Frivolous Science

Frivolous Science
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Science
  • Updated Monthly

Politicians love to mock "wasteful" government spending on research—from shrimp on treadmills to the sex lives of screwworm flies. But what's the real story behind these headline-grabbing studies? In Frivolous Science, we go beyond the soundbites to talk with scientists about the research that gets ridiculed. Discover what your tax dollars are actually funding, why this research matters, and experience the unexpected joy of scientific discovery that happens when curiosity leads the way. Creator & Host: Houda Khaled Artwork: Houda Khaled

Episodes

  1. Fly Propaganda

    May 29 ·  Bonus

    Fly Propaganda

    Today's bonus episode features the full interview with Dr. Christina May, who shares her thoughts on the wonders of working with flies, and a peek into the effect of sugar on the brain. Creator & Host: Houda Khaled Link to the papers: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.04.027 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.54530 Music by Blue Dot Sessions (⁠www.sessions.blue⁠): Castor Wheel Pivot GriddleKake *Minor correction: The human brain has closer to ~100 billion neurons, rather than a trillion - Dr. May's initial guess. Still orders of magnitude more than the ~100K in a fly!*

    38 min
  2. Sweet, Salty & Savory Dreams

    May 22

    Sweet, Salty & Savory Dreams

    Dr. William Ja uses fruit flies to study food comas. Do flies get sleepy after eating? Do we? Why is that even worth knowing? And what do flies and Lamborghini's have in common? Dr. Ja discusses his research, the unknown purpose of food comas, and how what we eat might affect our sleep (and vice versa)! Creator & Host: Houda Khaled Music by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue) Link to paper: https://elifesciences.org/articles/19334 Full transcript at: https://frivolousscience.substack.com/

    46 min
  3. Squeaky Sonnets

    12/03/2025

    Squeaky Sonnets

    Dr. Ralph Emilio Peterson follows rats around New York City with a mic and a camera. Is it a silly pet project, or a creative pest control solution? Dr. Peterson discuss his research, and we get a sneak peak into the secret "language" of rats. Creator & Host: Houda Khaled Music by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue) Link to the preprint: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.21.665423v1.full Full transcript and rat videos at https://frivolousscience.substack.com/ ***Correction: I say that the rat recordings are pitched up for us to hear, but they are actually pitched down! They are altered from high frequency (that we can't hear) to lower frequency.***

    33 min

  4. Season 1, Episode 1 Trailer

    Meet Frivolous Science!

    Are your taxes being wasted on scientist pet projects? What do headlines get wrong when they lambast studies on "fruit flies in Paris" and "shrimp on treadmills"? Welcome to Frivolous Science, where we meet with scientists behind some of the silliest sounding studies to get to the bottom of what their research is really about. The first episode premieres December 1st - tell all your friends! Creator & Host: Houda Khaled Music by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue) Full transcript at https://frivolousscience.substack.com/⁠

    2 min

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Politicians love to mock "wasteful" government spending on research—from shrimp on treadmills to the sex lives of screwworm flies. But what's the real story behind these headline-grabbing studies? In Frivolous Science, we go beyond the soundbites to talk with scientists about the research that gets ridiculed. Discover what your tax dollars are actually funding, why this research matters, and experience the unexpected joy of scientific discovery that happens when curiosity leads the way. Creator & Host: Houda Khaled Artwork: Houda Khaled

Information

  • Creator
    Frivolous Science
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Frivolous Science
  • Show Website
    Frivolous Science