Science, Spoken
2,361 episodes — Page 7 of 48
A Secret Key to Saving Species Is Blowing in the Wind
Scientists just figured out that thousands of air quality stations have been accidentally gathering invaluable DNA data on local organisms. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Race Is On to Crack an Artist’s ‘Test’ Signal From Aliens
A Sign in Space encourages the public to imagine what a real message from extraterrestrials might be like—and figure out how to interpret it. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
A Pill Version of Ozempic Is Coming
The injectable weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy are already popular. Oral forms could lead to even more demand. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Get Ready for 3D-Printed Organs and a Knife That ‘Smells’ Tumors
Hospitals are evolving at warp speed, and autonomous surgical robots are just the beginning. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
This Machine Makes You Hallucinate
Prolonged exposure to strobe lights has a psychedelic effect, which researchers are investigating as a way to heal the brain. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Bring Back the Seabirds, Save the Climate
The number of oceangoing birds has declined 70 percent since the 1950s, but restoring their populations can bolster marine ecosystems that sequester carbon. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Antarctic Sea Ice Is at Record Lows. Is It an Alarming Shift?
Scientists are “watching with bated breath” to see if ice will return to normal levels. The planetary consequences could be huge. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
You’re Allergic to the Modern World
Allergy rates are on the rise. Blame climate change and people’s urbanized lifestyles. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
New Alzheimer’s Drugs Offer Subtle Benefits—With Real Risks
Antibody treatments clear amyloid protein from patients’ brains, slowing the progression of their disease but potentially inducing deadly swelling. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Axiom’s Second Flight Paves the Way for a Commercial Space Station
The spaceflight sets the stage for the aging International Space Station's private successors, and for an influx of paying customers. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
How Chronic Illness Patients Are ‘Hacking’ Their Wearables
Fitbits and Apple Watches weren’t designed for people with atypical health conditions. But the tech can be extremely useful—with some creativity. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Looming El Niño Could Cost the World Trillions of Dollars
Warming waters in the Pacific can trigger droughts, wildfires, and extreme rainfall around the world, potentially leading to $3 trillion in losses in the coming years. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
A New Study Reveals the Traits That Speed Up Evolution
The first large-scale comparison of DNA mutation rates in 68 different vertebrate species gives insights into how quickly life can evolve. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The First Crispr-Edited Salad Is Here
A startup used gene editing to make mustard greens more appetizing to consumers. Next up: fruits. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
This Is the Quietest Sound in the Universe
Chill materials to extreme temperatures, and their vibrations show properties that could one day be exploited to create memory in quantum computers. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Voyager 2 Gets a Life-Extending Power Boost in Deep Space
The NASA team hopes the iconic spacecraft and its twin can continue taking data beyond the solar system past their 50th birthdays. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Your Dog Is a Secret Weapon in the Fight Against Cancer
Every year, thousands of pets develop tumors very similar to those found in people. Find drugs that work for canines, and human treatments should follow. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Weird Way Australia’s Bushfires Influenced a Weirder La Niña
In 2019 and 2020, the out-of-control blazes sent clouds of smoke across the Pacific, where they brightened clouds and cooled the ocean. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The End of the Covid Emergency Is a Warning
The highest alerts are being unraveled globally. But with some 7 million people dead, there are hard lessons to learn from the pandemic—and a lot of work still to do. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Everyone Was Wrong About Reverse Osmosis—Until Now
A new paper showing how water actually travels through a plastic membrane could make desalination more efficient. That’s good news for a thirsty world. Read this story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Long Covid Mystery Has a New Suspect
Immune cells called monocytes are triggered to help clear infection—but in some cases they never switch off, leaving patients breathless for months. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
A New Cloned Horse Offers Hope for Endangered Species
The technique may finally be emerging as a way to preserve species at risk of extinction. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Modern World Is Aging Your Brain
In a remote part of the Amazon, anthropologists and neuroscientists are learning about life and health without an “embarrassment of riches.” Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Is Cosmology Broken? This Map May Be a Crucial Puzzle Piece
The Atacama Cosmology Telescope could help resolve some cosmic discrepancies: How fast the universe is expanding and how evenly matter is distributed. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Deadly Heat Threatens the Well-Being of 1 Billion People in India
Increasingly severe heat waves will imperil the country’s development goals, slow economic growth, and heighten health risks, new research shows. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
An Ominous Heating Event Is Unfolding in the Oceans
Average sea surface temperatures have soared to record highs, and stayed there. It’s a worrying signal of an ocean in crisis. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Quest for Longevity Is Already Over
Studying people who live well beyond the age of 100 could reveal the secret to living longer, healthier lives. But the statistics tell another story. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
As Sea Levels Rise, the East Coast Is Also Sinking
Coastal lands are subsiding and losing elevation—a “hidden vulnerability” that’s making rising seas all the worse. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
This Private Moon Lander Is Kicking Off a Commercial Lunar Race
The Japanese company Ispace could be the first to safely touch down on the moon’s surface, with more spacecraft following later this year. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Forget Cars, Green Hydrogen Will Supercharge Crops
Renewable generation projects are set to make this future fuel widely available. And it’s much more versatile than you think. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
A Critical Arctic Organism Is Now Infested With Microplastics
The algae Melosira arctica is the foundation of the food chain, and its contamination could have major consequences for ecosystems and the climate. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Supreme Court Has Delayed Its Abortion Pill Decision
The court has given itself a deadline extension until late Friday night to decide whether mifepristone should remain legal. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Search for Long Covid Treatments Takes a Promising Turn
Scientists believe lasting symptoms following a coronavirus infection are not a single disorder. So new clinical trials are hunting for a range of solutions. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Biggest Microbiome Study Sheds New Light on Shared Health Risks
The most comprehensive survey of how we share our microbiomes suggests a new way of thinking about diseases that aren’t usually considered contagious. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
A ‘Morning-After Pill’ for Sexually Transmitted Infections Is Almost Here
The single-dose antibiotic regimen dramatically reduces transmission of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. But it doesn’t have the CDC’s blessing yet. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Diseases Didn’t Just Shape History, They Control the Future
A new book explores the far-reaching impact of germs and viruses on human society. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Abortion Pill Legal Standoff Endangers Access to All Drugs
A Fifth Circuit ruling that keeps mifepristone available, but curtails access to it, is the newest front in a battle over the FDA’s power to approve medications. Read the story here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Massive ‘Batteries’ Hidden Beneath Your Feet
Aquifer thermal energy storage can use groundwater to heat and cool buildings—decarbonizing homes and businesses in the process. Read the article here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Genetically Modified Houseplants Are Coming to Clean Your Air
Neoplants says its pothos has superior purification properties—but you’ll still need a lot of them to get the job done. Read the article here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Stem Cell ‘Junk Yards’ Reveal a New Clue About Aging
New research shows that the cells’ garbage-clearing function deteriorates with age—and opens the door to reversing the process. Read the article here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
NASA Is Getting Really Serious About Tracking Air Pollution
With new satellites and programs, the agency is tackling air quality from all angles—for the health of people and the planet. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Scientists Turned Monkey Stem Cells Into ‘Synthetic Embryos’
For the first time, researchers transferred them to the wombs of female monkeys, where the embryo-like structures produced a response similar to pregnancy. Read the article here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The ‘Little Bang’ Helping Physicists Study the Infant Universe
By recreating an early state of matter called the quark-gluon plasma, scientists hope to understand the conditions that made the universe what it is today. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Finally, an Honest Conversation About Contraception
Alice Pelton, founder of The Lowdown, the world’s first contraception review platform, discusses the power of equipping women with information. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Your First Lab-Grown Burger Won’t Contain Much Beef
Meat brewed in bioreactors is on the way, but it’s still too expensive. The solution? Add a whole lot of plants. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
How Do People Live in Orbit? Ask the Space Archeologists
An innovative research project delivers new evidence about the challenging life of astronauts on the International Space Station. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
This Blood Test Targets 50 Types of Cancer
Grail’s Galleri aims to screen for many more types of tumor than was previously possible. Large-scale clinical trials are underway.Read the article here Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
The Chemical Menace Inside Glaciers and Icebergs
Ice can trap pollutants and accelerate their breakdown, with troubling environmental consequences. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Plastics Are Devastating the Guts of Seabirds
New research shows that seabirds’ ingestion of the pollutant scars their insides—a new disease called “plasticosis”—and may disturb their microbiomes. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
California’s Atmospheric Rivers Are Getting Worse
As climate change makes storms warmer and wetter, the state’s flood control system is struggling to keep up. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices