Quoted: Students are counting down the days until the start of summer vacation, but is there a way to convince kids to do math over the break? Ira Flatow talks with McKellar, Wonder Years actress turned math book author, about sharpening students' math skills.

Quoted: New book Dissection is a collection of black-and-white photos of Victorian-era medical students posing with their cadavers. The book's co-author, medical historian James Edmonson, says the photographs detail the med school experience at the turn of the 20th century.

Quoted: Without the telescope, astronomers would be blind to many marvels of the universe. But how did the device come to be? Science historian Albert van Helden explains how a Dutch spectacle-maker's invention made its way to Galileo, enabling him to spot Jupiter's moons.

Quoted: This year is the 400th anniversary of the invention of the telescope. To celebrate its birthday, Science Friday producers hit the streets of New York City to find out what people know about the telescope and its history. Can you explain how a telescope works?

Quoted: Bacterial colonies flourish on human skin, occupying moist bellybuttons, oily brows and even the parched plains of the forearm. Skin scientist Julie Segre talks about mapping these diverse bacterial ecosystems — and how the bacteria populations may affect skin health.

Quoted: What happens to words after the ear picks them up? Neuroscientist Sophie Scott of University College London discusses the latest theories of speech perception, from how the brain recognizes a familiar voice to how it adjusts to each speaker's unique pitch and accent.

Quoted: High school science teacher Sam Terfa wanted to demonstrate a fundamental physics principle: resonant frequency. To do so, he found the best singer at Minnehaha Academy and had him serenade a wine glass. It did not turn out well for the glass.

Quoted: Food shortages have doomed civilizations for millennia. Lester Brown, founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, argues that environmental degradation could lead to devastating food shortages today, despite advanced farm technology and genetically engineered crops.

Quoted: Many ornamental plants common to American yards are exotic species that local bugs haven't evolved to munch on. In his book Bringing Nature Home, entomologist Doug Tallamy encourages gardeners to invite bugs, birds and other wildlife back by planting native species.