There's a Word for Today
English lacks some words that other languages pack with meaning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 01, 2019•3 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
Bumblebee Queens Prefer Layovers to Nonstop Flights
Scientists tracked bumblebee queens with radar when they emerged from hibernation and found the bees take only brief flights en route to a new nest. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 28, 2019•3 min
Scenic City Sights Linked to Higher Happiness
Tracking the location and mood of 15,000 people, researchers found that scenic beauty was linked to happiness—including near urban sights like bridges and buildings. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 26, 2019•3 min
Tech's Brain Effect: It's Complicated
We don't yet know what the immersion in technology does to our brains, but one neuroscientist says the answer is likely to be that there's good, there's bad, and it's complex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 25, 2019•4 min
Daylight Brings Toxic Beetles Together for Safety
During daylight hours, hundreds of bombardier beetles of multiple species will congregate together to more effectively ward off any predators not afraid of a lone beetle's toxic spray. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 22, 2019•4 min
Solar Jets Cause Standing Waves in Earth's Magnetic Field
When jets of charged particles from the sun hit our magnetosphere, some of the ensuing ripples travel toward the northern and southern poles and get reflected back. The resulting interference allows standing waves to form, like on a drumhead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 19, 2019•4 min
Sing Solo for Higher Fidelity
By tracking duetting choir singers, researchers found that when an individual singer's pitch drifts off tune their partner’s tend to too. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 18, 2019•4 min
Edible Insect Breeding Led to Larger but Not Necessarily Better Larvae
Researchers aiming to lower the cost of mealworms were able to double the worms' size, but the larger larvae had fewer eggs and weaker offspring. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 14, 2019•3 min
Busting Earth-Bound Asteroids a Bigger Job Than We Thought
A new model suggests smashing killer space rocks with insufficient force could let gravity pull the pieces back together. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 12, 2019•4 min
Weekday–Weekend Sleep Imbalance Bad for Blood Sugar Regulation
Weekday sleep deprivation with weekend make-up sleeping seems to be worse for blood sugar control than even chronic sleep deprivation alone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 11, 2019•4 min
Warm-Blooded Animals Lost Ability to Heal the Heart
Thyroid hormone, which helps warm-blooded animals regulate body temperature, also appears to put a halt on heart regeneration. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 07, 2019•4 min
Animal Migrations Track with Wikipedia Searches
By analyzing nearly 2.5 billion Wikipedia page views, researchers found species searches reflect seasonal animal migrations and plant blooming. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 06, 2019•3 min
Baseball Commish Talks Big Data
At a sports technology conference, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred addressed issues including an automated strike zone and advanced analytics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 05, 2019•4 min
Background Music Might Stifle Creativity
Volunteers who listened to music solved fewer word puzzles than others who worked in silence. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 04, 2019•4 min
Science News Briefs from around the Globe
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Greenland to Palau, including one on the discovery of a trove of mummified cats in Egypt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 03, 2019•3 min
Budding Yeast Produce Cannabis Compounds
Biologists have taken the genes that produce cannabinoids in weed and plugged them into yeast, making rare and novel compounds more accessible. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 28, 2019•4 min
Who Has "the Right Stuff" for Mars?
Humans traveling to Mars will be required to operate with a degree of autonomy human astronauts have never had, due to communication delays. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 26, 2019•4 min
Grandma's Influence Is Good for Grandkids
Grandmothers can enhance the survival of grandchildren. That is, unless grandma’s too old or lives too far away. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 25, 2019•4 min
Should Robots Have a License to Kill?
Artificial intelligence experts, ethicists and diplomats debate autonomous weapons. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 23, 2019•4 min
Warming Climate Implies More Flies—and Disease
The incidence of foodborne illness could jump in a warming world, due to an increase in housefly activity. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 20, 2019•4 min
Light-Skin Variant Arose in Asia Independent of Europe
A new genetic study of Latin Americans provides evidence that gene variants for lighter skin color came about in Asia as well as in Europe. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 19, 2019•4 min
Teach Science Process over Findings
Seismologist and policy advisor Lucy Jones says science education needs to teach how science works more than just what it finds out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 18, 2019•4 min
Human Diet Drugs Kill Mosquitoes' Appetite, Too
When researchers fed mosquitoes a drug used to treat people for obesity, the insects were less interested in hunting for their next human meal ticket. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 16, 2019•4 min
Grazing Deer Alter Forest Acoustics
Deer populations have exploded in North American woodlands, changing forest ecology—and how sounds, like birdsong, travel through the trees. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 15, 2019•4 min
Elephant Weight Cycles with New Teeth
Elephants have six sets of teeth over their lives, sometimes two sets at once. At those times, they can extract more nutrition from food and put on weight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 14, 2019•5 min
Finally Over for Mars Rover
The rover Opportunity has called it quits after working for more than 14 years on Mars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 13, 2019•3 min
Our Brains Really Remember Some Pop Music
Although millennials' memory of recent pop tunes drops quickly, their ability to identify top hits from the 1960s through 1990s remains moderately high. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 11, 2019•5 min
Biologists Track Tweets to Monitor Birds
Conservation biologists can track the whereabouts of endangered species by the sounds they make, avoiding cumbersome trackers and tags. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 08, 2019•3 min
Desalination Could Cause Ecological Sea Change
An environmental assessment of the nation's largest desalination plant finds mixed results. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 07, 2019•4 min
Different Humpback Whale Groups Meet to Jam
Humpback populations from the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet up south of Africa and trade song stylings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 06, 2019•5 min
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