Researchers built a "phantom road" through wilderness using tree-mounted speakers to play traffic sounds, and witnessed a decline in bird fitness and diversity. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Scientific papers with shorter titles receive more citations than those with long-winded headings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Healthy ants wanted nothing to do with free-radical-rich foodstuff, but ants exposed to a pathogenic fungus sought it out, which upped their odds of survival. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Crown-of-thorns sea stars are an "underwater swarm of locusts" that devour coral—unless the coral is protected by a layer of seaweed. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
An analysis of some 300 cosmetics ads in magazines found the vast majority of their science claims to be either false or too vague to judge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Two new studies find that a deeper voice gives a politican an edge over a higher-pitched opponent Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Using a simulated vomiting device, scientists determined that projectile vomiting can aerosolize noroviruslike particles, allowing the infection to spread short distances through the air. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The grime on city buildings and may actively contribute to urban air pollution. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A newly discovered strain of bacteria found in Arctic permafrost harvests methane from the air—meaning it could help mitigate the effects of warming. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Researchers linked dated graffiti about droughts in a cave in China to physical evidence in the cave of the water shortages, such as changes in ratios of stable isotopes in specific layers of stalagmites Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Both hemispheres are involved in the brains of people interpreting a whistled variant of Turkish, compared with a left hemisphere dominance when listeners hear the spoken language Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Some 95 percent of catalogued species in one family of Hawaiian land snails could already be extinct, and similar rates of invertebrate extinction could be happening around the world. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Researchers isolated a bacterial enzyme that could break down nicotine before smokers get the buzz that keeps them coming back for more. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Indoor climate control systems are based on 1960s standards that envisioned the typical office worker to be a 40-year-old, 68-kilogram man Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A single-point mutation in corn's ancestor teosinte got rid of the hard shell that used to encase every kernel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Researchers have developed a new ecofriendly sunscreen molecule that protects against both UV-A and UV-B rays, and could also be used to create more durable paints and plastics. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Microbes 2,500 meters below the seafloor in Japan are most closely related to bacterial groups that thrive in forest soils on land, suggesting that they might be descendants of ones that survived when their terrestrial habitat was flooded 20 million years ago Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In a study of nearly half a million volunteers in China, those who ate chilies just a couple times a week had a 10 percent lower risk of death. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Animal communication studies have shown only fixed vocalizations, such as alarm cries. But Bonobo chimps appear to have a call that has different meanings in different contexts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Adults of the west African Baka people and east African Efé and Sua peoples average less than five feet tall. But while the Efé and Sua are born small, the Baka have slow growth rates in infancy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tree growth lags below normal for several years following droughts, a detail about carbon sequestration that climate models currently overlook. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Certain vaccines prevent sickness and death, but don't block transmission—meaning they may actually give some viral strains an extra shot at survival. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
An analysis of the acoustical characteristics of screams found that the sounds are unusually rough, that is, they rapidly change in frequency, which has an alarming effect on the listener's brain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In his induction speech at the Baseball Hall of Fame, pitcher John Smoltz hoped that the number of such procedures could be lessened in the future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mediocre main dishes taste even worse when they follow delectable appetizers—an example of the so-called "hedonic effect." Erika Beras reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A survey of nearly 5,000 13- to 15-year-olds in the U.K. found that 40 percent of overweight and obese teens did not self-identify as “too heavy.” Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Entrepreneur and former physicist Yuri Milner talks about the just-announced $100-million Breakthrough Listen Project to search for extraterrestrial technological civilizations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Southern Ocean is the cloudiest place on Earth, a condition caused in part by phytoplankton particles kicked up by sea spray. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
During courtship, male black widow spiders snip and bundle up the female's web in their own silk, which discourages other suitors from stopping by. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Researchers gathered data from various Army databases to analyze nearly 10,000 attempted suicides of active duty personnel. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
