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

Bear Gut Microbes Help Prep Hibernation 04.02.2016 3:07

Bears’ gut summer bacteria are more diverse and include species that tend to promote energy storage than are the bacteria that live in them during their hibernation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seed-Scattering Birds May Help Trees Cope with Climate Change 03.02.2016 3:40

A new review paper emphasizes the crucial role birds play in helping trees colonize new habitats—especially in the face of a changing climate. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Plastic Pollution Perturbs Oyster Offspring 02.02.2016 2:53

Laboratory tests suggest that when the shellfish suck in tiny plastic particles, their reproductive success suffers. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Antioxidant Use Still Small Mixed Bag 01.02.2016 3:12

At a Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health forum on diet and health, Walter Willett, chair of the school's nutrition department, talked about benefits and risks associated with antioxidant supplements. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sweet Song Gives Away New Bird Species 29.01.2016 3:01

The newly discovered Himalayan forest thrush looks a great deal like the alpine thrush, but its far silkier song stylings gave it away as a potential new species. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Suicide Differences by Region Related to Gun Availability 28.01.2016 3:39

The presence of a gun increases the likelihood that someone in the home will die a violent death, particularly by suicide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Musical Pitch Perception May Have Long Evolutionary History 27.01.2016 3:19

A tiny primate, the marmoset, appears to process pitch perception the same way we do, implying that the ability evolved in a common ancestor at least 40 million years ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quick Test Could Tell If a Patient Needs Antibiotics 26.01.2016 3:35

Antibiotics work against bacterial infections but are often prescribed to people with viral infections, which don't respond to the drugs. But a new gene test could show if a patient's infection is viral or bacterial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pluto Killer Thinks He Has New Ninth Planet 25.01.2016 3:51

Caltech astronomer Mike Brown, the driving force for demoting Pluto, now claims evidence for a massive, distant replacement ninth planet in our solar system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sharks Head Straight Home by Smell 21.01.2016 3:42

Sharks that could smell headed straight back home when taken a few miles away whereas some that had their senses of smell blocked took slower, more erratic paths to their old haunts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Volcano Role in Dino Death Gets Mercury Boost 20.01.2016 4:06

Researchers found a spike in mercury, which is produced by volcanoes, in ancient ocean sediments from southern France that span the time of the dinosaurs' mass extinction, lending support to the idea that massive eruptions played a role, in addition to the asteroid impact. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Healthful Diet Switch Helps Even Late in Life 19.01.2016 2:56

At a Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health forum on diet and health, Walter Willett, chair of the school's nutrition department, said that adoption of more healthful eating habits even late in life still has benefits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Better Gut Microbiome Census through Computing 18.01.2016 3:27

Sophisticated computational techniques make it possible to analyze gene samples from all the bacteria in the gut at once to take a census of the species present. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sociable Chimps Get Richer Gut Microbiomes 15.01.2016 2:53

When food is plentiful and chimps are more chummy, they harbor an increased number of different bacterial species in their bellies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mammoth Find Moves Humans in Arctic Back 10,000 Years 14.01.2016 3:04

The remains of a clearly butchered woolly mammoth in Siberia date to 45,000 years ago, 10 millennia earlier than when humans were thought to have crossed north of the Arctic circle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

City Swans May Tolerate Humans Due to Gene Variant 13.01.2016 3:37

More members of an urban swan population that lets humans get near have a particular genetic variant than do a rural swan group that tends to take off when humans approach. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hippo Meat-Munching May Explain Their Anthrax Outbreaks 12.01.2016 3:41

Hippos eat meat more than had been thought, a practice that could explain their susceptibility to anthrax die-offs when they consume infected animals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Powerball Lottery Winning Made Inevitable (If Not Easy) 11.01.2016 4:39

Some set of numbers will definitely be drawn in the $1.3-billion Powerball Lottery, so all you have to do is make sure you hold every possible combination of numbers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iceman Ötzi Died with a Bellyache 08.01.2016 3:34

Researchers were able to determine the genome of stomach bacteria that infected the famous Iceman at the time of his death, in the process giving us clues about ancient human migrations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Allergies May Have Been Bequeathed by Neandertals 07.01.2016 3:30

Many non-African humans today have genes—which apparently made it into us via Neandertals—that ramp up resistance to pathogens, but bring on allergies, too. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Needle Exchange Programs Now Get Fed Support 06.01.2016 3:31

More than a quarter century after the federal funding ban on needle exchange programs went into effect, it has quietly been almost completely lifted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Obama Notes Blocks of Gun Violence Research 05.01.2016 3:43

In his announcement today that he was taking executive action to require more gun sellers to be licensed and to do background checks on gun buyers, Pres. Barack Obama also touched on the problems facing public health researchers who try to study gun violence and deaths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Big Cats and People Live in Close Quarters in India 04.01.2016 3:30

The numbers of large carnivores, especially leopards, are increasing in private lands and lands outside the protected-area systems in India, bringing new challenges for coexistence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Asphalt Roads Could De-Ice Themselves 31.12.2015 3:12

Researchers engineered bitumen—the sticky black stuff in asphalt—to release its own salt, to battle the formation of ice. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Race-Based Brand Preferences Found for Underage Drinkers 30.12.2015 3:19

Twelve alcohol brands among the top 25 preferred brands for teen black drinkers don’t appear at all on the top 25 for young white drinkers Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices