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

Laser Zap Determines Fruit Ripeness 15.12.2014 2:55

The way fruit reflects and absorbs laser light may be a good measure of its progression toward peak ripeness. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Birds Roost on New Evolutionary Tree 11.12.2014 4:15

In a massive first-of-its-kind whole-genome analysis involving 48 bird species, researchers have created a new avian evolutionary tree. Steve Mirsky reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canary out, Smartphone in for Gas Detection 11.12.2014 2:36

By using tiny carbon nanotubes tuned electronically to particular gases, researchers turned smartphones into toxin sensors. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quarter-Million Tons of Plastic Plague Oceans 10.12.2014 3:07

Based on trawling samples and visual observations of plastic debris, computer models calculate that some 5.25 trillion particles of plastic—about 269,000 tons—may litter the world's oceans. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dumpster Diving Provides Drinking Data 09.12.2014 2:44

Researchers estimated alcohol consumption at a senior center by putting out recycling bins and counting the bottle contents. Karen Hopkin reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Summer Teen Jobs Cut Violence 08.12.2014 2:36

A study following teens who had summer jobs found violent crime in that population almost cut in half, during and following the employment. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Poorer Kids May Be Too Respectful at School 03.12.2014 2:37

Working-class kids ask for help from teachers less often and less aggressively than do their middle-class counterparts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Big Apple's Insects Eat Streets Clean 02.12.2014 2:40

Researchers working in New York City found that hungry urban arthropods help dispose of tons of edible trash. Allie Wilkinson reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

<i>Scientific American</i>'s 1930 Football Study Found Little Actual Action 26.11.2014 3:31

The Wall Street Journal found in 2010 that an NFL game has just 11 minutes of actual action. Eight decades earlier, Scientific American found just about the same thing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Looking Back on 40 Years of Lucy 25.11.2014 3:39

Paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson's first glimpse of Lucy came on November 24, 1974 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Better Barley Let People Settle Tibetan Plateau 21.11.2014 2:35

Importation of a frost-resistant barley from the Fertile Crescent to Tibet some 3,600 years ago is associated with the advent of settlements at 3,000 meters and more above sea level. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Worse Than the Bite 20.11.2014 3:39

A new study suggests bed bugs can transmit Chagas disease to mice—but the same thing is unlikely to happen in humans. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Semen Protects HIV from Microbicide Attack 14.11.2014 2:33

Microbicides that kill HIV in the lab often fail in clinical trials. A study finds that semen may be the culprit. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Select Few Can Truly Drink to Their Health 14.11.2014 3:21

Alcohol's supposed benefit to the heart may only be available to people with the right genes. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"We Are on the Comet!" 12.11.2014 2:31

Some sounds from the Rosetta Mission team today after they succeeded in landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Steve Mirsky reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Microbiome Studies Contaminated by Sequencing Supplies 11.11.2014 3:08

Nonsterile lab reagents and DNA extraction kits add their own assortment of DNA to microbiome samples. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Young Earth May Have Been All Wet 10.11.2014 2:50

Because the chemical signature of water on Earth matches the signature of water in an ancient group of asteroids called eucrites, it means that Earth might have had water much earlier than previously thought. Julia Rosen reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chimps Hit Sack with Breakfast Plans 07.11.2014 2:31

Chimps choose an overnight camp site based on the likelihood of finding calorically rich food nearby. Karen Hopkin reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bats Jam Rivals’ Sonar to Steal a Meal 06.11.2014 3:27

Mexican free-tailed bats make calls that interfere with fellow bats’ echolocation, causing them to miss their insect targets. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Half-Century Anniversary of a Mars Mishap 05.11.2014 2:51

November 5th marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Mariner 3, America’s first mission to Mars, which was lost in space. Steve Mirsky reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Button Battery Coating Lessens Risk If Swallowed 03.11.2014 2:49

Thousands of small children swallow tiny batteries each year. A new battery coating could protect kids from internal burns and still allow the batteries to work. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bacteria Lowers Mosquito Transmission of Malaria, Dengue 31.10.2014 3:00

Mosquitoes that harbor a soil microbe called Chromobacterium Csp_P have a harder time catching dengue virus and the malarial parasite. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mammals Might Have Slept Through Dino Destroyer 30.10.2014 2:38

The ability to engage in extended hibernation might be what saved ancestral mammals from extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period. Karen Hopkin reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Online Personalization Means Prices Are Tailored to You, Too 28.10.2014 3:11

Christo Wilson, a computer scientist at Northeastern University, says prices online are "super subjective" and vary according to your past clicks and purchases or whether you are shopping on a mobile phone. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fecal Transplanters Fish Out Key Ingredient 22.10.2014 3:14

The bacterium Clostridium scindens, a member of the gut’s microbiome, appears to ward off the hospital-acquired infection C. difficile. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices