Scientific American

Science Quickly

Science EN ↓ 1942 episodes

Host Rachel Feltman, alongside leading science and tech journalists, dives into the rich world of scientific discovery in this bite-size science variety show.

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Scientific American

Episodes

If Singing's Tough, Try Whistling 21.04.2018 3:34

A new study claims it's easier to accurately whistle a melody than to sing it. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Traffic Deaths Increase after 4:20 P.M. on 4/20 19.04.2018 3:10

A look at a database of fatal traffic accidents found a 12 percent increase on the informal marijuana holiday 4/20 after 4:20 P.M. compared with nearby dates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NYC Mice Are Packed with Pathogens 18.04.2018 3:16

Mice trapped in New York City apartment buildings harbored disease-causing bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mine Social Media Posts to Predict Flu 17.04.2018 4:05

Researchers used Twitter searches for nonflu words associated with behavior to predict flu outbreaks two weeks in advance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Planting Milkweed for Monarchs? Make Sure It's Native 16.04.2018 3:55

Non-native milkweed species planted in the southern U.S. could harm monarch butterflies as temperatures rise. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Internet Needs a Tune-Up 13.04.2018 2:56

Princeton University's Jennifer Rexford talks about optimizing the internet for the uses it got drafted into performing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Glacier Suddenly Goes Galloping 12.04.2018 3:45

Researchers try to figure out why every 20 years a Pakistan glacier moves roughly 1,500 times faster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some Habitable Zone Exoplanets May Get X-Rayed Out 11.04.2018 3:27

Red dwarfs are a popular place to hunt for small exoplanets in the habitable zone—but the stars' radiation bursts might fry chances for life as we know it. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Right Whales Seem to Think before They Speak 09.04.2018 4:05

Rather than always making the same call in response to the same stimuli, North Atlantic right whales are capable of changing their vocalizations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Old New England Underground May Be Spry after All 07.04.2018 4:07

The U.S. Northeast may be more geologically active than was previously thought, according to a seismic sensor network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brain Scan Might Reveal Appetite for Risk 06.04.2018 3:49

Volunteers willing to place riskier bets tended to sport larger amygdalas—a region associated with processing fear. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neandertal Face Shape Was All Over the Air 04.04.2018 3:38

The jutting midface of Neandertals seems to have evolved to help get large volumes of air into an active body that needed lots of oxygen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rev Up Photosynthesis to Boost Crop Yields 02.04.2018 3:12

Photosynthesis actually is an inefficient process, but a biological chemist is trying to crank it up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13,000-Year-Old Footprints under West Coast Beach 01.04.2018 2:56

Several feet below a beach in British Columbia, archaeologists discovered soil trampled by human feet—the oldest footprints found so far in North America. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Math Cracks a Knuckle-Cracking Mystery 29.03.2018 3:19

The source of knuckle cracking sounds is much debated—but new mathematical models may reconcile two opposing views. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rotting Flesh Offers Insight on Fossilization 26.03.2018 3:28

To learn more about decay and fossilization, researchers conduct unorthodox experiments—like dissecting decomposing animals in the lab. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ravens Crow with Individual Flair 23.03.2018 4:20

Ravens produce different types of calls depending on their age and sex—which might help ravens size up other individuals. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. Flu Spread Counts On Southern Cold Snaps 21.03.2018 4:14

A multifactorial analysis finds that the ignition of a flu epidemic stems from a blast of colder weather striking an otherwise warm, humid, urban environment, and driving people indoors into close quarters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Louise Slaughter Was Congress's Food Safety Champion 20.03.2018 3:53

Upstate New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, who worked for decades on issues such as overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and food safety in general, died March 16 at the age of 88. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arctic Heat Waves Linked to Snowpocalypse-Like Storms 18.03.2018 3:21

An analysis of more than six decades of daily temperature and snowfall data linked warmer arctic temperatures to cold snaps at lower latitudes. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gut Parasites Have Their Own Gut Microbiomes 15.03.2018 3:22

The whipworm lives in the human gut, mooching microbes from its host to build its own microbiome. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Drones Could Help Biologists Tally Birds 12.03.2018 4:14

Counting by drone not only saves time and effort, but yields better data on species numbers—a definite plus in terms of conservation. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Saliva Protein Might Inhibit Intestinal Anarchy 10.03.2018 3:11

A protein found in spit prevents bad bugs from binding to intestinal cells in the lab, pointing to a possible way to lower the chances of dysentery. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Searching the Heavens for Mountains 09.03.2018 3:54

Exoplanet hunters are moving beyond simply finding new planets into trying to know what they look like and whether there's surface or subsurface activity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Human Echolocators Use Tricks Similar to Bats 06.03.2018 3:35

People who use echolocating mouth clicks to compensate for low vision increase the number and intensity of clicks when objects are harder to detect. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices