Love and the Brain, Part 1: The 36 Questions, Revisited
Host Shayla Love dives into the true story behind the now infamous 36 questions that lead to love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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.
Episodes
Coming Soon to Your Podcast Feed: Science, Quickly
A new era in Scientific American audio history is about to drop starting next week. Get ready for a science variety show guaranteed to quench your curiosity in under 10 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The 60-Second Podcast Takes a Short Break--But Wait, There's More
Scientific American’s short-form podcast has been going for 16 years, three months and seven days, counting today. But it’s time for us to evolve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Is Your Phone Actually Draining Your Brain?
A new study puts the “brain drain hypothesis”—the idea that just having a phone next to you impacts your cognition—to the test to see if the science passes muster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why Your Dog Might Think You're a Bonehead
The verdict is in: female dogs actively evaluate human competence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Alaska's Protective Sea Ice Wall Is Crumbling because of the Climate Crisis
A massive storm slammed into Alaska’s western coast, and there was no ice to stop it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
It's the Bass That Makes Us Boogie
Concertgoers danced more when music was supplemented with low-frequency bass tones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How Vaccines Saved Money and Lives and China's Zero-COVID Protests: COVID, Quickly Podcast, Episode 44
Vaccines saved New York City billions of dollars, and China faces public fury over its strict virus-control policies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
'Chatty Turtles' Flip the Script on the Evolutionary Origins of Vocalization in Animals
Recordings of more than 50 species of turtles and other animals help scientists reassess the origins of acoustic communication in vertebrates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tardigrades, an Unlikely Sleeping Beauty
Researchers put this ancient critter through a subzero gauntlet to learn more about what happens to their internal clock while surviving the extreme. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A Burned Redwood Forest Tells a Story of Climate Change, Past, Present and Future
From the ashes of the giants of Big Basin Redwoods State Park arise a history of fire suppression and real questions about what happens to the forests in a drought-stricken West Coast going forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Antivirals Could Reduce Long COVID Risk and How Well the New Boosters Work: COVID, Quickly Podcast, Episode 43
In this new episode of our coronavirus podcast, we discuss a study that looked at the effects of Paxlovid on long COVID symptoms, and we also talk new bivalent boosters and immunity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A Honeybee Swarm Has as Much Electric Charge as a Thundercloud
New research shows that bees “buzz” in more than the way you might think. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
These Punk Rock Penguins Have a Bizarre Breeding Strategy
New Zealand’s erect-crested penguin lays two eggs but rejects the first one—the opposite of how most birds prioritize their offspring. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Viral Triple Threat and Why You Need a Booster: COVID, Quickly, Episode 42
COVID, flu and RSV are surging. Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What You Need to Know about Iran's Surveillance Tech
Scientific American technology editor Sophie Bushwick explains how Iran is using surveillance tech against vulnerable citizens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Delivering Equitable Lung Cancer Care [Sponsored]
As recent advances improve the prospects of detecting and catching lung cancer early, a new challenge arises: how to ensure people worldwide, regardless of their socioeconomic circumstances, benefit from new clinical tools. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
New Halloween 'Scariant' Variants and Boosting Your Immunity: COVID, Quickly, Episode 41
In a new episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we talk about the variants that are likely to be around this winter and how boosters help even if you’ve already had the disease. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
These Hawks Have Figured Out How to See the Bat in the Swarm
New research shows that birds of prey attempting to grab a bat from a roiling mass of the flying mammals have developed a way to cope with the confusion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Naps Not Needed to Make New Memories
Rats kept awake after exploring novel objects remembered the original items but not where they’d seen those objects, raising interesting questions about human sleep. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How the Pandemic Shortened Life Expectancy and New Drugs on the Horizon: COVID, Quickly, Episode 40
In this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we talk about why we’ve had years shaved off our average collective life since 2020. Also, we talk about “mabs” and why you might want to know what they are. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Engineering the Treatment of Early-Stage Lung Cancer [SPONSORED]
Early-stage lung cancers are not only difficult to diagnose—they’ve also proved difficult to curatively treat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Rediscovered Red Wolf Genes May Help Conserve the Species
A surprising new gene discovery in coyotes may help conserve the critically endangered wolf. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What the Disease Feels Like, and Presidents Can't End Pandemics: COVID, Quickly, Episode 39
On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, Josh Fischman gets COVID, and President Joe Biden says the pandemic is over. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
These Spiders Use Their Webs like Huge, Silky Ears
A study of orb-weaving spiders shows that the arachnids’ webs pick up a range of sounds—and that they are always “listening” for vibrations coming in over them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chewing Consumes a Surprising Amount of Energy
Chomping on food takes so much energy that it shaped human evolution. Our ancestors spent many hours a day chewing, which may have shaped our teeth and jaws. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
These Bats Buzz like Bees to Save Their Own Lives
New research has discovered the first case of acoustic mimicry between a mammal and an insect—an acquired skill that could just save certain bats’ skin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Unvaxxed Kids and 8 Days a Week (of Isolation): COVID, Quickly, Episode 38
This is our second back-to-school special episode of COVID. Quickly. Today we talk about two big issues: the low vaccination rates among the littlest kids and how long you should quarantine after being sick (actually). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Listen to Images from the James Webb Space Telescope
It turns out that making new views of the universe accessible to those with vision impairment has required some deep thought—and carefully chosen words. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
These Tiny Pollinators Can Travel Surprisingly Huge Distances
It turns out that hoverflies may fly hundreds or even thousands of miles—all to help pollinate our flowers and vegetables. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices