Science, Spoken

For those quarantined alone, the lack of human touch can feel agonizing. A neurological phenomenon called "skin hunger" explains why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Blood centers across the nation are trying to get antibodies from coronavirus survivors to patients who want this experimental treatment. But it’s not easy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fast laser pulses produce a shock wave in air that pushes water vapor aside. That clears channels in clouds for transmitting optical data from satellites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, petroleum producers around the world will start shutting down wells after the Covid-19 pandemic caused demand to plummet. What took them so long? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Epidemiologists aren't surprised that virus was spreading in the US in early February. But those early days offer lessons for how to catch the next wave. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Conway, who passed away on April 11, was known for his rapid computation, his playful approach, and solving problems with “his own bare hands.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After his accident, Ian Burkhart didn’t think he’d ever be able to move or feel his hand again. A small chip in his brain changed everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Boston Dynamics' famously deft robot gets a job screening patients at a hospital. But there's still much that it and other medical robots can't do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A decade after the worst oil spill in US history, researchers have turned out a massive data set charting the health of the ecosystem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s hard for humans in New York City to get a test for the coronavirus. So when a Bronx Zoo tiger tested positive for Covid-19, it invited some questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Two preprints of California serosurveys offer surprising estimates about the infection rate, and have caused a Twitter “peer review” uproar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oxygen is in the air. Getting it to a Covid-19 patient struggling to breathe can be trickier than it seems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As coronavirus takes hold and farmers plant crops, the continent faces a new wave of locusts 20 times larger than one earlier this year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The scientific method isn't perfect, but it's better than the alternative when lives are at stake. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new Harvard study models how long we’d have to keep social distancing if the virus turns out to be seasonal, like its coronavirus cousins. It could be years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The end result of the reaction is a raw material that can be reused in new products. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If knowing someone who has died would make the pandemic concrete for someone in the US—real and actionable—how many have to die? Here's the grim math. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Researchers use models meant for infectious diseases to show how congestion proliferates. That may mean a vaccine for traffic jams is on the horizon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Instead of coding a mechanical quadruped's movements line by line, Google researchers fed it videos of real-life pups. Now it can even chase its tail. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Putting a price on emissions has become a bipartisan issue. Now we just need to do it the right way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've been talking about the potential for the sun's energy for decades. Now it can be more profitable to save the planet than to ruin it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rice has the biggest carbon footprint of any grain. Bite by bite, bacteria-guzzling minnows can make it much smaller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Installing an array on your roof is environmental exhibitionism—and it's contagious. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new competition challenges scientists to innovate on how we map Earth's constantly shifting magnetic field—and make navigation safer and more accurate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're not the only one who finds #quarantinebaking so soothing. Turns out, it has a lot to do with the neuroscience of mindful meditation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices