I'm Alan Alder, and this is clear and vivid conversations about connecting and communicating.

I understand why people who aren't scientists would look at some of these projects and think

they were really silly.

And especially once a politician starts twisting it around and making it sound extra silly.

So I don't want my first reaction to be like, no, it's not.

It's not silly.

I want my first reaction to be like, yeah, I understand why you might think that that's silly.

Let me tell you a little more about it.

That's Carly Ann York.

She's written a delightful book about silly science, research that's often derided for being a waste of money,

but that has led to world-changing breakthroughs that range from GPS to OZempic.

Written before the Trump administration began taking a chainsaw to U.S. science and medical research,

her book is now especially relevant.

It's called The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating Frog, and other serious discoveries of silly science.

Let's start with the subtitle of your book.

Sure.

In which you promised to tell us about serious discoveries made by silly science.

You really took on the term silly science.

You didn't shrink from that.

Yeah. Did Bob the character in your book,

who appears from time to time, did he actually call it silly science? He did. You were having lunch at the zoo. You were both volunteering at the zoo. Right, right. Yeah, it was a really uncomfortable

conversation. And he did use the term

...