Solar Eclipse in 1097 May Be Rock-Carving Subject
A petroglyph spotted in Chaco Canyon may depict a total solar eclipse witnessed by the Pueblo people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 18, 2017•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
Social Media Sites Can Profile Your Contacts
Why you should think twice before you give an app access to your phone’s address book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 17, 2017•3 min
"Textalyzer" Aims at Deadly Distracted Driving
A new device promises to tell police when a driver has been sending messages while behind the wheel, but is it legal? Larry Greenemeier reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 14, 2017•3 min
Climate Change Fires Up Polar Bear Treadmill
Sea ice is drifting faster in the Arctic—which means polar bears need to walk farther to stay in their native range. Emily Schwing reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 10, 2017•3 min
No Bull: Lizards Flee When They See Red
Western fence lizards are more spooked by red and gray shirts than they are by blue ones—perhaps because the males have blue bellies themselves. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 09, 2017•4 min
Celebrities Tweet Like Bots
Celebrity Twitter accounts look a lot like Twitter bots: They tweet regularly, follow relatively few people, and upload a lot of content. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 05, 2017•3 min
Cold Snap Shapes Lizard Survivors
An epic bout of cold weather quickly altered a population of lizards—an example of natural selection in action. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 03, 2017•5 min
Mediterranean Diet Works--for Upper Crust
Italians who stuck closely to the heart-healthy diet had fewer heart attacks and strokes—but only if they were well-off and/or college educated. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 01, 2017•3 min
Screams Heard Round the Animal World
Humans appear well equipped to recognize the alarm calls of other animals—perhaps because sounds of distress tend to have higher frequencies. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 31, 2017•4 min
This Caterpillar Whistles While It Irks
The North American walnut sphinx caterpillar produces a whistle that sounds just like a songbird's alarm call--and the whistle seems to startle birds. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 28, 2017•3 min
To Buy Happiness, Spend Money on Saving Time
Volunteers who used money to save themselves time were more content than volunteers who purchased themselves physical stuff. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 26, 2017•4 min
Bacteria Can Be Resistant to Brand-New Antibiotics
Exposure to existing antibiotics can imbue infectious bacteria with resistance that also kicks in against new drugs related to the originals. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 25, 2017•3 min
Teaching Computers to Enjoy the View
Researchers in the U.K. trained computers to rate photos of parks and cities for what humans consider to be their scenic beauty. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 19, 2017•3 min
Flying through a Corpse's Clues
Forensic entomologists can chemically analyze fly eggs from a corpse, which might speed up detective work. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 17, 2017•3 min
Old Records Help Resurrect Historic Quake
Century-old records found in Puerto Rico helped reconstruct the damage caused there by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake—and could help disaster experts plan for the next big one. Julia Rosen reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 14, 2017•4 min
This Cell Phone Needs No Battery
An experimental cell phone works by absorbing and reflecting radio waves—meaning it's incredibly energy efficient and needs no battery. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 12, 2017•3 min
Bacteria Might Share the Blame for Eczema
In patients with severe eczema, Staphylococcus aureus strains dominated the skin microbe population—suggesting that certain types of bacteria could worsen eczema flares. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 07, 2017•3 min
Franklin's Lightning Rod Served Political Ends
Whether lightning rods should have rounded or pointy ends became a point of contention between rebellious Americans and King George III. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 04, 2017•3 min
Heat Will Hit America's Poorest Worst
Economists calculate that each degree Celsius of warming will dock the U.S. economy by 1.2 percent--and increase the divide between rich and poor. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 30, 2017•3 min
Rainbow Photons Pack More Computing Power
Quantum bits, aka qubits, can simultaneously encode 0 and 1. But multicolored photons could enable even more states to exist at the same time, ramping up computing power. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 28, 2017•3 min
Moths Inspire Better Smartphone Screens
Researchers designed an antireflective coating for smartphone screens, with inspiration from the bumpy eyes of moths. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 26, 2017•3 min
Better Memory Begets Boredom
The better study participants scored in the memory test, the faster they got bored. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 23, 2017•4 min
DNA Points to Multiple Migrations into the Americas
DNA analysis of skeletons found in the Pacific Northwest backs up traditional oral histories, and suggests there could have been more than one colonization of the Americas. Emily Schwing reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 22, 2017•3 min
Keep Rolling Luggage Upright with Physics
A team of physicists has revealed why rolling suitcases start rocking from wheel to wheel—and how to avoid that frustrating phenomenon. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 21, 2017•3 min
Wolves Need More Room to Roam
Ecologists say wolves should be allowed to roam beyond remote wilderness areas—and that by scaring off smaller predators like coyotes and jackals, wolves might do a good service, too. Emily Schwing reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 20, 2017•3 min
Engineers Build Bendy Batteries for Wearables
Researchers built silver–zinc batteries that can bend and stretch—meaning they could be more elegantly integrated into future wearable devices. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 19, 2017•3 min
Rising Temps Lower Polar Bear Mercury Intake
As polar bears are forced onto land, they're feeding on animals with less mercury—reducing their levels of the toxic pollutant. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 15, 2017•4 min
Some Hotel Bed Bug Sightings May Be Bogus
Only a third of travelers could correctly identify a bed bug—suggesting that some bug sightings in online reviews could be cases of mistaken identity. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 14, 2017•3 min
Opioids Still Needed by Some Pain Patients
The "other victims" of the opioid epidemic are pain patients who need the drugs but cannot now get them because of fears related to their use Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 13, 2017•3 min
Bacterially Boosted Mosquitoes Could Vex Viruses
Mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria are unable to transmit viruses to humans—and could curb the spread of viral disease. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 08, 2017•3 min
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