Science, Spoken

A comprehensive mathematical framework treats these crinkles as elegant solutions to geometric problems. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Keeping rodents off Santa Cruz Island is an exhausting task. But now, conservationists are getting an assist from an AI-powered surveillance system. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the future, remote-controlled quadcopters might mean that researchers won’t have to crawl inside volcanoes to collect carbon dioxide anymore. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The bacteria, which contaminate poultry meat, sicken 1.35 million Americans every year. But there’s very little the federal government can do to stop it. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

East European governments are starting to distribute the tablets as a precaution, but there are limits to the protection they offer, and who might need them. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A new study finds no correlation between research and development spending and outlandish drug prices. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Scientists integrated tiny cell clusters called organoids with the animals’ own tissue, a step toward developing sophisticated mini-models of the brain. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Scientists are investigating why large animals like the mule deer of Wyoming go where they go—and how humans can get out of their way. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Sure, my telepresence robot had some issues—but for students like me who can’t make it to campus because of disability or illness, these tools open new doors. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

These pollinators can help urban gardens grow. That will be critical for cooling cities as the planet warms. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Pathogens in soil are a danger to firefighters, but smoke may transport spores that cause valley fever and other infections into cities too. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A new study shows that cancer patients in precarious living situations are twice as likely to die from their illness, underscoring the harms of unstable housing. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A new and contentious five-year limit for getting rid of dead satellites could slow the growing orbital litter problem—if people actually abide by it. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

An experiment tests whether the gene-editing technology can stop the virus from replicating, which would ultimately wipe out the infection. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The ‘Er’ grouping could help doctors identify and treat some rare cases of blood incompatibility, including between pregnant mothers and fetuses. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Allen Institute’s release includes recordings from a whopping 300,000 mouse neurons. Now the challenge is figuring out what to do with all that data. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

With human therapists in short supply, AI chatbots are trying to plug the gap—but it’s not clear how well they work. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Astronomers mourn the end of an infrared observatory that flew aboard a jumbo jet. It was expensive, but it saw what Earth-based telescopes can’t. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Illumina just announced a machine that can crack genomes twice as fast as its current version—and drive the cost down to $200 a pop. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Desertification can wear down ancient ruins or hide them under dunes—leaving researchers scrambling to keep track of where they’re buried. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As the Supreme Court considers the fate of American wetlands, Annie Proulx’s Fen, Bog, and Swamp offers an elegiac love letter to overlooked ecosystems. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Worries about polio, monkeypox, and Covid-19 are rising. Here’s how to gather your health information, even if you’ve lost the paper records. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The technique had largely been limited to editing patients’ cells in the lab. New research shows promise for treating diseases more directly. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Meticulous turf is environmentally terrible. Yet grass does have one charm: It “sweats,” helping cool the local area. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A global fungal pandemic wiped out amphibians, destroyed biodiversity, and ultimately increased human illness. Now a second similar pathogen is on the way. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Recent studies have revealed flaws in the heat index. With rising temperatures and humidity, maybe it’s time for a more holistic approach. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Neurons get a lot of attention—but researchers think this star-shaped brain cell type could hold the key to treating some disorders. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The line to see Queen Elizabeth II lying in state is snaking across central London. Could it have been done better? Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A software update can help turbines become less disruptive to their neighbors and distribute the wind more efficiently. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Storing more water to deal with climate change seems like a no-brainer, but such reservoirs are complex undertakings with environmental issues of their own. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The influential astronomer led the hunt for extraterrestrial signals and helped make the field of astrobiology what it is today. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The jacket can raise and lower its own hood—without chips or batteries—and might one day help disabled wearers move. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Many people report that their aches and pains intensify when they’re trying to sleep, but new research into the circadian clock helps explain this mystery. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Daniel Holz studies the universe’s ultimate catastrophes. And he knows a thing or two about existential threats on Earth, since he helps set the Doomsday Clock. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Researchers are working on an injectable that could get dormant follicles growing again. Trials on mice show promise. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Meltwater from the island’s ice sheet is loaded with the right kind of sand for concrete production—which further warms the planet. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The country is exploring cloud seeding, GM crops, and a multibillion-dollar water-transfer system to address its worst water shortages on record. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Movable metal type is often traced back to Gutenberg’s workshop, but its history is far older in Asia. Researchers are using atomic-scale tools to rewrite the narrative. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A new paper argues that excitement has veered into misinformation—and scientists should be the ones to set things straight. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Farmers have to apply heaps of emissions-heavy fertilizer to provide crops with enough nitrogen. Scientists are looking to legumes for help. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In some of the world’s most inaccessible places, tiny satellites are watching—and listening—for signs of destruction. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Standardized time is broadcast by satellite networks around the world, but their signals are vulnerable to interference—so the UK is building a more resilient system. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Two Spanish towns have built a network of towers that douse surrounding trees with recycled water—stopping fire in its tracks. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In much of the US, donors aren’t obliged to disclose potentially inheritable health conditions. A proposed law could change that. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As students return to school, many will find restricted campus access to abortion services and information—and perhaps reproductive care in general. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Parched ground is less likely to absorb water and increases the risk of dangerous flash floods. But there are ways to mitigate these conditions. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Gases trapped in lunar meteorites hint that the moon was formed out of material displaced from Earth after a planetary collision. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Treatment options for lasting Covid symptoms are limited, but initial studies suggest hyperbaric oxygen could help. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Climate change is making fire season worse. Now astronomers are feeling the heat. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Hi-res imaging can help determine cause of death in very young babies—giving parents answers without the distress of an invasive autopsy. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices