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Science Quickly

Scientific Americanwww.sciencequickly.com
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

Traffic Deaths Increase after 4:20 P.M. on 4/20

A look at a database of fatal traffic accidents found a 12 percent increase on the informal marijuana holiday 4/20 after 4:20 P.M. compared with nearby dates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 19, 20183 min

NYC Mice Are Packed with Pathogens

Mice trapped in New York City apartment buildings harbored disease-causing bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 18, 20183 min

Mine Social Media Posts to Predict Flu

Researchers used Twitter searches for nonflu words associated with behavior to predict flu outbreaks two weeks in advance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 17, 20184 min

Planting Milkweed for Monarchs? Make Sure It's Native

Non-native milkweed species planted in the southern U.S. could harm monarch butterflies as temperatures rise. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 16, 20184 min

The Internet Needs a Tune-Up

Princeton University's Jennifer Rexford talks about optimizing the internet for the uses it got drafted into performing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 13, 20183 min

Glacier Suddenly Goes Galloping

Researchers try to figure out why every 20 years a Pakistan glacier moves roughly 1,500 times faster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 12, 20184 min

Some Habitable Zone Exoplanets May Get X-Rayed Out

Red dwarfs are a popular place to hunt for small exoplanets in the habitable zone—but the stars' radiation bursts might fry chances for life as we know it. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 11, 20183 min

Right Whales Seem to Think before They Speak

Rather than always making the same call in response to the same stimuli, North Atlantic right whales are capable of changing their vocalizations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 09, 20184 min

Old New England Underground May Be Spry after All

The U.S. Northeast may be more geologically active than was previously thought, according to a seismic sensor network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 07, 20184 min

Brain Scan Might Reveal Appetite for Risk

Volunteers willing to place riskier bets tended to sport larger amygdalas—a region associated with processing fear. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 06, 20184 min

Neandertal Face Shape Was All Over the Air

The jutting midface of Neandertals seems to have evolved to help get large volumes of air into an active body that needed lots of oxygen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 04, 20184 min

Rev Up Photosynthesis to Boost Crop Yields

Photosynthesis actually is an inefficient process, but a biological chemist is trying to crank it up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 02, 20183 min

13,000-Year-Old Footprints under West Coast Beach

Several feet below a beach in British Columbia, archaeologists discovered soil trampled by human feet—the oldest footprints found so far in North America. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apr 01, 20183 min

Math Cracks a Knuckle-Cracking Mystery

The source of knuckle cracking sounds is much debated—but new mathematical models may reconcile two opposing views. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 29, 20183 min

Rotting Flesh Offers Insight on Fossilization

To learn more about decay and fossilization, researchers conduct unorthodox experiments—like dissecting decomposing animals in the lab. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 26, 20183 min

Ravens Crow with Individual Flair

Ravens produce different types of calls depending on their age and sex—which might help ravens size up other individuals. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 23, 20184 min

U.S. Flu Spread Counts On Southern Cold Snaps

A multifactorial analysis finds that the ignition of a flu epidemic stems from a blast of colder weather striking an otherwise warm, humid, urban environment, and driving people indoors into close quarters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 21, 20184 min

Louise Slaughter Was Congress's Food Safety Champion

Upstate New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, who worked for decades on issues such as overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and food safety in general, died March 16 at the age of 88. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 20, 20184 min

Arctic Heat Waves Linked to Snowpocalypse-Like Storms

An analysis of more than six decades of daily temperature and snowfall data linked warmer arctic temperatures to cold snaps at lower latitudes. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 18, 20183 min

Gut Parasites Have Their Own Gut Microbiomes

The whipworm lives in the human gut, mooching microbes from its host to build its own microbiome. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 15, 20183 min

Drones Could Help Biologists Tally Birds

Counting by drone not only saves time and effort, but yields better data on species numbers—a definite plus in terms of conservation. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 12, 20184 min

Saliva Protein Might Inhibit Intestinal Anarchy

A protein found in spit prevents bad bugs from binding to intestinal cells in the lab, pointing to a possible way to lower the chances of dysentery. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 10, 20183 min

Searching the Heavens for Mountains

Exoplanet hunters are moving beyond simply finding new planets into trying to know what they look like and whether there's surface or subsurface activity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 09, 20184 min

Human Echolocators Use Tricks Similar to Bats

People who use echolocating mouth clicks to compensate for low vision increase the number and intensity of clicks when objects are harder to detect. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 06, 20184 min

Animal Coloration Can Serve Double Duty

The cinnabar moth caterpillar's coloration pattern warns predators close up, but camouflages the critter from a distance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 05, 20184 min

Some Lichen Fungi Let Genes Go Bye

A study of 22 different types of lichens revealed 10 included fungi that had lost a gene for energy production, making them completely dependent on their algal partner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mar 01, 20184 min

To See Gun Injury Drop, Hold an NRA Meeting

When the National Rifle Association holds its national convention, gun injuries drop 20 percent—perhaps because fewer gun owners are around their guns. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 28, 20183 min

Big Cities Have Fewer Tweeters Per Capita

But those who do tweet in big cities are more prolific—tweeting more often, on average, than their small-town counterparts. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 26, 20183 min

How Baby Birds Learn to Duet

Recordings of songbird duets reveal baby birds learn conversational turn-taking like we do: gradually, and from adults. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 23, 20184 min

Mosquitoes Learn the Smell of Danger

The bloodsuckers lose their appetite for attractive scents when they associate those aromas with a likelihood of being swatted. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 22, 20184 min
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