Old Cats Can Get Seizures from Sound
Feline audiogenic reflex seizures, or FARS, was discovered after a few cat owners reported the issue to an advocacy group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 28, 2015•3 min
Science Quickly
Host Rachel Feltman, alongside leading science and tech journalists, dives into the rich world of scientific discovery in this bite-size science variety show.
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Episodes
Musical Performance Activates Specific Genes
Blood tests on 10 professional musicians before and after playing showed that specific genes got turned on by performance, some of which are also active in songbirds. Karen Hopkin reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 27, 2015•3 min
Shipwreck Champagne Reveals Old Wine Secrets
Analysis of 168 bottles of bubbly that sat at the sea bottom for 170 years shows how the old-timers tweaked their champagne taste. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 24, 2015•3 min
Small Screen Looks at an Electrified America
Scientific American 's David Biello hosts a new episode of the TV series Beyond the Light Switch, focusing on the means to and effects of a more electricity-powered country. Steve Mirsky reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 22, 2015•4 min
Taste Salty with Less Salt
Making salamis and cheeses with more pores might make them taste just as salty but with less added sodium finding its way into the body. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 20, 2015•3 min
Granular Materials Could Thwart Missiles
The harder a projectile hits a granular substance like sand, the more that material acts like a solid, effectively repelling the intruder. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 16, 2015•3 min
A Few Hundred Smartphones Could Catch Earthquakes Early
Thanks to their GPS systems, smartphones in an array could pick up movements indicating the onset of an earthquake and provide extra seconds of early warning. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 15, 2015•3 min
Martian Glaciers Equal Meter-Thick Planetary Ice Shell
Radar measurements and models of Earthly glacial ice flows led researchers to conclude that the glaciers spotted on Mars from orbiters contain nearly 150 billion cubic meters of water. Lee Billings reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 13, 2015•3 min
Nobelist Talks about Exercise and Chromosome Integrity
In a Google Hangout Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn and Scientific American Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina discuss the relationship between exercise and telomere length, which is related to diseases of aging Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 09, 2015•4 min
Typing Style Reveals Fatigue or Disease
How a person types can reveal the state of their brain, according to a study that tracked keystrokes when the typist was alert or groggy. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 08, 2015•3 min
App Provides Pocket Time Capsule
New app called Pivot will let gadget users see old and new images of sites as they walk past. Larry Greenemeier reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 07, 2015•3 min
Online Breast Milk Buyers May Get Cowed
An analysis of human breast milk bought online reveals that some 10 percent of the samples contained cow’s milk. Dina Fine Maron reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 06, 2015•3 min
B.O. Gives Up Its Stinky Secrets
Staphylococcus hominis is a key perpetrator of body odor—and researchers say selectively interfering with it could make for more effective deodorants. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 03, 2015•3 min
Outdoor Exercise Worth Some Air Pollution Risk
A Danish study of more than 50,000 adults suggests that exercise lowers risk of death—even if you work out amidst urban air pollution. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 02, 2015•3 min
Diabetics Benefit by Biggest Meal Early
A small study finds that diabetics who ate a big breakfast and small dinner had better glucose control than those who ate the opposite. Steve Mirsky reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 01, 2015•3 min
Donate Your Health Data to Medical Science
You can now share your genome, health and microbiome info, and viral infection data to crowdsourced medical research projects. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 30, 2015•3 min
African-American Longevity Suffered after Great Migration
The six million black people who left the South between 1910 and 1970 had better economic opportunity but a lower chance or reaching their 70s. Erika Beras reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 26, 2015•3 min
Enceladus Might Be a Methane Hotspot
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft spotted a surprising amount of methane erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus, suggesting it harbors more methane than we thought. Clara Moskowitz reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 25, 2015•3 min
Malaria Parasite Attracts Mosquitoes with Perfume
The Plasmodium parasite uses an altered type of plant chloroplast to manufacture pine-and-lemon-scented chemicals, which lure in the bloodsuckers. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 24, 2015•3 min
See Movement Better by Bicarb
Bicarbonate, the chemical that transports CO2 through the blood, increases the "refresh rate" of rod cells in lab tests--which could mean better motion detection. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 23, 2015•3 min
Teotihuacán's Social Tensions Contributed to Its Fall
The decline and abandonment of the Mexican metropolis may have been hastened by infighting among different cultural and socioeconomic groups. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 20, 2015•3 min
Music’s Physiological Effects Transcend Culture
People in the Congo rainforests or in Montreal tended to react to the same piece of music in strikingly similar ways. Andrea Alfano reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 19, 2015•3 min
That's What Ya Call a 4-Star Planet
Astronomers report the discovery of only the second quadruple-star system known to host at least one planet. But they suspect there are a lot more such systems out there. Lee Billings reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 19, 2015•3 min
Smoke Makes Twisters More Likely to Strike
Smoke wafting north from the Gulf of Mexico worsened the already stormy weather brewing across the southeastern U.S. on April 27, 2011. Julia Rosen reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 18, 2015•3 min
La Niña Conditions Spin Up More Springtime Twisters
Severe weather forecasters could incorporate El Niño and La Niña cycling to make springtime tornado and hail forecasts. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 18, 2015•3 min
Human Remains Double Known Rainforest Occupation Time
Physical remains in Sri Lanka show that people lived in rainforests 20,000 years ago, at least 10,000 years earlier than previous evidence showed. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 17, 2015•3 min
Crowd-Sourced Medical Research Gets Apple Assist
What’s called ResearchKit enables scientists to more easily write mobile apps that take advantage of iPhone sensors to study asthma, Parkinson’s and other diseases. Larry Greenemeier reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 16, 2015•3 min
<i>Big Bang</i> Sitcom Stars <i>Scientific American</i> Tonight
On the March 12 episode of The Big Bang Theory , a mock copy of Scientific American becomes a key part of the plot. The sitcom's science advisor, U.C.L.A. physicist David Saltzberg, talks about the show's reach to the lay public. Steve Mirsky reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 12, 2015•3 min
Background Music Jams Memory in Older Adults
People of all ages find background sound distracting, but noise appears to impede memory formation in older people. Erika Beras reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 11, 2015•3 min
Some European Languages Came by Steppe
A new genetic analysis reveals a massive migration from the central Asian grasslands into Europe 4,500 years ago—implying that some languages followed. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 10, 2015•3 min
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