NPR News

This week physicists announced the discovery of the long-sought-after Higgs boson--or at least something that looks a lot like it. Theoretical physicist Sean Carroll explains why the tiny particle is so fundamental to our understanding of the universe, and why it took 50 years to find it.

In an unscientific survey of Times Square, Science Friday found that not one passerby could explain how sunscreen works. Dermatologist Jennifer Linder explains that and other basics of sun protection, including the meaning of SPF, and whether sunscreen blocks vitamin D production.

Someone please tell us, because we've searched and can't find the answer: Who decided this is National Fried Chicken Day?

It apparently is, judging from all the stories, Web posts and tweets we're seeing.

It's why the Los Angeles Times is offering up "Fried Chicken Five Ways" — five recipes, from classic buttermilk-battered to Korean.

From mayonnaise myth-busters to a ketchup jar that never jams, the grill pit is a hot bed of scientific research. Ira and Flora talk with food safety specialist Angela Fraser talks safe picnic protocol; MIT's Kripa Varanasi explains his "LiquiGlide" condiment container; and fermentation expert Bob Hutkins of University of Nebraska salutes the pickle.

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IRA FLATOW, HOST:

I hope you're having your cup of coffee, your beverage of choice, maybe a little snack, sitting in your comfy reading or driving chair, settled in now because the first meeting of the SCIENCE FRIDAY Book Club is about to go underway. And for our first book, we have chosen the Rachel Carson classic "Silent Spring."

Transcript

IRA FLATOW, HOST:

This is SCIENCE FRIDAY. I'm Ira Flatow. Now picture this: You're one of the many graduate students working round the clock in a university lab on a series of seemingly dead-end experiments, until one day, you strike gold. It turns out, you've discovered the cure to a mysterious disease which will save the lives of millions around the world.

Beware of "Malware Monday." But don't be too concerned.

If you're unlucky enough to own a PC that's been infected by the DNSChanger malware (and still hasn't been disinfected), you could be out of luck when you try to connect to your ISP on Monday. Estimates vary about the number of computers infected. In the U.S., we're seeing anything from about 45,000 to 64,000, and somewhere in the neighborhood of a quarter-million worldwide.

Herschell Gordon Lewis is cheerfully ambivalent about his place in film history. "What's really puzzling: if you go to a legitimate distributor such as Netflix, Netflix has a number of my movies," says Lewis from his home in Florida. "And again, that's a very sad commentary on what's going on in the world of motion pictures — but I'm not about to object to it."

If you pay any attention at all to ads for vitamins, you'd be forgiven for thinking they're good for just about anything that could ever ail you.

The biggest scandal in the world right now has nothing to do with sex or celebrities. It's about an interest rate called LIBOR, or the London Interbank Offered Rate.

Most Americans probably never heard of LIBOR. When I first moved to New York, I hadn't. Back then, I could barely afford my apartment and got an adjustable rate mortgage. And so I wondered: When my rate adjusts, how will I know how much I'll be paying?

I searched through all the documents and it was right there — LIBOR. I would be paying a few percentage points above whatever LIBOR was.

If the Supreme Court says President Obama's Affordable Care Act includes a tax, then why is his rival Mitt Romney paying a political price? And who would have guessed in the aftermath of the ruling the right would attack Chief Justice John Roberts. Plus: It's getting nerve-wracking for Charlie Rangel.

NPR's Ron Elving and Ken Rudin have the latest political news in this week's roundup.

Update at 1:50 p.m. EST:

Andy Murray has defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the men's final at Wimbledon, becoming the first British man in 74 years to have a shot at winning tennis' oldest and most prestigious trophy.

Murray beat Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

Murray will face Roger Federer in the final.

Brits, who anxiously watched the tense match, exploded in rejoicing.