sisler-Dinwiddie
Hearing and Cochlear Implant Animations provided by MED-EL Jack Noble, and Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center

Vanderbilt Team and Patients: Stephen Ball, Tim Davis, David Haynes, Kendall Hill, David Lewellen, Jack Noble Alejandro Rivas, and Morgan Stansberry

Project Advisors: Laura A. Helft, Laura Bonetta, Dennis W.C. Liu and Sean B. Carroll - Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Special Thanks to Rene Gifford, Allyson Sisler-Dinwiddie, Keli S. Lawrence, Kate Carney, Charles Johnson, Christian Skotte, Danielle Dana, Ariel Zych, and Jennfier Fenwick

Science Friday/HHMI © 2016

It's crunch time for the 'balloonatics' at Macy's Parade Studio. The balloons themselves, which are designed and fabricated in a warehouse in New Jersey, are getting their final checkup before the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. John Piper and Jim Artle take us around the studio and spill the secrets of inflation, explain how to calculate whether your balloon will float, and explain why the balloons look better after a little time in the sun. (Broadcast Nov 2011)

Please support our video productions: http://www.patreon.com/scifri

The idea of mining Mars, the moon, or an asteroid for its mineral or water resources isn't far-fetched. NASA, the ESA, and several commercial enterprises already have missions in various stages of planning - all to test technologies and probe off-planet terrain for resource extraction. But before you go and land your finely-tuned space drill on an asteroid and suck out the water and carbon, you need to test it out here on earth. And before you do that, you need something to stand in for the rocks and soil of these interplanetary bodies. Using existing data from previous missions, a pinch of geology and chemistry, and and whole lot of jerry-rigged pressure cookers, researchers at Deep Space Industries are cooking up these simulants by the bucket full.
Produced by Luke Groskin
Music by Audio Network
Videography and Production Assistance by Brook Eschenroeder
Additional Videos, Stills and Animations by Shutterstock, Brandon Swanson, Deep Space Industries, Brian Versteeg, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Kennedy Space Flight Center, Goddard Space Flight, Johnson Space Center, Resource Prospector Mission , JAXA Hayabusa Mission, European Space Agency
Special Thanks to Philip Metzger, Danielle Dana and Ariel Zych

Chris Tack made seven trips to Goodwill to get rid of his stuff, before moving into the 140-square-foot home he and his wife Malissa Tack designed and built. Constructed on a trailer bed and parked in Snohomish, Washington, the house is more than enough space for them, the couple says. And one advantage of a home on wheels, the 29-year-olds say, is that you can always move.

They look cuddly, but don't be fooled: red-eyed treefrogs (Agalychnis callidryas) have a secret dark side. When Michael Caldwell, of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, filmed the frogs under infrared light he saw a behavior had hadn't seen before -- the frogs started vigorously shaking the branches they were sitting on. Caldwell and colleagues, decode the meaning of the shakes.

This summer, the #SciFriBookClub   is reading Tracy Kidder’s 1981 true-tech tale of computer engineering heroism, The Soul of a New Machine. Join three of the engineers profiled in Soul, as they remember the effort to bring  ‘Eagle’ to life. Ask a question using the Google Hangout Q&A feature, or tweet using the hashtag #SciFriBookClub  

Learn more about #SciFriBookClub  at http://sciencefriday.com/bookclub

Can you predict which song is going to be a hit? The answer may be yes.

In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick pieced together the structure of DNA — the now-famous double helix. To celebrate the release of a new annotated and illustrated edition of his 1968 book, The Double Helix, James Watson reflects on the groundbreaking discovery. Broadcast Nov. 16, 2012.

Listen to the full interview: http://bit.ly/Sx0s2A

At the Northeast Mycological Federation's 36th Annual Foray, some 15 crafty people learned how to use wool roving to create a mushroom-themed felt pillow. Cornelia Cho, a pediatrician and the president of the Mushroom Club of Georgia led the class. Meet Cho and her fellow felters, and get a taste of mushroom needle-felting technique, in the video below.

Join Science Friday for a live online discussion on April 28th at 6 p.m. EST to discuss strategies for addressing resistance to evolution instruction from students, staff, parents, and the community. Inspired by "The Pot-Stirrer," a video by Science Friday's The Macroscope, this panel will bring together experienced science educators from across the country to answer your questions about evolution in the classroom. Panelists will share their approach to introducing evolution concepts, classroom and community strategies for coping with resistance, and favorite evolution curriculum resources. Come as you are, and bring questions, ideas, and resources of your own to share in this Google Hangout On Air.

Danica McKellar--aka Winnie Cooper in the TV series The Wonder Years--talks to NPR Host Ira Flatow about math.

In honor of #CephalopodWeek, Science Friday's annual celebration of all things tentacled, come join a live panel discussion with real cephalopod and ocean experts from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and E/V Nautilus.

Learn what it's like to study these creatures, both in captivity and in the wild, and why cephalopods are worth studying... and saving. Plus, you'll be able to ask your own questions!

Learn more about #CephalopodWeek  at http://cephalopodweek.tumblr.com.

http://scifri.me/puppy
Science Friday hopes to provide all our listeners, subscribers, readers, and supporters the joy of discovery and knowledge. But this year, we want to give you a little bit more... Watch the video to find out what Science Friday is giving ... to you!

http://scifri.me/puppy
(No puppies were harmed in the making of the video. In fact, if you feel so inclined you can actually adopt one at https://www.bideawee.org/Adopt)