Science Quickly

Researchers say three ancient leather balls, dug up from the tombs of horsemen in northwestern China, are the oldest such specimens from Europe or Asia. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From mammals to mollusks, animals living among humans lose their antipredator behaviors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ancestors of today’s dogs already exhibited some playfulness, which became a key trait during domestication. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A stretch of Neandertal DNA has been associated with some cases of severe COVID-19, but it’s unclear how much of a risk it poses. Christopher Intagliata reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Nobel laureate in chemistry Jennifer Doudna talks about various applications of the gene-editing tool CRISPR. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blue whales off California’s coast sing at night—until it’s time to start migrating, and they switch to daytime song. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charles Rice, who today shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, talked about how rapidly research now occurs, compared with his early work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers determined that Greenland is on track to lose more ice this century than during any of the previous 120 centuries. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The disappearance of their predators in a disturbed ecosystem has turned Atlantic forest sloths from night creatures to day adventurers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers seeking evidence for cancer in dinosaurs found it in a collection of bones at a paleontology museum in Alberta. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fork-tailed flycatchers make a fluttering sound with their wings—but separate subspecies have different “dialects” of fluttering. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here are some brief reports about science and technology from all over, including one from Israel about what DNA reveals about the Dead Sea Scrolls’ parchment.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hyraxes, which live in Africa and the Middle East, punctuate their songs with snorts. And the snorts appear to reflect the animals’ emotional state. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scientists determined that temperatures were 11 degrees cooler during the last ice age—and that finding has implications for modern-day warming. Julia Rosen reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hummingbirds in the Peruvian Andes enter a state of torpor at night to conserve energy, dipping their body temperature to as low as 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Christopher Intagliata reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Given an impossible task, a dog will ask a human for help, but a wolf will not seek help—and neither will a pet pig. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pumping cheap iron-oxide-rich red bricks with specific vapors that form polymers enables the bricks to become electrical-charge-storage devices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers found that leftovers are likely to end up in the trash, so they advise cooking smaller meals in the first place to avoid food waste. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The finding of a baby dinosaur fossil in the Arctic implies that some dinos nested in the region, which was milder than today but not toasty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Astronomers observed an odd triple-star system that offers clues about misaligned planetary orbits. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A study estimates that 200 million trees in the tropics are mowed down by lightning annually. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here are some brief reports about science and technology from all over, including one from Antarctica about how there’s something funny about penguin poop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every year, Alaska’s big salmon runs feature smaller salmon. Climate change and competition with hatchery-raised salmon may be to blame. Julia Rosen reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

That drought may have brought about societal shifts in the region 5,000 years ago. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The finding could potentially help wildlife managers keep better tabs on their herds. Jason G. Goldman reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices