Science, Spoken

Extreme heat and other weather events are driving bears closer to humans’ campgrounds and hiking trails—and that’s no good for either species. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patients with hairy tongue syndrome—which can also turn tongues black, brown, yellow, or blue—often report gagging, mouth dryness, or bad breath. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A UK company cofounded by an astrophysicist combines AI with radar satellite imagery to keep track of vegetation, and eventually to make forecasts about its growth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A small study showed that feeding deer a type of ivermectin reduced the number of ticks drinking their blood. (Yes, it’s that ivermectin. No, you shouldn’t eat it.) Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maybe it’s a commercial jingle, a TikTok song, or a new summer bop. Here’s how to trick your brain into hitting pause. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By early 2024, a tablet called Opill will be sold in pharmacies without a prescription, making it easier for uninsured and young buyers to access. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Millions of years ago, retroviruses invaded the human genome. Today some of these viral remnants threaten the developing embryo while others fight to defend it. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Flight delays, cancellations, and violent turbulence are becoming increasingly common as extreme weather ramps up. Things are likely to get worse with climate change. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As glaciers retreat, methane-rich groundwater is bubbling to the surface. That may be warming the climate, accelerating the Arctic’s rapid decline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A protein secreted by seemingly dormant cells in skin moles causes hair to grow again. That’s a big—and potentially useful—surprise. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Creating a memory takes energy, and brains only have so much. A study using snails shows how they can be primed for future learning. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plastic production is skyrocketing, pushing microplastic pollution to dangerous new levels. Now research shows even the Arctic is increasingly contaminated. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Drugs like semaglutide—better known as Ozempic or Wegovy—could be lifelong treatments for obesity, but what little data scientists have suggests that people don't stick with them for long. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The mosquito-borne disease was eliminated here long ago. Now “revenge travel,” global migration, poor public funding—and maybe climate change—could help it come back. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An early experiment in older rhesus macaques suggests that an injection of klotho improves working memory. Could it one day help people? Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After decades of frustration, researchers have determined how an airborne scent molecule links to shapeshifting olfactory receptors in the nose. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The spotted-wing drosophila is a threat to fruit growers across the US and Europe. Crispr could thwart the pest’s numbers. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Poor air quality doesn’t just cause lung cancer. It may also be responsible for other cancers, strokes, diabetes, and more. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patients and clinicians generate huge amounts of data that could advance care. But turning the system into an R&D powerhouse means ripping up the rules. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Early detection is crucial for treating eye disease. AI-enhanced eye scan analyses could spot warning signs quicker—and reach patients at scale. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Virtual wards provide people with remote care and monitoring, allowing patients to go home sooner and hospitals to run more efficiently. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Indian cities, afflicted by rising temperatures and poor air quality, are becoming hot spots of ozone pollution, which has proven a difficult problem to fix. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The continent’s abortion laws are a patchwork of progress and setbacks. And for many, accessing the right care at the right time is still a lottery. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rescue teams are scrambling to find the sub, which has gone missing near the wreckage of the Titanic, before those aboard run out of oxygen. Read this story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Humans rely on birds to eat insects, spread seeds, and pollinate plants—but these feathered friends can’t survive without their habitats. Read the story here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices