Kangaroos with Puppy Dog Eyes
New research shows that when faced with an impossible task, the marsupials look to humans for help. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 04, 2021•6 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.
Last refreshed:
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Episodes
COVID, Quickly, Episode 1: Vaccines, Variants and Diabetes
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 essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 26, 2021•5 min
Machine Learning Pwns Old-School Atari Games
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 now beat more games, achieving near perfect scores, and help robots explore real-world environments. Pakinam Amer reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 25, 2021•9 min
E-Eggs Track Turtle Traffickers
Decoy sea turtle eggs containing tracking tech are new weapons against beach poachers and traffickers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 22, 2021•5 min
Bromances Could Lead to More Romances for Male Hyenas
Spotted hyena males do not fight for mates, so how are certain males shut out of the mating game? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 10, 2021•5 min
A Heroic Effort to Measure Helium
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 05, 2021•6 min
Science News Briefs from around the World
Here are some brief reports about science and technology from around the world, including one from Costa Rica about decoy sea turtle eggs with the potential to catch poachers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 01, 2021•3 min
Scientists Take a Cattle Head Count in India
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 28, 2021•3 min
Ancient Dogs Had Complex Genetic Histories
Some dog population genetics show similarities to ours, such as in the ability to digest grains. But other lineages differ. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 21, 2021•4 min
Bees Use 'Bullshit' Defense to Keep Giant Hornets at Bay
The prospect of death by giant hornet has pushed some Asian honeybees to resort to a poop-based defense system Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 11, 2021•7 min
Humans May Have Befriended Wolves with Meat
Unlike humans, wolves can subsist on protein alone for months—so scientists say we may have lobbed leaner leftovers their way. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 07, 2021•3 min
How to Avoid Becoming a Meal for a Cheetah
Researchers help farmers in Namibia avoid costly cattle losses by tracking big cat hangouts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 06, 2021•6 min
How the Coronavirus Pandemic Shaped Our Language in 2020
Linguist Ben Zimmer says the pandemic has turned us all into amateur epidemiologists utilizing terms such as “superspreader” and “asymptomatic.” Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 01, 2021•3 min
Science News Briefs from around the Planet
Here are some brief reports about science and technology from around the world, including one from Panama about the toll lightning takes on tropical trees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 28, 2020•3 min
Ravens Measure Up to Great Apes on Intelligence
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 22, 2020•4 min
Baby Bees Deprive Caregivers of Sleep
Bee larvae and pupae appear to secrete a chemical that does the work of a late-night cup of coffee for their nurses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 21, 2020•4 min
How the Wolves Change the Forest
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 . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 17, 2020•6 min
Brain Sides Are Both Busy in New Language Learning
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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 16, 2020•4 min
A Nurse's Message about the COVID-19 Vaccine
Nurse Kristen Choi says health care providers need to better educate patients about possible side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 15, 2020•4 min
Eye Treatment Stretches Mouse Sight Beyond Visible Spectrum
Nanoparticles that attach to photoreceptors allowed mice to see infrared and near-infrared light for up to two months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 12, 2020•5 min
This Bat Wears a Face Mask
The wrinkle-faced bat covers its face with a flap of skin, seemingly as part of its courtship rituals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 11, 2020•5 min
The Denisovans Expand Their Range into China
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 02, 2020•4 min
Undersea Earthquakes Reveal Sound Warming Info
Travel time differences for sound waves produced by undersea earthquakes in the same place at different times can provide details about ocean warming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 30, 2020•5 min
Duckbill Dino Odyssey Ended in Africa
A duckbill dinosaur jawbone found in Morocco means that dinosaurs crossed a large body of water to reach Africa. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 24, 2020•4 min
Early Mammals Had Social Lives, Too
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 reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 18, 2020•4 min
Science News Briefs from All Over
Here are some brief reports about science and technology from around the world, including one, from the dormant volcano Llullaillaco in Chile, about a mouse that is the highest-dwelling mammal ever documented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 17, 2020•3 min
Divide and Conquer Could Be Good COVID Strategy
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 12, 2020•4 min
Zebra Coloration Messes With Fly Eyes
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 10, 2020•5 min
Science Sound(E)scapes: Head Banging and Howling in the Amazon
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 escape, we ascend into the trees where howler monkeys and crimson-crested woodpeckers rule the airwaves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 06, 2020•11 min
Science Sound(E)scapes: Amazon Frog Choruses at Night
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 escape, we descend into a nighttime flood of frog music. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 05, 2020•8 min
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android