Accessibility links
Ira Flatow NPR science correspondent and award-winning journalist Ira Flatow is the host of Science Friday.
thumbnail
Stories By

Ira Flatow

Story Archive

Technology

Using Teamwork to Crack the Enigma Code

A global team of computer users has cracked one of the remaining World War II messages encoded by the Nazi Enigma machine. Noah Adams talks to Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about how the code was broken -- and a serious risk to users of the program used to crack the encryption.

Using Teamwork to Crack the Enigma Code

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5241761/5241762" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Technology

New Worms Make Macs Vulnerable, Too

Proponents of Apple's Macintosh have long bragged that their computers seemed immune to computer viruses and worms. That's changed with the recent discovery of the so-called Oompa-Loompa virus and two other computer worms.

New Worms Make Macs Vulnerable, Too

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5230091/5230092" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Global Health

Ira Flatow on Science: Faking a Bird Flu Outbreak

Health officials attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, held an exercise to simulate an outbreak of avian flu. The goal was to gauge how governments and media outlets would respond to a real-world scenario. Alex Chadwick speaks with Ira Flatow, host of Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about the lessons learned from the exercise.

Ira Flatow on Science: Faking a Bird Flu Outbreak

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5185493/5185494" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Research News

Ira Flatow on Science: The Power of a Pretty Face

Does having an attractive face make you irresistible? Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday speaks with Alex Chadwick about a new study on the science behind the power of beauty.

Ira Flatow on Science: The Power of a Pretty Face

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5163387/5163388" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Stardust: A Golden Landing

Ira Flatow on Science: Stardust Needs Volunteers!

Madeleine Brand talks with Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about the return to Earth of the Stardust space probe after a seven-year mission to capture microscopic particles of dust from a comet.

Ira Flatow on Science: Stardust Needs Volunteers!

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5151431/5151432" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Science

The Year In Science: Mysteries of Nature

Farai Chideya talks with NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday host Ira Flatow on this year's most mysterious scientific phenomena -- from computer worms to honeybee depletion.

The Year In Science: Mysteries of Nature

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5074209/5074210" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Environment

Farming the Wind on the Gulf Coast of Texas

The demand for wind and other renewable energy resources continues to rise in the face of high oil prices. Noah Adams speaks with Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about a new proposal to build a wind farm on the coast of Galveston, Texas.

Farming the Wind on the Gulf Coast of Texas

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4977598/4977599" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Global Health

Ira Flatow on Science: Avian Flu Epidemic Fears

Recent outbreaks of avian influenza have many medical experts fearing an epidemic. Alex Chadwick speaks with Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about the similarities between avian flu and the Spanish influenza that killed some 50 million people in 1918.

Ira Flatow on Science: Avian Flu Epidemic Fears

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4947915/4947916" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Environment

Ira Flatow on Science: Controlling Floods with Levees

Madeleine Brand talks with Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about how other nations use levee systems to control flooding.

Ira Flatow on Science: Controlling Floods with Levees

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4837494/4837495" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Environment

Ira Flatow on Science: More Hurricanes Coming?

Hurricane Katrina is already being called one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history -- and more hurricanes may be on the way to the Gulf Coast. Alex Chadwick talks with Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about what Americans can expect for the rest of the hurricane season.

Ira Flatow on Science: More Hurricanes Coming?

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4828266/4828267" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Research News

Ira Flatow on Science: A Stem Cell Breakthrough?

Alex Chadwick talks with Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about a claim by Harvard scientists that they can create embryonic stem cells without the controversial use of human embryos. The technique -- fusing existing embryonic stem cells with skin cells -- is still in the development stages.

Ira Flatow on Science: A Stem Cell Breakthrough?

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4815507/4815508" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Technology

Computer Worm Attack Hits Networks Across U.S.

Alex Chadwick talks with Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about a malicious worm attacking computers across the nation, forcing whole networks to reboot themselves over and over and taking over some PCs.

Computer Worm Attack Hits Networks Across U.S.

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4805334/4805335" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Space

Perseid Meteor Shower to Light Up Night Sky

Over the next few days, the Earth will sweep through the debris trail of comet Swift-Tuttle, causing an impressive display of "shooting stars." Alex Chadwick talks with Ira Flatow, host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, about the latest round of the regular Perseid meteor shower, beginning August 12.

Perseid Meteor Shower to Light Up Night Sky

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4795823/4795824" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Browse archive or search npr.org