Science Friday

Joel Beckerman, composer and founder of Made Music Studio, crafts friendly appliance personalities; Audrey Arbeeny, founder of Audiobrain, designs research-driven sounds for Whirlpool and KitchenAid. They explore why appliances now sing, critique jingles and luxury versus buzzer tones, dissect designing functional cues and emotional sonic branding, and reveal how tiny sounds shape product character.

Dr. Dillon Amaya, a NOAA research scientist who studies ocean and climate dynamics, explains how El Niño forms and why this year might be unusually strong. He walks through model odds and what a “super” El Niño means. Short sentences cover impacts on U.S. weather, global rainfall shifts, ocean heat waves, and risks to corals and fisheries.

Dr. Kelsey Young, Artemis science flight operations lead who planned lunar observations for Artemis II. She explains how teams picked target photo lists and coordinated real-time ops from Earth. Short scenes cover the value of astronauts’ verbal notes, spotting unexpected impact flashes, and building a new science operations role to support lunar research.

Dr. Kemi Doll, a gynecologic oncologist and professor who studies uterine health disparities for Black women, discusses systemic racism and how pain normalization delays diagnosis. She talks about diagnostic bias, limits of common tests, why uterine health is not just fertility, and practical steps to improve care and advocacy.

Anne Toomey McKenna, a privacy attorney focused on biometric surveillance and AI policy, discusses how cameras, phones, and sensors capture faces, gait, heart rates and more. She covers cloud cameras, data brokers selling biometric profiles, and how AI links data to identify and target people. The conversation highlights the scale and commercial market for personal body data.

Daniel H. Wilson, Cherokee citizen and bestselling sci‑fi author with advanced degrees in machine learning and robotics, discusses his novel Hole in the Sky. He blends Cherokee Star Woman mythology and Spiro Mounds roots with first contact and alien tech. Conversations probe how colonial fears shape invasion stories and how diverse science fiction reframes uncertainty and technology.

Emily Fairfax, a beaver scientist and geography professor who advised Pixar, explains how beavers reshape landscapes and build wildfire- and flood-resilient wetlands. Zac Ziegler, an Oregon reporter, describes a local notch fence project that preserved beaver ponds and boosted wildlife. The conversation focuses on partnering with beavers, practical coexistence tools, and how public perception is changing.

Dr. Priscilla Cushman, an experimental particle physicist leading the SuperCDMS SNOLAB effort, discusses installing ultra-cold germanium and silicon detectors deep in a nickel mine. She talks about why going 6,800 feet underground reduces background noise. Listens to how millikelvin temperatures and pulse shapes help spot rare nuclear interactions. Covers timelines for commissioning and the search for multiple dark matter possibilities.

Micah Loewinger, journalist and co-host of On The Media, traced FEMA’s origins and controversies. He discusses the agency’s Cold War roots and dual mission. He explores how secrecy and continuity plans spawned conspiracy theories. He examines political moves and militia exploitation that have weakened federal disaster response.

Bob Datta, a Harvard neurobiologist who mapped olfactory receptors in mice, and Pete Scheifele, an animal neuroaudiologist from FETCHLAB. They explore a newly found 'smell map' in the nose. They explain why dogs and cats hear higher frequencies than humans. Short, lively conversations about sensory anatomy, evolution, and practical implications.