Science, Spoken

Creating a memory takes energy, and brains only have so much. A study using snails shows how they can be primed for future learning. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plastic production is skyrocketing, pushing microplastic pollution to dangerous new levels. Now research shows even the Arctic is increasingly contaminated. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Drugs like semaglutide—better known as Ozempic or Wegovy—could be lifelong treatments for obesity, but what little data scientists have suggests that people don't stick with them for long. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The mosquito-borne disease was eliminated here long ago. Now “revenge travel,” global migration, poor public funding—and maybe climate change—could help it come back. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An early experiment in older rhesus macaques suggests that an injection of klotho improves working memory. Could it one day help people? Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After decades of frustration, researchers have determined how an airborne scent molecule links to shapeshifting olfactory receptors in the nose. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The spotted-wing drosophila is a threat to fruit growers across the US and Europe. Crispr could thwart the pest’s numbers. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Poor air quality doesn’t just cause lung cancer. It may also be responsible for other cancers, strokes, diabetes, and more. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patients and clinicians generate huge amounts of data that could advance care. But turning the system into an R&D powerhouse means ripping up the rules. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Early detection is crucial for treating eye disease. AI-enhanced eye scan analyses could spot warning signs quicker—and reach patients at scale. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Virtual wards provide people with remote care and monitoring, allowing patients to go home sooner and hospitals to run more efficiently. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Indian cities, afflicted by rising temperatures and poor air quality, are becoming hot spots of ozone pollution, which has proven a difficult problem to fix. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The continent’s abortion laws are a patchwork of progress and setbacks. And for many, accessing the right care at the right time is still a lottery. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rescue teams are scrambling to find the sub, which has gone missing near the wreckage of the Titanic, before those aboard run out of oxygen. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Humans rely on birds to eat insects, spread seeds, and pollinate plants—but these feathered friends can’t survive without their habitats. Read the story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Faced with the difficult task of decarbonizing, some shipping companies are taking another look at a polarizing solution—nuclear fission.   Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here’s what to know about wildfire smoke and invisible pollutants, and how you can use your phone to decide whether it’s safe to spend time outside. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Psilocybin is on the cusp of becoming legally available in Oregon—but not as a medical treatment. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stimulating the frontal lobes of sleeping epilepsy patients improved their recall of information—and may one day help treat Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new technique could aid Hubble Space Telescope users, but the problem will get worse for observatories on Earth. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

More research is showing that moths are secret, critical pollinators, even of crops that feed humanity. Save the bees, but save the moths too. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Water surging from the broken Ukrainian dam is killing animals, destroying habitats, and unleashing pollution. The effects may be irreversible. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Canadian wildfires are spewing smoke into New York City and Washington, DC, threatening the health of millions. Welcome to the “Pyrocene.” Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 100,000 Genomes Project has a massive database to help doctors and patients solve baffling medical cases and diagnose cancers. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While weight-loss drugs are dialing down the urge to eat for many, others desperately need something that can convince their body to consume more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices