Science, Spoken

Notice you've been elongating your words lately? You're actually loading them with a whooooole lot of meaning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Covid-19 crisis is an opportunity to rethink how cities are designed—and make them better equipped to stop disease from spreading. Â Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's not easy to relax in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. But there are some simple tips and techniques that can help you get some shut-eye. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robert Crippen is the only living NASA astronaut to have flown on a new spacecraft for the first time. The Crew Dragon flyers will join his elite club this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When seasonal blazes descend on California, millions could be inhaling smoke, which is known to predispose people to lung diseases. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Urine can be used for landing pads, gardens, and drinking water. But will there be enough to go around? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Similar situations after natural disasters offer clues about the potential academic and mental health impacts of lockdowns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some regions, like the US and the UK, have seen their outputs fall by a third, due in large part to people driving less. Â Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Walk like you're angry, and the emotionally intelligent machine will give you more room, leaving your personal bubble intact. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Physicists have long known that the universe is made from two kinds of particles: fermions and bosons. Now there's a third that behaves totally differently. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The idea of beaming solar energy to Earth with radio waves is decades old. But this weekend, the technology gets its first test in orbit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As restaurants have shuttered, the rats who depend on an eternal garbage buffet are becoming more bold and competitive—and looking for new homes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Multiple structures now keep the river from roaring into the Atchafalaya—but they may be inadequate against climate change. Â Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s time to reconsider these earnest events—and find ways for kids to experience the joyous, collaborative nature of real scientific discovery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Caddisfly larvae typically construct protective cases out of sand grains and silk. Now they're also using microplastic particles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Harold White left NASA in December to join a new nonprofit focused on building the technologies to bring humans to the outer solar system and beyond. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Covid Coach, from the National Center for PTSD, offers exercises and resources for dealing with uncertainty, isolation, and unemployment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For those quarantined alone, the lack of human touch can feel agonizing. A neurological phenomenon called "skin hunger" explains why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Blood centers across the nation are trying to get antibodies from coronavirus survivors to patients who want this experimental treatment. But it’s not easy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fast laser pulses produce a shock wave in air that pushes water vapor aside. That clears channels in clouds for transmitting optical data from satellites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, petroleum producers around the world will start shutting down wells after the Covid-19 pandemic caused demand to plummet. What took them so long? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Epidemiologists aren't surprised that virus was spreading in the US in early February. But those early days offer lessons for how to catch the next wave. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Conway, who passed away on April 11, was known for his rapid computation, his playful approach, and solving problems with “his own bare hands.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After his accident, Ian Burkhart didn’t think he’d ever be able to move or feel his hand again. A small chip in his brain changed everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Boston Dynamics' famously deft robot gets a job screening patients at a hospital. But there's still much that it and other medical robots can't do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices