Science Diction is a bite-sized podcast about words—and the science stories behind them. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and sign up for our newsletter. Science has given us more than data.

This is a part of Science Diction, a series digging into the scientific origin stories behind our words and language. Find all our stories and previous issues here. Words like these weren’t just ...

Quarantine has been on many of our minds lately. The phrases “shelter in place” and “self-quarantine” have filled up our news, social media, and conversations since the first inklings of the ...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The alphabet has only 26 letters. With these 26 magic symbols, however, millions of words are written every day. IRA FLATOW, HOST: And that music means it's time for Science Diction, ...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The alphabet has only 26 letters. With these 26 magic symbols, however, millions of words are written every day. IRA FLATOW, HOST: That music means it's time for Howard Markel to ...

The word chemistry is said to have roots in either ancient Egypt or Greece. Science historian Howard Markel discusses the word's origin, and the modern naming of the field of chemistry by British ...

The Rise Of The Myers-Briggs, Chapter 3: What Is It Good For? August 31, 2021 • When Isabel Briggs Myers imagined that her homegrown personality test would change the world, she couldn't have pictured ...

Remember that summer when the internet was one Distracted Boyfriend after another—that flannel-shirted dude rubbernecking at a passing woman, while his girlfriend glares at him? Everyone had their own ...