Science, Spoken

Last year’s NASA mission proved it was possible to knock an incoming near-Earth object off course. But that creates debris—which might also be a threat. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Raccoons are a main carrier of rabies in the US. A government effort distributes millions of tasty vaccines to protect both animals and people. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some residents of Yellowknife are staying behind to fight back wildfires that could soon engulf the Canadian city. Others have shared harrowing stories as they race to escape the flames. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fungal infections are rising worldwide and climate change may be to blame. Medicine isn’t ready. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While India’s spacecraft landed on the lunar surface, the Russian one collided with it. The mixed record shows that developing a lunar economy won’t be easy. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gusts primed the Maui landscape to burn, then drove an out-of-control blaze. It’s a worst-case scenario that’s growing increasingly common around the world. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mexico and the western US are reeling from record-shattering rainfall. Blame high ocean temperatures—and prepare for worse to come as the planet warms. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A victory for Montanans’ right to a clean, healthy environment could set a precedent for other climate lawsuits throughout the United States. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robotic spacecraft from both countries are aiming to touch down on the moon’s southern hemisphere, as one’s space program waxes and the other wanes. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ethics watchdogs are looking out for potentially undisclosed use of generative AI in scientific writing. But there’s no foolproof way to catch it all yet. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the Hawaii Community Foundation to the Maui Food Bank, donations to these groups aid people impacted by the recent disaster in Lahaina. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Humans figured out how to prevent huge fires in urban areas over a century ago. Why have they gotten so bad again? Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chronic drinking depletes the brain’s dopamine levels. A single dose of a gene therapy reset them, and stopped the craving for alcohol. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The space agency lost touch with the beloved spacecraft following a faulty command signal. Here’s how it happened—and how engineers worked to bring it back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wildfires were once rare across the Aloha State. But drought, invasive species, and human development have pushed Hawaii into a fiery new age. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wastewater fuels blooms of reef-smothering algae. Better engineering and an army of funny-looking fish can come to the rescue. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nobody knows what around a fifth of your genes actually do. It’s hoped they could hold the secret to fixing developmental disorders, cancer, neurodegeneration, and more. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An unprecedented look at dopamine in the brain reveals that psychosis drugs get developed with the wrong neurons in mind. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Covid-19 cases are slowly increasing across the US for the fourth summer in a row. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A prosthetic arm that connects directly to the nervous system gives the user fine control over the motions of individual fingers—just by thinking and trying to move. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Current treatments for depression after giving birth are either slow to work or hard to get. The FDA is considering a new tablet that relieves symptoms within days. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Snow is falling—but it doesn’t show up to replenish the river. In a drying West, researchers are racing to find out where it goes. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When humans and a neural network viewed pieces of art, they all found the same images memorable. What those images have in common offers a glimpse into what fascinates the brain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This summer's extraordinary heat is but a preview of what's to come: Humidity not only makes daytime highs more miserable, it extends the hotness through the night. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is the system of currents that runs through the Atlantic about to shut down, creating climate chaos? Depends on who you ask. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices