In this episode, comedian Barry Friedman joins the show to talkkinky ant queens, lasagna leakage, and the frustrating complexity of nature. As always, the Yackers boldlyconfront the most difficult questions of our time. Do Martians have tacky taste? Is SIS (sperm inferiority syndrome) runningrampant? Do hornets have a right to squat on your patio? And will Matt ever stop talking about fusion?

Got a question, comment, or correction? Yack right back at us at YacketyScience@gmail.com.

Theme music: “Funky Machine” (ID874) by Lobo Loco (Accessed through FreeMusicArchive.org.; CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Production help provided by Scott Gregory.

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Yackety Science is recorded at the studios of Public Radio Tulsa, Kendall Hall, University of Tulsa, and at the Center for Creativity at Tulsa Community College.

Guest Host: Barry Friedman

Barry is a standup comedian, political columnist, reporter, andhis work has appeared in The New Yorker; Esquire; The Progressive Populist; MediaPost; The Las Vegas Review-Journal; and AAPG Explorer, a magazine for petroleum geologists, which is noteworthy, considering how little Barry know about petroleum geology and how he usually hurts himself filling his car with gas. Barry was also in UHF with“Weird Al" Yankovic, setting a cinematic high water mark for those who have since played (or dream one day of playing) “Crony #2” in a major motion picture. The movie still provides him with $3.76 residual checks every time it plays at a Lithuanian drive-in or when some lost soul downloads it. Barry now lives in Portugal and hates referring to himself in the third person.

Links:

Leopard Print Martians

• Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars by Hurowitz et al. Nature 645, 332–340 2025).
• NASA’s Perseverance Rover

Kinky Ant Queens

• One mother for two species via obligate cross-species cloning in ants by Juvé et al. Nature (Sept. 3, 2025).

Hornet Invaders

• Asian hornets have a unique sound – and that could be the key to controlling their spread. (August 11, 2025)

Desktop Fusion

• Electrochemical loading enhances deuterium fusion rates in a metal target by Chen et al. Nature 644, 640–645 (2025)