Animal Coloration Can Serve Double Duty
The cinnabar moth caterpillar's coloration pattern warns predators close up, but camouflages the critter from a distance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 05, 2018•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
Some Lichen Fungi Let Genes Go Bye
A study of 22 different types of lichens revealed 10 included fungi that had lost a gene for energy production, making them completely dependent on their algal partner. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 01, 2018•4 min
To See Gun Injury Drop, Hold an NRA Meeting
When the National Rifle Association holds its national convention, gun injuries drop 20 percent—perhaps because fewer gun owners are around their guns. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 28, 2018•3 min
Big Cities Have Fewer Tweeters Per Capita
But those who do tweet in big cities are more prolific—tweeting more often, on average, than their small-town counterparts. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 26, 2018•3 min
How Baby Birds Learn to Duet
Recordings of songbird duets reveal baby birds learn conversational turn-taking like we do: gradually, and from adults. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 23, 2018•4 min
Mosquitoes Learn the Smell of Danger
The bloodsuckers lose their appetite for attractive scents when they associate those aromas with a likelihood of being swatted. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 22, 2018•4 min
Needed: Info on Biodiversity Change over Time
Understanding an ecosystem means following changes in the abundances and identities of the species present as the clock ticks. The BioTIME database should help. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 20, 2018•3 min
Undersea Recordings Reveal a Whale's Tale
By eavesdropping on the calls of blue whales, researchers hope to get a more accurate picture of the massive mammals' distribution and abundance. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 19, 2018•4 min
Seabird Feathers Reveal Less-Resilient Ocean
By analyzing 130 years of seabird feathers, researchers determined that food webs are losing complexity in the Pacific—meaning less-resilient ecosystems. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 15, 2018•4 min
Beetle Liberation Due to Regurgitation
The bombardier beetle can spray its hot brew of toxic chemicals even after bring swallowed, to force a predator into vomiting it back out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 13, 2018•4 min
Old Trees Are Ecosystem Gold
David Lindenmayer of the Australian National University College of Science in Canberra says that older trees play outsize roles in maintaining landscapes and ecosystems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 12, 2018•3 min
Boat Noise Means Fish Can't Learn Their Lessons
Damselfish had trouble learning to avoid predators, when that lesson was accompanied by a soundtrack of buzzing boat engines. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 11, 2018•4 min
Woodpeckers Drum to Their Own Tunes
The length and spacing of woodpecker drum rolls varies enough to tell woodpeckers apart—which could be useful to conservation biologists. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 07, 2018•3 min
Homebodies Economize on Energy Use
Today’s work-from-home, on-demand culture means more days at home—and translates into greater energy savings, too. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 06, 2018•4 min
Killer Whale Culture Revealed by Mimicking Us
Orcas can imitate calls from other whales and even human speech—suggesting they can transmit cultural practices, such as unique dialects. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 02, 2018•3 min
Holiday Cheer Leads to Birth-Rate Spike
During feel-good holiday periods like Christmas and Eid-al-Fitr, romance strikes—leading to a boom in births nine months later. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 01, 2018•5 min
Ticks on Uptick Where Big Game Declines
Areas of Kenya without large wildlife saw tick populations rise as much as 370 percent—meaning more danger to humans. Jason G. Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 31, 2018•4 min
Wildfires Spike Wine with Smoky Notes
Chemists are working on ways for wildfire-affected winemakers to avoid creating smoky wines. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 30, 2018•4 min
Lion Conservation Challenges Giraffe Protection
Having lions and giraffes together in protected areas means far lower survival rates for juvenile giraffes. Jason Goldman reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 26, 2018•4 min
Nobelist Crafts Light-Switchable Antibiotics
Drugs modified by chemistry Nobel laureate Ben Feringa can be turned on and off by light, which could help keep bacteria from developing antibiotic resistance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 25, 2018•3 min
Catching Flu Also Boosts Heart Risk
Researchers found a sixfold increase in heart attacks in patients in the week following a flu. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 24, 2018•3 min
Worldwide Effort Says Together Science Can
Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, talked about worldwide scientific collaboration today at the World Economic Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 23, 2018•3 min
Canada Geese Taking a Winter Staycation
The geese are wintering farther and farther north, in urban areas like Chicago—which may help them avoid hunters. Emily Schwing reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 22, 2018•4 min
Moon's Tug Doesn't Cause Big Quakes
An analysis of more than 200 earthquakes over the past four centuries concludes there's no connection between moon phases and big earthquakes. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 19, 2018•3 min
Social Media Helps ID Spew Source
Surveillance of Yelp restaurant reviews for terms like vomit led researchers to the sources of foodborne illness outbreaks. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 18, 2018•4 min
Salmonella Could Have Caused 16th-Century Epidemic
Using a new algorithm, geneticists uncovered the pathogen that could have caused a massive epidemic in the Aztec empire: Salmonella bacteria. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 17, 2018•3 min
Which Came First, the Proboscis or the Flower?
A new fossil find reveals that the sucking tongue of butterflies—or proboscis—appears to have evolved before the emergence of flowers. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 12, 2018•4 min
You Live in a Strange Solar System
Astronomers found that other star systems tend to host similarly sized exoplanets—far different from ours. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 10, 2018•3 min
Glow Sticks Help Ecologists Study Amphibians
Ecologists needed a way to more easily keep track of populations of amphibians, and green glow sticks lit the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 09, 2018•4 min
Air Force Tracks Final Frontier
General Jay Raymond, Commander of Air Force Space Command, talks about keeping watch over space and cyber. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 03, 2018•3 min
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