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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

Gates CEO: Let's Shrink Maternal Mortality

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Susan Desmond-Hellmann talks about some of what needs to be done to make a reality of the foundation's aspiration to cut maternal mortality by two thirds by 2030 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 27, 20153 min

Snail's Venom Puts Fish in Insulin Coma

The cone snail's venom contains not only neurotoxins, but insulin, too—which stuns the fish it preys on. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 26, 20153 min

Tech Consequences Voiced by Carnegie Mellon Prez

At the World Economic Forum, Carnegie Mellon president Subra Suresh talks about dealing with the unintended consequences of ever more sophisticated intelligent devices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 23, 20153 min

Diaper Material Expands Wee Microscope Views

The absorbent material in disposable diapers can expand tissue samples, making more structure visible under light microscopes. Karen Hopkin reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 22, 20153 min

Obama Talks Ebola and Climate in His SOTU

In his State of the Union address, the president talked about the need for frameworks to be in place to stop future pandemics and rising worldwide temperatures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 21, 20155 min

Computer Snoopers Read Electromagnetic Emissions

Researchers were able to track the keystrokes of a nearby computer via fluctuations in its electromagnetic radiation output. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 20, 20153 min

Ex-President Wins Campaign against Ghastly Guinea Worm

Jimmy Carter's efforts against the horribly painful guinea worm parasitic disease have helped lower the number of cases from 3.5 million in 1986 to just 126 last year. Steve Mirsky reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 15, 20153 min

Health and Conservation Reminders Cut Consumer Energy Use

Households that got weekly messages about the lower pollution they generated via efficiency cut energy use much more than did residents who were told how much money they were saving. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 12, 20153 min

Active Sun at Birth Cut Historical Life Spans

High UV radiation during solar maxima may have degraded expectant mothers' stores of folate, a vitamin essential to development. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 09, 20153 min

Making Evolution Make Microbes Make Products

By selecting for bacteria that can survive only if they make a particular product of interest over multiple iterations, researchers vastly improved yields and decreased production times. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 08, 20153 min

Human Eye Sometimes Sees the Unseeable

Under certain conditions people can catch a glimpse of usually invisible infrared light. Karen Hopkin reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 06, 20153 min

E.T. May Reveal Itself with Vibration

Looking for movement could complement chemical searches for extraterrestrial life. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 05, 20153 min

Large Carnivores Getting Comfy in Europe

Populations of big carnivores such as brown bears, Eurasian lynx, grey wolves and wolverines are stable or increasing in a substantial part of Europe. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 02, 20153 min

Lyme Helps Spread Other Tick Infections

Mice infected with Lyme and the Babesia parasite are more likely to pass on babesiosis than mice infected with babesiosis alone. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 31, 20143 min

Lightning May Sink Mountain Summits

Magnetic anomalies in rocks indicate that lightning may be a major player in weathering mountains. Julia Rosen reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 30, 20143 min

Budget Bill Stealthily Affects Environment and Energy

Congress took advantage of the pressure to pass a budget bill by adding riders that change rules concerning the environment and energy. Josh Fischman reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 23, 20143 min

Plankton Pee May Alter Ocean's Chemistry

The urine of a vast army of tiny fish, jellies and shrimpy things may play an important role in the ocean's nitrogen cycle. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 22, 20143 min

Penicillins Reveal Additional Antibacterial Power

Penicillin and its relatives have been in wide use since the 1940s, but researchers have only now discovered another way that it thwarts bacteria. Karen Hopkin reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 19, 20143 min

Short-Term Fasting Made Mice Healthier

Mice that ate their entire food for the day in an eight-to-12-hour window had better markers for health than did mice free to eat whenever they wanted. Steve Mirsky reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 17, 20143 min

Laser Zap Determines Fruit Ripeness

The way fruit reflects and absorbs laser light may be a good measure of its progression toward peak ripeness. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 15, 20143 min

Birds Roost on New Evolutionary Tree

In a massive first-of-its-kind whole-genome analysis involving 48 bird species, researchers have created a new avian evolutionary tree. Steve Mirsky reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 11, 20144 min

Canary out, Smartphone in for Gas Detection

By using tiny carbon nanotubes tuned electronically to particular gases, researchers turned smartphones into toxin sensors. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 11, 20143 min

Quarter-Million Tons of Plastic Plague Oceans

Based on trawling samples and visual observations of plastic debris, computer models calculate that some 5.25 trillion particles of plastic—about 269,000 tons—may litter the world's oceans. Christopher Intagliata reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 10, 20143 min

Dumpster Diving Provides Drinking Data

Researchers estimated alcohol consumption at a senior center by putting out recycling bins and counting the bottle contents. Karen Hopkin reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 09, 20143 min

Summer Teen Jobs Cut Violence

A study following teens who had summer jobs found violent crime in that population almost cut in half, during and following the employment. Cynthia Graber reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 08, 20143 min

Poorer Kids May Be Too Respectful at School

Working-class kids ask for help from teachers less often and less aggressively than do their middle-class counterparts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 03, 20143 min

Big Apple's Insects Eat Streets Clean

Researchers working in New York City found that hungry urban arthropods help dispose of tons of edible trash. Allie Wilkinson reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 02, 20143 min

Looking Back on 40 Years of Lucy

Paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson's first glimpse of Lucy came on November 24, 1974 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 25, 20144 min
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