Bench Talk | Music from Black Holes - Update on 'Forever Chemicals' | May 19, 2025

There's new information about black holes and 'forever chemicals', so we thought we would reprise two popular stories from our past episodes. Hear Dr. Dirk Grupe (NKU physicist) describe black holes and then listen to 'black hole music' just released by NASA. To look for patterns in the data from space telescopes they 'sonified' it, producing haunting cosmic music. Then, we update you on a recent executive order by Donald Trump regarding 'forever chemicals'. Are these toxic substances in Louisville's tap water? Mary Williams reminds us what 'forever chemicals' are, how they can impact our health, and what we can do to reduce our exposure. Here is the link to NASA's page on black-hole music: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/nasa-telescopes-tune-into-a-black-hole-prelude-fugue/ ‘Bench Talk: The Week in Science’ is a weekly program that airs on WFMP Louisville FORward Radio 106.5 FM (forwardradio.org) every Monday at 7:30 pm, Tuesday at 11:30 am, and Wednesday at 7:30 am. Visit our Facebook page for links to the articles discussed in this episode: https://www.facebook.com/pg/BenchTalkRadio/posts/?ref=page_internal