Science Quickly
1,942 episodes — Page 13 of 39
COVID Quickly, Episode 18: Vaccines for Kids and the Limits of Natural Immunity
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. You can listen to all past episodes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
These Bugs Produce Smelly Defenses That Need to Be Heard to Be Believed
You read that right. Researchers have taken the chemical defenses of some insects and turned them into sounds, which, it turns out, repel people just as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
For Some Parents, Hiding a Dead Body Shows How Much You Care
Over millions of years of evolution, some beetles have learned to dampen the stench of decay to help their young thrive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Date of the Vikings' First Atlantic Crossing Revealed by Rays from Space
By dating the remnants of trees felled in Newfoundland, scientists have determined that the Norse people likely first set foot in the Americas in the year A.D. 1021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
COVID Quickly, Episode 17: Vaccine Lies and Protecting Immunocompromised People
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. You can listen to all past episodes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How Can an Elephant Squeak Like a Mouse?
New research using a camera that can “see" sound” shows some elephants can produce high-pitched buzzing with their lips. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Beethoven's Unfinished 10th Symphony Brought to Life by Artificial Intelligence
Nearly 200 years after his death, the German composer’s musical scratch was pieced together by machine—with a lot of human help. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding the Universe [Sponsored]
Ewine van Dishoeck received the Kavli Prize in Astrophysics in 2018 for elucidating the life cycle of interstellar clouds and the formation of stars and planets. What other mysteries of space are left to be uncovered? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A Canary in an Ice-Rich, Slumping Rock Glacier in Alaska
Here’s what we can learn about climate change and infrastructure from Denali National Park’s only road. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
COVID Quickly, Episode 16: Vaccines Protect Pregnancies and a New Antiviral Pill
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. You can listen to all past episodes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Mystery of Water Drops That Skate Across Oil at Impossible Speeds
The speed of these self-propelling droplets on a hot-oil surface seemed to defy physics until researchers broke out the super-slow-motion camera. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Night Flights Are No Sweat for Tropical Bees
New research uses night vision to see how nocturnal bees navigate the dark. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
These Bacteria Steal from Iron and Could Be Secretly Helping to Curb Climate Change
Photoferrotrophs have been around for billions of years on Earth, and new research suggests that they have played an outsize roll in the natural capture of carbon dioxide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
COVID, Quickly, Episode 15: Booster Shot Approvals--plus Vaccines for Kids?
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. You can listen to all past episodes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dinosaurs Lived--and Made Little Dinos--in the Arctic
New research shows that the prehistoric giants were even cooler than we thought Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
During a Rodent Quadrathlon, Researchers Learn That Ground Squirrels Have Personalities
The rodents’ personalities may help them to secure territory and avoid prey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A Car Crash Snaps the Daydreaming Mind into Focus
One researcher’s poorly timed attention lapse flipped a car—and pushed science forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
COVID, Quickly, Episode 14: Best Masks, Explaining Mask Anger, Biden's New Plan
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. You can listen to all past episodes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding Atoms [Sponsored]
Gerd Binnig shared The Kavli Prize in Nanoscience in 2016 for inventing the atomic force microscope. What transformative impact has this invention had on nanoscience? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In Missouri, a Human 'Bee' Works to Better Understand Climate Change's Effects
Researcher Matthew Austin has become a wildflower pollinator, sans the wings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
These Baby Bats, like Us, Were Born to Babble
The greater sac-winged bat develops its own language in much the way we do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Their Lives Have Been Upended by Hurricane Ida
Theresa and Donald Dardar lived their whole lives in coastal Louisiana. They knew the “big one” might come someday. It did, and now everything is uncertain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
COVID, Quickly, Episode 13: Vaccine Approval, Breakthrough Infections, Boosters
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. You can listen to all past episodes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Flexible Microprocessor Could Enable an 'Internet of Everything'
Researchers have developed a microprocessor built on high-performance plastic rather than silicon—and they say it could enable smarter food labels and supply chain management. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Years Before COVID-19, Zombies Helped Prepare One Hospital System for the Real Pandemic
An educational experiment used escape rooms and the undead to set the stage for a terrible situation that would become all too real Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Incredible, Reanimated 24,000-Year-Old Rotifer
The last time this tiny wheel animalcule was moving around, woolly mammoths roamed the earth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Astronomers Find an Unexpected Bumper Crop of Black Holes
In trying to explain the spectacular star trails of the star cluster Palomar 5, astronomers stumbled on a very large trove of black holes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Inside Millions of Invisible Droplets, Potential Superbug Killers Grow
New research has created microscopic antibiotic factories in droplets that measure a trillionth of liter in volume. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Secret behind Songbirds' Magnetic Migratory Sense
A molecule found in the retinas of European robins seems to be able to sense weak magnetic fields, such as that of Earth, after it is exposed to light. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
COVID, Quickly, Episode 12: Masking Up Again and Why People Refuse Shots
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. You can listen to all past episodes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding Touch [Sponsored]
Ardem Patapoutian shared The Kavli Prize in Neuroscience in 2020 for answering a basic question: How does touch actually work? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Moths Have an Acoustic Invisibility Cloak to Stay under Bats' Radar
New research finds they fly around on noise-cancelling wings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
COVID, Quickly, Episode 11: Vaccine Booster Shots, and Reopening Offices Safely
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series: COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. You can listen to all past episodes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Your Brain Does Something Amazing between Bouts of Intense Learning
New research shows that lightning-quick neural rehearsal can supercharge learning and memory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
COVID, Quickly, Episode 10: Long Haulers, Delta Woes and Barbershop Shots
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series: COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This Newly Discovered Species of Tree Hyrax Goes Bark in the Night
A study makes the case for the new species based on its looks, genes and sounds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
COVID, Quickly, Episode 9: Delta Variant, Global Vaccine Shortfalls, Beers for Shots
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series: COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. You can listen to all past episodes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Animal Kids Listen to Their Parents Even before Birth
Human children: please take note of the behavior of prebirth zebra finches Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
For African Elephants, Pee Could Be a Potent Trail Marker
Scientists found that elephants often sniff pathways—and seem especially attuned to urine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A 'Universal' Coronavirus Vaccine to Prevent the Next Pandemic
A pan-coronavirus vaccine could be “one vaccine to rule them all,” and so far it has shown strong results in mice, hamsters, monkeys, horses and even sharks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
COVID, Quickly, Episode 8: The Pandemic's True Death Toll and the Big Lab-Leak Debate
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series: COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Puppies Understand You Even at a Young Age, Most Adorable Study of the Year Confirms
Researchers in the happiest lab in the world tested 375 pups and found they connected with people by eight weeks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
New 3-D-Printed Material Is Tough, Flexible--and Alive
Made from microalgae and bacteria, the new substance can survive for three days without feeding. It could one day be used to build living garments, self-powered kitchen appliances or even window coverings that sequester carbon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Bats on Helium Reveal an Innate Sense of the Speed of Sound
A new experiment shows that bats are born with a fixed reference for the speed of sound—and living in lighter air can throw it off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Dirty Secret behind Some of the World's Earliest Microscopes
Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek made extraordinary observations of blood cells, sperm cells and bacteria with his microscopes. But it turns out the lens technology he used was quite ordinary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
COVID, Quickly, Episode 7: The Coming Pandemic Grief Wave, and Mask Whiplash
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series: COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Math and Sleuthing Help to Explain Epidemics of the Past
One mathematician has spend decades uncovering the deadly calculations of pestilence and plague, sometimes finding data that were hiding in plain sight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Who Laps Whom on the Walking Track--Tyrannosaurus rex or You? Science Has a New Answer
An analysis of the animal’s walking speed suggests that T. rex’s walking pace was close to that of a human. It’s too bad the king of the dinosaurs didn’t just walk when hungry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Artificial Light Keeps Mosquitoes Biting Late into the Night
It is like when your cell phone keeps you awake in bed—except mosquitoes do not doom scroll when they stay up, they feast on your blood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
COVID, Quickly, Episode 6: The Real Reason for India's Surge and Mask Liftoff
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series: COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices