Wanted: Gravitational Constant's True Value
Scientists from numerous disciplines will brainstorm new strategies for measuring "Big G" in July. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 17, 2016•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
Saharan Dust Brings Bacterial Blooms to the Caribbean
Dust clouds from the Sahara reach the Caribbean—and fertilize waters there when they arrive. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 16, 2016•3 min
Microbe Breaks the Powerhouse Rules
A single-celled organism discovered in chinchilla droppings is the only known eukaryotic organism that lacks mitochondria-like organelles. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 12, 2016•3 min
Everything There Is
Caltech theoretical physicist Sean M. Carroll talks about the necessary connections among the various ways we have of describing the universe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 11, 2016•4 min
Farm Fields Release Carbon Mist during Rainstorms
Raindrops eject carbon-based blobs of soil material from wet fields, creating a mist of organic compounds above the soil. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 10, 2016•3 min
Flying Boats Soar over the Hudson
Hydrofoiling boats competing in the America's Cup World Series came to New York City to show off the cutting edge of sailing technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 08, 2016•5 min
Feed Additive Squelches Ruminants' Methane Belches
A chemical compound can cut a cow's methane emissions by 30 percent—and help the animal get more energy from its food. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 05, 2016•3 min
Male Lemurs Are Masters of Musk
Lemurs sometimes mix their smelly secretions to produce a bouquet of stank—which may boost the perfume’s staying power. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 04, 2016•4 min
Married Couples Pack On More Pounds
A study links single living to a thinner waistline and lower BMI, compared with co-habitating couples. Erika Beras reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 03, 2016•3 min
Photos Tagged as Art Linked to Rising Property Prices
Researchers found that neighborhoods with a higher proportion of Flickr photos tagged "art" saw a higher spike in property prices. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 02, 2016•3 min
Miley Cyrus and Macaroni Combo Enables Brain-Based ID
An individual's unique brain response to images of a celebrity and a food could be used to create an ID procedure at high-security sites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 28, 2016•4 min
Traces of Pharmaceuticals Dwell in Wastewater-Grown Veggies
Volunteers who ate veggies grown in wastewater had higher (but still safe) levels of an epilepsy drug in their urine, compared with subjects who ate freshwater-grown veggies. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 27, 2016•3 min
This Plant Bleeds Nectar to Attract Help
When a species of nightshade is injured by hungry beetles, it produces sugary nectar at the wound site. The nectar attracts ants that then keep the beetles at bay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 26, 2016•4 min
Climbing Bears Help Plants Keep Cool
Mountain-climbing bears transport cherry tree seeds, internally at first, to cooler, higher altitudes where the trees can survive as temperatures rise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 25, 2016•3 min
Lower Your Voice Pitch to Persuade
Study volunteers whose voices deepened during a group debate tended to be more influential and convincing. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 22, 2016•3 min
This Primate's Calls Obey a Linguistic Law
The vocalizations of the gelada, a baboon relative, appear to follow a linguistic rule called Menzerath's law. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 21, 2016•3 min
Woodpecker Head Bangs Communicate Info
Woodpeckers that listen to others of their kind drum into trees alter their behavior based on what they hear. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 20, 2016•3 min
Gambling Gave Science Some Lucky Breaks
The development of statistics, probability theory, game theory and chaos theory owes a lot to people trying to figure out various games of chance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 19, 2016•3 min
Microbots Get the Lead Out--of Wastewater
Millions of tiny graphene robots can propel themselves through wastewater and scavenge heavy metals. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 18, 2016•3 min
Heat ID'd as Subtle Cause of Rockfalls
Rockfalls without an obvious cause (like an earthquake or expanding ice) may be due to hot daily air temperatures expanding small cracks in cliff faces. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 15, 2016•4 min
Bearcats Naturally Pass the Popcorn
Researchers have uncovered the chemistry that makes the urine of bearcats smell like freshly cooked popcorn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 14, 2016•3 min
Transforming Stem Cells into Diabetes Beaters
Pancreatic type beta cells produced from stem cells can sense glucose, release insulin and treat a mouse model of diabetes. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 13, 2016•3 min
Find Shows Widespread Literacy 2,600 Years Ago in Judah
Mundane notes about daily life on 16 ceramic shards written about 600 B.C. at an ancient military fortress in the Negev Desert reveal that literacy had to be common. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 12, 2016•3 min
Frogs Signal Visually in Noisy Environments
The Brazilian torrent frog has the most sophisticated visual communications system yet documented for a frog species. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 11, 2016•3 min
Choir Practice Could Lower Stress in Cancer Patients
A cancer center in the U.K. found that patients had significantly lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol after harmonizing for an hour. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 07, 2016•4 min
Crater Bottoms Could Be Cradles of Martian Life
Four billion years ago asteroids and comets could have melted the Martian cryosphere, and started up hydrothermal springs—a potential hotspot for ancient microbial life. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 06, 2016•4 min
Wolves Have Local Howl Accents
Understanding the regional vocal patterns of various canid species sheds light on animal communication and could help ranchers broadcast "keep away" messages to protect livestock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 05, 2016•4 min
Bird Combines Calls in Specific Order
The Japanese great tit combines two calls in a specific order and does not respond to a recording of the calls combined in reverse order, apparently demonstrating compositional syntax. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 04, 2016•3 min
Cellular Circuit Computes with DNA
Researchers have created what they call the first "programming language" for cells, which compiles code into a genetic circuit. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 01, 2016•3 min
Lasers Could Hide Earth from Prying Aliens
We could use laser light to mask our transits across the sun and thus hide Earth from any intelligent aliens looking for planets to invade Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 31, 2016•5 min
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