Science, Spoken

The poetry editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association talks about medicine, metaphor, and how literature can even improve patient outcomes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The movement of demonstrators echoes the fluid collective responses of the animal world, as groups respond to threats and signal across large spaces. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2015, Oak Ridge National Laboratory produced the first plutonium fuel in the US in nearly 30 years. Now it’s headed to another planet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Researchers collected sediment thousands of feet deep, filtered out bacteria, and revived the cells. But fear not—the destruction of humanity by ancient microbes is not nigh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are hundreds of trials currently in the works. Here’s everything you need to know about the ones edging ahead in the global race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is this your card? A recent study found that participants will select the suit or number they were primed to choose. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new experiment on how rapidly atoms can tunnel through a barricade revives a physics debate about how time passes on the quantum scale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seismometers pick up human activity, like driving. When Covid arrived, scientists watched that global seismic noise plummet by 50 percent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Even with immediate action, 710 million metric tons of plastic will enter the environment in the next two decades, scientists show. Welcome to Plastic Planet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s hard enough to get an autonomous vehicle to work on Earth. It’s even harder on another planet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Early results from the team in the UK show their approach is safe and provokes an immune response. But that doesn't mean it works. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Electric vehicle makers hope to roll out super long-lasting batteries. That raises interesting questions about resources, performance—and a battery's second act. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

These creatures have evolved special "nanobodies" that may have an edge over human antibodies when it comes to developing a new treatment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you drive, tiny bits of plastic fly off your tires and brakes. Now scientists have shown how all that road muck is blowing into “pristine” environments like the Arctic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s not useful to think about coronavirus coming in synchronized surges. This is a long, lingering epidemic that is only just getting started. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Honestly, you should just be disinfecting your reusable bags—the real issue is airborne virus, not infected shopping totes, experts say. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Four-time USA Memory Champion Nelson Dellis and psychological scientist Julia Shaw explain how to boost your memory skills. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A massive, intense heat wave is settling over the continental US. The ravages of the Covid pandemic are going to make it all the more deadly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Researchers have been looking beyond antibodies to understand how immunity to the new virus might work—and how to design a vaccine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new tracker from Harvard’s GenderSci Lab is the first to consolidate sex-separated data from across the US. It may help researchers solve the mystery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If NASA's Perseverance rover finds life on the Red Planet, there's a good chance our first extraterrestrial encounter will be a little ambiguous. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Researchers are discovering that magnetic fields permeate much of the cosmos. If these fields date back to the Big Bang, they could solve a cosmological mystery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A quarter-billion years ago, huge volcanic eruptions burned coal, leading to the worst extinction in Earth’s history. Here’s how scientists hunted down the evidence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When humans see purple, we’re really seeing a blend of red and blue light. Hummingbirds see purple plus ultraviolet—and lots of other nonspectral colors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Triso particles are an alien-looking fuel with built-in safety features that will power a new generation of high-temperature reactors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices