Science Quickly

People who had a conflict in a given day but also got hugged were not as affected by the negative interaction as were their unhugged counterparts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The single organism that is the Utah aspen grove known as Pando is on the decline due to herbivores wiping out its youngest tree outgrowths Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Immigrants to the U.S. lose their native mix of gut microbes almost immediately after arriving in the U.S.—which researchers can't quite explain. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few very brief reports about international science and technology from Alaska to Indonesia, including one on offshore dairy farming from the Netherlands. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adult humans laugh primarily on the exhale, but human babies laugh on the inhale and the exhale—as do chimps. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers recorded piranha "honks" and catfish "screeches" in the Peruvian Amazon, which might illuminate fish activity in murky jungle waters. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthropologist Jennifer Raff argues that race is culturally created, but has biological consequences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listening to the sounds panda pairs make when they're introduced could lead to better breeding success. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The "low hanging fruit" of genome-related health care will be knowing which drugs are likely to treat you best, says science journalist Carl Zimmer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A tiny fly, related to biting no-see-ums, pollinates cacao trees and enables our chocolate cravings. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bottlenose dolphins simplify and raise the pitch of their whistles to be heard above underwater shipping noise. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Octopuses react to MDMA much like humans do. And not surprisingly, given their anatomy, the animals are excellent huggers. Annie Sneed reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers taught two dozen wild sparrows new songs, by playing them the recordings of sparrows that live thousands of miles away. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By caring for their sick and injured, Neandertals were able to expand into more dangerous environments and pursue more deadly prey. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A study correlating personality traits with financial data found that agreeable people had lower savings, higher debt and higher bankruptcy rates. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bees suddenly fell silent when the sun disappeared during last year's solar eclipse—perhaps because they were tricked into night mode. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

English as-a-first-language Canadian study subjects were less trusting of statements in English spoken with a foreign accent, unless the speaker sounded confident about their assertion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Baby giraffes inherit aspects of their mothers' patterning—which could give them a survival advantage if good camouflage runs in the family. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

William Nordhaus shared the 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, "for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis,” with Paul Romer, "for integrating technological innovations into long-run macroeconomic analysis." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twice a year, thousands of pronghorn antelope and mule deer migrate through Wyoming, and newly built highway crossings are sparing the lives of animals—and motorists. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The bittering agents called hops have enzymes that chew up starch and unleash more fermentable sugar—which can boost alcohol and CO2 in the finished brew. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frances H. Arnold, George P. Smith and Gregory P. Winter share the 2018 chemistry Nobel for developing evolutionary-based techniques that lead to the creation of new chemical entities with useful properties. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland share the 2018 physics Nobel for their work with lasers that have led to numerous practical applications, such as eye surgery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo share the Nobel Prize for their work on harnessing the cancer patient's own immune system to destroy tumors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Blasey Ford's professional expertise came into play during her testimony regarding the Supreme Court nomination. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An aerial laser scan of more than 800 square miles of Guatemalan jungle revealed Maya buildings, canals, roads and bridges. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patterning a surface with tiny stripes of ice prevents frost formation on the rest of the surface—a technique that could keep planes or roads frost-free. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers have designed a musical instrument that can detect counterfeit drugs by the pitch of its notes. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forests with numerous tree species, and therefore a mix of water-management strategies, appear more tolerant of drought. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On International Talk Like a Pirate Day, here's an eye-patch-witness account of how science helps in all peg-leg walks of life, even piracy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The marine mammals have extraordinarily sensitive touch—which helps them nab prey in the absence of other sensory cues. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few very brief reports about science and technology from around the globe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A mutation in a key gene may have endowed humans with superior endurance—allowing them to compete better with other animals on the savanna. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Springtime's arriving earlier across North America. But the degree of change isn't the same everywhere, which could spell trouble for migratory birds. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Biologists are enlisting citizen scientists to poke around under the sink and behind the curtains, for wildlife living in the "great indoors." Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Astrophysicists have gotten a better glimpse at what happens to crashing neutron stars by listening in on the electromagnetic echoes of the collision. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The hammerhead relatives consume copious amounts of sea grass, and have the digestive machinery to process it—making them true omnivores. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Hurricane Irma blew through the Turks and Caicos, lizards with shorter hindlimbs lucked out. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An intrepid undergrad led the way to understanding the physics of snapping strands of spaghetti. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few very brief reports about science and technology from around the globe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Costa Rican scientists are extracting valuable materials from the peel and stubble of pineapples. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mosquitoes want your blood for its proteins...or simply to hydrate on a hot, dry day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Digital assistants have to respond quickly, but correctly—so researchers are studying how real humans navigate that trade-off, to design better machines. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The birds are arriving in the Arctic up to 13 days earlier than they used to. But at a cost: hunger. Annie Sneed reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fire ants tunnels got excavated efficiently by only a small percentage of the group doing most of the work, thus avoiding pileups in tight spaces. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Genetic information from the bones of macaws found in abandoned pueblos suggests they were bred and distributed as a commodity. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Milkweed grown with more carbon dioxide in the air supplies fewer toxins to monarch butterflies that need the toxins to fight off gut parasites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Crows are what's known as "partial migrants"—as cold weather approaches, some crows fly south whereas others stay put. And that behavior appears to be ingrained. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

About 80 percent of Earth's biomass is plant life, with humans about equal to krill way down the heft chart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Michigan Scientific Literacy Survey of 2017 found that last year's total solar eclipse got Americans more interested in celestial science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices