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Science Quickly

Scientific Americanwww.sciencequickly.com
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

Science News Briefs from All Over

A few brief reports about international science and technology from Guatemala to Australia, including one about the first recorded tornado in Nepal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 29, 20193 min

Tourist Photographs Help African Wildlife Census

Photographs snapped by safari tourists are a surprisingly accurate way to assess populations of African carnivores. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 25, 20193 min

For Ants, the Sky's the Compass

Computer modeling revealed that insects with a celestial compass can likely determine direction down to just a couple degrees of error. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 23, 20193 min

Why Two Moonships Were Better Than One

Engineer John Houbolt pushed for a smaller ship to land on the lunar surface while the command module stayed in orbit around the moon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 20, 20194 min

One Small Scoop, One Giant Impact for Mankind

Just before Neil Armstrong climbed back into the lunar module, he scooped up a few last-minute soil samples--which upturned our understanding of planetary formation. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 19, 20195 min

Investigating the Zombie Ant's "Death Grip"

Researchers dissected the jaws of ants infected with the Ophiocordyceps fungus to determine how the fungus hijacks the ants' behavior. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 18, 20193 min

Attractive Young Females May Have Justice Edge

Youths rated as attractive were less likely to have negative encounters with the criminal justice system—but only if they were women. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 16, 20194 min

Tobacco Plants Made to Produce Useful Compounds

A proof-of-concept study got transgenic tobacco plants to make a useful enzyme in their chloroplasts, not nuclei, minimizing chances for transfer to other organisms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 15, 20194 min

Rhinos and Their Gamekeepers Benefit from AI

Starting in 2017, an artificial intelligence monitoring system at the Welgevonden Game Reserve in South Africa has been helping to protect rhinos and their caretakers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 11, 20195 min

Backpack Harvests Energy as You Walk

The pack produces a steady trickle of electricity from the swinging motion of your stuff. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 10, 20193 min

Why Baseballs Are Flying in 2019

An analysis of the 2019 edition of the Major League baseball points to reasons why it's leaving ballparks at a record rate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 09, 20194 min

Some Hot Dog Histology

A lab analysis found that even an all-beef frankfurter had very little skeletal muscle, or "meat." So what’s in there? Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 03, 20193 min

Mind and Body Benefit from Two Hours in Nature Each Week

People who spent at least two hours outside—either all at once or totaled over several shorter visits—were more likely to report good health and psychological well-being. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 01, 20194 min

Male Bats Up Mating Odds with Mouth Morsels

Males that allow females to take food right out of their mouths are more likely to sire offspring with their dining companions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 27, 20193 min

Scientists Fool Flies with "Virtual Tastes"

By switching fruit flies' sensory neurons on and off with light, scientists were able to create the sensation of sweet or bitter tastes. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 26, 20194 min

Wheat Plants "Sneeze" and Spread Disease

Wheat plants' leaves repel water, which creates the perfect conditions for dew droplets to catapult off the leaves—taking pathogenic spores for the ride. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 25, 20193 min

Elite Runners' Microbes Make Mice Mightier

Mice that were fed bacteria isolated from elite athletes logged more treadmill time than other mice that got bacteria found in yogurt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 24, 20195 min

Science News Briefs from around the World

A few brief reports about international science and technology from Canada to Kenya, including one about how humans thousands of years ago in what is now Argentina butchered and presumably ate giant ground sloths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 23, 20194 min

Antiperspirant Boosts Armpit and Toe-Web Microbial Diversity

Rather than wiping microbes out, antiperspirants and foot powders increased the diversity of microbial flora in armpits and between toes. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 21, 20193 min

Monkey Cousins Use Similar Calls

Two monkey species who last shared a common ancestor 3 million years ago have "eerily similar" alarm calls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 17, 20193 min

How Millipedes Avoid Interspecies Sexual Slips

Millipedes, often blind, have come up with clever physical signals to ward off sexual advances from members of wrong species. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 16, 20194 min

You Contain Multitudes of Microplastics

People appear to consume between 74,000 and 121,000 microplastic particles annually, and that's probably a gross underestimate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 13, 20194 min

A Biodegradable Label Doesn't Make It So

At the third Scientific American “Science on the Hill” event, “Solving the Plastic Waste Problem”, one of the issues discussed by experts on Capitol Hill was biodegradability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 12, 20194 min

High School Cheaters Nabbed by Neural Network

Researchers trained a neural network to scrutinize high school essays and sniff out ghostwritten papers. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 06, 20193 min

Preserved Poop Is an Archaeological Treasure

Anthropologists found parasite eggs in ancient poop samples, providing a glimpse of human health as hunter-gatherers transitioned to settlements. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 04, 20193 min

Remembering Murray Gell-Mann

Murray Gell-Mann, 1969 Nobel Laureate in Physics who identified the quark, died May 24th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 03, 20193 min

Bonobo Mothers Supervise Their Sons' Monkey Business

Some wild female bonobos introduce their sons to desirable females—then make sure their relations won’t be interrupted by competing males. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 29, 20194 min

Icy Room Temperatures May Chill Productivity

A new study suggests women's performance on math and verbal tasks increases as room temperature rises, up to about the mid 70s F. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

May 23, 20193 min
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