Science Quickly

By eavesdropping on the calls of blue whales, researchers hope to get a more accurate picture of the massive mammals' distribution and abundance. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By analyzing 130 years of seabird feathers, researchers determined that food webs are losing complexity in the Pacific—meaning less-resilient ecosystems. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The bombardier beetle can spray its hot brew of toxic chemicals even after bring swallowed, to force a predator into vomiting it back out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Lindenmayer of the Australian National University College of Science in Canberra says that older trees play outsize roles in maintaining landscapes and ecosystems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Damselfish had trouble learning to avoid predators, when that lesson was accompanied by a soundtrack of buzzing boat engines. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The length and spacing of woodpecker drum rolls varies enough to tell woodpeckers apart—which could be useful to conservation biologists. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s work-from-home, on-demand culture means more days at home—and translates into greater energy savings, too. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Orcas can imitate calls from other whales and even human speech—suggesting they can transmit cultural practices, such as unique dialects. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During feel-good holiday periods like Christmas and Eid-al-Fitr, romance strikes—leading to a boom in births nine months later. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Areas of Kenya without large wildlife saw tick populations rise as much as 370 percent—meaning more danger to humans. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chemists are working on ways for wildfire-affected winemakers to avoid creating smoky wines. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Having lions and giraffes together in protected areas means far lower survival rates for juvenile giraffes. Jason Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Drugs modified by chemistry Nobel laureate Ben Feringa can be turned on and off by light, which could help keep bacteria from developing antibiotic resistance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers found a sixfold increase in heart attacks in patients in the week following a flu. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, talked about worldwide scientific collaboration today at the World Economic Forum.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The geese are wintering farther and farther north, in urban areas like Chicago—which may help them avoid hunters. Emily Schwing reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An analysis of more than 200 earthquakes over the past four centuries concludes there's no connection between moon phases and big earthquakes. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Surveillance of Yelp restaurant reviews for terms like vomit led researchers to the sources of foodborne illness outbreaks. Karen Hopkin reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Using a new algorithm, geneticists uncovered the pathogen that could have caused a massive epidemic in the Aztec empire: Salmonella bacteria. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new fossil find reveals that the sucking tongue of butterflies—or proboscis—appears to have evolved before the emergence of flowers. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Astronomers found that other star systems tend to host similarly sized exoplanets—far different from ours. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ecologists needed a way to more easily keep track of populations of amphibians, and green glow sticks lit the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

General Jay Raymond, Commander of Air Force Space Command, talks about keeping watch over space and cyber.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Getting around the sun in 2017 was a memorable trip. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The song training that Bengalese finches received appeared to overcome tempo tendencies baked into their genes. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices