Science Quickly

Badgers were far more frightened by the sounds of humans than by their traditional predators, such as bears or wolves.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A survey during the 2012 election found that bus tours and visits to greasy spoons didn't do much to change voter opinions. Christopher Intagliata reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Upending the belief that residents of ancient Central America did not practice animal husbandry, new evidence shows that people in Teotihuacán raised and bred rabbits and hares.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A black hole analogue, which traps sound instead of light, generates "Hawking radiation," a key prediction by the theoretical physicist. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In neighborhoods where kids have an increased chance of exposure to toxic lead, pigeons also have higher blood lead levels—making the birds potential proxies for risk assessment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers found that a bad actor could cheaply and easily clone a remote keyless entry system to gain entry. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Individual Greenland sharks appear to live perhaps a century longer than any other vertebrate, and might have life spans approaching 500 years.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Yao people of Mozambique vocally signal honeyguide birds to show them the location of hives, which the people harvest and share with the birds.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Environmental concentrations of certain insecticides slashed honeybee drones' living sperm counts. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reintroducing mountain lions to the eastern U.S. could save human lives and reduce injuries by lowering deer populations and preventing car–deer collisions.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A 2,000-year-old latrine in China provides the first hard evidence that people carried diseases long distances along the ancient trading route.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inbred canaries sang songs with less pure tones, and at slightly different pitches, than their outbred cousins—and female canaries seemed to be able to tell the difference.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A thermal spike linked to the solar system’s largest storm explains weather on gas-giant planets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fish flourished in creeks in which human engineers helped shore up beaver dams made weak by poor timber availability.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Great frigate birds may stay aloft for up to two months, eating and sleeping on the wing.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Biologists have identified a third species—a yeast—in some lichens, shaking up what's always been known as a two-party system. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The smell of a chicken wards off one species of malaria-spreading mosquito—meaning the scent compounds, or the birds themselves, might help deter disease. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As was widely reported on social media, the U.S. is indeed going to use aerial drones to spread vaccine-laced pellets among prairie dogs to save endangered ferrets, although, contrary to some reports, no M&Ms will be involved.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A newer type of fuel injection offers better fuel economy, but paradoxically increases black carbon emissions—meaning a pollution trade-off. Christopher Intagliata reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A model of the dolphin vocal apparatus shows that they need a coating of mucus to produce their distinctive sounds.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The discerning insects returned to flowers with sweetened pollen, but avoided revisiting flowers with bitter pollen. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A genetic analysis of leftovers from an exotic dinner in 1951 reveals that the diners got less than they were promised.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Center for Science Education's annual Colorado River trip through the Grand Canyon highlights the differences between the scientific and creationist outlooks.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new study suggests the best predictor of wildlife abundance in public lands is not human activity, but factors like forest connectivity and nearby housing density. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New research suggests that our feline companions understand the principle of cause and effect. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices