Being able to belt out a tune like Adele or Pavarotti is not just about raw talent. The best singers in the world have to work on their technique—like how to control their breath and develop the stamina to hit note after note for a two-hour concert. But pop stars and opera singers aren’t the only vocalists who have figured out how to harness their voices for maximum impact.

Death metal vocalists also train their voices to hit that unique guttural register. And those iconic screams are not as easy to master as they might seem.

Vocal scientists at the University of Utah are now bringing death metal singers into the lab to try to understand how they make their extreme vocalizations. What they’re finding is not only insightful for metalheads, but might also help improve treatment for people with some types of vocal injuries.

In a conversation from April, Host Flora Lichtman talks with speech pathologist Amanda Stark, and Mark Garrett, vocal coach and lead singer of the band Kardashev.

Read the whole story at sciencefriday.com.

Guests:
Dr. Amanda Stark is a speech pathologist and vocology researcher at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Mark Garett is a vocal coach and the lead singer of Kardashev. He’s based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Transcript available at sciencefriday.com.

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Gen Alpha slang can seem unintelligible to adults, but linguist and TikToker Adam Aleksic argues language development in the internet age is worth legitimate study. In a conversation from July, Adam talks to Host Flora Lichtman about how algorithms and social media are changing the way we speak, and discusses his new book, Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language.

Guest: Adam Aleksic is a linguist and content creator posting educational videos as the “Etymology Nerd” to an audience of more than three million. He is the author of Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language.

Transcript is available on sciencefriday.com.

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What have we learned in recent years about black holes? Can entangled quantum particles really communicate faster than light? What’s the story behind Schrödinger’s Cat? And, in this weird liminal space between the holidays, what even IS time, really?

Physicist Sean Carroll and Host Ira Flatow tackled those big questions and more at a recent event at WNYC’s Greene Space in New York City. Carroll’s book The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion is the SciFri Book Club pick for December.

Guest: Dr. Sean Carroll is the Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.

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