Science Quickly

An aquaculturist used selective breeding to create strains of farmed fish that fatten up fast on cheap, plentiful feeds such as soybeans and corn. Emily Schwing reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By analyzing the vocal patterns of couples in therapy, an algorithm was able to predict whether a relationship would get worse or improve. Erika Beras reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new theory suggests the Red Planet once had a spectacular lunar system. Lee Billings reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listeners can tell the difference between CD-quality music and better-than-CD quality—but only if they train their ears first. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The call of the tufted titmouse conveys important information about the presence of potential predators. But only if other birds can hear it. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Urban light pollution in the U.K. is pushing tree springtime behavior a full week earlier than usual. Christopher Intagliata reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over their lifetimes, macaques follow the same trajectory as humans in the amount of interest they have in observing what another individual is looking at.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charles Czeisler, director of the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, talked about the dangers of drowsy driving at a recent Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health Forum called Asleep at the Wheel.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Social spiders in artificially assembled groups of all bold or all shy members fared less well against predators than a group with some shy and some bold members.      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reducing fat from chocolate can gum up manufacturing equipment, making low-fat chocolate hard to produce—but an electric field can help. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When immune cells rush to the site of a mosquito bite, viruses hijack the cells and turn them into viral factories—in mice, at least. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first known example of a mutualistic relationship between two mammal species in which neither is a primate, mongooses feast on ticks and other parasites infesting warthogs.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lizard's stripes may make them look like they’re moving slower than they really are, confusing predators that tend to aim at the head but may wind up with the tail.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More particulate matter in the air can build stronger, longer-lasting thunderstorms over the tropics, leading to more extreme storms. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The microbes found in crushed grapes were linked to certain chemical fingerprints in the finished wine. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In mice, intestinal microbes respond to a high-fat diet by producing acetate, which triggers the release of a hormone that makes mammals feel hungry, causing them to eat even more.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wildlife researcher Joel Berger dons a polar bear outfit to study the reactions of musk oxen to the threat of bears increasingly driven onto the land for food.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What looked like human-made structures underwater off Greece turned out to be millions-of-years-old concretions deposited by bacteria.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An energy-efficient alternative to LEDs has greater focusing power, for microscopes and spotlights. Christopher Intagliata reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Damselfish had trouble sniffing out survival clues by their fellows in damaged coral. Jason Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Serving wine in larger glasses boosted sales 10 percent in an English bar, possibly because customers think they're imbibing less per glass. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shy sticklebacks were more likely to emerge from under cover when an equally wary fellow was already out there, rather than when a bold individual was present.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dogs may have been domesticated from wolves twice, first in Europe, and again in Asia. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers say carbon storage sites should be tested for microbial life, which could potentially convert CO2 to methane—a more potent greenhouse gas. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A wearable device records the sounds of knees cracking, which could reveal clues about the condition of the joint. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices