Science Friday is a weekly national radio show hosted by Ira Flatow that includes expert guest panelists who talk about scientific topics that are making headlines.
Topics range from space and technology to biology and physics. Flatow breaks down the information to be more palatable to the general public and takes calls and answers questions on the air. Science Friday is typically recorded in New York and airs on KUER in Utah, but the show travels a few times a year to do remote broadcasts around the country.
“We get several invitations for remotes each year and accept a handful of them,” wrote Christian Skotte, director of marketing and communications for Science Friday, in an email. “We have a lot of fans in Utah, and there are great science topics to report on in and around Salt Lake City. So we’re excited to visit.”
Topics that will be covered
Subjects that will be discussed over the two hour broadcast will include paleontology in Utah, using the geology of Utah to learn about Mars, Great Salt Lake microbiology and the James Webb Space Telescope, which is discovering the first galaxies that formed the universe.
Presenters on paleontology in Utah will be Brian Switek, author of “My Beloved Brontosaurus,” Randall Irmis, curator of paleontology at the Utah Natural History Museum and Brooks Britt, associate professor from the Department of Geological Sciences at Brigham Young University.
During the second half hour of the show, Flatow will lead a discussion about geology in Utah and how it can help with studying Mars. Speakers on that subject will include Charles Killian of Mars Society’s Desert Research Station and Marjorie Chan, Professor of Geology at the University of Utah.
In the last hour, guest panelists will present information on the biology of the Great Salt Lake and the James Webb Space Telescope. These will be covered respectively by Bonnie Baxter, director of the Great Salt Lake Institute and Stacy Palen, associate professor of astrophysics at Weber State University along with Bob Hellekson, ATK program manager for the telescope.
Science Friday has many educational resources and videos
As a special presentation from the managing editor at Science Friday, Flora Lichtman will talk about her video of the Sage Grouse, a bird found in northern America.
The remote broadcast at the Grand Theatre is currently sold out but will be aired live on KUER 90.1 from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, April 19. The recorded show will be available on the Science Friday website as well as a podcast of the event through iTunes.
“We are bringing Science Friday to Salt Lake City because we find the program to be incredibly valuable to us as a station and to our listeners,” wrote Gayle Ewer, KUER manager of marketing, in an email. “As a well-educated state, we hoped that a live broadcast from Salt Lake City would engage the science-loving community. Fortunately, we were correct, as evident by the fact that the show was sold out weeks in advance.”
Science Friday is broadcast every Friday from noon until 1 p.m. MST on KUER. Visit sciencefriday.com or KUER.org for more information.
