Science, Spoken

Mini-brains that work and grow like their full-size counterparts could offer an alternative to animal testing, and advance the quest for personalized medicine. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last month was so hot, scientists are struggling to find words for it. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Foam rubber—like the filling inside your couch—produces an enormous amount of CO2. A Norwegian company called Agoprene thinks seaweed could be the solution. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Covid seems to spike twice a year—but unlike with flu season, not in a predictable pattern. That could be due to the virus, the environment, or the people it is infecting. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trees make clouds by releasing small quantities of vapors called “sesquiterpenes.” Scientists are learning more—and it’s making climate models hazy. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Police are hosting events to collect DNA samples that can help solve missing persons cases. But when people put their DNA in a commercial database, it can used for other purposes. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first human to receive a genetically engineered pig heart survived two months. Surgeons are hoping this transplant will last longer. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The OSIRIS-REx capsule containing a “treasure trove” of space rocks has now arrived at Johnson Space Center, where scientists will gingerly unpack it. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The OSIRIS-REx probe is carrying rock samples from the asteroid Bennu, millions of miles away. If it works, it will be only the third such retrieval in history. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Christopher Columbus was blamed for bringing syphilis to Europe. New DNA evidence suggests it was already there. Maybe both stories are true. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The American Climate Corps will employ tens of thousands to prepare the country for the pain ahead. But it'll need to get much, much bigger. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The solar corona is hotter than expected, and scientists are using European Space Agency and NASA spacecraft to figure out why. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Startup Light Bio has created a bioluminescent petunia using mushroom genes and plans to start shipping the plants next spring. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The UN has released a draft of what might become a landmark agreement to protect human health and the environment. Emphasis on might. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The agency assembled a panel of experts to figure out how to handle future sightings, in case the truth is out there. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Entire neighborhoods of the Libyan city of Derna have vanished following devastating floods wrought by Storm Daniel. Such storms are rare—but climate change will supersize them. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The latest vaccines are designed to target XBB.1.5, the dominant variant throughout much of 2023—until now. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Harmful algal blooms are taking over as the world warms and grows richer in carbon dioxide—and there’s no easy fix. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following a joint “mishap investigation” by SpaceX and the FAA, the federal agency listed 63 issues that must be addressed before launches can resume at the Texas site. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transplant organs are scarce. Could growing ones with human cells in pigs alleviate the shortage? Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tiny houses started as a minimalist revolution. They ended up as an Instagram aesthetic. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Vibrio vulnificus pathogen thrives in hot coastal waters, and beachgoers can contract it via a small cut or scrape. It can also kill them in two days. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new study shows that semaglutide reduces heart failure symptoms like fatigue and swelling by bringing down body weight. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Investigators are eying the Lahaina wildfire as yet another deadly blaze started by electrical equipment. Putting lines underground would help—at a steep cost. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Supposedly eco-friendly cups are still coated with a thin layer of plastic, which scientists have discovered can leach chemicals that harm living creatures. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices