Sparrow Song Undergoes Key Change
White-throated sparrows made a change to their familiar call that quickly spread across Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 11, 2020•4 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
Polynesians and Native South Americans Made 12th-Century Contact
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 09, 2020•5 min
Animals Appreciate Recent Traffic Lull
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 08, 2020•4 min
Bat Says Hi as It Hunts
Velvety free-tailed bats produce sounds that help them locate insect prey but simultaneously identify them to their companions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 07, 2020•4 min
Forests Getting Younger and Shorter
Old, big trees are dying faster than in the past, leaving younger, less biodiverse forests that store less carbon worldwide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 06, 2020•4 min
Young Great White Sharks Eat off the Floor
The stomach contents of young great white sharks show that they spend a lot of time patrolling the seafloor for meals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 02, 2020•4 min
Tweets Reveal Politics of COVID-19
Political scientists analyzed congressional tweets and observed how Republicans and Democrats responded differently to the virus. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 01, 2020•3 min
Nature's Goods and Services Get Priced
The gross ecosystem product, or GEP, tries to take into account the contribution of nature to the economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 30, 2020•4 min
Animal Migrations Track Climate Change
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 29, 2020•4 min
Science Briefs from around the World
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 we have now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 24, 2020•3 min
Stiffer Roads Could Drive Down Carbon Emissions
By hardening the nation’s streets and highways, trucks would use less fuel and spare the planet carbon emissions. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 19, 2020•4 min
Unicorns of the Sea Reveal Sound Activities
Narwhals, recognizable by their large single tusk, make distinct sounds that are now being analyzed in depth by researchers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 18, 2020•5 min
Human Speech Evolution Gets Lip-Smacking Evidence
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 16, 2020•4 min
Printed Coral Could Provide Reef Relief
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 15, 2020•4 min
'Snot Palaces' Reveal Undersea Creature Secrets
Scientists are studying the delicate mucus houses built by creatures called larvaceans to better understand how they live. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 11, 2020•3 min
Helping Kids Cope with COVID-19 Worries
The psychological state of children may need special attention during COVID-19 impacts and isolation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 09, 2020•4 min
Ancient DNA Rewrites Dead Sea Scroll History
By sequencing DNA from the dust of dead sea scrolls, scientists were able to glean new clues about the ancient manuscripts. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 08, 2020•4 min
Whale Protections Need Not Cause Lobstering Losses
Right whales, other whales and turtles get caught in lobster trap lines, but fewer lines can maintain the same lobster catch levels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 07, 2020•4 min
How to Keep COVID-19 Conspiracies Contained
An expert on climate denial offers tips for inoculating people against coronavirus conspiracy notions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 06, 2020•4 min
Bioluminescence Helps Prey Avoid Hungry Seals
Prey animals flash biochemically produced light to confuse elephant seals hunting in the dark. But at least one seal turned the tables. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 02, 2020•4 min
3 Words Mislead Online Regional Mood Analysis
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 01, 2020•5 min
COVID Has Changed Soundscapes Worldwide
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-generated noise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 31, 2020•4 min
Science News Briefs from All Over
Here are some brief reports about science and technology from around the planet, including one about an incredibly well-preserved horned lark ( Eremophila alpestris ), like the one pictured, that lived 46,000 years ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 28, 2020•3 min
Colorful Corals Beat Bleaching
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 27, 2020•4 min
Skinny Genes Tell Fat to Burn
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 22, 2020•4 min
Malaria Mosquitoes Are Biting before Bed-Net Time
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 21, 2020•5 min
We're Being Tested
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 15, 2020•3 min
Barn Owl Babies Can Be Helpful Hatch Mates
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 14, 2020•4 min
Donut Sugar Could Help Stored Blood Last
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 spring back with water. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 12, 2020•4 min
Lemur Flirting Uses Common Scents
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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 11, 2020•4 min
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