Science Quickly

The rock of the Campi Flegrei Caldera, west of Naples, Italy, has an intricate network of mineral fibers—just like the famed Roman concrete. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Astronomers have discovered more than 800 so-called "ultradiffuse galaxies" that are virtually invisible because they have relatively few stars and are mostly dark matter. Clara Moskowitz reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Male nightingales use singing virtuosity to signal prospective mates that they will be the most doting dads. Sabrina Imbler reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We currently have a maximum of about 60 minutes to prepare for tech disruptions on Earth due to coronal mass ejections from the sun, but an improved forecasting system could lengthen that lead time by hours. Maria Temming reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People who smoke pot and drink are twice as likely to do both at the same time than to do just one, with the combo associated with bad decision-making; and chronic pot smokers who had not indulged in a month were still more likely to have faulty memories than were nonsmokers. Erika Beras reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mexican Jays compare peanuts to determine which one has the most meat inside before choosing one for a meal. Karen Hopkin reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all perceive smells differently—and two people’s preferences may give clues to their degree of genetic similarity. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Background app updates, cell tower pings and other hidden activity accounts for almost half the battery drain on Android phones. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The vast majority of ice loss in Alaska glaciers comes from those that sit completely on land—which contributes meltwater to sea level rise. Julia Rosen reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sangeeta Bhatia of M.I.T. talks about efforts to get bacteria to home in on tumors and let us know they're there. Cynthia Graber reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even four hours of intense activity may be enough to let bacteria escape from the gut into the blood, setting off a chain of inflammation. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On June 3, 2015, Vilhelm Bohr talked about his famous grandfather's life, including the relationship with Einstein, at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The same particles that streak through Earth's atmosphere as "shooting stars" kick up lunar dust when they strike the surface of the atmosphere-less moon. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Test subjects rode stationary bikes 25 percent faster when they simultaneously tackled some relatively easy cognitive challegnes. Karen Hopkin reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The "odorous house ant" smells like blue cheese or rotten coconut because it produces chemical compounds similar to those found in its nose-sakes. Cynthia Graber reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scientists have found ancient "impact glass" on the surface of Mars, which formed when asteroids struck, a billion or more years ago. If anything was alive at the time, biological materials could be trapped inside. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new documentary film presents the science behind when and why people lie. Daisy Yuhas reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In west Africa researchers observed wild chimps seek out and drink fermented tree sap left outside by humans. Karen Hopkin reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People tend to remember a color they saw, for example green-blue teal, as being closer to a more stereotypical variant, such as straight blue or green. Karen Hopkin reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fragments of edible marine snail shells found in Lebanon support the idea that ancient humans went from Africa to Europe through the Levant. Cynthia Graber reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all emit slightly different brain waves in response to stimuli, and researchers say that an individual’s specific "brainprints" could be used to validate our identities. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A galaxy 12.5 billion light-years away gives off the light of 300 trillion suns, because its feeding black hole produces enough heat to set the whole galaxy's dust glowing. Lee Billings reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An experimental leishmaniasis vaccine relies on eliciting an immune response to a protein from the saliva of the sand fly that carries the leishmania parasite, rather than on anything from the parasite itself. Cynthia Graber reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new study suggests that chimps have the cognitive skills necessary for cooking—such as patience—even if they don't control fire. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emergency room visits due to high heel shoe–related injuries doubled between 2002 and 2012. Erika Beras reports   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices