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.

Author

Scientific American

Episodes

Pulling the String on Yo-Yo Weight Gain 18.03.2017 3:52

Mice that lost weight and then gained back more than they lost maintained an obesity-type microbiome that affected biochemicals involved in either burning or adding fat--suggesting interventions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poverty Shaves Years off Life 17.03.2017 3:22

A meta-analysis found that being of low socioeconomic status was associated with almost as many years of lost life as was a sedentary lifestyle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pollinators Shape Plants to Their Preference 16.03.2017 3:14

In fewer than a dozen generations bumblebee-pollinated plants were coaxed to develop traits that made them even more pleasing to the bees. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Low Biodiversity Brings Earlier Bloom 15.03.2017 2:53

For every two species lost in a grassland, the remaining flowers there bloomed a day earlier—on par with changes due to rising global temperatures. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Early-Life Microbes Ward Off Asthma 14.03.2017 3:22

Exposure to specific microbes when an infant is less than a year old seems to have a protective effect against the child's eventual acquisition of asthma. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(Probably Not a) Giant Alien Antenna 12.03.2017 3:33

Astrophysicists propose that mysterious "fast radio bursts" could, in very speculative theory, be produced by an antenna twice the size of Earth. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jupiter Moon to Be Searched for Life 10.03.2017 3:40

If anything's alive on the ice-covered ocean world of Europa, a future NASA mission hopes to find it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Teeth Hint at a Friendlier Neandertal 08.03.2017 3:25

By sequencing DNA in Neandertal dental plaque, scientists were able to find out about their diets—and their good relations with modern humans. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forensic Science: Trials with Errors 07.03.2017 3:50

What appears to be accepted science in the courtroom may not be accepted science among scientists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How to Find Loooong Gravitational Waves 06.03.2017 3:47

The gravitational waves found last year were short compared with the monster waves that could be turned up by what's called Pulsar Timing Arrays. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Biggest Rivers Are Overhead 03.03.2017 2:58

Atmospheric rivers can carry the same amount of water vapor as 15 to 20 Mississippi Rivers—and deliver punishing winds, too. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last Woollies Had Mammoth Mutations 02.03.2017 4:03

The final holdout woolly mammoths had large numbers of harmful mutations—which would have given them satiny coats and a weakened sense of smell. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

African Penguins Pulled into an Ecological Trap 01.03.2017 3:50

Climate change and overfishing have made the penguins’ feeding grounds a mirage—which has led to a drop in penguin population. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neandertals Live On in Our Genomes 28.02.2017 3:25

Researchers found that Neandertal gene variants still affect the way genes are turned off and on in modern humans. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Medical Marijuana Faces Fed's Catch-22 27.02.2017 3:36

Doing large studies of marijuana's potential as medicine means getting it removed from an official federal list of substances with no official medical use—which requires more proof of its potential as medicine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blood Cells Remember Your Mountain Vacation 23.02.2017 2:50

Red blood cells retain a memory of high-altitude exposure, allowing for faster acclimation next time. But that memory fades within four months. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fermented Foods Find Fervent Advocate 22.02.2017 3:03

Properly fermented foods deliver probiotics that could help cut disease risk, said a researcher at the annual meeting of the AAAS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vision Needed to Curb Nearsightedness Epidemic 21.02.2017 3:28

In urban Asian areas myopia among teenagers is topping 90 percent—but foresight may be able to bring those numbers way down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guppy Groups Provide Friendly Protection against Foes 20.02.2017 3:58

Guppies exposed to predators tend to aggregate into smaller, more tightly knit groups, which may allow them to coordinate their predator avoidance strategies. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spaceflight Squishes Spacefarers' Brains 18.02.2017 2:51

Astronauts’ gray matter is compressed by time in space—except in an area that controls feeling and movement in the legs. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2 Words Trigger CDC to Stay Quiet 17.02.2017 2:56

Researchers and administrators at the CDC dare not utter the words guns or firearms for fear of budget cuts from Congress, according to health policy researcher David Hemenway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The True "Bottom" of the Food Chain Is Plenty Polluted 16.02.2017 3:39

Critters living more than six miles below the ocean surface contain high levels of harmful compounds like PCBs and flame retardants. Julia Rosen reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heat Sensor Has Snaky Sensitivity 15.02.2017 3:38

Researchers have developed a heat sensor that can detect temperature changes of just ten thousandths of a degree Celsius—comparable with the sensitivity of pit vipers. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Housing Boom Busts Birds' Valentine's Day 14.02.2017 3:18

A Pacific Northwest housing boom is encroaching on songbird habitat, forcing the birds to flee their homes—and their mates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cool Coating Chills in Sunlight 13.02.2017 3:28

A thin film coating can chill a vat of water to 15 degress Fahrenheit cooler than its surroundings, by absorbing—and then emitting—the sun's infrared rays. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices