Science Quickly

An intrepid undergrad led the way to understanding the physics of snapping strands of spaghetti. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few very brief reports about science and technology from around the globe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Costa Rican scientists are extracting valuable materials from the peel and stubble of pineapples. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mosquitoes want your blood for its proteins...or simply to hydrate on a hot, dry day.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Digital assistants have to respond quickly, but correctly—so researchers are studying how real humans navigate that trade-off, to design better machines. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The birds are arriving in the Arctic up to 13 days earlier than they used to. But at a cost: hunger. Annie Sneed reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fire ants tunnels got excavated efficiently by only a small percentage of the group doing most of the work, thus avoiding pileups in tight spaces. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Genetic information from the bones of macaws found in abandoned pueblos suggests they were bred and distributed as a commodity. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Milkweed grown with more carbon dioxide in the air supplies fewer toxins to monarch butterflies that need the toxins to fight off gut parasites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crows are what's known as "partial migrants"—as cold weather approaches, some crows fly south whereas others stay put. And that behavior appears to be ingrained. Christopher Intagliata reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About 80 percent of Earth's biomass is plant life, with humans about equal to krill way down the heft chart.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Michigan Scientific Literacy Survey of 2017 found that last year's total solar eclipse got Americans more interested in celestial science.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The insects fashion and use "baffles"—sound controllers—made of leaves to produce sound more efficiently. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers programmed a computer to compare structures and toxic effects of different chemicals, making it possible to then predict the toxicity of new chemicals based on their structural similarity to known ones.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Both men and women tended to pursue mates just 25 percent more desirable than themselves—suggesting they are "optimistic realists." Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whale ancestors probably never had teeth and baleen at the same time, and only developed baleen after trying toothlessness and sucking in prey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A variety of corn from Oaxaca, Mexico, has aerial roots that harbor nitrogen-fixing bacteria, allowing the corn to suck nitrogen straight from the air. Christopher Intagliata reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Birds become good at avoiding danger by eavesdropping on the alarm calls of other birds—and the learning occurs without even seeing their peers or predators. Christopher Intagliata reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An analysis of the Hong Kong metro found microbes, including some with antibiotic resistance genes, freshly disperse throughout the system each day. Christopher Intagliata reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Different people have differing aptitudes for observing small changes and particular features. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About 5 percent of crows will attempt to copulate with other crows that have joined the choir invisible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Certain proteins that coordinate the healing response are present at higher levels in oral tissue—meaning wounds in the mouth fix faster. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 2,500 scientists signed a letter saying that an expanded U.S.–Mexico border wall would threaten both biodiversity and scientific research. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers used a couple of hundred dollars worth of materials to turn a wall into a giant touch screen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By analyzing the proteins in ancient dental plaque, archaeologists determined that British menus almost three millennia ago featured milk, oats and peas. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices