Tardigrade Protein Protects DNA from Chemical Attack
The Dsup protein protects DNA under conditions that create caustic free radical chemicals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 16, 2019•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
"Mars-quakes" Could Reveal How Mars Was Built
Rumblings on the Red Planet act like x-rays, allowing scientists to probe the hidden interior of Mars. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 15, 2019•4 min
Artificial Intelligence Learns to Talk Back to Bigots
Algorithms are already used to remove online hate speech. Now scientists have taught an AI to respond—which they hope might spark more discourse. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 10, 2019•4 min
Nobel in Chemistry for Lightweight Rechargeable Batteries
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to John Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 09, 2019•4 min
Nobel in Physics for Exoplanets and Cosmology
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to James Peebles “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology” and to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 08, 2019•4 min
Nobel in Physiology or Medicine for How Cells Sense Oxygen Levels
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to William G. Kaelin, Jr., Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza “for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.” They identified molecular machinery that regulates gene activity in response to changing levels of oxygen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 07, 2019•4 min
Teeth Tell Black Death Genetic Tale
DNA from the teeth of medieval plague victims indicates the pathogen likely first arrived in eastern Europe before spreading across the continent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 06, 2019•4 min
Tiny Worms Are Equipped to Battle Extreme Environments
Scientists found eight species of nematodes living in California’s harsh Mono Lake—quintupling the number of animals known to live there. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 05, 2019•3 min
Heat Changes Insect Call, but It Still Works
Tiny insects called treehoppers produce very different mating songs at higher versus lower temperatures, but the intended recipient still finds the changed songs attractive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 02, 2019•3 min
Corals Can Inherit Symbiotic Adaptations to Warming
Adult corals can reshuffle their symbiotic algae species to adapt to warming waters—and, it appears they can pass those adaptations on. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 01, 2019•3 min
Brains of Blind People Adapt in Similar Fashion
The brains of those who are blind repurpose the vision regions for adaptive hearing, and they appear to do so in a consistent way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 30, 2019•4 min
Science News Briefs from around the World
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Hungary to Japan, including one about a wine grape in France that DNA testing shows has been cultivated for almost a millennium. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 29, 2019•3 min
Musical Note Perception Can Depend on Culture
Western ears consider a pitch at double the frequency of a lower pitch to be the same note, an octave higher. The Tsimane’, an indigenous people in the Bolivian Amazon basin, do not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 25, 2019•4 min
Nature Docs Avoid Habitat Destruction
BBC and Netflix nature documentaries consistently shy away from showing viewers the true extent to which we’ve damaged the planet. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 24, 2019•4 min
Heat Loss to Night Sky Powers Off-Grid Lights
A slight temperature difference at night between a surface losing heat and the surrounding air can be harnessed to generate electricity to power lights. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 19, 2019•4 min
Early Butchers Used Small Stone Scalpels
Homo erectus used hand axes to butcher elephants and other game. But a new study suggests they also used finer, more sophisticated blades. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 18, 2019•3 min
Microplastics in Fresh Water Are Mostly Laundry Lint
Microplastic particles are everywhere, but in freshwater systems, 60 percent of particles are clothing lint from laundry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 17, 2019•3 min
Kids Are Not Hurt by Screen Time
A study finds no deleterious effects on mental health when kids spend their leisure time texting and engaging in other online activities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 16, 2019•4 min
Lab-Grown Human Mini Brains Show Brainy Activity
As the little structures grow, their constituents specialize into different types of brain cells, begin to form connections and emit brain waves. They could be useful models for development and neurological conditions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 13, 2019•4 min
Eavesdropping Puts Anxious Squirrels at Ease
Squirrels constantly scan their surroundings for hawks, owls and other predators. But they also surveil for threats by eavesdropping on bird chatter. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 12, 2019•4 min
Earth's Magnetic Field Initiated a Pole Flip Many Millennia before the Switch
Lava flow records and sedimentary and Antarctic ice core data show evidence of planetary magnetic field activity 20,000 years before the beginning of the last pole reversal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 11, 2019•4 min
Humpback Whales Swap Songs at Island Hub
At the Kermadec Islands, humpbacks from all over the South Pacific converge and swap songs. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 10, 2019•4 min
Food Expiration Dates May Mislead Consumers
Better food labeling could prevent people from throwing away a lot of “expired” food that’s still perfectly edible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 09, 2019•4 min
Farmland Is Also Optimal for Solar Power
The conditions of sunlight, temperature, humidity and wind that make cropland good for agriculture also maximize solar panel efficiency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 05, 2019•4 min
Chemical Tweak Recycles Polyurethane into Glue
It’s not easy to recycle polyurethane, so it’s usually tossed out or burned. But a chemical tweak can turn polyurethane into glue. Christine Herman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 04, 2019•3 min
Cholesterol Climbs after Crows Chomp Cheeseburgers
Wild animals that live near humans have higher cholesterol than their rural counterparts—and our food could be to blame. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 03, 2019•4 min
How Hurricanes Influence Spider Aggressiveness
As Hurricane Dorian approaches Florida, consider that feeding style means that aggressive tangle-web spider colonies produce more offspring after severe weather, while docile colonies do better in calm conditions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 30, 2019•4 min
Graphene Garment Blocks Blood-Sucking Skeeters
A small patch of graphene on human skin seemed to block the mosquitoes’ ability to sense certain molecules that trigger a bite. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 28, 2019•4 min
Martian Winds Could Spread Microbe Hitchhikers
Microbes fly tens of miles over Chile’s dry, UV-blasted Atacama Desert—and scientists say the same could happen on Mars. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 26, 2019•3 min
Including Indigenous Voices in Genomics
A program at the University of Illinois trains indigenous scientists in genomics—in hopes that future work will be aimed at benefiting those communities. Christine Herman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 21, 2019•4 min
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