Podcasts by 60-Second Science
Leading science journalists cover some of the most interesting developments in the world of science. For a deeper audio dive you can subscribe to Science Talk. To view all of our archived podcasts please go to www.scientificamerican.com/podcast
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First Benefit of Knowing Your Genome from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.298183
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.
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Pandas Swoon to Particular Croons from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.297392
Listening to the sounds panda pairs make when they're introduced could lead to better breeding success. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Social Construct of Race Imposes Biology from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.296602
Anthropologist Jennifer Raff argues that race is culturally created, but has biological consequences.
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Singing Fish Reveal Underwater Battles in the Amazon from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.295785
Researchers recorded piranha "honks" and catfish "screeches" in the Peruvian Amazon, which might illuminate fish activity in murky jungle waters. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Data Reveals Most Influential Movies from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.286335
By analyzing the network connections between 47,000 films on IMDb, researchers found the most influential films ever made. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Who's a Smart Dog?! from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.279246
An estimate of dog intelligence requires looking at non-dogs as well to understand what's special to canines and what is just typical of the taxonomic groups they're in.
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Utah's Deserts Are Bee Hotspots from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.278196
The Trump administration is shrinking Utah's desert monuments, stripping some federal protections for wild pollinators. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Facebook Users Value the Service More Than Investors Do from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.264693
Users of the social network said they'd require payment of more than $1,000 to quit the platform for one year. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Invisible Killers Hitchhike on Native Plant Seedlings from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.263884
More than a quarter of the seedlings sampled at native plant nurseries were infected with pathogens—which could hamper restoration work. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Inhaled RNA Might Help Heal Cystic Fibrosis from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.262814
Scientists are working to correct a genetic defect in cystic fibrosis patients by having them inhale RNA. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Targeting Certain Brain Cells Can Switch Off Pain from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.250196
By turning off certain brain cells, researchers were able to make mice sense painful stimuli—but not the associated discomfort. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Different Humpback Whale Groups Meet to Jam from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.249404
Humpback populations from the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet up south of Africa and trade song stylings.
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Desalination Could Cause Ecological Sea Change from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.248575
An environmental assessment of the nation's largest desalination plant finds mixed results. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Biologists Track Tweets to Monitor Birds from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.247115
Conservation biologists can track the whereabouts of endangered species by the sounds they make, avoiding cumbersome trackers and tags. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Background Music Might Stifle Creativity from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.190677
Volunteers who listened to music solved fewer word puzzles than others who worked in silence. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Baseball Commish Talks Big Data from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.189869
At a sports technology conference, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred addressed issues including an automated strike zone and advanced analytics.
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Animal Migrations Track with Wikipedia Searches from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.189092
By analyzing nearly 2.5 billion Wikipedia page views, researchers found species searches reflect seasonal animal migrations and plant blooming. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Warm-Blooded Animals Lost Ability to Heal the Heart from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.188286
Thyroid hormone, which helps warm-blooded animals regulate body temperature, also appears to put a halt on heart regeneration. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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There's a Word for Today from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.179730
English lacks some words that other languages pack with meaning.
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Tennessee Whiskey Relies on Missing Ingredients from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.178361
Food chemists precisely measured how charcoal filtration contributes to Tennessee whiskey's smoother flavor. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Spider Monkeys Optimize Jungle Acoustics from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.169307
The monkeys lower the pitch of their "whinnies" when they're far from the rest of their group, which might help the calls travel further through jungle foliage. Christopher Intagliata rep...
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Infrared Light Offers a Cooler Way to Defrost from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.168502
Light tuned to a specific frequency warms ice more than water—which could come in handy for defrosting delicate biological samples. Adam Levy reports.
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Whitening Strips Alter Proteins in Teeth from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.167693
Hydrogen peroxide in whitening treatments penetrates enamel and dentin, and alters tooth proteins. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Software Sniffs Out Rat Squeaks from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.154428
Algorithms learned to sift ultrasonic rat squeaks from other noise, which could help researchers who study rodents’ emotional states. Lucy Huang reports.
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Chemists Investigate Casanova's Clap from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.153628
In his memoirs, the womanizing writer Giacomo Casanova described suffering several bouts of gonorrhea—but researchers found no trace of the microbe on his handwritten journals. Karen Hopkin r...
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Could Air-Conditioners Help Cool the Planet? from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.152853
Researchers want to outfit air conditioners with carbon-capture technology. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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U.S. Coral Reefs Do $1.8 Billion of Work Per Year from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.152082
By dampening the energy of waves, coral reefs protect coastal cities from flooding damage and other economic losses. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Remembering Murray Gell-Mann from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.142189
Murray Gell-Mann, 1969 Nobel Laureate in Physics who identified the quark, died May 24th.
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Preserved Poop Is an Archaeological Treasure from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.141389
Anthropologists found parasite eggs in ancient poop samples, providing a glimpse of human health as hunter-gatherers transitioned to settlements. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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High School Cheaters Nabbed by Neural Network from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.140463
Researchers trained a neural network to scrutinize high school essays and sniff out ghostwritten papers. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Mind and Body Benefit from Two Hours in Nature Each Week from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.086043
People who spent at least two hours outside—either all at once or totaled over several shorter visits—were more likely to report good health and psychological well-being. Jason G. Goldm...
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Some Hot Dog Histology from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.085259
A lab analysis found that even an all-beef frankfurter had very little skeletal muscle, or "meat." So what’s in there? Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Why Baseballs Are Flying in 2019 from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.084400
An analysis of the 2019 edition of the Major League baseball points to reasons why it's leaving ballparks at a record rate.
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Male Black Widows Poach Rivals' Approaches from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.073285
Mating is risky business for black widow males—so they hitchhike on the silk threads left by competitors to more quickly find a mate. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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London Is Crawling with Drug-Resistant Microbes from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.072456
Nearly half of bacteria gathered in public settings around the city were resistant to two or more commonly used antibiotics, such as penicillin and erythromycin. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Extinction Wipes Out Evolution's Hard Work from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.071672
By killing off many of New Zealand’s endemic birds, humans destroyed 50 million years’ worth of evolutionary history. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Real Laughs Motivate More Guffaws from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.070598
Honest, involuntary laughter cued people to laugh more at some really bad jokes than they did when hearing forced laughter.
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Stare Down Gulls to Avoid Lunch Loss from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.069734
Researchers slowed the approach of greedy gulls by an average of 21 seconds by staring at the birds versus looking elsewhere. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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A Computer Tells Real Smiles from Phonies from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.068969
Slight changes around the eyes are indeed a giveaway as to whether a smile is sincere or faked.
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Cholesterol Climbs after Crows Chomp Cheeseburgers from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.061463
Wild animals that live near humans have higher cholesterol than their rural counterparts—and our food could be to blame. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Chemical Tweak Recycles Polyurethane into Glue from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.060660
It’s not easy to recycle polyurethane, so it’s usually tossed out or burned. But a chemical tweak can turn polyurethane into glue. Christine Herman reports.
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Farmland Is Also Optimal for Solar Power from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.059846
The conditions of sunlight, temperature, humidity and wind that make cropland good for agriculture also maximize solar panel efficiency.
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Food Expiration Dates May Mislead Consumers from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.058374
Better food labeling could prevent people from throwing away a lot of “expired” food that’s still perfectly edible.
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Corals Can Inherit Symbiotic Adaptations to Warming from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.038411
Adult corals can reshuffle their symbiotic algae species to adapt to warming waters—and, it appears they can pass those adaptations on. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Heat Changes Insect Call, but It Still Works from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.036770
Tiny insects called treehoppers produce very different mating songs at higher versus lower temperatures, but the intended recipient still finds the changed songs attractive.
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Tiny Worms Are Equipped to Battle Extreme Environments from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.001760
Scientists found eight species of nematodes living in California’s harsh Mono Lake—quintupling the number of animals known to live there. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Teeth Tell Black Death Genetic Tale from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.000925
DNA from the teeth of medieval plague victims indicates the pathogen likely first arrived in eastern Europe before spreading across the continent.
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Nobel in Physiology or Medicine for How Cells Sense Oxygen Levels from 2022-02-22T12:24:48.000135
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to William G. Kaelin, Jr., Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza “for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen avail...
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Nobel in Physics for Exoplanets and Cosmology from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.999277
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to James Peebles “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology” and to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz “for the discovery of an exoplanet ...
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Nobel in Chemistry for Lightweight Rechargeable Batteries from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.998119
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to John Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.”
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Familiar Tunes Rapidly Jog the Brain from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.987179
Within just a third of a second of hearing a snippet of a familiar refrain, our pupils dilate, and the brain shows signs of recognition. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Ranking Rise May Intimidate Opponents from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.986053
In an analysis of chess and tennis matches, players rising in the rankings did better than expected against higher-ranked opponents and better than similarly ranked players who were not rising...
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Ant Colonies Avoid Traffic Jams from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.985110
Researchers tracked thousands of individual ants to determine how they move in vast numbers without stumbling into gridlock.
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Marine Mammal Epidemic Linked to Climate Change from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.984316
A measleslike virus is ricocheting through marine mammal populations in the Arctic—and melting sea ice might be to blame. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Internet Cables Could Also Measure Quakes from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.897890
The fiber-optic cables that connect the global Internet could potentially be used as seismic sensors. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Rain Forest Dwellers and Urbanites Have Consistently Different Microbiomes from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.897113
A study done in South America found that with increasing population density, humans had more diversity of fungi on the skin but less microbial diversity in the gut.
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Fishy Trick Lures Life Back to Coral Reefs from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.896298
Playing the sounds of a healthy reef near damaged corals may help bring the fish community back. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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When the Bellbird Calls, You Know It from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.895445
The white bellbird of the Amazon may be the loudest bird in the world.
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You Traveled Far in 2019 from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.885170
Getting around the sun last year was some trip.
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Part of Real Paleo Diet: It's a Tuber from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.884402
In South Africa archaeologists found the charred remains of a roasted root vegetable. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Traffic Cameras Show Why the Yankees Should Suffer Fewer Injuries in 2020 from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.882519
The 2019 New York Yankees’ record number of injuries led to a change in training staff that will almost certainly correlate with, but not necessarily cause, a lower injury rate this coming se...
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Atlantic Puffins Spotted Using Tools from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.881090
Scientists observed two Atlantic puffins using sticks to scratch themselves—the first known instance of seabirds using tools. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Brittle Stars Can "See" without Eyes from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.880290
The starfish relatives can recognize patterns using photoreceptors on their arms—and their color-changing abilities could have something to do with it. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Did Animal Calls Start in the Dark? from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.870558
One hypothesis says the ability to vocalize arose in nocturnal animals—and a new evolutionary analysis suggests there may be some truth to it. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Facts about Groundhogs Other Than Their Poor Meteorology from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.869742
Groundhogs are less accurate at weather forecasting than are coin flips, but they are nonetheless pretty interesting critters.
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Having an Albatross around Your Boat from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.868054
By outfitting 169 albatrosses with GPS data loggers, scientists were able to track fishing boats apparently trying to hide their location. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Fingering Fake Whiskeys with Isotopes from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.866886
Whiskeys claimed to be from the 19th century are revealed to be made with much more recently grown barley, thanks to the unique isotopic fingerprint of the nuclear-testing era.
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Neandertals Tooled Around with Clams from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.865986
Neandertals ate clams and then modified the hard shells into tools for cutting and scraping.
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Computers Confirm Beethoven's Influence from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.857247
By breaking 900 classical piano compositions into musical chunks, researchers could track Ludwig van Beethoven’s influence on the composers who followed him. Christopher Intagliata reports.&n...
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Indigenous Amazonians Managed Valuable Plant Life from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.856472
Studies on very old vegetation in the Amazon basin show active management hundreds of years ago on species such as Brazil nut and cocoa trees.
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Bird Fossil Shared Earth with T. rex from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.845456
Dating back 67 million years, this representative of the group of modern birds has been dubbed the Wonderchicken (which is not an April Fools’ Day joke).
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Squid's Glowing Skin Patterns May Be Code from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.844627
Humboldt squid can rapidly change the pigmentation and luminescence patterns on their skin by contracting and relaxing their muscles, possibly to communicate.
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Coronavirus Can Infect Cats from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.843816
Tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo have tested positive for the virus, and studies show that house cats—but apparently not dogs—can become infected.
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Coronavirus Misinformation Is Its Own Deadly Condition from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.842770
Pulitzer-winning Laurie Garrett, author of The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance, talks about the dangers of politicians offering coronavirus misinformation.
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What's a Narwhal's Tusk For? from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.841952
Although the tusk can be a weapon, the variation in tusk length among animals of similar body size points to it being primarily a mating status signal.
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Tapirs Help Reforestation via Defecation from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.676667
The large herbivores appear to prefer disturbed areas over more intact ones and spread many more seeds in those places through their droppings.
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Horses Recognize Pics of Their Keepers from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.675900
Horses picked out photographs of their current keepers, and even of former keepers whom they had not seen in months, at a rate much better than chance.
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Flamingos Can Be Picky about Company from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.675177
They don’t stand on one leg around just anybody but often prefer certain members of the flock.
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3 Words Mislead Online Regional Mood Analysis from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.666651
Analyzing keywords on Twitter can offer a loose measure of the subjective well-being of a community, as long as you don’t count three words: good, love and LOL.
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Bioluminescence Helps Prey Avoid Hungry Seals from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.665856
Prey animals flash biochemically produced light to confuse elephant seals hunting in the dark. But at least one seal turned the tables.
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How to Keep COVID-19 Conspiracies Contained from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.665137
An expert on climate denial offers tips for inoculating people against coronavirus conspiracy notions.
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Whale Protections Need Not Cause Lobstering Losses from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.664366
Right whales, other whales and turtles get caught in lobster trap lines, but fewer lines can maintain the same lobster catch levels.
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Ancient DNA Rewrites Dead Sea Scroll History from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.663565
By sequencing DNA from the dust of dead sea scrolls, scientists were able to glean new clues about the ancient manuscripts. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Helping Kids Cope with COVID-19 Worries from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.662471
The psychological state of children may need special attention during COVID-19 impacts and isolation.
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Tweets Reveal Politics of COVID-19 from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.655277
Political scientists analyzed congressional tweets and observed how Republicans and Democrats responded differently to the virus. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Young Great White Sharks Eat off the Floor from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.654154
The stomach contents of young great white sharks show that they spend a lot of time patrolling the seafloor for meals.
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Forests Getting Younger and Shorter from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.653341
Old, big trees are dying faster than in the past, leaving younger, less biodiverse forests that store less carbon worldwide.
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Bat Says Hi as It Hunts from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.652610
Velvety free-tailed bats produce sounds that help them locate insect prey but simultaneously identify them to their companions.
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Animals Appreciate Recent Traffic Lull from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.651852
Researchers saw a third fewer vehicle collisions with deer, elk, moose and other large mammals in the four weeks following COVID-19 shutdowns in three states they tracked.
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Polynesians and Native South Americans Made 12th-Century Contact from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.650779
Scientists have found snippets of Native South American DNA in the genomes of present-day Polynesians, and they trace the contact to the year 1150. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Foxes Have Dined on Our Leftovers for 30,000 Years from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.638780
An analysis of fox fossils found evidence that they scavenged from wolf and bear kills until Homo sapiens supplied plenty of horse and reindeer remains.
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Paired Comparisons Could Mean Better Witness Identifications from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.637884
Compared with traditional lineup techniques, a series of two-faces-at-a-time choices led to more accurate identification by study witnesses.
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Translucent Frog Optics Create Camo Color from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.636512
Rather than undergoing active chameleonlike color changes, glass frogs’ translucency allows light to bounce from their background and go through them—making their apparent color close t...
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Dampening of the Senses Is Linked to Dementia Risk from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.600779
A decline in smell was the sense loss most strongly associated with such risk in a recent study. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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The World's Highest-Dwelling Mammal Lives atop a Volcano from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.600048
Scientists spotted a mouse at the summit of Llullaillaco, a 22,000-foot-tall volcano on the border of Chile and Argentina. Julia Rosen reports.
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Death by Lightning Is Common for Tropical Trees from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.592184
A study estimates that 200 million trees in the tropics are mowed down by lightning annually.
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Star Systems Can Be Born Topsy-Turvy from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.591360
Astronomers observed an odd triple-star system that offers clues about misaligned planetary orbits. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Some Dinosaurs Probably Nested in Arctic from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.590369
The finding of a baby dinosaur fossil in the Arctic implies that some dinos nested in the region, which was milder than today but not toasty.
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Leftovers Are a Food-Waste Problem from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.589576
Researchers found that leftovers are likely to end up in the trash, so they advise cooking smaller meals in the first place to avoid food waste. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Sloths Slowly Cavort by Day Now from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.582118
The disappearance of their predators in a disturbed ecosystem has turned Atlantic forest sloths from night creatures to day adventurers.
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Greenland Is Melting Faster Than Any Time in Past 12,000 Years from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.581369
Researchers determined that Greenland is on track to lose more ice this century than during any of the previous 120 centuries. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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New Nobel Laureate Talks Today's Virology from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.580547
Charles Rice, who today shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, talked about how rapidly research now occurs, compared with his early work.
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Blue Whale Song Timing Reveals Time to Go from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.579767
Blue whales off California’s coast sing at night—until it’s time to start migrating, and they switch to daytime song.
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Nobelist Talks CRISPR Uses from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.578418
New Nobel laureate in chemistry Jennifer Doudna talks about various applications of the gene-editing tool CRISPR.
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Election Science Stakes: Technology from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.558350
We wrap up our preelection series with Scientific American senior editor Jen Schwartz, who talks about the possible effects of the election results on technology development and use.
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Frog Vocals Lead to Small Preference from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.556781
The concave-eared torrent frog's unusual ear anatomy lets it hear high-frequency calls, which gives a mating advantage to the littler males that sing soprano.
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Science Sound(E)scapes: Amazon Pink River Dolphins from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.556018
Need a break from politics and the pandemic? You’re probably not in the Amazon rain forest right now, but we can take you there in audio. Today, in part one of our three-part audio sound esca...
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Science Sound(E)scapes: Amazon Frog Choruses at Night from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.555268
Need a break from politics and the pandemic? You’re probably not in the Amazon rain forest right now, but we can take you there in audio. Today, in part two of our three-part audio sound esca...
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Science Sound(E)scapes: Head Banging and Howling in the Amazon from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.554288
Need a break from politics and the pandemic? You’re probably not in the Amazon rain forest right now, but we can take you there in audio. Today, in part three of our three-part audio sound es...
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The Denisovans Expand Their Range into China from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.548653
Evidence of the ancient humans was limited to a cave in Siberia. But now scientists have found genetic remains of the Denisovans in China. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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How the Coronavirus Pandemic Shaped Our Language in 2020 from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.542042
Linguist Ben Zimmer says the pandemic has turned us all into amateur epidemiologists utilizing terms such as “superspreader” and “asymptomatic.” Christopher Intagl...
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How to Avoid Becoming a Meal for a Cheetah from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.541299
Researchers help farmers in Namibia avoid costly cattle losses by tracking big cat hangouts
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Humans May Have Befriended Wolves with Meat from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.540504
Unlike humans, wolves can subsist on protein alone for months—so scientists say we may have lobbed leaner leftovers their way. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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A Heroic Effort to Measure Helium from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.484426
After an intense game of cat and mouse with different particles, atomic physicists have measured the radius of the helium nucleus five times more precisely than before. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Kangaroos with Puppy Dog Eyes from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.480053
New research shows that when faced with an impossible task, the marsupials look to humans for help.
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That Mouse in Your House--It's Smarter, Thanks to You from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.478798
Scientists studied three varieties of house mice and found that those who had lived alongside humans the longest were also the craftiest at solving food puzzles. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Boston's Pigeons Coo, 'Wicked'; New York's Birds Coo, 'Fuhgeddaboudit' from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.465410
The two cities’ rock doves are genetically distinct, research shows.
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Big Physics News: The Muon g-2 Experiment Explained from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.464518
Particles called muons are behaving weirdly, and that could mean a huge discovery.
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 4: The Virtual Vaccine Line and Shots for Kids from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.463563
Today we bring you the fourth episode in a new podcast series: COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and&n...
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Male Lyrebirds Lie to Get Sex from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.457484
It seems like the males will do anything, even fake nearby danger, to get females to stick around to mate.
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 6: The Real Reason for India's Surge and Mask Liftoff from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.456600
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 Jo...
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New 3-D-Printed Material Is Tough, Flexible--and Alive from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.449504
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...
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Puppies Understand You Even at a Young Age, Most Adorable Study of the Year Confirms from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.448603
Researchers in the happiest lab in the world tested 375 pups and found they connected with people by eight weeks
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 8: The Pandemic's True Death Toll and the Big Lab-Leak Debate from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.447604
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 Jo...
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A 'Universal' Coronavirus Vaccine to Prevent the Next Pandemic from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.440518
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.
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 10: Long Haulers, Delta Woes and Barbershop Shots from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.403094
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 Jo...
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Your Brain Does Something Amazing between Bouts of Intense Learning from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.401410
New research shows that lightning-quick neural rehearsal can supercharge learning and memory.
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The Secret behind Songbirds' Magnetic Migratory Sense from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.289541
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.
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These Baby Bats, like Us, Were Born to Babble from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.281289
The greater sac-winged bat develops its own language in much the way we do.
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In Missouri, a Human 'Bee' Works to Better Understand Climate Change's Effects from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.280282
Researcher Matthew Austin has become a wildflower pollinator, sans the wings.
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The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding Atoms [Sponsored] from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.278827
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?
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Night Flights Are No Sweat for Tropical Bees from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.271657
New research uses night vision to see how nocturnal bees navigate the dark.
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The Mystery of Water Drops That Skate Across Oil at Impossible Speeds from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.270423
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.
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COVID Quickly, Episode 16: Vaccines Protect Pregnancies and a New Antiviral Pill from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.269379
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 ess...
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COVID Quickly, Episode 18: Vaccines for Kids and the Limits of Natural Immunity from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.254121
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 ess...
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To Better Persuade a Human, a Robot Should Use This Trick from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.248560
A new study finds that, for robots, overlords are less persuasive than peers.
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COVID Quickly, Episode 20: The Omicron Scare, and Anti-COVID Pills Are Coming from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.247562
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 ess...
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Astronomers Spot Two Dust Bunnies Hiding in the Early Universe from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.246289
The scientists found several previously hidden galaxies that date back to 13 billion years ago—and many more might be missing from our current census of the early universe.
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Salvador Dali's Creative Secret Is Backed by Science from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.235682
The painter described falling into the briefest of slumbers to refresh his mind. Now scientists have shown the method is effective at inducing creativity.
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What Is the Shape of This Word? from 2022-02-22T12:24:47.192027
What shape do you see when you hear “ bouba ”? What about “ kiki ”? It turns out that nonsense words that evoke certain shapes have something to say about the origins o...
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More Kids Get COVID, Long Haulers, and a Vaccine Milestone | COVID Quickly, Episode 23 from 2022-02-17T00:58:09.887329
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 ess...
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Tracking Outbreaks Through Sewers, and Kids' Vaccines on Hold Again | COVID Quickly, Episode 24 from 2022-02-15T14:00
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 ess...
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The Romantic Temptation of the Monogamous Prairie Vole from 2022-02-14T09:00
The small rodents are one of the few known monogamists in the wild—and their faithfulness was put to the test in a lab.
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Answering an Age Old Mystery: How do Birds Actually Fly? from 2022-02-11T10:00
Equally surprising is the fact that we still do not know how birds actually stay airborne.
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Nobel in Chemistry for New and Useful Chemical Entities via Evolutionary Principles from 2022-02-02T14:57:25.063761
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 p...
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Beer Fermentation Hops Along from 2022-02-02T14:57:25.062438
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.
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Highway Crossings Protect Migrating Pronghorns—and Motorists from 2022-02-02T14:57:25.061298
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 re...
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Economics Nobel Highlights Climate Action Necessity from 2022-02-02T14:57:25.060286
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 ...
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Tiger Sharks, Tracked over Decades, Are Shifting Their Haunts with Ocean Warming from 2022-01-25T11:00
Using a combination of fishing data and satellite tracking, scientists found that the sharks have shifted their range some 250 miles poleward over the past 40 years.
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How Marine Wildlife Can Coexist with Offshore Wind [Sponsored] from 2022-01-20T11:00
Harnessing the wind to blow back emissions is not without its own impacts, so researchers are developing technologies to coexist with whales and other ocean-dwelling species.
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COVID Quickly, Episode 22: Colds Build COVID Immunity and the Omicron Vaccine Delay from 2022-01-19T11:00
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 ess...
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The Surprising Physics of Finger Snapping from 2022-01-10T11:00
You might not think that you can generate more body acceleration than a big-league baseball pitcher, but new research shows you can.
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A Growing Force of Fiery Zombies Threatens Cold Northern Forests from 2021-12-27T11:00
Wildfires, appearing dead in winter, are actually smoldering and then bouncing back to life in spring to consume increasingly more land in the Far North.
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Listen to This New Podcast: Lost Women of Science from 2021-12-21T11:00
A new podcast is on a mission to retrieve unsung female scientists from oblivion.
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Canary Islands Eruption Resets Volcano Forecasts from 2021-12-20T12:00
A volcanologist says the eruption on the island of La Palma is a unique window into the “personality” of basaltic volcanoes.
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Nobel for Helping the Immune System Fight Cancer from 2021-12-18T11:57:04.165138
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.
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Nobel in Physics for Controlling Laser Light from 2021-12-18T11:57:04.164270
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.
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COVID Quickly, Episode 21: Vaccines Against Omicron, and Pandemic Progress from 2021-12-17T13:30
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 ess...
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As Forests Burn, A Climate Puzzle Materializes in the Far North from 2021-12-14T10:00
A 15-year study of where carbon lies in boreal forests has unearthed a surprising finding.
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Redo of a Famous Experiment on the Origins of Life Reveals Critical Detail Missed for Decades from 2021-11-26T11:00
The Miller-Urey experiment showed that the conditions of early Earth could be simulated in a glass flask. New research finds the flask itself played an underappreciated, though outsize, role.
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When Neutron Stars Collide from 2021-11-24T01:53:21.245358
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.
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COVID Quickly, Episode 19: Mandate Roadblocks, Boosters for All and Sickness in the Zoo from 2021-11-19T13:00
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 ess...
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Bonnethead Sharks Are Underwater Lawn Mowers from 2021-11-14T00:54:29.602392
The hammerhead relatives consume copious amounts of sea grass, and have the digestive machinery to process it—making them true omnivores. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Flocking Together May Have Helped Dinosaurs Dominate the Earth from 2021-11-12T11:00
A fossil bed in Patagonia provides evidence of complex social structure in dinosaurs as early as 193 million years ago. And scientists say that herding behavior could have been key to the beasts&rs...
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Hurricane Is a Natural Selection Experiment from 2021-11-12T00:58:09.542338
When Hurricane Irma blew through the Turks and Caicos, lizards with shorter hindlimbs lucked out. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Engineered Bacteria Use Air Bubbles as Acoustically Detonated Tumor TNT from 2021-11-10T15:00
Ultrasound triggered cells home in on tumors and then self destruct to deliver damage or therapeutics from inside.
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These Bugs Produce Smelly Defenses That Need to Be Heard to Be Believed from 2021-10-31T11:00
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.
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For Some Parents, Hiding a Dead Body Shows How Much You Care from 2021-10-28T11:00
Over millions of years of evolution, some beetles have learned to dampen the stench of decay to help their young thrive.
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Pasta Problem Cracked! from 2021-10-27T04:33:36.591424
An intrepid undergrad led the way to understanding the physics of snapping strands of spaghetti.
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Date of the Vikings' First Atlantic Crossing Revealed by Rays from Space from 2021-10-25T10:00
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.
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COVID Quickly, Episode 17: Vaccine Lies and Protecting Immunocompromised People from 2021-10-22T11:30
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 ess...
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How Can an Elephant Squeak Like a Mouse? from 2021-10-20T10:00
New research using a camera that can “see" sound” shows some elephants can produce high-pitched buzzing with their lips.
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Beethoven's Unfinished 10th Symphony Brought to Life by Artificial Intelligence from 2021-10-15T11:00
Nearly 200 years after his death, the German composer’s musical scratch was pieced together by machine—with a lot of human help.
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The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding the Universe [Sponsored] from 2021-10-14T13:00
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 l...
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A Canary in an Ice-Rich, Slumping Rock Glacier in Alaska from 2021-10-13T17:00
Here’s what we can learn about climate change and infrastructure from Denali National Park’s only road.
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These Bacteria Steal from Iron and Could Be Secretly Helping to Curb Climate Change from 2021-09-28T10:00
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.
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 15: Booster Shot Approvals--plus Vaccines for Kids? from 2021-09-24T11:00
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 ess...
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Better Data Could Mean Better Dating from 2021-09-22T19:01:25.744659
Both men and women tended to pursue mates just 25 percent more desirable than themselves — suggesting they are "optimistic realists." Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Dinosaurs Lived--and Made Little Dinos--in the Arctic from 2021-09-21T11:00
New research shows that the prehistoric giants were even cooler than we thought
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To Evolve Baleen, Lose Your Teeth First from 2021-09-20T15:33:37.761840
Whale ancestors probably never had teeth and baleen at the same time, and only developed baleen after trying toothlessness and sucking in prey.
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During a Rodent Quadrathlon, Researchers Learn That Ground Squirrels Have Personalities from 2021-09-17T11:00
The rodents’ personalities may help them to secure territory and avoid prey.
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Birds Learn Safety from Other Kinds of Birds from 2021-09-15T11:49:38.867234
Birds become good at avoiding danger by eavesdropping on the alarm calls of other birds—and the learning occurs without even seeing their peers or predators. Christopher Intagliata reports.&n...
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Corn Variety Grabs Fertilizer from the Air from 2021-09-15T11:49:38.866138
A variety of corn from Oaxaca, Mexico, has aerial roots that harbor nitrogen-fixing bacteria, allowing the corn to suck nitrogen straight from the air. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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A Car Crash Snaps the Daydreaming Mind into Focus from 2021-09-15T10:00
One researcher’s poorly timed attention lapse flipped a car—and pushed science forward.
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 14: Best Masks, Explaining Mask Anger, Biden's New Plan from 2021-09-10T14:00
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 ess...
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Their Lives Have Been Upended by Hurricane Ida from 2021-08-31T13:30
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.
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 13: Vaccine Approval, Breakthrough Infections, Boosters from 2021-08-27T12:00
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 ess...
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Flexible Microprocessor Could Enable an 'Internet of Everything' from 2021-08-24T08:00
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.
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Years Before COVID-19, Zombies Helped Prepare One Hospital System for the Real Pandemic from 2021-08-20T09:00
An educational experiment used escape rooms and the undead to set the stage for a terrible situation that would become all too real
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The Incredible, Reanimated 24,000-Year-Old Rotifer from 2021-08-17T09:00
The last time this tiny wheel animalcule was moving around, woolly mammoths roamed the earth.
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Astronomers Find an Unexpected Bumper Crop of Black Holes from 2021-08-12T10:00
In trying to explain the spectacular star trails of the star cluster Palomar 5, astronomers stumbled on a very large trove of black holes.
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Inside Millions of Invisible Droplets, Potential Superbug Killers Grow from 2021-08-10T08:00
New research has created microscopic antibiotic factories in droplets that measure a trillionth of liter in volume.
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 12: Masking Up Again and Why People Refuse Shots from 2021-07-30T13:00
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 ess...
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The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding Touch [Sponsored] from 2021-07-22T14:00
Ardem Patapoutian shared The Kavli Prize in Neuroscience in 2020 for answering a basic question: How does touch actually work?
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Moths Have an Acoustic Invisibility Cloak to Stay under Bats' Radar from 2021-07-21T08:00
New research finds they fly around on noise-cancelling wings
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 11: Vaccine Booster Shots, and Reopening Offices Safely from 2021-07-16T13:00
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 Jo...
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Iridescence Could Help Critters Hide in Plain Sight from 2021-07-05T13:34:24.846405
Iridescence appears to break up the recognizable shape of objects—making them harder to spot. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Primate Conflicts Play Out in the Operating Room from 2021-06-30T01:23:07.585847
By analyzing 200 surgeries, anthropologists found mixed-gender operating room teams exhibited the highest levels of cooperation. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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This Newly Discovered Species of Tree Hyrax Goes Bark in the Night from 2021-06-23T07:00
A study makes the case for the new species based on its looks, genes and sounds
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 9: Delta Variant, Global Vaccine Shortfalls, Beers for Shots from 2021-06-18T12:00
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 Jo...
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City Life Favors Downsized Invertebrates from 2021-06-17T09:46:12.099929
Most invertebrates get smaller on average in cities, although a few very mobile species respond to urbanization by growing.
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Sharks Make a Splash in Brooklyn from 2021-06-17T09:46:12.098818
Visitors can see and learn about sharks and their environment in the new "Ocean Wonders: Sharks!" facility at the Wildlife Conservation Society's New York Aquarium.
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Animal Kids Listen to Their Parents Even before Birth from 2021-06-16T11:00
Human children: please take note of the behavior of prebirth zebra finches
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For African Elephants, Pee Could Be a Potent Trail Marker from 2021-06-11T09:00
Scientists found that elephants often sniff pathways—and seem especially attuned to urine.
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People Ration Where They Roam from 2021-06-11T01:22:14.766648
An analysis of the movement of some 40,000 people suggests most of us frequent only 25 places—and as we sub in new favorites, we drop old ones. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Bats on Helium Reveal an Innate Sense of the Speed of Sound from 2021-05-28T07:00
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.
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The Dirty Secret behind Some of the World's Earliest Microscopes from 2021-05-26T08:00
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 or...
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 7: The Coming Pandemic Grief Wave, and Mask Whiplash from 2021-05-21T07:30
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 Jo...
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Math and Sleuthing Help to Explain Epidemics of the Past from 2021-05-20T08:00
One mathematician has spend decades uncovering the deadly calculations of pestilence and plague, sometimes finding data that were hiding in plain sight.
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Who Laps Whom on the Walking Track--Tyrannosaurus rex or You? Science Has a New Answer from 2021-05-14T11:00
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&nbs...
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Artificial Light Keeps Mosquitoes Biting Late into the Night from 2021-05-11T09:00
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.
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Powder Pulls Drinking Water from Desert Air from 2021-05-05T01:23:26.006095
A structure known as a metal organic framework traps water vapor by night, then releases it when heated the next day. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Ancient Clan War Explains Genetic Diversity Drop from 2021-05-04T01:09:56.386141
Some 5,000 to 7,000 years ago, the diversity of Y chromosomes plummeted. A new analysis suggests clan warfare may have been the cause. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Lovebirds Adore Our Inefficient Air-Conditioning from 2021-04-27T11:00
The rosy-faced lovebirds that live in Phoenix appear to be free riding on our urban climate control.
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 5: Vaccine Safety in Pregnancy, Blood Clots and Long-Haul Realities from 2021-04-23T11:30
Today we bring you the fifth episode in our podcast series: COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and ...
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Beehives Are Held Together by Their Mutual Gut Microbes from 2021-04-20T10:00
New research shows that members of a bee colony all have the same gut microbiome, which controls their smell—and thus their ability to separate family from foe.
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These Endangered Birds Are Forgetting Their Songs from 2021-04-16T08:00
Australia’s critically endangered regent honeyeaters are losing what amounts to their culture—and that could jeopardize their success at landing a mate.
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Mongooses Gift Grooming for Guard Duty from 2021-04-15T01:09:31.846200
Humans and other primates often reciprocate good deeds. A new study suggests a nonprimate, the dwarf mongoose, does so, too, even after a delay. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Saying "This May Hurt" May Make It Worse from 2021-04-15T01:09:31.845215
Warning a child that something, like a vaccine shot, will hurt can actually increase their perception of the pain.
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To Fight Climate Change: Grow a Floating Forest, Then Sink It from 2021-04-12T11:00
A fast-growing front in the battle against climate change is focused on developing green technologies aimed at reducing humankind’s carbon footprint, but many scientists say simply reducing e...
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Imperiled Freshwater Turtles Are Eating Plastics--Science Is Just Revealing the Threat from 2021-03-31T08:00
We know a lot about how sea turtles are threatened by our trash, but new research has just uncovered an underreported threat hiding inside lakes and rivers.
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 3: Vaccine Inequality--plus Your Body the Variant Fighter from 2021-03-26T13:30
Today we bring you the third episode in a new podcast series: COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis a...
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Using Dragonflies as Contamination Detectors from 2021-03-24T08:00
By collecting the larvae of the fast flyers, researchers have turned the insects into “biosentinels” that can track mercury pollution across the country. Berly McCoy reports.
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Smartphones Can Hear the Shape of Your Door Keys from 2021-03-18T08:00
Can you pick a lock with just a smartphone? New research shows that doing so is possible.
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Chimpanzees Show Altruism while Gathering around the Juice Fountain from 2021-03-16T08:30
New research tries to tease out whether our closest animal relatives can be selfless
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Podcast Feed Drop: Introducing Powered by Audio [Sponsored] from 2021-03-15T13:00
This is a podcast about sound. Host Randi Zuckerberg discovers the stories behind the sounds we hear everyday … sounds that inform, entertain, educate, get our attention, influence our behav...
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 2: Lessons from a Pandemic Year from 2021-03-11T18:00
Today we bring you the second episode in a new podcast series: COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and&n...
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Plants Can Sense Animal Attack Coming from 2021-03-06T00:37:34.453620
Tomato plants detected snail slime in soil near them and mounted preemptive defenses, even though they were not directly touched.
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Mars Lander Will Peer Inside the Red Planet from 2021-03-06T00:37:34.452758
The InSight Mission will look at Mars's seismic activity and latent heat to find out more about how planets get made--and how humans might live there.
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Archaeologist Makes a Case for Seafaring Neandertals from 2021-03-04T01:24:40.289236
Ancient tools on Mediterranean islands could predate the appearance of modern humans—suggesting Neandertals took to the seas. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Microbes Share Your Morning Metro Commute? from 2021-03-04T01:24:40.253795
An analysis of the Hong Kong metro found microbes, including some with antibiotic resistance genes, freshly disperse throughout the system each day. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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COVID, Quickly, Episode 1: Vaccines, Variants and Diabetes from 2021-02-26T12:00
Today we begin a new podcast series: COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the esse...
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Machine Learning Pwns Old-School Atari Games from 2021-02-25T15:00
You can call it the “revenge of the computer scientist.” An algorithm that made headlines for mastering the notoriously difficult Atari 2600 game Montezuma’s Revenge can...
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E-Eggs Track Turtle Traffickers from 2021-02-22T20:00
Decoy sea turtle eggs containing tracking tech are new weapons against beach poachers and traffickers.
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Bromances Could Lead to More Romances for Male Hyenas from 2021-02-10T08:00
Spotted hyena males do not fight for mates, so how are certain males shut out of the mating game?
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Scientists Take a Cattle Head Count in India from 2021-01-28T08:00
The research team determined that the city of Raipur in central India has at least one street cow for every 54 human residents. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Ancient Dogs Had Complex Genetic Histories from 2021-01-21T21:03
Some dog population genetics show similarities to ours, such as in the ability to digest grains. But other lineages differ.
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Bees Use 'Bullshit' Defense to Keep Giant Hornets at Bay from 2021-01-11T08:00
The prospect of death by giant hornet has pushed some Asian honeybees to resort to a poop-based defense system
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Ravens Measure Up to Great Apes on Intelligence from 2020-12-22T10:00
Juvenile ravens performed just as well as chimps and orangutans in a battery of intelligence tests—except for assays of spatial skills. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Baby Bees Deprive Caregivers of Sleep from 2020-12-21T20:50
Bee larvae and pupae appear to secrete a chemical that does the work of a late-night cup of coffee for their nurses.
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How the Wolves Change the Forest from 2020-12-17T09:00
New research tracked the canines in northern Minnesota for years to see just how they reshape their ecosystems.
Audio of wolves inside Voyageurs National Park, courtesy of Jacob Job .
Brain Sides Are Both Busy in New Language Learning from 2020-12-16T20:23
A study of adults learning a new language found that speaking primarily activated regions in the left side of the brain, but reading and listening comprehension were much more variable
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Eye Treatment Stretches Mouse Sight Beyond Visible Spectrum from 2020-12-12T12:53
Nanoparticles that attach to photoreceptors allowed mice to see infrared and near-infrared light for up to two months.
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This Bat Wears a Face Mask from 2020-12-11T22:20
The wrinkle-faced bat covers its face with a flap of skin, seemingly as part of its courtship rituals.
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Undersea Earthquakes Reveal Sound Warming Info from 2020-11-30T18:57
Travel time differences for sound waves produced by undersea earthquakes in the same place at different times can provide details about ocean warming.
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Duckbill Dino Odyssey Ended in Africa from 2020-11-24T15:17
A duckbill dinosaur jawbone found in Morocco means that dinosaurs crossed a large body of water to reach Africa.
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Early Mammals Had Social Lives, Too from 2020-11-18T20:10
Chipmunklike animals that lived among the dinosaurs appear to have been social creatures, which suggests that sociality arose in mammals earlier than scientists thought. Christopher Intagliata repo...
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Divide and Conquer Could Be Good COVID Strategy from 2020-11-12T22:11
COVID might be fought efficiently with fewer shutdowns by restricting activities only in a particular area with a population up to 200,000 when its case rate rises above a chosen threshold.
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Zebra Coloration Messes With Fly Eyes from 2020-11-10T18:24
Horseflies misjudge landings on zebra patterns, compared with solid gray or black surfaces, which provides evidence for why evolution came up with the black-and-white pattern.
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Election Science Stakes: Energy from 2020-10-30T17:53
Scientific American senior editor Mark Fischetti and associate editor Andrea Thompson talk about this election and the future of U.S. energy research and policy.
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Election Science Stakes: Environment from 2020-10-29T20:43
Scientific American senior editor Mark Fischetti talks about how this election will affect environmental science and policy.
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Election Science Stakes: Climate from 2020-10-28T20:45
Scientific American ’s associate editor for sustainability Andrea Thompson talks about how climate science and policy will be affected by this election.
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Election Science Stakes: Medicine and Public Health from 2020-10-27T19:24
Scientific American ’s senior medicine editor Josh Fischman talks about issues in medicine and public health that will be affected by this election.
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Election 2020: The Stakes for Science from 2020-10-26T20:37
Scientific American ’s editor in chief sets up this week’s series of podcasts about how this election could affect science, technology and medicine.
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Why Some Easter Island Statues Are Where They Are from 2020-10-25T20:47
Many of the statues not along the coast are in places that featured a resource vital to the communities that lived and worked there.
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Acorn Woodpeckers Fight Long, Bloody Territorial Wars from 2020-10-23T20:10
More than 40 of the birds, in coalitions of three or four, may fight for days over oak trees in which to store their acorns.
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Funky Cheese Rinds Release an Influential Stench from 2020-10-22T21:21
The volatile compounds released by microbial communities on cheese rinds shape and shift a cheese’s microbiome. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Dinosaur Asteroid Hit Worst-Case Place from 2020-10-21T21:10
The mass-extinction asteroid happened to strike an area where the rock contained a lot of organic matter and sent soot into the stratosphere, where it could block sunlight for years.
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River Ecosystem Restoration Can Mean Just Add Water from 2020-10-20T18:42
Planners returned water to the dry bed of Arizona’s Santa Cruz River in 2019, and various species began showing up on the same day.
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3,000-Year-Old Orbs Provide a Glimpse of Ancient Sport from 2020-10-18T18:00
Researchers say three ancient leather balls, dug up from the tombs of horsemen in northwestern China, are the oldest such specimens from Europe or Asia. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Humans Make Wild Animals Less Wary from 2020-10-16T12:45
From mammals to mollusks, animals living among humans lose their antipredator behaviors.
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Play Helped Dogs Be Our Best Friends from 2020-10-13T16:15
The ancestors of today’s dogs already exhibited some playfulness, which became a key trait during domestication.
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Neandertal DNA May Be COVID Risk from 2020-10-10T23:50
A stretch of Neandertal DNA has been associated with some cases of severe COVID-19, but it’s unclear how much of a risk it poses. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Dinosaurs Got Cancer, Too from 2020-09-28T21:13
Researchers seeking evidence for cancer in dinosaurs found it in a collection of bones at a paleontology museum in Alberta.
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Fluttering Feathers Could Spawn New Species from 2020-09-24T23:50
Fork-tailed flycatchers make a fluttering sound with their wings—but separate subspecies have different “dialects” of fluttering. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Science News from around the World from 2020-09-22T14:55
Here are some brief reports about science and technology from all over, including one from Israel about what DNA reveals about the Dead Sea Scrolls’ parchment.
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These Small Mammals Snort to a Different Tune from 2020-09-17T23:45
Hyraxes, which live in Africa and the Middle East, punctuate their songs with snorts. And the snorts appear to reflect the animals’ emotional state. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Ice Age Temperatures Help Predict Future Warming from 2020-09-16T23:20
Scientists determined that temperatures were 11 degrees cooler during the last ice age—and that finding has implications for modern-day warming. Julia Rosen reports.
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High-Elevation Hummingbirds Evolved a Temperature Trick from 2020-09-15T12:00
Hummingbirds in the Peruvian Andes enter a state of torpor at night to conserve energy, dipping their body temperature to as low as 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Why Pet Pigs Are More like Wolves Than Dogs from 2020-09-14T15:45
Given an impossible task, a dog will ask a human for help, but a wolf will not seek help—and neither will a pet pig.
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Bricks Can Be Turned into Batteries from 2020-09-10T15:54
Pumping cheap iron-oxide-rich red bricks with specific vapors that form polymers enables the bricks to become electrical-charge-storage devices.
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Alaska's Salmon Are Shrinking from 2020-08-28T23:45
Every year, Alaska’s big salmon runs feature smaller salmon. Climate change and competition with hatchery-raised salmon may be to blame. Julia Rosen reports.
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End of 'Green Sahara' May Have Spurred a Megadrought in Southeast Asia from 2020-08-27T23:00
That drought may have brought about societal shifts in the region 5,000 years ago. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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White Rhinos Eavesdrop to Know Who's Who from 2020-08-26T06:00
The finding could potentially help wildlife managers keep better tabs on their herds. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Prehistoric Marine Reptile Died after a Giant Meal from 2020-08-21T23:59
Researchers found extra bones within a 240-million-year-old ichthyosaur fossil—which they determined to be the ichthyosaur’s last, possibly fatal meal. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Cows with Eye Images Keep Predators in Arrears from 2020-08-19T12:59
Butterflies, fish and frogs sport rear-end eyespots that reduce predation. Painting eye markings on cows similarly seems to ward off predators.
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Warbler Species Fires Up Song Diversity from 2020-08-18T12:07
Hermit warblers in California have developed 35 different song dialects, apparently as a result of wildfires temporarily driving them out of certain areas.
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Why Lava Worlds Shine Brightly (It's Not the Lava) from 2020-08-12T23:00
Scientists determined that “lava world” exoplanets do not derive their brightness from molten rock but possibly get it from reflective metallic clouds. Christopher Intagliata ...
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Aardvarks Are Ailing amid Heat and Drought from 2020-08-11T22:50
Climate change is expected to bring more frequent droughts and heat waves to Africa’s Kalahari Desert. And aardvarks might not be able to cope. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Mexico Caves Reveal Ancient Ocher Mining from 2020-07-31T18:25
Now submerged caves in the Yucatán Peninsula contain remains of ocher-mining operations that date back at least 10,000 years.
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In Bee Shortage, Bubbles Could Help Pollinate from 2020-07-27T20:41
Soap bubbles are sticky enough to carry a pollen payload and delicate enough to land on flowers without harm.
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Seismologists Find the World Quieted Down during Pandemic Lockdowns from 2020-07-25T23:11
COVID-19-related lockdowns dampened human activity around the globe—giving seismologists a rare glimpse of the earth’s quietest rumblings. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Old Art Offers Agriculture Info from 2020-07-24T14:15
Art museums are filled with centuries-old paintings with details of plants that today give us clues about evolution and breeding practices.
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How COVID-19 Decreases Weather Forecast Accuracy from 2020-07-23T17:43
Meteorologists take advantage of weather data collected by commercial jetliners at different altitudes and locations. Fewer flights mean less data.
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Cricket Avoids Being Bat Food by Doing Nothing from 2020-07-22T19:20
The sword-tailed cricket can discern bats’ echolocation signals by only responding to calls of a certain volume—at which point it plummets out of their approach.
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Speaker System Blocks City Noise from 2020-07-21T23:10
The system works like noise-cancelling headphones but fits over an open window. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Civil War Vaccine May Have Lessons for COVID-19 from 2020-07-20T13:01
Vaccination used against smallpox during the Civil War reveals the identity of the distantly related virus used to keep troops disease-free.
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Can People ID Infectious Disease by Cough and Sneeze Sounds? from 2020-07-16T21:45
Individuals aren’t very good at judging whether someone coughing or sneezing has an infectious condition or is simply reacting to something benign.
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Why Some Birds Are Likely To Hit Buildings from 2020-07-13T21:25
Those that eat insects, migrate or usually live in the woods are most likely to fly into buildings that feature a lot of glass.
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Sparrow Song Undergoes Key Change from 2020-07-11T13:17
White-throated sparrows made a change to their familiar call that quickly spread across Canada.
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Nature's Goods and Services Get Priced from 2020-06-30T23:00
The gross ecosystem product, or GEP, tries to take into account the contribution of nature to the economy.
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Animal Migrations Track Climate Change from 2020-06-29T21:41
Many species are known to have changed their migration routes in response to the changing climate. They now include mule deer and Bewick’s swans.
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Science Briefs from around the World from 2020-06-24T20:47
Here are some brief reports about science and technology from around the planet, including one about a 70-million-year-old mollusk fossil that reveals years back then had a few more days than ...
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Stiffer Roads Could Drive Down Carbon Emissions from 2020-06-19T19:20
By hardening the nation’s streets and highways, trucks would use less fuel and spare the planet carbon emissions. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Unicorns of the Sea Reveal Sound Activities from 2020-06-18T21:49
Narwhals, recognizable by their large single tusk, make distinct sounds that are now being analyzed in depth by researchers.
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Human Speech Evolution Gets Lip-Smacking Evidence from 2020-06-16T20:39
A study of our closest evolutionary relatives finds that the chimp behavior known as lip smacking occurs in the same timing range as human mouths during speech.
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Printed Coral Could Provide Reef Relief from 2020-06-15T23:17
Three-dimensional printed coral-like structures were able to support the algae that live in real corals, which could help restore reefs and grow algae for bioenergy production.
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'Snot Palaces' Reveal Undersea Creature Secrets from 2020-06-11T23:30
Scientists are studying the delicate mucus houses built by creatures called larvaceans to better understand how they live. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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COVID Has Changed Soundscapes Worldwide from 2020-05-31T22:00
The Silent Cities project is collecting sound from cities around the planet during the coronavirus pandemic to give researchers a database of natural sound in areas usually filled with human-genera...
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Colorful Corals Beat Bleaching from 2020-05-27T20:30
Exposed to mildly warmer waters, some corals turn neon instead of bleaching white. The dramatic colors may help coax symbiotic algae back. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Skinny Genes Tell Fat to Burn from 2020-05-22T21:30
A gene whose mutated form is associated with cancer in humans turns out to have a role in burning calories over a long evolutionary history.
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Malaria Mosquitoes Are Biting before Bed-Net Time from 2020-05-21T19:12
Mosquitoes that like to bite at night are being thwarted by bed nets, leading to the rise of populations that prefer to bite when the nets are not up yet.
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We're Being Tested from 2020-05-15T11:22
President Trump pointed out yesterday that if we didn't do any testing for the virus we would have very few cases, which forces us to confront the issues posed by testing in general.
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Barn Owl Babies Can Be Helpful Hatch Mates from 2020-05-14T19:13
Food sharing is mainly found in adult animals as a part of social bonding. But in a rarely observed behavior in birds, older barn owl chicks will share food with younger ones.
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Donut Sugar Could Help Stored Blood Last from 2020-05-12T20:14
Dehydrated blood that could be kept at room temperature for years may be possible thanks to a sugar used to preserve donuts—and made by tardigrades and brine shrimp so they can dry out and sp...
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Lemur Flirting Uses Common Scents from 2020-05-11T18:46
To entice female ring-tailed lemurs, males rub wrist secretions, which include compounds we use in perfumes, onto their tail and then wave it near the gals.
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Virus-Infected Bees Practice Social Distancing from 2020-04-30T19:56
Bees infected with a virus cut back on interactions within their hive but find it easier to get past sentries at neighboring hives.
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New Data on Killer House Cats from 2020-04-29T21:20
Wild cats kill more animals than domestic ones do. But pet cats kill many more of them in a small area than similarly sized wild predators.
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Birds on Rhinos' Back Help Them Avoid Poachers from 2020-04-22T16:22
Oxpeckers riding on rhinoceroses feast on ticks, and their calls warn the nearsighted herbivores about approaching humans.
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Jane Goodall: We Can Learn from This Pandemic from 2020-04-21T19:28
In a teleconference promoting her participation in Earth Day events on the National Geographic Channel, Goodall talked about what gives her hope during the pandemic and what she hopes we all l...
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Our 3,000th Episode from 2020-04-20T13:19
Here are some “highlights” from the past 13.5 years of this podcast.
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How Herbivore Herds Might Help Permafrost from 2020-04-17T16:22
Introducing herds of large herbivores in the Arctic would disturb surface snow, allowing cold air to reach the ground and keep the permafrost frosty.
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Lung Cancer Screen Could Be Easy Pee-sy from 2020-04-15T23:18
In mice, a test for lung cancer involves nanoprobes that recognize tumors and send reporter molecules into the urine for simple analysis.
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Obama Talks Some Science Policy from 2020-04-14T23:10
As he endorsed Joe Biden today, former president Barack Obama touched on some environmental, economic and science matters.
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Red-Winged Blackbirds Understand Yellow Warbler Alarms from 2020-04-13T20:37
Researchers studying yellow warbler responses to the parasitic cowbird realized that red-winged blackbirds were eavesdropping on the calls and reacting to them, too.
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Waiter, What's This Worm Doing in My Sushi? from 2020-04-10T16:48
Well, it’s probably there because the odds on its presence have gone way up in the past 40 years. But such parasites are still much more of a health problem for whales and dolphins than ...
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City Birds: Big-Brained with Few Offspring or Small-Brained with a Lot from 2020-03-31T22:46
To make it in urban areas, birds tend to be either large-brained and able to produce few offspring or small-brained and extremely fertile. In natural habitats, most birds brains are of average size.
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Coyotes Eat Everything from Fruits to Cats from 2020-03-30T22:23
The diets of coyotes vary widely, depending on whether they live in rural, suburban or urban environments—but pretty much anything is fair game.
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Tiny Wormlike Creature May Be Our Oldest Known Ancestor from 2020-03-29T19:10
The bilateral organism crawled on the seafloor, taking in organic matter at one end and dumping the remains out the other some 555 million years ago.
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Science News Briefs from around the Planet from 2020-03-28T23:23
Here are a few brief reports about science and technology from around the planet, including one about the discovery of an intact chicken egg dating to Roman Britain.
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Help Researchers Track COVID-19 from 2020-03-26T19:04
By entering your health status, even if you’re feeling fine, at the Web site COVID Near You, you can help researchers develop a nationwide look at where hotspots of coronavirus are occur...
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Sick Vampire Bats Restrict Grooming to Close Family from 2020-03-25T23:15
When vampire bats feel sick, they still engage in prosocial acts such as sharing food with nonrelatives. But they cut back on grooming anyone other than their closest kin.
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Exponential Infection Increases Are Deadly Serious from 2020-03-24T23:15
Listen in as I use two calculators to track the difference in numbers of infections over a short period of time, depending on how many people each infected individual infects on average.
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Swamp Wallaby Reproduction Give Tribbles a Run from 2020-03-21T20:55
They’re not born pregnant like tribbles, but swamp wallabies routinely get pregnant while pregnant.
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Ocean Plastic Smells Great to Sea Turtles from 2020-03-19T20:25
Ocean plastic gets covered with algae and other marine organisms, making it smell delicious to sea turtles—with potentially deadly results.
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Ancient Clam Shell Reveals Shorter Day Length from 2020-03-17T16:24
The growth layers in a 70-million-year-old clam shell indicate that a year back then had more than 370 days, with each day being only about 23.5 hours.
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Snapping Shrimp Make More Noise in Warmer Oceans from 2020-03-11T22:13
As oceans heat up, the ubiquitous noise of snapping shrimp should increase, posing issues for other species and human seagoing ventures.
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Stress from Undersea Noise Interferes with Crab Camouflage from 2020-03-10T22:30
In an example of how sea noise can harm species, exposed shore crabs changed camouflaging color sluggishly and were slower to flee from simulated predators.
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Jet Altitude Changes Cut Climate-Changing Contrails from 2020-02-25T20:52
Increasing or decreasing the altitude of aircraft by a few thousand feet to avoid thin layers of humidity could make a major reduction to contrails’ contribution to climate change.
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Thoroughbred Horses Are Increasingly Inbred from 2020-02-24T20:08
Inbreeding in Thoroughbreds has increased significantly in the past 45 years, with the greatest rise occurring in the past 15 or so of them.
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Pablo Escobar's Hippos Could Endanger Colombian Ecology from 2020-02-20T16:13
Hippos that escaped from drug kingpin Pablo Escobar’s private zoo are reproducing in the wild. And with increasing numbers, they could threaten ecosystems.
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Wasp Nests Help Date Aboriginal Art from 2020-02-19T22:37
Art created by Australian Aboriginal people used organic carbon-free pigments, but wasp nests above or below the art can be used for radiocarbon dating that supplies boundaries for the age of artwo...
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Industrial Revolution Pollution Found in Himalayan Glacier from 2020-02-18T17:40
Ice cores from a Tibetan glacier reveal the first deposits of industrial revolution pollution, starting in layers dated to about 1780.
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Fight-or-Flight Nerves Make Mice Go Gray from 2020-02-15T10:45
A new study in mice concludes stress can cause gray hair—and credits overactive nerves with the change in hue. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Espresso May Be Better when Ground Coarser from 2020-02-13T21:00
A very fine grind can actually hamper espresso brewing, because particles may clump more than larger particles will.
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Feral Dogs Respond to Human Hand Cues from 2020-02-11T13:26
Most feral dogs that did not run away from humans were able to respond to hand cues about the location of food—even without training.
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Sign Languages Display Distinct Ancestries from 2020-01-30T23:33
Well more than 100 distinct sign languages exist worldwide, with each having features that made it possible for researchers to create an evolutionary tree of their lineages.
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Docs Given Updated Opioid Prescribing Habit from 2020-01-26T23:30
Researchers dialed down the default number of opioids in two hospitals’ prescription systems—and doctors ended up prescribing fewer pills. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Some Wolf Pups Show Innate Fetching Talent from 2020-01-25T21:27
Some wolf pups will play fetch with a stranger, suggesting that an ability to playfully interact with people could have come before, and played a role in, dog domestication.
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Barred Owls Invade the Sierra Nevada from 2020-01-24T21:30
By listening to the sounds of the forest, biologists were able to identify an invasion of barred owls in spotted owl habitat. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Curiosity Killed the ... Mouse? from 2020-01-23T23:50
The cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii boosts curiosity in mice—which makes them more likely to be caught by cats, thus continuing the parasite’s life cycle. Karen Hopkin reports.
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This Fish Knows How to Stick Around from 2020-01-17T12:20
The remora clings to other fish—and appears to use an unusual sense of touch to do so. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Antarctic Is Ripe for Invasive Species from 2020-01-15T19:00
Mussels and crabs are two of the creatures most likely to invade Antarctica in the next 10 years, a panel of scientists say. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Bacteria Helped Plants Evolve to Live on Land from 2020-01-14T15:00
Soil bacteria may have taken residence in early algal species, gifting the algae with the ability to withstand drier conditions on land. Annie Sneed reports.
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Meteorite Contains Material Older Than Earth from 2020-01-13T15:01
The Murchison meteorite, which screamed to Earth 50 years ago, carried with it stardust that's seven billion years old. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Loss of Large Mammals Stamps Out Invertebrates, Too from 2020-01-12T18:28
Hunted areas of Gabon have fewer large mammals and a thicker forest understory—but they also have fewer termites. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Fido's Human Age Gets New Estimates from 2019-12-27T12:51
By comparing how DNA gets altered over the lifetimes of people and dogs, researchers came up with a new way to compare canine years with human years.
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Gift Wrapping Is Effective Future Trash from 2019-12-26T20:40
Research suggests people value gifts more when they have to unwrap them. But how do we avoid all the wasted paper? Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Superstrong Fibers Could Be Hairy Situation from 2019-12-24T21:30
Human hair tested stronger than thicker fibers from elephants, boars and giraffes, providing clues to materials scientists hoping to make superstrong synthetic fibers.
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Flaky Scalps Have a Unique Fungal Microbiome from 2019-12-20T22:40
Certain species of bacteria and fungi seem to proliferate on dandruff-ridden scalps. The reason is a little more mysterious. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Moths Flee or Face Bats, Depending on Toxicity from 2019-12-19T17:36
Tiger moth species that contain bad-tasting and toxic compounds are nonchalant in the presence of bats, while edible moth species evade their predators.
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Ancient Seawall Found Submerged from 2019-12-18T23:00
In shallow waters off the coast of Israel, archaeologists have found entire villages—including one with a sunken seawall. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Citizen Scientists Deserve Journal Status Upgrade from 2019-12-14T22:24
Here’s an argument that citizen scientists deserve co-authorship on scientific journal papers to which they contributed research.
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Not All Hydropower Is Climate-Considerate from 2019-12-13T22:17
While some hydropower facilities release almost no greenhouse gases, others can actually be worse than burning fossil fuels.
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Certain Zip Codes Pick Losers from 2019-12-12T18:10
People in certain zip codes are more likely to purchase products that flop, buy homes that are poor investments and pick political candidates who lose. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Linguists Hear an Accent Begin from 2019-12-11T20:33
Residents of an overwintering station in Antarctica provided linguists with evidence of the first small changes in speech that may signal the development of a new accent.
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Romans Would Roam for Wood from 2019-12-10T15:40
Archaeologists unearthed wood from a Roman villa when digging Rome’s subway—and scientists determined the planks came all the way from France. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Subtle Ancient Footprints Come to Light from 2019-11-29T21:55
Ground-penetrating radar can detect tiny density differences that lead to images of ancient footprints impossible to discern by eye.
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Ancient Rock Art Got a Boost From Bacteria from 2019-11-25T08:00
Indigenous artists in what’s now British Columbia created pigments by cooking aquatic bacteria. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Ick Factor Is High Hurdle for Recycled Drinking Water from 2019-11-24T20:13
Recycled wastewater can be cleaner than bottled water, but people still avoid drinking it because of their disgust over its past condition.
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Bots Outperform Humans if They Impersonate Us from 2019-11-21T20:31
Bots masquerading as humans in a game outperformed their human opponents—but the their superiority vanished when their machine identity was revealed. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Implanting Memories in Birds Reveals How Learning Happens from 2019-11-20T20:41
Researchers activated specific brain cells in zebra finches to teach them songs they’d ordinarily have to hear to learn.
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Dogs Like Motion That Matches Sound from 2019-11-19T22:30
Pet dogs appeared more interested in videos of a bouncing ball when the motion of the ball matched a rising and falling tone. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Egyptian Vats 5,600 Years Old Were For Beer Brewing from 2019-11-16T22:00
Archaeologists working in the ancient city of Hierakonpolis discovered five ceramic vats containing residues consistent with brewing beer.
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Famously Fickle Felines Are, in Fact, Clingy from 2019-11-13T23:45
Cats are clingier to their human owners than their reputation would suggest. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Aversion to Broccoli May Have Genetic Roots from 2019-11-12T19:30
Study subjects with a gene variant that heightened their sensitivity to bitterness tended to eat fewer vegetables than people who didn’t mind bitter flavors. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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We Owe Our Pumpkins to Pooping Megafauna from 2019-10-31T14:10
The pumpkin’s ancestor was an incredibly bitter, tennis-ball-sized squash—but it was apparently a common snack for mastodons. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Bird Egg Colors Are Influenced by Local Climate from 2019-10-29T23:10
In cold, northern climates, eggs tend to be darker and browner—heat-trapping colors that allow parents to spend a bit more time away from the nest. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Crabs Do a Maze from 2019-10-28T23:00
Green crabs learned to navigate a maze without making a single wrong turn—and remembered the skill weeks later. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Odd Bird Migrates Twice to Breed from 2019-10-24T14:44
The phainopepla migrates from southern California to the desert Southwest to breed in the spring before flying to California coastal woodlands to do so again in summer.
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Piranha-Proof Fish Gives Inspiration for Body Armor from 2019-10-23T19:53
A gigantic fish from the Amazon has incredibly tough scales—and materials scientists are looking to them for bulletproof inspiration. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Galloping Ant Beats Saharan Heat from 2019-10-22T19:15
The Saharan silver ant feeds on other insects that have died on the hot sands, which it traverses at breakneck (for an ant) speeds.
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Some Mosquito Repellents Act like Invisibility Cloaks from 2019-10-21T20:45
Synthetic repellents such as DEET seem to mask the scent of our “human perfume”—making us less obvious targets for mosquitoes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Your Skull Shapes Your Hearing from 2019-10-17T23:15
The resonant properties of your skull can amplify some frequencies and dampen others—and, in some cases, affect your hearing. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Tardigrade Protein Protects DNA from Chemical Attack from 2019-10-16T11:39
The Dsup protein protects DNA under conditions that create caustic free radical chemicals.
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"Mars-quakes" Could Reveal How Mars Was Built from 2019-10-15T19:15
Rumblings on the Red Planet act like x-rays, allowing scientists to probe the hidden interior of Mars. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Artificial Intelligence Learns to Talk Back to Bigots from 2019-10-10T19:50
Algorithms are already used to remove online hate speech. Now scientists have taught an AI to respond—which they hope might spark more discourse. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Brains of Blind People Adapt in Similar Fashion from 2019-09-30T19:53
The brains of those who are blind repurpose the vision regions for adaptive hearing, and they appear to do so in a consistent way.
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Musical Note Perception Can Depend on Culture from 2019-09-25T15:57
Western ears consider a pitch at double the frequency of a lower pitch to be the same note, an octave higher. The Tsimane’, an indigenous people in the Bolivian Amazon basin, do not.
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Nature Docs Avoid Habitat Destruction from 2019-09-24T21:15
BBC and Netflix nature documentaries consistently shy away from showing viewers the true extent to which we’ve damaged the planet. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Heat Loss to Night Sky Powers Off-Grid Lights from 2019-09-19T11:18
A slight temperature difference at night between a surface losing heat and the surrounding air can be harnessed to generate electricity to power lights.
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Early Butchers Used Small Stone Scalpels from 2019-09-18T11:00
Homo erectus used hand axes to butcher elephants and other game. But a new study suggests they also used finer, more sophisticated blades. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Microplastics in Fresh Water Are Mostly Laundry Lint from 2019-09-17T10:43
Microplastic particles are everywhere, but in freshwater systems, 60 percent of particles are clothing lint from laundry.
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Kids Are Not Hurt by Screen Time from 2019-09-16T15:32
A study finds no deleterious effects on mental health when kids spend their leisure time texting and engaging in other online activities.
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Lab-Grown Human Mini Brains Show Brainy Activity from 2019-09-13T10:50
As the little structures grow, their constituents specialize into different types of brain cells, begin to form connections and emit brain waves. They could be useful models for development and neu...
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Eavesdropping Puts Anxious Squirrels at Ease from 2019-09-12T20:00
Squirrels constantly scan their surroundings for hawks, owls and other predators. But they also surveil for threats by eavesdropping on bird chatter. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Earth's Magnetic Field Initiated a Pole Flip Many Millennia before the Switch from 2019-09-11T19:55
Lava flow records and sedimentary and Antarctic ice core data show evidence of planetary magnetic field activity 20,000 years before the beginning of the last pole reversal.
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Humpback Whales Swap Songs at Island Hub from 2019-09-10T19:40
At the Kermadec Islands, humpbacks from all over the South Pacific converge and swap songs. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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How Hurricanes Influence Spider Aggressiveness from 2019-08-30T18:55
As Hurricane Dorian approaches Florida, consider that feeding style means that aggressive tangle-web spider colonies produce more offspring after severe weather, while docile colonies do better in ...
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Graphene Garment Blocks Blood-Sucking Skeeters from 2019-08-28T18:45
A small patch of graphene on human skin seemed to block the mosquitoes’ ability to sense certain molecules that trigger a bite. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Martian Winds Could Spread Microbe Hitchhikers from 2019-08-26T18:28
Microbes fly tens of miles over Chile’s dry, UV-blasted Atacama Desert—and scientists say the same could happen on Mars. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Including Indigenous Voices in Genomics from 2019-08-21T21:45
A program at the University of Illinois trains indigenous scientists in genomics—in hopes that future work will be aimed at benefiting those communities. Christine Herman reports.
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West Point Uniforms Signify Explosive Chemistry from 2019-08-19T19:40
U.S. Military Academy cadets wear the colors black, gray and gold for reasons found in gunpowder’s chemistry.
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Secrets of the Universe Trapped in Antarctic Snow from 2019-08-14T13:10
Scientists found an interstellar iron isotope in Antarctic snow samples—which hints that our region of the universe may be the remnant of an ancient exploding star. Christopher Intagliata rep...
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Certain Personality Types Are Likely to Make a "Foodie Call" from 2019-08-13T15:00
Some people go on dates just to score a free meal—a phenomenon known as a “foodie call.” But it takes a certain personality type. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Artificial Intelligence Sniffs Out Unsafe Foods from 2019-08-12T09:00
Researchers trained machine-learning algorithms to read Amazon reviews for hints that a food product would be recalled by the FDA. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Babies Want Fair Leaders from 2019-07-31T12:25
Babies as young as a year and a half want leaders to fix situations in which they see someone else being treated unfairly.
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Parrots Are Making the U.S. Home from 2019-07-30T19:25
Released or escaped parrots are now living in most states and are breeding in at least 21. For some, it’s a second chance at survival.
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Tourist Photographs Help African Wildlife Census from 2019-07-25T18:30
Photographs snapped by safari tourists are a surprisingly accurate way to assess populations of African carnivores. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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For Ants, the Sky's the Compass from 2019-07-23T23:05
Computer modeling revealed that insects with a celestial compass can likely determine direction down to just a couple degrees of error. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Why Two Moonships Were Better Than One from 2019-07-20T17:40
Engineer John Houbolt pushed for a smaller ship to land on the lunar surface while the command module stayed in orbit around the moon.
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One Small Scoop, One Giant Impact for Mankind from 2019-07-19T19:16
Just before Neil Armstrong climbed back into the lunar module, he scooped up a few last-minute soil samples--which upturned our understanding of planetary formation. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Investigating the Zombie Ant's "Death Grip" from 2019-07-18T19:00
Researchers dissected the jaws of ants infected with the Ophiocordyceps fungus to determine how the fungus hijacks the ants' behavior. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Attractive Young Females May Have Justice Edge from 2019-07-16T14:00
Youths rated as attractive were less likely to have negative encounters with the criminal justice system—but only if they were women. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Tobacco Plants Made to Produce Useful Compounds from 2019-07-15T16:09
A proof-of-concept study got transgenic tobacco plants to make a useful enzyme in their chloroplasts, not nuclei, minimizing chances for transfer to other organisms.
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Rhinos and Their Gamekeepers Benefit from AI from 2019-07-11T20:12
Starting in 2017, an artificial intelligence monitoring system at the Welgevonden Game Reserve in South Africa has been helping to protect rhinos and their caretakers.
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Backpack Harvests Energy as You Walk from 2019-07-10T22:15
The pack produces a steady trickle of electricity from the swinging motion of your stuff. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Scientist Encourages Other Women Scientists to Make Themselves Heard from 2019-06-30T13:15
Geneticist Natalie Telis noticed few women asking questions at scientific conferences. So she publicized the problem and set about to make a change. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Male Bats Up Mating Odds with Mouth Morsels from 2019-06-27T18:24
Males that allow females to take food right out of their mouths are more likely to sire offspring with their dining companions.
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Scientists Fool Flies with "Virtual Tastes" from 2019-06-26T23:40
By switching fruit flies' sensory neurons on and off with light, scientists were able to create the sensation of sweet or bitter tastes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Wheat Plants "Sneeze" and Spread Disease from 2019-06-25T23:40
Wheat plants' leaves repel water, which creates the perfect conditions for dew droplets to catapult off the leaves—taking pathogenic spores for the ride. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Elite Runners' Microbes Make Mice Mightier from 2019-06-24T23:25
Mice that were fed bacteria isolated from elite athletes logged more treadmill time than other mice that got bacteria found in yogurt.
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Science News Briefs from around the World from 2019-06-23T19:40
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Canada to Kenya, including one about how humans thousands of years ago in what is now Argentina butchered and presumably ate gian...
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Antiperspirant Boosts Armpit and Toe-Web Microbial Diversity from 2019-06-21T20:00
Rather than wiping microbes out, antiperspirants and foot powders increased the diversity of microbial flora in armpits and between toes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Monkey Cousins Use Similar Calls from 2019-06-17T19:36
Two monkey species who last shared a common ancestor 3 million years ago have "eerily similar" alarm calls.
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How Millipedes Avoid Interspecies Sexual Slips from 2019-06-16T11:10
Millipedes, often blind, have come up with clever physical signals to ward off sexual advances from members of wrong species.
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You Contain Multitudes of Microplastics from 2019-06-13T16:57
People appear to consume between 74,000 and 121,000 microplastic particles annually, and that's probably a gross underestimate.
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A Biodegradable Label Doesn't Make It So from 2019-06-12T22:00
At the third Scientific American “Science on the Hill” event, “Solving the Plastic Waste Problem”, one of the issues discussed by experts on Capitol Hill was biodegradabilit...
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Bonobo Mothers Supervise Their Sons' Monkey Business from 2019-05-29T19:45
Some wild female bonobos introduce their sons to desirable females—then make sure their relations won’t be interrupted by competing males. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Music May Orchestrate Better Brain Connectivity in Preterm Infants from 2019-05-28T23:10
Preterm babies who listened to music in the neonatal intensive care unit had brain activity that more closely resembled that of full-term babies. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Icy Room Temperatures May Chill Productivity? from 2019-05-23T22:45
A new study suggests women's performance on math and verbal tasks increases as room temperature rises, up to about the mid 70s F. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Bird Beak Shapes Depend on More Than Diet from 2019-05-22T17:41
A study found that only a small percentage of bird beak shape variation is dependent on diet, with other factors like display and nest construction probably playing parts too.
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Ancient Gum Gives Archaeologists Something to Chew On from 2019-05-20T19:45
Chewing gums discovered in western Sweden contain the oldest human DNA found in Scandinavia. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Nobelist: Harness Evolution as a Problem-Solving Algorithm from 2019-05-17T16:14
Frances Arnold, the Caltech scientist who shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, says evolution can show us how to solve problems of sustainability.
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Unread Books at Home Still Spark Literacy Habits from 2019-05-16T12:10
Growing up in a home filled with books enhances enhances intellectual capacity in later life, even if you don't read them all.
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Kid Climate Educators Open Adult Eyes from 2019-05-15T11:06
A study finds that kids, especially daughters, are effective at teaching their parents about climate issues.
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Penguin Poop Helps Biodiversity Bloom in Antarctica from 2019-05-14T19:05
Ammonia from penguin poop gets carried on Antarctic winds, fertilizing mosses and lichens as far as a mile away. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Ancient Whiz Opens Archaeology Window from 2019-05-13T14:10
The residue of ancient urine can reveal the presence of early stationary herder-farmer communities.
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New Model Aims to Solve Mystery of the Moon's Formation from 2019-04-30T20:19
Scientists propose that the moon could have formed when a Mars-sized object slammed into an Earth covered in magma seas. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Cats Recognize Their Names—but May Not Respond from 2019-04-29T20:45
Felines move their ears, heads and tails more when they hear their names compared to when they hear similar words. Jim Daley reports.
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Science News Briefs from All Over from 2019-04-27T15:11
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Liberia to Hawaii, including one on the discovery in Northern Ireland of soil bacteria that stop the growth of MRSA and other sup...
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Hurricane Maria Rain Amount Chances Are Boosted by Climate Change from 2019-04-26T14:52
The likelihood of an event like Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and of its massive precipitation, is fivefold higher in the climate of today than it would have been some 60 years ago
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Harder-Working Snakes Pack Stronger Venom from 2019-04-25T20:32
Snake venom toxicity depends on snake size, energy requirements and environmental dimensionality more than on prey size.
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River Dolphins Have a Wide Vocal Repertoire from 2019-04-24T20:10
Freshwater dolphins are evolutionary relics, and their calls give clues to the origins of cetacean communication in general. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Honeybees Can Put Two and Two Together from 2019-04-23T20:29
The tiny brain of a honeybee is apparently able to calculate small numbers' addition and subtraction. Annie Sneed reports.
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4/20 Traffic Accidents Claim Curbed from 2019-04-20T12:37
A deeper data dive calls into question a 2018 study that found a spike in fatal traffic accidents apparently related to marijuana consumption on this date.
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Hyena Society Stability Has Last Laugh from 2019-04-19T19:10
Female hyenas keep their clans in line by virtue of their complex social networks. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Gluten-Free Restaurant Foods Are Often Mislabeled from 2019-04-18T19:20
One in three gluten-free dishes tested at restaurants contained gluten—especially GF pizzas and pastas. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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What Chickens Can Teach Hearing Researchers from 2019-04-17T21:09
At an April 9th event sponsored by the Kavli Foundation and produced by Scientific American that honored Nobel and Kavli Prize winners, neuroscientists James Hudspeth and Robert Fettiplace talked a...
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Nobelist Says System of Science Offers Life Lessons from 2019-04-16T13:40
At an April 9th event sponsored by the Kavli Foundation and produced by Scientific American that honored Nobel and Kavli Prize winners, economist Paul Romer talked about how the social system of sc...
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Squeezed Potassium Atoms Straddle Liquid and Solid from 2019-04-12T19:00
At extreme pressures, potassium atoms can be both liquid and solid at the same time, a phase of matter known as "chain melt." Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Urban Coyote Evolution Favors the Bold from 2019-04-11T20:15
Coyotes become fearless around people in just a few generations—which isn’t good for their longterm co-existence with humans in cities. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Computers Turn an Ear on New York City from 2019-04-10T20:05
NYU’s “Sounds of New York City” project listens to the city—and then, with the help of citizen scientists, teaches machines to decode the soundscape. Jim Daley reports.
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Bumblebee Queens Prefer Layovers to Nonstop Flights from 2019-03-28T19:10
Scientists tracked bumblebee queens with radar when they emerged from hibernation and found the bees take only brief flights en route to a new nest. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Scenic City Sights Linked to Higher Happiness from 2019-03-26T23:52
Tracking the location and mood of 15,000 people, researchers found that scenic beauty was linked to happiness—including near urban sights like bridges and buildings. Christopher Intagliata re...
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Tech's Brain Effect: It's Complicated from 2019-03-25T21:50
We don't yet know what the immersion in technology does to our brains, but one neuroscientist says the answer is likely to be that there's good, there's bad, and it's complex.
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Daylight Brings Toxic Beetles Together for Safety from 2019-03-22T22:18
During daylight hours, hundreds of bombardier beetles of multiple species will congregate together to more effectively ward off any predators not afraid of a lone beetle's toxic spray.
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Solar Jets Cause Standing Waves in Earth's Magnetic Field from 2019-03-19T15:28
When jets of charged particles from the sun hit our magnetosphere, some of the ensuing ripples travel toward the northern and southern poles and get reflected back. The resulting interference ...
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Sing Solo for Higher Fidelity from 2019-03-18T19:30
By tracking duetting choir singers, researchers found that when an individual singer's pitch drifts off tune their partner’s tend to too. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Edible Insect Breeding Led to Larger but Not Necessarily Better Larvae from 2019-03-14T21:10
Researchers aiming to lower the cost of mealworms were able to double the worms' size, but the larger larvae had fewer eggs and weaker offspring. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Busting Earth-Bound Asteroids a Bigger Job Than We Thought from 2019-03-12T17:30
A new model suggests smashing killer space rocks with insufficient force could let gravity pull the pieces back together. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Weekday–Weekend Sleep Imbalance Bad for Blood Sugar Regulation from 2019-03-11T13:15
Weekday sleep deprivation with weekend make-up sleeping seems to be worse for blood sugar control than even chronic sleep deprivation alone.
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Budding Yeast Produce Cannabis Compounds from 2019-02-28T20:30
Biologists have taken the genes that produce cannabinoids in weed and plugged them into yeast, making rare and novel compounds more accessible. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Who Has "the Right Stuff" for Mars? from 2019-02-26T14:45
Humans traveling to Mars will be required to operate with a degree of autonomy human astronauts have never had, due to communication delays. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Grandma's Influence Is Good for Grandkids from 2019-02-25T14:10
Grandmothers can enhance the survival of grandchildren. That is, unless grandma’s too old or lives too far away. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Should Robots Have a License to Kill? from 2019-02-23T17:30
Artificial intelligence experts, ethicists and diplomats debate autonomous weapons. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Warming Climate Implies More Flies—and Disease from 2019-02-20T22:39
The incidence of foodborne illness could jump in a warming world, due to an increase in housefly activity. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Light-Skin Variant Arose in Asia Independent of Europe from 2019-02-19T08:00
A new genetic study of Latin Americans provides evidence that gene variants for lighter skin color came about in Asia as well as in Europe. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Teach Science Process over Findings from 2019-02-18T19:03
Seismologist and policy advisor Lucy Jones says science education needs to teach how science works more than just what it finds out.
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Human Diet Drugs Kill Mosquitoes' Appetite, Too from 2019-02-16T15:30
When researchers fed mosquitoes a drug used to treat people for obesity, the insects were less interested in hunting for their next human meal ticket. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Grazing Deer Alter Forest Acoustics from 2019-02-15T18:00
Deer populations have exploded in North American woodlands, changing forest ecology—and how sounds, like birdsong, travel through the trees. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Elephant Weight Cycles with New Teeth from 2019-02-14T20:24
Elephants have six sets of teeth over their lives, sometimes two sets at once. At those times, they can extract more nutrition from food and put on weight.
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Finally Over for Mars Rover from 2019-02-13T15:55
The rover Opportunity has called it quits after working for more than 14 years on Mars.
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Our Brains Really Remember Some Pop Music from 2019-02-11T23:30
Although millennials' memory of recent pop tunes drops quickly, their ability to identify top hits from the 1960s through 1990s remains moderately high. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Neandertal Spears Were Surprisingly Deadly from 2019-01-31T12:30
Javelin throwers chucking replicas of Neandertal spears were able to hit targets farther away, and with greater force than previously thought to be possible. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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"Rectenna" Converts Wi-Fi to Electricity from 2019-01-30T12:00
Researchers built a small, flexible device that harvests wi-fi, bluetooth and cellular signals, and turns them into DC electricity. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Science News Briefs from the World Over from 2019-01-29T13:50
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Papua New Guinea to Kazakhstan, including one on the slow slide of Mount Etna in Italy.
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Cod Could Cope with Constrained Climate Change from 2019-01-28T13:40
Cod egg survival stays high with limited warming, but plummets when the temperature rises a few degrees Celsius in their current spawning grounds.
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Intimate Hermit Crab Keeps Shell On from 2019-01-25T20:22
A species of hermit crab appears to have evolved a large penis to enable intercourse without leaving, and thus possibly losing, its adopted shell.
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Ecologists Eavesdrop with Bioacoustics from 2019-01-24T14:05
By coupling audio recordings with satellite data and camera traps, ecologists can keep their eyes—and ears—on protected tropical forests. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Saturn's Blingy Rings Are a Recent Upgrade from 2019-01-23T22:00
Though Saturn formed about 4.5 billion years ago, its rings were added relatively recently—only 100 million to 10 million years ago. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Do-Gooders Should Survey Communities First from 2019-01-22T22:30
Detroit residents declined an offer of free street trees—but were more willing to accept them if they had a say in the type of tree. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Viewing This Weekend's Lunar Eclipse from 2019-01-18T23:05
A total lunar eclipse will grace the skies this Sunday, January 20—and it may or may not be red. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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"Mona Lisa Effect" Not True for Mona Lisa from 2019-01-17T21:00
The Mona Lisa effect is the illusion that the subject of a painting follows you with her gaze, despite where you stand. But da Vinci's famous painting doesn't have that quality. Christopher Intagli...
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Ants Stick to Cliques to Dodge Disease from 2019-01-16T18:30
Ants infected with fungal pathogens steer clear of other cliques within the colony—avoiding wider infection, and allowing for a sort of immunity. Lucy Huang reports.
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Mistimed Migration Means Bird Death Battles from 2019-01-13T12:00
Climate change is shifting population numbers and nest building by resident and migratory birds in Europe—sometimes leading to deadly conflict. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Monogamy May Be Written in Our Genes from 2019-01-11T21:00
In animal studies, a set of 24 genes involved in neural development, learning and memory, and cognition, seem to be associated with monogamy. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Seeing Superman Increases Altruism from 2019-01-10T18:49
Subject who saw a Superman poster were more likely to offer help than were people who saw another image.
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Science News from around the Planet from 2018-12-31T18:27
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Germany to Rwanda, including one on the discovery of the world's oldest known brewery, discovered in Israel.
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Turn Xmas Tree into Food and Medicine from 2018-12-29T19:30
Pine needles can easily be broken down into sugars as well as the building blocks of paint, adhesives and medicines. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Simple Sugars Wipe Out Beneficial Gut Bugs from 2018-12-27T11:00
Fructose and sucrose can make it all the way to the colon, where they spell a sugary death sentence for beneficial bacteria. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Smarter Pricing Could Ease Parking Frustration from 2018-12-26T23:30
A new algorithm raises parking rates in busy neighborhoods and lowers them elsewhere, guaranteeing free parking spots regardless of location. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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"Hunger Hormone" Ghrelin Aids Overindulgence from 2018-12-25T09:00
Ghrelin, the hormone that makes you hungry, also makes food, and food smells, irresistibly appealing. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Colorful Peacocks Impress Females with Good Vibes from 2018-12-24T12:00
Peafowls' head crests are specifically tuned to the vibrations produced by feather-rattling male peacocks, thus acting as a sort of antenna. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Measuring the Strength of a Person's Gaze from 2018-12-23T19:10
A new study suggests that, unconsciously, we actually do believe that looking exerts a slight force on the things being looked at. Karen Hopkin reports.
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"Relaxation Music" Works—but So Does Chopin from 2018-12-22T08:00
So-called "relaxation music" is only about as effective as a soothing Chopin piece at lulling listeners into a relaxed state. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Bone Building Needs Bit of Breakdown First from 2018-12-21T11:44
The hormone irisin encourages bone remodeling, in part by first triggering another substance that encourages some bone breakdown.
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Frog Picks Maternity Ward Like Goldilocks from 2018-12-20T14:19
The Bahia's broad-snout casque-headed tree frog needs a pool to raise its young that's just right.
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You Gotta Scratch That Itch from 2018-12-19T16:57
A particular set of brain neurons may be behind registering itch and inducing us to scratch.
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Join Blue Planet II Live-Tweet from 2018-12-14T12:54
Starting December 16, ocean scientists will live-tweet the BBC documentary series Blue Planet II, available via Netflix.
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Big-Boned Chickens May Be Humans' Geologic Legacy from 2018-12-13T18:30
Millions of years from now, the geologic record of the "Anthropocene" will be littered with plastics, yes, but also chicken bones. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Ancient Marine Reptiles Had Familiar Gear from 2018-12-12T16:20
Ichthyosaurs had traits in common with turtles and modern marine mammals, like blubber and countershading camouflage. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Little Aphids Ride Big Ones to Safety from 2018-12-11T19:57
When trouble lurks, juvenile aphids drop off of the plants they're eating and hitch a ride on bigger aphid escapees.
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Blue Whales Have Changed Their Tune from 2018-11-30T20:16
In the last few decades blue whale calls have been getting lower in pitch—and a rebound in their numbers may be the reason. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Smart Meters Speed Showers from 2018-11-27T14:00
Smart meters on showerheads encouraged hotel guests to conserve—even though they personally saved no money. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Mars Mission Makes Clean Landing from 2018-11-26T16:11
The sounds of the Mars InSight Mission control room during the tense minutes leading to the landing on the surface.
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Do Wine over Those Brussels Sprouts from 2018-11-21T21:45
Taking a swig of red wine before eating Brussels sprouts appears to moderate Brussels sprouts' polarizing flavor. Christopher Intagliata reports
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Rains Bring a Microbial Massacre to Chilean Desert from 2018-11-19T21:10
Freak heavy rainstorms in 2015 and 2017 wiped out many dry-adapted microbes in the Atacama Desert, useful info in the search for life off Earth. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Consensual Hugs Seem to Reduce Stress from 2018-11-18T16:14
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.
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World's Largest Organism Faces Bleak Future from 2018-11-17T13:34
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
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U.S. Immigrants Leave Country—and Microbes—Behind from 2018-11-14T23:30
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.
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Babies and Chimps Share a Laugh from 2018-11-10T23:10
Adult humans laugh primarily on the exhale, but human babies laugh on the inhale and the exhale—as do chimps. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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For Halloween, Consider the Chocolate Midge from 2018-10-31T13:20
A tiny fly, related to biting no-see-ums, pollinates cacao trees and enables our chocolate cravings. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Dolphins Dumb Down Calls to Compete with Ship Noise from 2018-10-29T23:45
Bottlenose dolphins simplify and raise the pitch of their whistles to be heard above underwater shipping noise. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Asocial Octopuses Become Cuddly on MDMA from 2018-10-22T13:00
Octopuses react to MDMA much like humans do. And not surprisingly, given their anatomy, the animals are excellent huggers. Annie Sneed reports.
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Science News Briefs from around the Globe from 2018-10-20T21:50
A few very brief reports about science and technology from around the globe, including one from Mongolia on horse dentistry.
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Wild Songbirds Can Pick Up New Tunes from 2018-10-18T21:45
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.
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Health Care Let Neandertals "Punch above Their Weight" from 2018-10-17T23:30
By caring for their sick and injured, Neandertals were able to expand into more dangerous environments and pursue more deadly prey. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Nice People Have Emptier Wallets from 2018-10-15T23:00
A study correlating personality traits with financial data found that agreeable people had lower savings, higher debt and higher bankruptcy rates. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Solar Eclipse Was a Buzzkill for Bees from 2018-10-12T23:52
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.
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Confident Tone Overcomes Accent Distrust from 2018-10-11T19:35
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.
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Mom's Genes Make Some Giraffes Hard to Spot from 2018-10-10T18:05
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.
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Blasey Ford Spells Out Trauma Memory Formation from 2018-09-30T23:22
Christine Blasey Ford's professional expertise came into play during her testimony regarding the Supreme Court nomination.
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Scanning Ancient Civilizations from the Skies from 2018-09-27T17:33
An aerial laser scan of more than 800 square miles of Guatemalan jungle revealed Maya buildings, canals, roads and bridges. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Antifreeze Surface Fights Ice with Ice from 2018-09-25T23:11
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.
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Scale Can Measure Medicine—and Play a Scale, Too from 2018-09-24T21:45
Researchers have designed a musical instrument that can detect counterfeit drugs by the pitch of its notes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Diverse Tree Portfolio Weathers Droughts Better from 2018-09-21T23:00
Forests with numerous tree species, and therefore a mix of water-management strategies, appear more tolerant of drought. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Pirates Needed Science, Too from 2018-09-19T13:03
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
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Sea Otters' Powerful Paw Prey Perception from 2018-09-18T23:00
The marine mammals have extraordinarily sensitive touch—which helps them nab prey in the absence of other sensory cues. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Genetic Tweak Gave Early Humans a Leg Up from 2018-09-13T08:00
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.
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Earlier Springs May Mean Mistimed Bird Migrations from 2018-09-12T14:01
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.
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Survey the Wildlife of the "Great Indoors" from 2018-09-10T19:10
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.
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Science News You Might Have Missed from 2018-08-31T16:39
A few very brief reports about science and technology from around the globe.
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Pineapple Waste Won't Be Wasted from 2018-08-27T10:57
Costa Rican scientists are extracting valuable materials from the peel and stubble of pineapples.
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Sometimes Mosquitoes Are Just Thirsty from 2018-08-24T07:30
Mosquitoes want your blood for its proteins...or simply to hydrate on a hot, dry day.
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Robot Bartender Will Take Your Order from 2018-08-23T07:30
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.
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As Spring Arrives Earlier, Arctic Geese Speed Up Their Migration from 2018-08-22T08:00
The birds are arriving in the Arctic up to 13 days earlier than they used to. But at a cost: hunger. Annie Sneed reports.
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Freeloading Ants Help the Workflow from 2018-08-21T07:30
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.
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Ancient Americans Bred Symbolically Important Scarlet Macaws from 2018-08-20T08:00
Genetic information from the bones of macaws found in abandoned pueblos suggests they were bred and distributed as a commodity. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Rising CO2 Means Monarch Butterfly Bellyaches from 2018-08-17T07:00
Milkweed grown with more carbon dioxide in the air supplies fewer toxins to monarch butterflies that need the toxins to fight off gut parasites.
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For Some Crows, Migration Is Optional from 2018-08-16T17:00
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 Intagli...
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Plants Dominate the Planet's Biomass from 2018-08-15T07:00
About 80 percent of Earth's biomass is plant life, with humans about equal to krill way down the heft chart.
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Solar Eclipse of 2017 Boosted Science Interest from 2018-08-14T11:12
The Michigan Scientific Literacy Survey of 2017 found that last year's total solar eclipse got Americans more interested in celestial science.
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Crickets Carve Tools to Amplify Their Chirps from 2018-08-13T20:40
The insects fashion and use "baffles"—sound controllers—made of leaves to produce sound more efficiently. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Computerized Chemical Toxicity Prediction Beats Animal Testing from 2018-08-10T20:24
Researchers programmed a computer to compare structures and toxic effects of different chemicals, making it possible to then predict the toxicity of new chemicals based on their structural similari...
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Oh Say Can You See Subtle Details? from 2018-07-31T19:08
Different people have differing aptitudes for observing small changes and particular features.
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Some Crows Hit On Dead Companions from 2018-07-30T19:00
About 5 percent of crows will attempt to copulate with other crows that have joined the choir invisible .
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Mouth Sets Healing Standard from 2018-07-29T22:00
Certain proteins that coordinate the healing response are present at higher levels in oral tissue—meaning wounds in the mouth fix faster. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Border Wall Could Disrupt Hundreds of Species from 2018-07-26T14:00
More than 2,500 scientists signed a letter saying that an expanded U.S.–Mexico border wall would threaten both biodiversity and scientific research. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Turn a Wall into a Touch Screen Cheap from 2018-07-25T21:53
Researchers used a couple of hundred dollars worth of materials to turn a wall into a giant touch screen
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Ancient Tooth Tartar Traps Clues to Iron Age Diet from 2018-07-24T11:00
By analyzing the proteins in ancient dental plaque, archaeologists determined that British menus almost three millennia ago featured milk, oats and peas. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Honey Bee Alarm Signal Could Protect Elephants from 2018-07-23T11:01
Chemicals designed to simulate honeybee alarm pheromones could deter elephants from farmers’ crops, easing conflicts with humans. Annie Sneed reports.
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Sea Level Rise Could Inundate the Internet from 2018-07-20T14:00
Extreme sea level rise could swamp internet cabling and hubs by 2033—and coastal cities like New York, Seattle and Miami are at greatest risk. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Astronomy Tool Helps ID Sharks from 2018-07-19T20:41
Shark researchers used a system for recognizing patterns in star field photographs to identify whale sharks, which have individual spot patterns.
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Mammals Moonlight around Human Settlements from 2018-07-18T22:22
A study of human–mammal interaction across the globe found animals are more prone to take to the night around humans. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Jupiter's Moon Total Hits 79 from 2018-07-17T10:02
The International Astronomical Union reports that there are now 79 known Jovian moons, with a dozen found last year.
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Moths Evade Bats with Slight of Wing from 2018-07-16T20:00
Some moth species have evolved long wing tails that flutter and twist as the moth flies, which distract hungry bats. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Smart Mouth Guard Senses Muscle Fatigue from 2018-07-12T20:02
A prototype flexible electronic mouth guard can measure lactate levels in an athlete’s saliva, tracking muscle fatigue during training and performance.
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Favorite Wine Grapes May Need Genetic Help from 2018-07-10T21:19
Wine book author Kevin Begos explains that just a few varieties of wine grapes dominate the industry, which leaves them vulnerable to potentially catastrophic disease outbreaks.
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Humans Can Size One Another Up with a Roar from 2018-06-28T20:20
Listeners to a person letting loose with a roar can accurately estimate the size and formidability or the human noise maker. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Piano Lessons Tune Up Language Skills from 2018-06-26T17:55
Six months of piano lessons can heighten kindergartners' brain responses to different pitches, and improve their ability to tell apart two similar-sounding words. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Cardinal Rule: Female Birds Sing, Too from 2018-06-25T23:46
Many people assume only male birds do the singing. But females also sing in at least 660 species and perhaps many more.
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Bird's Song Staying Power Implies Culture from 2018-06-22T17:15
Certain motifs in swamp sparrow songs can last hundreds, even thousands of years—evidence of a cultural tradition in the birds. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Alaskan Beluga Whales Ace Hearing Exam from 2018-06-21T23:55
Researchers tested the hearing of beluga whales in an Alaskan bay and found that they seem to have suffered little hearing loss due to ocean noise. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Fat–Carb Combo Is a Potent One–Two Punch from 2018-06-19T22:10
Foods high in both carbs and fats tickle the brain’s reward circuits more so than snacks that showcase just one or the other. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Jupiter Crackles with Polar Lightning from 2018-06-17T19:15
Juno spacecraft data suggest lightning on Jupiter is much more common than we thought—but it congregates near the poles, not the equator as on Earth. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Coral Reefs Keep Costly Waves at Bay from 2018-06-15T13:15
A new analysis found the flood protection benefits of coral reefs save the global economy $4 billion dollars a year. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Hippo Dung Fouls Up Freshwater Fisheries from 2018-06-14T21:10
Hippo poop is piling up in Tanzania’s freshwater fisheries—which is bad news for biodiversity, and deleterious for the dinner plate. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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A Litmus Test for Bad Breath from 2018-06-13T19:10
Researchers engineered a portable device that detects even the tiniest trace of hydrogen sulfide—one of the primary offenders in bad breath. Karen Hopkin reports.
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Prez (of AMA) Issues Call to Arms-Science from 2018-06-11T22:05
At the AMA annual meeting the organization's president petitioned for an evidence-based, science-driven analysis of gun violence and solutions.
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Some Trees Beat Heat with Sweat from 2018-05-31T10:00
During extreme heat waves, a species of eucalyptus copes by releasing water and taking advantage of evaporative cooling. Other trees may do the same.
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Computers Go Head-to-Head with Humans on Face Recognition from 2018-05-30T14:30
The best facial-recognition algorithms are now as good as the best forensic examiners are. But the best results come by combining human and computer skills. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Pinnipeds Don't Appreciate Biped Disturbance from 2018-05-30T00:20
Sea lions and fur seals in Uruguay have become a tourist attraction—but the animals have become less, not more, accepting of humans. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Computers Predict Pop Chart Success from 2018-05-24T22:32
An evolutionary analysis of pop tunes revealed that over the past 30 years songs have grown sadder—but the big hits buck that trend. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Doc's YA Novel Treats Life-and-Death Issues from 2018-05-23T20:07
Pediatric cardiologist Ismée Williams discusses her young adult novel, Water in May, about a teenage girl whose newborn has a life-threatening heart condition.
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Google's AI Assistant Does Your Talk Tasks from 2018-05-17T17:38
The new Google AI voice assistant, called Duplex, highlights the intricacies of carrying out a mundane human-style conversation, as it keeps you off the phone.
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Great Ape Makes Good Doc from 2018-05-16T19:00
Orangutans were observed to use plant extracts to treat their own pain.
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Stool-Pigeon Poop Reveals Bird-Racing Fouls from 2018-05-15T23:20
Racing pigeons is big business—and doping is common. Now scientists have devised a way to detect doping in the avian athletes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Radar Scans Detail North Korean Nukes from 2018-05-14T21:25
Scientists have added radar info to seismic data, isotope measurements and optical imagery to study covert nuclear tests. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Hunting Rules Have Changed Mama Bear Care from 2018-05-11T22:32
Hunting regulations in Sweden prohibit killing brown bear mothers in company of cubs—causing mama bears to care for their young longer. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Jupiter and Venus Squeeze Earth's Orbit from 2018-05-10T20:20
Sediment records have confirmed that Jupiter and Venus change Earth's orbit from virtually circular to noticeably elliptical and back every 405,000 years. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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