Science Friday

Gerald Gabrielse explains how trapping a positron in a vacuum at very low temperatures permits precise measurements of antimatter. The conversation with Flora Lichtman examines a one-positron quantum cyclotron, the practical challenge of keeping antimatter away from ordinary matter, and why comparisons between electron and positron properties can test fundamental physics.

Hosted by Flora Lichtman

Emma Teeling discusses research combining genomes from more than one hundred bat species with the fossil record to reconstruct bat evolution. The conversation examines evidence for their geographical origins and spread, the challenge of integrating anatomical and genomic histories, and what this work can reveal about flight, echolocation, longevity and the diversity of living bats.

Hosted by Flora Lichtman

Science writer Riley Black joins Kathleen Davis to explore the everyday biology and life history of Tyrannosaurus rex. Drawing on the evidence and reconstruction behind Tyrant Lizard Queen, they move beyond its familiar image as a movie predator to consider what life for an individual animal may have involved and what fossils can tell us about it.

Hosted by Kathleen Davis

Space reporter Brendan Byrne joins Ira Flatow to discuss the transition from the International Space Station toward proposed commercial stations in low Earth orbit. Their wider spaceflight review covers recent launch activity, Japan's planned sample-return mission to the Martian moon Phobos and preparations for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Hosted by Ira Flatow