60-Second Science

By Scientific American

Listen to a podcast, please open Podcast Republic app. Available on Google Play Store.


Category: Natural Sciences

Open in iTunes

Open RSS feed

Open Website
Rate for this podcast
Subscribers: 1818
Reviews: 5

Stuart Mantel
 Mar 17, 2020
Quick, concise reporting on one recent scientific paper. All in plain language.


 Apr 16, 2019

EB
 Jan 17, 2019
Digestible, informative, often fun science facts.

Anne
 Aug 2, 2018
makes me feel smarter in a short pod.

Rebecca Y.
 Jul 23, 2018

Description

Leading science journalists provide a daily minute commentary on some of the most interesting developments in the world of science. For a full-length, weekly podcast you can subscribe to Science Talk: The Podcast of Scientific American . To view all of our archived podcasts please go to www.scientificamerican.com/podcast

Episode Date
Colorful Corals Beat Bleaching
00:02:15
Exposed to mildly warmer waters, some corals turn neon, instead of bleaching white. The dramatic colors may help coax symbiotic algae back. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
May 28, 2020
Skinny Genes Tell Fat to Burn
00:02:38
A gene whose mutated form is associated with cancer in humans turns out to have a role in burning calories over a long evolutionary history.
May 23, 2020
Malaria Mosquitoes Are Biting before Bed-Net Time
00:03:19
Mosquitoes that like to bite at night are being thwarted by bed nets, leading to the rise of populations that prefer to bite when the nets are not up yet.
May 22, 2020
We're Being Tested
00:02:09
President Trump pointed out yesterday that if we didn't do any testing for the virus we would have very few cases, which forces us to confront the issues posed by testing in general.
May 15, 2020
Barn Owl Babies Can Be Helpful Hatch Mates
00:03:02
Food sharing is mainly found in adult animals as a part of social bonding. But in a rarely observed behavior in birds, older barn owl chicks will share food with younger ones.
May 15, 2020
Donut Sugar Could Help Stored Blood Last
00:02:56
Dehydrated blood that could be kept at room temperature for years may be possible thanks to a sugar used to preserve donuts—and made by tardigrades and brine shrimp so they can dry out and spring back with water.
May 13, 2020
Lemur Flirting Uses Common Scents
00:02:51
To entice female ring-tailed lemurs, males rub wrist secretions, which include compounds we use in perfumes, onto their tail and then wave it near the gals.
May 11, 2020
Flamingos Can Be Picky about Company
00:03:00
They don’t stand on one leg around just anybody but often prefer certain members of the flock.
May 08, 2020
Horses Recognize Pics of Their Keepers
00:03:00
Horses picked out photos of their current keepers, and even former keepers whom they had not seen in months, at a rate much better than chance.
May 06, 2020
Tapirs Help Reforestation via Defecation
00:03:01
The large herbivores appear to prefer disturbed areas over more intact ones, and spread many more seeds in those places through their droppings.
May 02, 2020
Virus-Infected Bees Practice Social Distancing
00:03:24
Bees infected with a virus cut back on interactions within their hive, but find it easier to get past sentries at neighboring hives.
May 01, 2020
New Data on Killer House Cats
00:03:23
Wild cats kill more animals than do domestics, but pet cats kill many more animals as do similarly-sized wild predators in a small area.
Apr 30, 2020
Science News Briefs from around the World
00:01:48
Here are a few brief reports about science and technology from around the planet, including one about what the eruption of Mount Vesuvius might have done to one ill-fated resident of Herculaneum.
Apr 29, 2020
Birds on Rhinos' Back Help Them Avoid Poachers
00:02:54
Oxpeckers riding on rhinos feast on ticks, and their calls warn the nearsighted herbivores about approaching humans.
Apr 22, 2020
Jane Goodall: We Can Learn from This Pandemic
00:02:48
In a teleconference promoting her participation in Earth Day events on the National Geographic Channel, Jane Goodall talked about what gives her hope during this pandemic, and what she hopes we all learn from it.
Apr 22, 2020
Our 3,000th Episode
00:02:26
Some "highlights" from the last 13.5 years of this podcast.
Apr 20, 2020
How Herbivore Herds Might Help Permafrost
00:03:03
Introducing herds of large herbivores in the Arctic would disturb surface snow, allowing cold air to reach the ground and keep the permafrost frosty.
Apr 17, 2020
Lung Cancer Screen Could Be Easy Pee-sy
00:03:24
In mice, a test for lung cancer involves nanoprobes that recognize tumors and send reporter molecules into the urine for simple analysis.
Apr 16, 2020
Obama Talks Some Science Policy
00:01:38
As he endorsed Joe Biden today, former President Obama touched upon some environmental, economic and science matters.
Apr 15, 2020
Red-Winged Blackbirds Understand Yellow Warbler Alarms
00:03:16
Researchers studying yellow warbler responses to the parasitic cowbird realized that red-winged blackbirds were eavesdropping and reacting too.
Apr 14, 2020
Waiter, What's This Worm Doing in My Sushi?
00:02:35
Well, it's probably there because the odds on it being so have gone way up in the last 40 years. But it's still much more of a health problem for whales and dolphins than for us.
Apr 10, 2020
What's a Narwhal's Tusk For?
00:02:57
Although the tusk can be a weapon, the variation in tusk size among animals of similar body size points to it being primarily a mating status signal.
Apr 09, 2020
Coronavirus Misinformation Is Its Own Deadly Condition
00:02:24
Pulitzer-winning Laurie Garrett, author of The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance, talks about the dangers of politicians offering coronavirus misinformation.
Apr 08, 2020
Coronavirus Can Infect Cats
00:03:23
Tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo have tested positive for the virus, and studies show that house cats--but apparently not dogs--can become infected.
Apr 07, 2020
Squid's Glowing Skin Patterns May Be Code
00:02:53
Humboldt squid can rapidly change the pigmentation and luminescence patterns on their skin by contracting and relaxing their muscles, possibly to communicate. 
Apr 03, 2020
Bird Fossil Shared Earth with T. rex
00:02:41
Dating back 67 million years, this representative of the group of modern birds has been dubbed the Wonderchicken. [Not an April Fool's Day joke.]
Apr 02, 2020
City Birds: Big-Brained with Few Offspring or Small-Brained with a Lot
00:02:53
To make it in urban areas, birds tend to be either large-brained that produce few offspring or small-brained and extremely fertile. In natural habitats, most birds brains are of average size.
Apr 01, 2020
Coyotes Eat Everything from Fruits to Cats
00:03:16
The diets of coyotes varied widely depending on whether they were living in rural, suburban or urban environments--but pretty much anything is fair game.
Mar 31, 2020
Tiny Wormlike Creature May Be Our Oldest Known Ancestor
00:02:49
The bilateral organism crawled on the seafloor, taking in organic matter at one end and dumping the remains out the other some 555 million years ago.
Mar 30, 2020
Science News Briefs from around the Planet
00:02:18
Here are a few brief reports about science and technology from around the planet, including one about the discovery of an intact chicken egg dating to Roman Britain.
Mar 29, 2020
Help Researchers Track COVID-19
00:02:37
By entering your health status, even if you're feeling fine, at COVIDNearYou.org, you can help researchers develop a nationwide look at where hotspots of coronavirus are occurring.
Mar 27, 2020
Sick Vampire Bats Restrict Grooming to Close Family
00:02:55
When vampire bats feel sick they'll still engage in prosocial acts like sharing food with non-relatives, but they cut back on grooming anyone other than their closest kin.
Mar 26, 2020
Exponential Infection Increases Are Deadly Serious
00:04:26
Listen in as I use two calculators to track the difference in numbers of infections over a short period of time depending on how many people each infected individual on average infects.
Mar 25, 2020
Swamp Wallaby Reproduction Give Tribbles a Run
00:03:02
They're not born pregnant like tribbles, but swamp wallabies routinely get pregnant while pregnant.  
Mar 22, 2020
Ocean Plastic Smells Great to Sea Turtles
00:02:33
Ocean plastic gets covered with algae and other marine organisms, making it smell delicious to sea turtles--with potentially deadly results.   
Mar 20, 2020
Ancient Clam Shell Reveals Shorter Day Length
00:02:28
The growth layers in a 70-million-year-old clam shell indicate that a year back then had more than 370 days, with each day being only about 23.5 hours.
Mar 17, 2020
Snapping Shrimp Make More Noise in Warmer Oceans
00:02:23
As oceans heat up, the ubiquitous noise of snapping shrimp should increase, posing issues for other species and human seagoing ventures.
Mar 12, 2020
Stress from Undersea Noise Interferes with Crab Camouflage
00:02:59
In an example of how sea noise can harm species, exposed shore crabs changed camouflaging color sluggishly and were slower to flee from simulated predators.
Mar 11, 2020
Indigenous Amazonians Managed Valuable Plant Life
00:02:42
Studies on very old vegetation in the Amazon Basin show active management hundreds of years ago on species such as Brazil nut trees and cocoa trees.
Mar 04, 2020
Computers Confirm Beethoven's Influence
00:03:00
By breaking 900 classical piano compositions into musical chunks, researchers could track Ludwig van Beethoven’s influence on the composers who followed him. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Mar 03, 2020
Science News Briefs from around the World
00:02:33
Here are a few brief reports about science and technology from around the world, including one from off the California coast about the first heart rate measurement done on a blue whale.
Mar 02, 2020
Introducing Life's Little Mysteries
00:10:46
Life's Little Mysteries is the newest Audioboom original podcast and co-production with Live Science. This podcast is for everyone and anyone who loves science and wants to know more about everything around us. Join hosts Mindy Weisberger and Jeanna Bryner of Live Science every Monday as they give you the low-down on all things big and small that truly make you wonder. Life's Little Mysteries has new episodes every Monday. Subscribe to Life's Little Mysteries on Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lifes-little-mysteries/id1496044775. 
Mar 02, 2020
Jet Altitude Changes Cut Climate-Changing Contrails
00:02:40
Increasing or decreasing the altitude of aircraft a few thousand feet to avoid thin layers of humidity could make a deep cut to contrails' contribution to climate change.
Feb 26, 2020
Thoroughbred Horses Are Increasingly Inbred
00:02:44
Inbreeding in Thoroughbreds has increased significantly in the last 45 years, with the greatest rise in the last 15 or so years.
Feb 25, 2020
Pablo Escobar's Hippos Could Endanger Colombian Ecology
00:02:51
Hippos that escaped from drug kingpin Pablo Escobar's private zoo are reproducing in the wild, and with increasing numbers could threaten ecosystems.
Feb 20, 2020
Wasp Nests Help Date Aboriginal Art
00:03:01
Art created by Australian Aboriginal people used organic carbon-free pigments, but wasp nests above or below the art can be used for radiocarbon dating that supplies boundaries for the age of artworks.
Feb 20, 2020
Industrial Revolution Pollution Found in Himalayan Glacier
00:03:00
Ice cores from a Tibetan glacier reveal the first deposits of Industrial Revolution pollution starting in layers deposited in about 1780.
Feb 18, 2020
Fight-or-Flight Nerves Make Mice Go Gray
00:02:31
A new study in mice concludes stress can cause gray hair—and credits overactive nerves with the change in hue. Karen Hopkin reports. 
Feb 15, 2020
Espresso May Be Better when Ground Coarser
00:03:30
A very fine grind can actually hamper espresso brewing, because particles may clump more than larger particles will.
Feb 14, 2020
Feral Dogs Respond to Human Hand Cues
00:03:02
Most feral dogs that did not run away from humans were able to respond to hand cues about the location of food, even without training.
Feb 11, 2020
Neandertals Tooled Around with Clams
00:02:36
Neandertals ate clams and then modified the hard shells into tools for cutting and scraping.   
Feb 08, 2020
Fingering Fake Whiskeys with Isotopes
00:02:28
Whiskies claimed to be from the 19th century are revealed to be made with much more recently grown barley thanks to the unique isotopic fingerprint of the nuclear testing era.  
Feb 07, 2020
Having an Albatross around Your Boat
00:02:15
By outfitting 169 albatrosses with GPS data loggers, scientists were able to track fishing boats apparently trying to hide their location. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Feb 06, 2020
Science News Briefs from All Over
00:02:08
A few brief reports about international science and technology from around the world, including one from Congo about a toad that has evolved coloring that makes it look like a deadly snake's head.
Feb 04, 2020
Facts about Groundhogs Other Than Their Poor Meteorology
00:03:06
Groundhogs are less accurate at weather forecasting than are coin flips, but they are nevertheless pretty interesting critters.
Feb 02, 2020
Did Animal Calls Start in the Dark?
00:02:04
One hypothesis says the ability to vocalize arose in nocturnal animals—and a new evolutionary analysis suggests there may be some truth to it. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Feb 01, 2020
Sign Languages Display Distinct Ancestries
00:03:00
Well more than 100 distinct sign languages exist worldwide, with each having features that made it possible for researchers to create an evolutionary tree of their lineages.
Jan 31, 2020
Docs Given Updated Opioid Prescribing Habit
00:02:14
Researchers dialed down the default number of opioids in two hospitals' prescription systems—and doctors ended up prescribing fewer pills. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 27, 2020
Some Wolf Pups Show Innate Fetching Talent
00:01:52
Some wolf pups will play fetch with a stranger, suggesting that an ability to playfully interact with people could have come before, and played a role in, dog domestication.
Jan 26, 2020
Barred Owls Invade the Sierra Nevada
00:02:49
By listening to the sounds of the forest, biologists were able to identify an invasion of barred owls in spotted owl habitat. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 25, 2020
Curiosity Killed the ... Mouse?
00:03:40
The cat parasite Toxoplasma gondii boosts curiosity in mice—which makes them more likely to be caught by cats, thus continuing the parasite’s life cycle. Karen Hopkin reports.
Jan 24, 2020
This Fish Knows How to Stick Around
00:02:15
The remora clings to other fish—and appears to use an unusual sense of touch to do so. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Jan 17, 2020
Antarctic Is Ripe for Invasive Species
00:02:10
Mussels and crabs are two of the creatures most likely to invade Antarctica in the next 10 years, a panel of scientists say. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 16, 2020
Bacteria Helped Plants Evolve to Live on Land
00:02:34
Soil bacteria may have taken residence in early algae species, gifting the algae with the ability to withstand drier conditions on land. Annie Sneed reports.
Jan 14, 2020
Meteorite Contains Material Older Than Earth
00:02:25
The Murchison meteorite, which screamed to Earth 50 years ago, carried with it stardust that's seven billion years old. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Jan 13, 2020
Loss of Large Mammals Stamps Out Invertebrates, Too
00:03:49
Hunted areas of Gabon have fewer large mammals and a thicker forest understory—but they also have fewer termites. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Jan 12, 2020
Brittle Stars Can "See" without Eyes
00:02:44
The starfish relatives can recognize patterns using photoreceptors on their arms—and their color-changing abilities could have something to do with it. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 10, 2020
Atlantic Puffins Spotted Using Tools
00:01:50
Scientists observed two Atlantic puffins using sticks to scratch themselves—the first known instance of seabirds using tools. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Jan 08, 2020
Traffic Cameras Show Why the Yankees Should Suffer Fewer Injuries in 2020
00:02:56
The 2019 New York Yankees’ record number of injuries led to a change in training staff that will almost certainly correlate with, but not necessarily cause, a lower injury rate this coming season.  
Jan 07, 2020
Science News Briefs from around the Globe
00:01:52
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Indonesia to Spain, including one from Brazil about the highest voltage electric eel ever discovered.
Jan 06, 2020
Part of Real Paleo Diet: It's a Tuber
00:01:51
In South Africa archaeologists found the charred remains of a roasted root vegetable. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 04, 2020
You Traveled Far in 2019
00:01:28
Getting around the sun last year was some trip.
Jan 03, 2020
Fido's Human Age Gets New Estimates
00:02:16
By comparing how DNA gets altered over the lifetimes of people and dogs, researchers came up with a new way to compare canine years to human years.
Dec 27, 2019
Gift Wrapping Is Effective Future Trash
00:01:29
Research suggests people value gifts more when they have to unwrap them—but how to avoid all the wasted paper? Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 27, 2019
Superstrong Fibers Could Be Hairy Situation
00:02:54
Human hair tested stronger than thicker fibers from elephants, boars and giraffes, providing clues to materials scientists hoping to make superstrong synthetic fibers.
Dec 25, 2019
Flaky Scalps Have a Unique Fungal Microbiome
00:02:10
Certain species of bacteria and fungi seem to proliferate on dandruff-ridden scalps. The reason is a little more mysterious. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Dec 21, 2019
Moths Flee or Face Bats, Depending on Toxicity
00:02:46
Tiger moth species that contain bad tasting and toxic compounds are nonchalant in the presence of bats, while edible moth species evade their predators.
Dec 19, 2019
Ancient Seawall Found Submerged
00:01:54
In shallow waters off the coast of Israel, archaeologists have found entire villages—including one with a sunken seawall. Christopher Intagliata reports.  
Dec 19, 2019
Citizen Scientists Deserve Journal Status Upgrade
00:03:17
Here's an argument that citizen scientists deserve co-authorship on scientific journal papers to which they contributed research.
Dec 15, 2019
Not All Hydropower Is Climate-Considerate
00:02:33
While some hydropower facilities release almost no greenhouse gases, others can actually be worse than burning fossil fuels.
Dec 14, 2019
Certain Zip Codes Pick Losers
00:02:24
People in certain ZIP codes are more likely to purchase products that flop, buy homes that are poor investments, and pick political candidates who lose. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 12, 2019
Linguists Hear an Accent Begin
00:03:04
Residents of an overwintering station in Antarctica provided linguists with evidence of the first small changes in speech that may signal the development of a new accent.
Dec 12, 2019
Romans Would Roam for Wood
00:01:52
Archaeologists unearthed wood from a Roman villa when digging Rome’s subway—and scientists determined the planks came all the way from France. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Dec 10, 2019
When the Bellbird Calls, You Know It
00:02:32
The white bellbird of the Amazon may be the loudest bird in the world.  
Dec 10, 2019
Fishy Trick Lures Life Back to Coral Reefs
00:01:53
Playing the sounds of a healthy reef near damaged corals may help bring the fish community back. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Dec 05, 2019
Rain Forest Dwellers and Urbanites Have Consistently Different Microbiomes
00:02:34
A study done in South America found that with increasing population density humans had more diversity of fungi on the skin but less microbial diversity in the gut.
Dec 04, 2019
Internet Cables Could Also Measure Quakes
00:01:49
The fiberoptic cables that connect the global internet could potentially be used as seismic sensors. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Dec 04, 2019
Science News Briefs from All Over
00:01:54
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Mexico to Tanzania, including one about the need to quarantine bananas in Colombia potentially infected by a fungus.
Dec 03, 2019
Subtle Ancient Footprints Come to Light
00:01:59
Ground penetrating radar can detect tiny density differences that lead to images of ancient footprints impossible to discern by eye.
Nov 30, 2019
Ancient Rock Art Got a Boost From Bacteria
00:02:23
Indigenous artists in what’s now British Columbia created pigments by cooking aquatic bacteria. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Nov 25, 2019
Ick Factor Is High Hurdle for Recycled Drinking Water
00:02:56
Recycled wastewater can be cleaner than bottled water, but people still avoid drinking it because of their disgust over its past condition.
Nov 25, 2019
Bots Outperform Humans if They Impersonate Us
00:02:36
Bots masquerading as humans in a game outperformed their human opponents—but the their superiority vanished when their machine identity was revealed. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Nov 22, 2019
Implanting Memories in Birds Reveals How Learning Happens
00:03:11
Researchers activated specific brain cells in zebra finches to teach them songs they'd ordinarily have to hear to learn.
Nov 21, 2019
Dogs Like Motion That Matches Sound
00:01:53
Pet dogs appeared more interested in videos of a bouncing ball when the motion of the ball matched a rising and falling tone. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Nov 20, 2019
Egyptian Vats 5,600 Years Old Were For Beer Brewing
00:02:55
Archaeologists working in the ancient city of Hierakonpolis discovered five ceramic vats containing residues consistent with brewing beer.
Nov 17, 2019
Famously Fickle Felines Are, in Fact, Clingy
00:02:51
Cats are clingier to their human owners than their reputation would suggest. Karen Hopkin reports. 
Nov 14, 2019
Aversion to Broccoli May Have Genetic Roots
00:01:57
Study subjects with a gene variant that heightened their sensitivity to bitterness tended to eat fewer vegetables than people who didn’t mind bitter flavors. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 13, 2019
Marine Mammal Epidemic Linked to Climate Change
00:02:43
A measles-like virus is ricocheting through marine mammal populations in the Arctic—and melting sea ice might be to blame. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Nov 10, 2019
Ant Colonies Avoid Traffic Jams
00:02:36
Researchers tracked thousands of individual ants to determine how they move in vast numbers without stumbling into gridlock.
Nov 08, 2019
Ranking Rise May Intimidate Opponents
00:02:54
In an analysis of chess and tennis matches, players rising in the rankings did better than expected against higher-ranked opponents and better than similarly ranked players who were not rising.  
Nov 06, 2019
Familiar Tunes Rapidly Jog the Brain
00:03:06
Within just a third of a second of hearing a snippet of a familiar refrain, our pupils dilate and the brain shows signs of recognition. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 06, 2019
Science News Briefs from around the Globe
00:02:15
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Brazil to Hong Kong, including one about male elephants in India exhibiting unusual social behaviors.
Nov 02, 2019
We Owe Our Pumpkins to Pooping Megafauna
00:02:36
The pumpkin's ancestor was an incredibly bitter, tennis-ball-sized squash—but it was apparently a common snack for mastodons. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Oct 31, 2019
Bird Egg Colors Are Influenced by Local Climate
00:01:50
In cold, northern climates, eggs tend to be darker and browner—heat-trapping colors that allow parents to spend a bit more time away from the nest. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Oct 30, 2019
Crabs Do a Maze
00:01:54
Green crabs learned to navigate a maze without making a single wrong turn—and remembered the skill weeks later. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Oct 29, 2019
Odd Bird Migrates Twice to Breed
00:02:55
The phainopepla migrates from southern California to the desert southwest to breed in the spring before flying to California coastal woodlands to breed again in summer.
Oct 24, 2019
Piranha-Proof Fish Gives Inspiration for Body Armor
00:02:31
A gigantic fish from the Amazon has incredibly tough scales—and materials scientists are looking to them for bulletproof inspiration. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Oct 24, 2019
Galloping Ant Beats Saharan Heat
00:02:34
The Saharan silver ant feeds on other insects that have died on the hot sands, which it traverses at breakneck (for an ant) speeds.
Oct 23, 2019
Some Mosquito Repellents Act like Invisibility Cloaks
00:02:01
Synthetic repellents like DEET seem to mask the scent of our "human perfume”—making us less obvious targets for mosquitoes. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Oct 22, 2019
Your Skull Shapes Your Hearing
00:02:33
The resonant properties of your skull can amplify some frequencies and dampen others--and in some cases, affect your hearing. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Oct 18, 2019
Tardigrade Protein Protects DNA from Chemical Attack
00:02:37
The Dsup protein protects DNA under conditions that create caustic free radical chemicals.
Oct 16, 2019
"Mars-quakes" Could Reveal How Mars Was Built
00:02:38
Rumblings on the Red Planet act like x-rays, allowing scientists to probe the hidden interior of Mars. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Oct 16, 2019
Artificial Intelligence Learns to Talk Back to Bigots
00:02:20
Algorithms are already used to remove online hate speech. Now scientists have taught AI to respond—which they hope might spark more discourse. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Oct 11, 2019
Nobel in Chemistry for Lightweight Rechargeable Batteries
00:02:41
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to John Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.”
Oct 09, 2019
Nobel in Physics for Exoplanets and Cosmology
00:03:11
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."
Oct 08, 2019
Nobel in Physiology or Medicine for How Cells Sense Oxygen Levels
00:02:54
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir 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.
Oct 07, 2019
Teeth Tell Black Death Genetic Tale
00:03:10
DNA from the teeth of medieval plague victims indicate that the pathogen likely first arrived in eastern Europe before spreading across the continent.
Oct 07, 2019
Tiny Worms Are Equipped to Battle Extreme Environments
00:02:15
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.
Oct 05, 2019
Heat Changes Insect Call, but It Still Works
00:02:10
Tiny insects called treehoppers produce very different mating songs at higher versus lower temperatures, but the intended recipient still finds the changed songs attractive.
Oct 02, 2019
Corals Can Inherit Symbiotic Adaptations to Warming
00:01:56
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. 
Oct 02, 2019
Brains of Blind People Adapt in Similar Fashion
00:02:27
The brains of blind people repurpose the vision regions for adaptive hearing, and they appear to do so in a consistent way.
Oct 01, 2019
Science News Briefs from around the World
00:02:13
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.
Sep 29, 2019
Musical Note Perception Can Depend on Culture
00:02:51
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.
Sep 25, 2019
Nature Docs Avoid Habitat Destruction
00:02:21
BBC and Netflix nature documentaries consistently shy away from showing viewers the true extent to which we've damaged the planet. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 25, 2019
Heat Loss to Night Sky Powers Off-Grid Lights
00:02:56
A slight temperature difference at night between a surface losing heat and the surrounding air can be harnessed to generate electricity to power lights.
Sep 19, 2019
Early Butchers Used Small Stone Scalpels
00:02:09
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.
Sep 18, 2019
Microplastics in Fresh Water Are Mostly Laundry Lint
00:02:05
Microplastic particles are everywhere, but in freshwater systems, 60 percent of particles are clothing lint from laundry.
Sep 17, 2019
Kids Are Not Hurt by Screen Time
00:03:01
A study finds no deleterious effects on mental health when kids spend their leisure time texting and engaging in other online activities.
Sep 16, 2019
Lab-Grown Human Mini Brains Show Brainy Activity
00:02:54
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.
Sep 13, 2019
Eavesdropping Puts Anxious Squirrels at Ease
00:02:22
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. 
Sep 13, 2019
Earth's Magnetic Field Initiated a Pole Flip Many Millennia before the Switch
00:02:47
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.
Sep 12, 2019
Humpback Whales Swap Songs at Island Hub
00:02:30
At the Kermadec Islands, humpbacks from all over the South Pacific converge and swap songs. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Sep 11, 2019
Food Expiration Dates May Mislead Consumers
00:03:02
Better food labeling could prevent people from throwing away a lot of "expired" food that's still perfectly edible.
Sep 09, 2019
Farmland Is Also Optimal for Solar Power
00:02:29
The conditions of sunlight, temperature, humidity and wind that make cropland good for agriculture also maximize solar panel efficiency.
Sep 05, 2019
Chemical Tweak Recycles Polyurethane into Glue
00:01:43
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. 
Sep 05, 2019
Cholesterol Climbs after Crows Chomp Cheeseburgers
00:02:52
Wild animals that live near humans have higher cholesterol than their rural counterparts - and our food could be to blame. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Sep 03, 2019
How Hurricanes Influence Spider Aggressiveness
00:02:40
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.
Aug 30, 2019
Graphene Garment Blocks Blood-Sucking Skeeters
00:02:25
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.
Aug 28, 2019
Martian Winds Could Spread Microbe Hitchhikers
00:01:58
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. 
Aug 26, 2019
Including Indigenous Voices in Genomics
00:02:58
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. 
Aug 22, 2019
West Point Uniforms Signify Explosive Chemistry
00:03:05
U.S. Military Academy cadets wear the colors black, gray and gold for reasons found in gunpowder's chemistry.
Aug 20, 2019
Secrets of the Universe Trapped in Antarctic Snow
00:02:03
Scientists found an interstellar iron isotope in Antarctic snow samples—which hints that our region of the universe may be the remnant of an ancient exploding star. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Aug 14, 2019
Certain Personality Types Are Likely to Make a "Foodie Call"
00:02:20
Some people go on dates just to score a free meal—a phenomenon known as a ‘foodie call.’ But it takes a certain personality type. Karen Hopkin reports. 
Aug 13, 2019
Artificial Intelligence Sniffs Out Unsafe Foods
00:01:58
Researchers trained machine learning algorithms to read Amazon reviews for hints that a food product would be recalled by the FDA. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Aug 12, 2019
A Computer Tells Real Smiles from Phonies
00:01:51
Slight changes around the eyes are indeed a giveaway as to whether a smile is sincere or faked.
Aug 09, 2019
Stare Down Gulls to Avoid Lunch Loss
00:02:02
Researchers slowed the approach of greedy gulls by an average of 21 seconds by staring at the birds versus looking elsewhere. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Aug 08, 2019
Real Laughs Motivate More Guffaws
00:02:42
Honest, involuntary laughter cued people to themselves laugh more at some really bad jokes than they did when hearing forced laughter.
Aug 08, 2019
Extinction Wipes Out Evolution's Hard Work
00:02:03
By killing off many of New Zealand's endemic birds, humans destroyed 50 million years' worth of evolutionary history. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Aug 06, 2019
London Is Crawling with Drug-Resistant Microbes
00:01:34
Nearly half of bacteria gathered in public settings around the city were resistant to two or more commonly used antibiotics, like penicillin and erythromycin. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Aug 03, 2019
Male Black Widows Poach Rivals' Approaches
00:01:55
Mating is risky business for black widow males - so they hitchhike on the silk threads left by competitors to more quickly find a mate. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Aug 02, 2019
Babies Want Fair Leaders
00:02:56
Babies as young as a year and a half want leaders to fix situations in which they see someone else being treated unfairly.
Jul 31, 2019
Parrots Are Making the U.S. Home
00:02:32
Released or escaped parrots are now living in most states and are breeding in at least 21. For some, it’s a second chance at survival.
Jul 31, 2019
Science News Briefs from All Over
00:02:14
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Guatemala to Australia, including one about the first recorded tornado in Nepal.
Jul 30, 2019
Tourist Photographs Help African Wildlife Census
00:02:15
Photos snapped by safari tourists are a surprisingly accurate way to assess populations of African carnivores. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Jul 25, 2019
For Ants, the Sky's the Compass
00:02:03
Computer modeling revealed that insects with a celestial compass can likely determine direction down to just a couple degrees of error. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Jul 24, 2019
Why Two Moonships Were Better Than One
00:02:35
Engineer John Houbolt pushed for a smaller ship to land on the lunar surface while the command module stayed in orbit around the moon.
Jul 20, 2019
One Small Scoop, One Giant Impact for Mankind
00:03:46
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.
Jul 20, 2019
Investigating the Zombie Ant's "Death Grip"
00:01:44
Researchers dissected the jaws of ants infected with the  Ophiocordyceps  fungus to determine how the fungus hijacks the ants' behavior. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Jul 19, 2019
Attractive Young Females May Have Justice Edge
00:02:38
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. 
Jul 16, 2019
Tobacco Plants Made to Produce Useful Compounds
00:02:45
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.
Jul 15, 2019
Rhinos and Their Gamekeepers Benefit from AI
00:03:36
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.  
Jul 12, 2019
Backpack Harvests Energy as You Walk
00:01:41
The pack produces a steady trickle of electricity from the swinging motion of your stuff. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Jul 11, 2019
Why Baseballs Are Flying in 2019
00:02:50
An analysis of the 2019 edition of the Major League baseball points to reasons why it's leaving ballparks at a record rate.
Jul 09, 2019
Some Hot Dog Histology
00:01:58
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. 
Jul 04, 2019
Mind and Body Benefit from Two Hours in Nature Each Week
00:02:38
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.
Jul 02, 2019
Scientist Encourages Other Women Scientists to Make Themselves Heard
00:02:35
Geneticist Natalie Telis noticed few women asking questions at scientific conferences. So she publicized the problem and set about to make a change. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jun 30, 2019
Male Bats Up Mating Odds with Mouth Morsels
00:02:14
Males that allow females to take food right out of their mouths are more likely to sire offspring with their dining companions.
Jun 27, 2019
Scientists Fool Flies with "Virtual Tastes"
00:02:18
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.
Jun 27, 2019
Wheat Plants "Sneeze" and Spread Disease
00:01:57
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.
Jun 26, 2019
Elite Runners' Microbes Make Mice Mightier
00:03:25
Mice that were fed bacteria isolated from elite athletes logged more treadmill time than other mice that got bacteria found in yogurt.
Jun 25, 2019
Science News Briefs from around the World
00:02:17
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.
Jun 24, 2019
Antiperspirant Boosts Armpit and Toe-Web Microbial Diversity
00:01:56
Rather than wiping microbes out, antiperspirants and foot powders increased the diversity of microbial flora in armpits and between toes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jun 22, 2019
Monkey Cousins Use Similar Calls
00:02:10
Two monkey species who last shared a common ancestor 3 million years ago have "eerily similar" alarm calls.
Jun 18, 2019
How Millipedes Avoid Interspecies Sexual Slips
00:03:10
Millipedes, often blind, have come up with clever physical signals to ward off sexual advances from members of wrong species.
Jun 16, 2019
You Contain Multitudes of Microplastics
00:02:37
People appear to consume between 74,000 and 121,000 microplastic particles annually, and that's probably a gross underestimate.
Jun 13, 2019
A Biodegradable Label Doesn't Make It So
00:03:05
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.   
Jun 13, 2019
High School Cheaters Nabbed by Neural Network
00:01:55
Researchers trained a neural network to scrutinize high school essays and sniff out ghostwritten papers. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jun 06, 2019
Preserved Poop Is an Archaeological Treasure
00:01:46
Anthropologists found parasite eggs in ancient poop samples, providing a glimpse of human health as hunter-gatherers transitioned to settlements. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jun 05, 2019
Remembering Murray Gell-Mann
00:02:11
Murray Gell-Mann, 1969 Nobel Laureate in Physics who identified the quark, died May 24th.
Jun 04, 2019
Bonobo Mothers Supervise Their Sons' Monkey Business
00:02:18
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. 
May 30, 2019
Music May Orchestrate Better Brain Connectivity in Preterm Infants
00:02:38
Preterm babies who listened to music in the neonatal intensive care unit had brain activity that more closely resembled that of full-term babies. Christopher Intagliata reports.
May 29, 2019
Icy Room Temperatures May Chill Productivity

00:02:06
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.
May 24, 2019
Bird Beak Shapes Depend on More Than Diet
00:01:57
A study found that only a small percentage of bird beak shape variation is dependent on diet, with other factors like display and nest construction probably playing parts too.
May 22, 2019
Ancient Gum Gives Archaeologists Something to Chew On
00:02:27
Chewing gums discovered in western Sweden contain the oldest human DNA found in Scandinavia. Christopher Intagliata reports.
May 21, 2019
Nobelist: Harness Evolution as a Problem-Solving Algorithm
00:02:37
Frances Arnold, the CalTech scientist who shared the 2018 Prize in Chemistry, says evolution can show us how to solve problems of sustainability.
May 17, 2019
Unread Books at Home Still Spark Literacy Habits
00:02:45
Growing up in a home filled with books enhances enhances intellectual capacity in later life, even if you don't read them all.
May 16, 2019
Kid Climate Educators Open Adult Eyes
00:02:58
A study finds that kids, especially daughters, are effective at teaching their parents about climate issues.
May 15, 2019
Penguin Poop Helps Biodiversity Bloom in Antarctica
00:01:46
Ammonia from penguin poop gets carried on Antarctic winds, fertilizing mosses and lichens as far as a mile away. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
May 15, 2019
Ancient Whiz Opens Archaeology Window
00:02:58
The residue of ancient urine can reveal the presence of early, stationary herder-farmer communities.
May 13, 2019
U.S. Coral Reefs Do $1.8 Billion of Work Per Year
00:02:00
By dampening the energy of waves, coral reefs protect coastal cities from flooding damage and other economic losses. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
May 09, 2019
Could Air-Conditioners Help Cool the Planet?
00:01:38
Researchers want to outfit air conditioners with carbon-capture technology. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
May 06, 2019
Chemists Investigate Casanova's Clap
00:02:48
In his memoirs, the womanizing writer Giacomo Casanova described suffering several bouts of gonorrhea—but researchers found no trace of the microbe on his handwritten journals. Karen Hopkin reports.
May 03, 2019
Software Sniffs Out Rat Squeaks
00:02:30
Algorithms learned to sift ultrasonic rat squeaks from other noise, which could help researchers who study rodents’ emotional states. Lucy Huang reports. 
May 02, 2019
New Model Aims to Solve Mystery of the Moon's Formation
00:02:08
Scientists propose that the moon could have formed when a Mars-sized object slammed into an Earth covered in magma seas. Christopher Intagliata reports.
May 01, 2019
Cats Recognize Their Names—but May Not Respond
00:02:15
Felines move their ears, heads and tails more when they hear their names compared to when they hear similar words. Jim Daley reports.
Apr 30, 2019
Science News Briefs from All Over
00:02:18
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Liberia to Hawaii, including one on the discovery in Northern Ireland of soil bacteria that stop the growth of MRSA and other superbugs.
Apr 27, 2019
Hurricane Maria Rain Amount Chances Are Boosted by Climate Change
00:03:11
The likelihood of an event like Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and of its massive precipitation, is five-fold higher in the climate of today than it would have been some 60 years ago.
Apr 26, 2019
Harder-Working Snakes Pack Stronger Venom
00:02:46
Snake venom toxicity depends on snake size, energy requirements and environmental dimensionality more than on prey size.
Apr 26, 2019
River Dolphins Have a Wide Vocal Repertoire
00:01:55
Freshwater dolphins are evolutionary relics, and their calls give clues to the origins of cetacean communication in general. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Apr 25, 2019
Honeybees Can Put Two and Two Together
00:02:02
The tiny brain of a honeybee is apparently able to calculate small numbers' addition and subtraction. Annie Sneed reports.
Apr 24, 2019
4/20 Traffic Accidents Claim Curbed
00:03:23
A deeper data dive calls into question a 2018 study that found a spike in fatal traffic accidents apparently related to marijuana consumption on this date.  
Apr 20, 2019
Hyena Society Stability Has Last Laugh
00:02:28
Female hyenas keep their clans in line by virtue of their complex social networks. Jason G. Goldman reports. 
Apr 20, 2019
Gluten-Free Restaurant Foods Are Often Mislabeled
00:01:38
One in three gluten-free dishes tested at restaurants contained gluten—especially GF pizzas and pastas. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Apr 19, 2019
What Chickens Can Teach Hearing Researchers
00:03:17
At an event honoring Nobel and Kavli Prize winners, neuroscientists James Hudspeth and Robert Fettiplace talked about the physiology of hearing and the possibility of restoring hearing loss.  
Apr 18, 2019
Nobelist Says System of Science Offers Life Lessons
00:03:13
At an event honoring Nobel and Kavli Prize winners, economist Paul Romer talked about how the social system of science offers hope for humanity and for how we can live with each other.
Apr 16, 2019
Squeezed Potassium Atoms Straddle Liquid and Solid
00:01:28
At extreme pressures, potassium atoms can be both liquid and solid at the same time, a phase of matter known as "chain melt." Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Apr 13, 2019
Urban Coyote Evolution Favors the Bold
00:03:04
Coyotes become fearless around people in just a few generations—which isn’t good for their longterm co-existence with humans in cities. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Apr 12, 2019
Computers Turn an Ear on New York City
00:02:09
NYU’s “Sounds of New York City” project listens to the city—and then, with the help of citizen scientists, teaches machines to decode the soundscape. Jim Daley reports. 
Apr 11, 2019
Whitening Strips Alter Proteins in Teeth
00:01:47
Hydrogen peroxide in whitening treatments penetrates enamel and dentin, and alters tooth proteins. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Apr 09, 2019
Infrared Light Offers a Cooler Way to Defrost
00:02:25
Light tuned to a specific frequency warms ice more than water—which could come in handy for defrosting delicate biological samples. Adam Levy reports.
Apr 08, 2019
Spider Monkeys Optimize Jungle Acoustics
00:01:32
The monkeys lower the pitch of their "whinnies" when they're far from the rest of their group, which might help the calls travel further through jungle foliage. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Apr 05, 2019
Tennessee Whiskey Relies on Missing Ingredients
00:02:24
Food chemists precisely measured how charcoal filtration contributes to Tennessee whiskey's smoother flavor. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Apr 03, 2019
There's a Word for Today
00:01:52
English lacks some words that other languages pack with meaning.
Apr 01, 2019
Bumblebee Queens Prefer Layovers to Nonstop Flights
00:02:03
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.
Mar 29, 2019
Scenic City Sights Linked to Higher Happiness
00:02:13
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.
Mar 27, 2019
Tech's Brain Effect: It's Complicated
00:02:22
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.
Mar 26, 2019
Daylight Brings Toxic Beetles Together for Safety
00:02:34
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.
Mar 23, 2019
Solar Jets Cause Standing Waves in Earth's Magnetic Field
00:02:58
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.
Mar 19, 2019
Sing Solo for Higher Fidelity
00:02:32
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. 
Mar 19, 2019
Edible Insect Breeding Led to Larger but Not Necessarily Better Larvae
00:02:09
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.
Mar 15, 2019
Busting Earth-Bound Asteroids a Bigger Job Than We Thought
00:02:21
A new model suggests smashing killer space rocks with insufficient force could let gravity pull the pieces back together. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Mar 12, 2019
Weekday–Weekend Sleep Imbalance Bad for Blood Sugar Regulation
00:02:48
Weekday sleep deprivation with weekend make-up sleeping seems to be worse for blood sugar control than even chronic sleep deprivation alone.
Mar 11, 2019
Warm-Blooded Animals Lost Ability to Heal the Heart
00:02:45
Thyroid hormone, which helps warm-blooded animals regulate body temperature, also appears to put a halt on heart regeneration. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Mar 08, 2019
Animal Migrations Track with Wikipedia Searches
00:02:12
By analyzing nearly 2.5 billion Wikipedia page views, researchers found species searches reflect seasonal animal migrations and plant blooming. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Mar 06, 2019
Baseball Commish Talks Big Data
00:02:23
At a sports technology conference, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred addressed issues including an automated strike zone and advanced analytics.
Mar 05, 2019
Background Music Might Stifle Creativity
00:02:49
Volunteers who listened to music solved fewer word puzzles than others who worked in silence. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Mar 04, 2019
Science News Briefs from around the Globe
00:02:08
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.
Mar 04, 2019
Budding Yeast Produce Cannabis Compounds
00:02:25
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.
Mar 01, 2019
Who Has "the Right Stuff" for Mars?
00:02:43
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.
Feb 26, 2019
Grandma's Influence Is Good for Grandkids
00:02:29
Grandmothers can enhance the survival of grandchildren. That is, unless grandma’s too old or lives too far away. Karen Hopkin reports.
Feb 25, 2019
Should Robots Have a License to Kill?
00:02:44
Artificial intelligence experts, ethicists and diplomats debate autonomous weapons. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Feb 23, 2019
Warming Climate Implies More Flies—and Disease
00:02:20
The incidence of foodborne illness could jump in a warming world, due to an increase in housefly activity. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Feb 21, 2019
Light-Skin Variant Arose in Asia Independent of Europe
00:02:54
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.
Feb 19, 2019
Teach Science Process over Findings
00:02:21
Seismologist and policy advisor Lucy Jones says science education needs to teach how science works more than just what it finds out.
Feb 19, 2019
Human Diet Drugs Kill Mosquitoes' Appetite, Too
00:02:30
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.
Feb 16, 2019
Grazing Deer Alter Forest Acoustics
00:02:17
Deer populations have exploded in North American woodlands, changing forest ecology—and how sounds, like birdsong, travel through the trees. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Feb 15, 2019
Elephant Weight Cycles with New Teeth
00:03:19
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.
Feb 15, 2019
Finally Over for Mars Rover
00:01:51
The rover Opportunity has called it quits after working for more than 14 years on Mars.
Feb 13, 2019
Our Brains Really Remember Some Pop Music
00:03:20
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.
Feb 12, 2019
Biologists Track Tweets to Monitor Birds
00:02:05
Conservation biologists can track the whereabouts of endangered species by the sounds they make, avoiding cumbersome trackers and tags. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Feb 09, 2019
Desalination Could Cause Ecological Sea Change
00:02:33
An environmental assessment of the nation's largest desalination plant finds mixed results. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Feb 07, 2019
Different Humpback Whale Groups Meet to Jam
00:03:30
Humpback populations from the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet up south of Africa and trade song stylings.
Feb 07, 2019
Targeting Certain Brain Cells Can Switch Off Pain
00:02:24
By turning off certain brain cells, researchers were able to make mice sense painful stimuli—but not the associated discomfort. Karen Hopkin reports.
Feb 04, 2019
Neandertal Spears Were Surprisingly Deadly
00:02:49
Javelin throwers chucking replicas of Neandertal spears were able to hit targets farther away, and with greater force than previously thought to be possible. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 31, 2019
"Rectenna" Converts Wi-Fi to Electricity
00:01:53
Researchers built a small, flexible device that harvests wi-fi, bluetooth and cellular signals, and turns them into DC electricity. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 30, 2019
Science News Briefs from the World Over
00:02:13
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Papua New Guinea to Kazakhstan, including one on the slow slide of Mount Etna in Italy.
Jan 29, 2019
Cod Could Cope with Constrained Climate Change
00:03:22
Cod egg survival stays high with limited warming, but plummets when the temperature rises a few degrees Celsius in their current spawning grounds.
Jan 28, 2019
Intimate Hermit Crab Keeps Shell On
00:02:29
A species of hermit crab appears to have evolved a large penis to enable intercourse without leaving, and thus possibly losing, its adopted shell.
Jan 26, 2019
Ecologists Eavesdrop with Bioacoustics
00:02:27
By coupling audio recordings with satellite data and camera traps, ecologists can keep their eyes—and ears—on protected tropical forests. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 24, 2019
Saturn's Blingy Rings Are a Recent Upgrade
00:02:12
Though Saturn formed about 4.5 billion years ago, its rings were added relatively recently—only 100 million to 10 million years ago. Karen Hopkin reports. 
Jan 24, 2019
Do-Gooders Should Survey Communities First
00:03:29
Detroit residents declined an offer of free street trees—but were more willing to accept them if they had a say in the type of tree. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Jan 23, 2019
Viewing This Weekend's Lunar Eclipse
00:02:50
A total lunar eclipse will grace the skies this Sunday, January 20—and it may or may not be red. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 19, 2019
"Mona Lisa Effect" Not True for Mona Lisa
00:02:01
The Mona Lisa effect is the illusion that the subject of a painting follows you with her gaze, despite where you stand. But da Vinci's famous painting doesn't have that quality. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 18, 2019
Ants Stick to Cliques to Dodge Disease
00:02:31
Ants infected with fungal pathogens steer clear of other cliques within the colony—avoiding wider infection, and allowing for a sort of immunity. Lucy Huang reports. 
Jan 16, 2019
Mistimed Migration Means Bird Death Battles
00:01:57
Climate change is shifting population numbers and nest building by resident and migratory birds in Europe—sometimes leading to deadly conflict. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 13, 2019
Monogamy May Be Written in Our Genes
00:03:18
In animal studies, a set of 24 genes involved in neural development, learning and memory, and cognition, seem to be associated with monogamy. Karen Hopkin reports.
Jan 12, 2019
Seeing Superman Increases Altruism
00:02:57
Subject who saw a Superman poster were more likely to offer help than were people who saw another image.
Jan 10, 2019
Inhaled RNA Might Help Heal Cystic Fibrosis
00:02:03
Scientists are working to correct a genetic defect in cystic fibrosis patients by having them inhale RNA. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 09, 2019
Invisible Killers Hitchhike on Native Plant Seedlings
00:02:17
More than a quarter of the seedlings sampled at native plant nurseries were infected with pathogens—which could hamper restoration work. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 05, 2019
Facebook Users Value the Service More Than Investors Do
00:02:12
Users of the social network said they'd require payment of more than $1,000 to quit the platform for one year. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 03, 2019
Science News from around the Planet
00:02:23
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Germany to Rwanda, including one on the discovery of the world's oldest known brewery, discovered in Israel.
Dec 31, 2018
Turn Xmas Tree into Food and Medicine
00:01:43
Pine needles can easily be broken down into sugars as well as the building blocks of paint, adhesives and medicines. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 30, 2018
Simple Sugars Wipe Out Beneficial Gut Bugs
00:02:01
Fructose and sucrose can make it all the way to the colon, where they spell a sugary death sentence for beneficial bacteria. Karen Hopkin reports.
Dec 27, 2018
Smarter Pricing Could Ease Parking Frustration
00:02:07
A new algorithm raises parking rates in busy neighborhoods and lowers them elsewhere, guaranteeing free parking spots regardless of location. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 27, 2018
"Hunger Hormone" Ghrelin Aids Overindulgence
00:01:59
Ghrelin, the hormone that makes you hungry, also makes food, and food smells, irresistibly appealing. Karen Hopkin reports. 
Dec 25, 2018
Colorful Peacocks Impress Females with Good Vibes
00:02:56
Peafowls' head crests are specifically tuned to the vibrations produced by feather-rattling male peacocks, thus acting as a sort of antenna. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Dec 24, 2018
Measuring the Strength of a Person's Gaze
00:02:05
A new study suggests that, unconsciously, we actually do believe that looking exerts a slight force on the things being looked at. Karen Hopkin reports.
Dec 24, 2018
"Relaxation Music" Works—but So Does Chopin
00:02:22
So-called "relaxation music" is only about as effective as a soothing Chopin piece at lulling listeners into a relaxed state. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 22, 2018
Bone Building Needs Bit of Breakdown First
00:02:32
The hormone irisin encourages bone remodeling, in part by first triggering another substance that encourages some bone breakdown.
Dec 21, 2018
Frog Picks Maternity Ward Like Goldilocks
00:02:36
The Bahia's broad-snout casque-headed tree frog needs a pool to raise its young that's just right.
Dec 20, 2018
You Gotta Scratch That Itch
00:02:16
A particular set of brain neurons may be behind registering itch and inducing us to scratch.
Dec 19, 2018
Join Blue Planet II Live-Tweet
00:01:27
Starting December 16, ocean scientists will live-tweet the BBC documentary series Blue Planet II, available via Netflix.
Dec 14, 2018
Big-Boned Chickens May Be Humans' Geologic Legacy
00:02:21
Millions of years from now, the geologic record of the "Anthropocene" will be littered with plastics, yes, but also chicken bones. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Dec 13, 2018
Ancient Marine Reptiles Had Familiar Gear
00:02:07
Ichthyosaurs had traits in common with turtles and modern marine mammals, like blubber and countershading camouflage. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 12, 2018
Little Aphids Ride Big Ones to Safety
00:02:49
When trouble lurks, juvenile aphids drop off of the plants they're eating and hitch a ride on bigger aphid escapees.
Dec 12, 2018
Utah's Deserts Are Bee Hotspots 
00:02:08
The Trump administration is shrinking Utah's desert monuments, stripping some federal protections for wild pollinators. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Dec 09, 2018
Who's a Smart Dog?!
00:03:03
An estimate of dog intelligence requires looking at non-dogs as well to understand what's special to canines and what is just typical of the taxonomic groups they're in.
Dec 07, 2018
Data Reveals Most Influential Movies
00:01:53
By analyzing the network connections between 47,000 films on IMDb, researchers found the most influential films ever made. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Dec 06, 2018
Blue Whales Have Changed Their Tune
00:02:32
In the last few decades blue whale calls have been getting lower in pitch—and a rebound in their numbers may be the reason. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Dec 01, 2018
Smart Meters Speed Showers
00:02:14
Smart meters on showerheads encouraged hotel guests to conserve—even though they personally saved no money. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 27, 2018
Mars Mission Makes Clean Landing
00:03:09
The sounds of the Mars InSight Mission control room during the tense minutes leading to the landing on the surface.
Nov 26, 2018
Do Wine over Those Brussels Sprouts
00:01:39
Taking a swig of red wine before eating Brussels sprouts appears to moderate Brussels sprouts' polarizing flavor. Christopher Intagliata reports
Nov 22, 2018
Rains Bring a Microbial Massacre to Chilean Desert
00:01:56
Freak heavy rainstorms in 2015 and 2017 wiped out many dry-adapted microbes in the Atacama Desert, useful info in the search for life off Earth. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 20, 2018
Consensual Hugs Seem to Reduce Stress
00:02:13
People who had a conflict in a given day but also got hugged were not as affected by the negative interaction as were their unhugged counterparts.  
Nov 18, 2018
World's Largest Organism Faces Bleak Future
00:03:19
The single organism that is the Utah aspen grove known as Pando is on the decline due to herbivores wiping out its youngest tree outgrowths
Nov 17, 2018
U.S. Immigrants Leave Country—and Microbes—Behind
00:02:15
Immigrants to the U.S. lose their native mix of gut microbes almost immediately after arriving in the U.S.—which researchers can't quite explain. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Nov 15, 2018
Science News Briefs from All over
00:02:08
A few very brief reports about international science and technology from Alaska to Indonesia, including one on offshore dairy farming from the Netherlands.
Nov 14, 2018
Babies and Chimps Share a Laugh
00:02:09
Adult humans laugh primarily on the exhale, but human babies laugh on the inhale and the exhale—as do chimps. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 11, 2018
Singing Fish Reveal Underwater Battles in the Amazon
00:02:03
Researchers recorded piranha "honks" and catfish "screeches" in the Peruvian Amazon, which might illuminate fish activity in murky jungle waters. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 09, 2018
Social Construct of Race Imposes Biology
00:02:34
Anthropologist Jennifer Raff argues that race is culturally created, but has biological consequences.
Nov 08, 2018
Pandas Swoon to Particular Croons
00:01:28
Listening to the sounds panda pairs make when they're introduced could lead to better breeding success. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 07, 2018
First Benefit of Knowing Your Genome
00:01:31
The "low hanging fruit" of genome-related health care will be knowing which drugs are likely to treat you best, says science journalist Carl Zimmer.
Nov 02, 2018
For Halloween, Consider the Chocolate Midge
00:02:10
A tiny fly, related to biting no-see-ums, pollinates cacao trees and enables our chocolate cravings. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Oct 31, 2018
Dolphins Dumb Down Calls to Compete with Ship Noise
00:02:02
Bottlenose dolphins simplify and raise the pitch of their whistles to be heard above underwater shipping noise. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Oct 30, 2018
Asocial Octopuses Become Cuddly on MDMA
00:03:31
Octopuses react to MDMA much like humans do. And not surprisingly, given their anatomy, the animals are excellent huggers. Annie Sneed reports.
Oct 22, 2018
Science News Briefs from around the Globe
00:02:11
A few very brief reports about science and technology from around the globe, including one from Mongolia on horse dentistry.
Oct 21, 2018
Wild Songbirds Can Pick Up New Tunes
00:03:23
Researchers taught two dozen wild sparrows new songs, by playing them the recordings of sparrows that live thousands of miles away. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Oct 19, 2018
Health Care Let Neandertals "Punch above Their Weight"
00:01:29
By caring for their sick and injured, Neandertals were able to expand into more dangerous environments and pursue more deadly prey. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Oct 18, 2018
Nice People Have Emptier Wallets
00:02:15
A study correlating personality traits with financial data found that agreeable people had lower savings, higher debt and higher bankruptcy rates. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Oct 16, 2018
Solar Eclipse Was a Buzzkill for Bees
00:01:58
Bees suddenly fell silent when the sun disappeared during last year's solar eclipse—perhaps because they were tricked into night mode. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Oct 13, 2018
Confident Tone Overcomes Accent Distrust
00:02:25
English as-a-first-language Canadian study subjects were less trusting of statements in English spoken with a foreign accent, unless the speaker sounded confident about their assertion.
Oct 12, 2018
Mom's Genes Make Some Giraffes Hard to Spot
00:01:57
Baby giraffes inherit aspects of their mothers' patterning—which could give them a survival advantage if good camouflage runs in the family. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Oct 10, 2018
Economics Nobel Highlights Climate Action Necessity
00:01:58
William Nordhaus shared the 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, "for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis,” with Paul Romer, "for integrating technological innovations into long-run macroeconomic analysis."
Oct 09, 2018
Highway Crossings Protect Migrating Pronghorns—and Motorists
00:03:13
Twice a year, thousands of pronghorn antelope and mule deer migrate through Wyoming, and newly built highway crossings are sparing the lives of animals—and motorists. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Oct 06, 2018
Beer Fermentation Hops Along
00:02:50
The bittering agents called hops have enzymes that chew up starch and unleash more fermentable sugar—which can boost alcohol and CO2 in the finished brew. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Oct 05, 2018
Nobel in Chemistry for New and Useful Chemical Entities via Evolutionary Principles
00:03:11
Frances H. Arnold, George P. Smith and Gregory P. Winter share the 2018 chemistry Nobel for developing evolutionary-based techniques that lead to the creation of new chemical entities with useful properties.
Oct 03, 2018
Nobel in Physics for Controlling Laser Light
00:02:50
Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland share the 2018 physics Nobel for their work with lasers that have led to numerous practical applications, such as eye surgery.
Oct 02, 2018
Nobel for Helping the Immune System Fight Cancer
00:01:59
James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo share the Nobel Prize for their work on harnessing the cancer patient's own immune system to destroy tumors.
Oct 01, 2018
Blasey Ford Spells Out Trauma Memory Formation
00:01:25
Christine Blasey Ford's professional expertise came into play during her testimony regarding the Supreme Court nomination.
Oct 01, 2018
Scanning Ancient Civilizations from the Skies
00:02:18
An aerial laser scan of more than 800 square miles of Guatemalan jungle revealed Maya buildings, canals, roads and bridges. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 27, 2018
Antifreeze Surface Fights Ice with Ice
00:01:50
Patterning a surface with tiny stripes of ice prevents frost formation on the rest of the surface—a technique that could keep planes or roads frost-free. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 26, 2018
Scale Can Measure Medicine—and Play a Scale, Too
00:02:53
Researchers have designed a musical instrument that can detect counterfeit drugs by the pitch of its notes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 25, 2018
Diverse Tree Portfolio Weathers Droughts Better
00:02:07
Forests with numerous tree species, and therefore a mix of water-management strategies, appear more tolerant of drought. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Sep 22, 2018
Pirates Needed Science, Too
00:01:38
On International Talk Like a Pirate Day, here's an eye-patch-witness account of how science helps in all peg-leg walks of life, even piracy
Sep 19, 2018
Sea Otters' Powerful Paw Prey Perception
00:02:16
The marine mammals have extraordinarily sensitive touch—which helps them nab prey in the absence of other sensory cues. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 19, 2018
Science News Briefs from Around the World
00:02:13
A few very brief reports about science and technology from around the globe.
Sep 17, 2018
Genetic Tweak Gave Early Humans a Leg Up
00:01:34
A mutation in a key gene may have endowed humans with superior endurance—allowing them to compete better with other animals on the savanna. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 13, 2018
Earlier Springs May Mean Mistimed Bird Migrations
00:01:25
Springtime's arriving earlier across North America. But the degree of change isn't the same everywhere, which could spell trouble for migratory birds. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Sep 12, 2018
Survey the Wildlife of the "Great Indoors"
00:01:51
Biologists are enlisting citizen scientists to poke around under the sink and behind the curtains, for wildlife living in the "great indoors." Karen Hopkin reports.
Sep 11, 2018
When Neutron Stars Collide
00:02:29
Astrophysicists have gotten a better glimpse at what happens to crashing neutron stars by listening in on the electromagnetic echoes of the collision. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Sep 07, 2018
Bonnethead Sharks Are Underwater Lawn Mowers
00:01:57
The hammerhead relatives consume copious amounts of sea grass, and have the digestive machinery to process it—making them true omnivores. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 06, 2018
Hurricane Is a Natural Selection Experiment
00:03:17
When Hurricane Irma blew through the Turks and Caicos, lizards with shorter hindlimbs lucked out. Jason G. Goldman reports. 
Sep 06, 2018
Pasta Problem Cracked!
00:03:07
An intrepid undergrad led the way to understanding the physics of snapping strands of spaghetti.
Sep 05, 2018
Science News You Might Have Missed
00:02:25
A few very brief reports about science and technology from around the globe.
Aug 31, 2018
Pineapple Waste Won't Be Wasted
00:03:14
Costa Rican scientists are extracting valuable materials from the peel and stubble of pineapples.
Aug 27, 2018
Sometimes Mosquitoes Are Just Thirsty
00:02:20
Mosquitoes want your blood for its proteins...or simply to hydrate on a hot, dry day.    
Aug 24, 2018
Robot Bartender Will Take Your Order
00:02:50
Digital assistants have to respond quickly, but correctly—so researchers are studying how real humans navigate that trade-off, to design better machines. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Aug 23, 2018
As Spring Arrives Earlier, Arctic Geese Speed Up Their Migration
00:03:02
The birds are arriving in the Arctic up to 13 days earlier than they used to. But at a cost: hunger. Annie Sneed reports. 
Aug 22, 2018
Freeloading Ants Help the Workflow
00:02:33
Fire ants tunnels got excavated efficiently by only a small percentage of the group doing most of the work, thus avoiding pileups in tight spaces.
Aug 21, 2018
Ancient Americans Bred Symbolically Important Scarlet Macaws
00:02:09
Genetic information from the bones of macaws found in abandoned pueblos suggests they were bred and distributed as a commodity. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Aug 20, 2018
Rising CO2 Means Monarch Butterfly Bellyaches
00:02:12
Milkweed grown with more carbon dioxide in the air supplies fewer toxins to monarch butterflies that need the toxins to fight off gut parasites.
Aug 17, 2018
For Some Crows, Migration Is Optional
00:02:33
Crows are what's known as "partial migrants"—as cold weather approaches, some crows fly south whereas others stay put. And that behavior appears to be ingrained. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Aug 16, 2018
Plants Dominate the Planet's Biomass
00:01:52
About 80 percent of Earth's biomass is plant life, with humans about equal to krill way down the heft chart.    
Aug 15, 2018
Solar Eclipse of 2017 Boosted Science Interest
00:02:56
The Michigan Scientific Literacy Survey of 2017 found that last year's total solar eclipse got Americans more interested in celestial science.   
Aug 14, 2018
Crickets Carve Tools to Amplify Their Chirps
00:02:51
The insects fashion and use "baffles"—sound controllers—made of leaves to produce sound more efficiently. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Aug 14, 2018
Computerized Chemical Toxicity Prediction Beats Animal Testing
00:02:38
Researchers programmed a computer to compare structures and toxic effects of different chemicals, making it possible to then predict the toxicity of new chemicals based on their structural similarity to known ones.  
Aug 11, 2018
Better Data Could Mean Better Dating
00:02:15
Both men and women tended to pursue mates just 25 percent more desirable than themselves — suggesting they are "optimistic realists." Christopher Intagliata reports.
Aug 10, 2018
To Evolve Baleen, Lose Your Teeth First
00:02:26
Whale ancestors probably never had teeth and baleen at the same time, and only developed baleen after trying toothlessness and sucking in prey.
Aug 09, 2018
Corn Variety Grabs Fertilizer from the Air
00:02:05
A variety of corn from Oaxaca, Mexico, has aerial roots that harbor nitrogen-fixing bacteria, allowing the corn to suck nitrogen straight from the air. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Aug 07, 2018
Birds Learn Safety from Other Kinds of Birds
00:01:45
Birds become good at avoiding danger by eavesdropping on the alarm calls of other birds—and the learning occurs without even seeing their peers or predators. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Aug 03, 2018
Microbes Share Your Morning Metro Commute

00:01:42
An analysis of the Hong Kong metro found microbes, including some with antibiotic resistance genes, freshly disperse throughout the system each day. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Aug 02, 2018
Oh Say Can You See Subtle Details?
00:02:24
Different people have differing aptitudes for observing small changes and particular features.
Aug 01, 2018
Some Crows Hit On Dead Companions
00:02:51
About 5 percent of crows will attempt to copulate with other crows that have joined the choir invisible .
Jul 31, 2018
Mouth Sets Healing Standard
00:01:48
Certain proteins that coordinate the healing response are present at higher levels in oral tissue—meaning wounds in the mouth fix faster. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jul 30, 2018
Border Wall Could Disrupt Hundreds of Species
00:01:42
More than 2,500 scientists signed a letter saying that an expanded U.S.–Mexico border wall would threaten both biodiversity and scientific research. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jul 26, 2018
Turn a Wall into a Touch Screen Cheap
00:02:26
Researchers used a couple of hundred dollars worth of materials to turn a wall into a giant touch screen
Jul 26, 2018
Ancient Tooth Tartar Traps Clues to Iron Age Diet
00:01:32
By analyzing the proteins in ancient dental plaque, archaeologists determined that British menus almost three millennia ago featured milk, oats and peas. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jul 24, 2018
Honey Bee Alarm Signal Could Protect Elephants
00:02:28
Chemicals designed to simulate honeybee alarm pheromones could deter elephants from farmers’ crops, easing conflicts with humans. Annie Sneed reports.
Jul 23, 2018
Sea Level Rise Could Inundate the Internet
00:01:59
Extreme sea level rise could swamp internet cabling and hubs by 2033—and coastal cities like New York, Seattle and Miami are at greatest risk. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jul 20, 2018
Astronomy Tool Helps ID Sharks
00:03:07
Shark researchers used a system for recognizing patterns in star field photographs to identify whale sharks, which have individual spot patterns.
Jul 20, 2018
Mammals Moonlight around Human Settlements
00:02:31
A study of human–mammal interaction across the globe found animals are more prone to take to the night around humans. Jason G. Goldman reports. 
Jul 19, 2018
Jupiter's Moon Total Hits 79
00:01:59
The International Astronomical Union reports that there are now 79 known Jovian moons, with a dozen found last year.
Jul 17, 2018
Moths Evade Bats with Slight of Wing
00:02:16
Some moth species have evolved long wing tails that flutter and twist as the moth flies, which distract hungry bats. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jul 17, 2018
Science News You Might Have Missed
00:02:11
Very brief reports about science and technology from around the globe.
Jul 14, 2018
Smart Mouth Guard Senses Muscle Fatigue
00:02:03
A prototype flexible electronic mouth guard can measure lactate levels in an athlete’s saliva, tracking muscle fatigue during training and performance.
Jul 13, 2018
Favorite Wine Grapes May Need Genetic Help
00:02:22
Wine book author Kevin Begos explains that just a few varieties of wine grapes dominate the industry, which leaves them vulnerable to potentially catastrophic disease outbreaks.
Jul 11, 2018
Iridescence Could Help Critters Hide in Plain Sight
00:03:31
Iridescence appears to break up the recognizable shape of objects—making them harder to spot. Karen Hopkin reports.
Jul 07, 2018
Primate Conflicts Play Out in the Operating Room
00:01:55
By analyzing 200 surgeries, anthropologists found mixed-gender operating room teams exhibited the highest levels of cooperation. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jul 05, 2018
Sharks Make a Splash in Brooklyn
00:01:48
Visitors can see and learn about sharks and their environment in the new "Ocean Wonders: Sharks!" facility at the Wildlife Conservation Society's New York Aquarium.
Jul 05, 2018
City Life Favors Downsized Invertebrates
00:03:08
Most invertebrates get smaller on average in cities, although a few very mobile species respond to urbanization by growing.
Jul 04, 2018
People Ration Where They Roam
00:01:48
An analysis of the movement of some 40,000 people suggests most of us frequent only 25 places—and as we sub in new favorites, we drop old ones. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jul 03, 2018
Humans Can Size One Another Up with a Roar
00:02:15
Listeners to a person letting loose with a roar can accurately estimate the size and formidability or the human noise maker. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jun 29, 2018
Piano Lessons Tune Up Language Skills
00:01:59
Six months of piano lessons can heighten kindergartners' brain responses to different pitches, and improve their ability to tell apart two similar-sounding words. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jun 26, 2018
Cardinal Rule: Female Birds Sing, Too
00:03:05
Many people assume only male birds do the singing. But females also sing in at least 660 species and perhaps many more.
Jun 26, 2018
Bird's Song Staying Power Implies Culture
00:01:32
Certain motifs in swamp sparrow songs can last hundreds, even thousands of years—evidence of a cultural tradition in the birds. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jun 22, 2018
Alaskan Beluga Whales Ace Hearing Exam
00:01:35
Researchers tested the hearing of beluga whales in an Alaskan bay and found that they seem to have suffered little hearing loss due to ocean noise. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jun 22, 2018
Fat–Carb Combo Is a Potent One–Two Punch
00:03:04
Foods high in both carbs and fats tickle the brain’s reward circuits more so than snacks that showcase just one or the other. Karen Hopkin reports. 
Jun 20, 2018
Jupiter Crackles with Polar Lightning
00:01:38
Juno spacecraft data suggest lightning on Jupiter is much more common than we thought—but it congregates near the poles, not the equator as on Earth. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Jun 18, 2018
Coral Reefs Keep Costly Waves at Bay
00:01:43
A new analysis found the flood protection benefits of coral reefs save the global economy $4 billion dollars a year. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Jun 15, 2018
Hippo Dung Fouls Up Freshwater Fisheries
00:02:50
Hippo poop is piling up in Tanzania’s freshwater fisheries—which is bad news for biodiversity, and deleterious for the dinner plate. Jason G. Goldman reports. 
Jun 15, 2018
A Litmus Test for Bad Breath
00:02:32
Researchers engineered a portable device that detects even the tiniest trace of hydrogen sulfide—one of the primary offenders in bad breath. Karen Hopkin reports. 
Jun 14, 2018
Prez (of AMA) Issues Call to Arms-Science
00:03:08
At the AMA annual meeting the organization's president petitioned for an evidence-based, science-driven analysis of gun violence and solutions.
Jun 12, 2018
Powder Pulls Drinking Water from Desert Air
00:01:46
A structure known as a metal organic framework traps water vapor by night, then releases it when heated the next day. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jun 08, 2018
Ancient Clan War Explains Genetic Diversity Drop
00:02:05
Some 5,000 to 7,000 years ago, the diversity of Y chromosomes plummeted. A new analysis suggests clan warfare may have been the cause. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jun 06, 2018
Saying "This May Hurt" May Make It Worse
00:02:40
Warning a child that something, like a vaccine shot, will hurt can actually increase their perception of the pain.
Jun 06, 2018
Mongooses Gift Grooming for Guard Duty
00:02:12
Humans and other primates often reciprocate good deeds. A new study suggests a nonprimate, the dwarf mongoose, does so, too, even after a delay. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jun 02, 2018
Some Trees Beat Heat with Sweat
00:03:06
During extreme heat waves, a species of eucalyptus copes by releasing water and taking advantage of evaporative cooling. Other trees may do the same.
May 31, 2018
Computers Go Head-to-Head with Humans on Face Recognition
00:01:43
The best facial-recognition algorithms are now as good as the best forensic examiners are. But the best results come by combining human and computer skills. Christopher Intagliata reports.
May 30, 2018
Pinnipeds Don't Appreciate Biped Disturbance
00:02:58
Sea lions and fur seals in Uruguay have become a tourist attraction—but the animals have become less, not more, accepting of humans. Jason G. Goldman reports. 
May 30, 2018
Computers Predict Pop Chart Success
00:02:22
An evolutionary analysis of pop tunes revealed that over the past 30 years songs have grown sadder—but the big hits buck that trend. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
May 25, 2018
Doc's YA Novel Treats Life-and-Death Issues
00:01:40
Pediatric cardiologist Ismée Williams discusses her young adult novel, Water in May, about a teenage girl whose newborn has a life-threatening heart condition.
May 23, 2018
Google's AI Assistant Does Your Talk Tasks
00:02:37
The new Google AI voice assistant, called Duplex, highlights the intricacies of carrying out a mundane human-style conversation, as it keeps you off the phone.
May 17, 2018
Great Ape Makes Good Doc
00:02:45
Orangutans were observed to use plant extracts to treat their own pain.
May 16, 2018
Stool-Pigeon Poop Reveals Bird-Racing Fouls
00:01:59
Racing pigeons is big business—and doping is common. Now scientists have devised a way to detect doping in the avian athletes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
May 16, 2018
Radar Scans Detail North Korean Nukes
00:01:55
Scientists have added radar info to seismic data, isotope measurements and optical imagery to study covert nuclear tests. Christopher Intagliata reports.
May 15, 2018
Hunting Rules Have Changed Mama Bear Care
00:03:01
Hunting regulations in Sweden prohibit killing brown bear mothers in company of cubs—causing mama bears to care for their young longer. Jason G. Goldman reports.
May 12, 2018
Jupiter and Venus Squeeze Earth's Orbit
00:02:35
Sediment records have confirmed that Jupiter and Venus change Earth's orbit from virtually circular to noticeably elliptical and back every 405,000 years. Christopher Intagliata reports.
May 10, 2018
Mars Lander Will Peer Inside the Red Planet
00:03:24
The InSight Mission will look at Mars's seismic activity and latent heat to find out more about how planets get made--and how humans might live there.
May 08, 2018
Plants Can Sense Animal Attack Coming
00:02:45
Tomato plants detected snail slime in soil near them and mounted preemptive defenses, even though they were not directly touched.
May 07, 2018
Archaeologist Makes a Case for Seafaring Neandertals
00:02:39
Ancient tools on Mediterranean islands could predate the appearance of modern humans—suggesting Neandertals took to the seas. Christopher Intagliata reports.
May 05, 2018
Africa: Future Worldwide Science Hub
00:01:56
Thierry Zomahoun, president of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, talks about the potential and needs of science on the continent.
May 03, 2018
Healthful Eating Requires Supermarket Smarts
00:02:55
Advice from an N.Y.U. food policy symposium: eating healthfully means you can't ever let down your guard when shopping.
May 01, 2018
Culture Shapes Kids' Views of Nature
00:02:40
In a study of children interacting with toy animals Native American kids and non-Native kids imagined the animals very differently.
Apr 29, 2018
Bad Audio Can Hurt a Scientist's Credibility
00:02:28
Listeners gave more credence to a scientist’s radio interview when the audio was good quality than they did to the same material when the audio was poor. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Apr 28, 2018
Bill Gates Announces a Universal Flu Vaccine Effort
00:02:43
Today in Boston, Gates announced a $12-million initiative to foster the development of a vaccine effective against all flu strains.
Apr 27, 2018
Drumming Beats Speech for Distant Communication
00:02:38
The Bora people in the northwestern Amazon use drums to send languagelike messages across long distances. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Apr 25, 2018
Bees Have a Goldilocks Lawn Mow Schedule
00:02:33
Lawns mowed every two weeks hosted more bees than lawns mowed every three weeks. Jason G. Goldman reports. 
Apr 24, 2018
If Singing's Tough, Try Whistling
00:02:19
A new study claims it's easier to accurately whistle a melody than to sing it. Christopher Intagliata reports. 
Apr 21, 2018
Traffic Deaths Increase after 4:20 P.M. on 4/20
00:01:55
A look at a database of fatal traffic accidents found a 12 percent increase on the informal marijuana holiday 4/20 after 4:20 P.M. compared with nearby dates.  
Apr 19, 2018
NYC Mice Are Packed with Pathogens
00:02:01
Mice trapped in New York City apartment buildings harbored disease-causing bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Apr 19, 2018
Mine Social Media Posts to Predict Flu
00:02:50
Researchers used Twitter searches for nonflu words associated with behavior to predict flu outbreaks two weeks in advance.
Apr 18, 2018
Planting Milkweed for Monarchs? Make Sure It's Native
00:02:39
Non-native milkweed species planted in the southern U.S. could harm monarch butterflies as temperatures rise. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Apr 17, 2018
The Internet Needs a Tune-Up
00:01:41
Princeton University's Jennifer Rexford talks about optimizing the internet for the uses it got drafted into performing.  
Apr 13, 2018
Glacier Suddenly Goes Galloping
00:02:30
Researchers try to figure out why every 20 years a Pakistan glacier moves roughly 1,500 times faster.  
Apr 12, 2018
Some Habitable Zone Exoplanets May Get X-Rayed Out
00:02:12
Red dwarfs are a popular place to hunt for small exoplanets in the habitable zone—but the stars' radiation bursts might fry chances for life as we know it. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Apr 12, 2018
Right Whales Seem to Think before They Speak
00:02:50
Rather than always making the same call in response to the same stimuli, North Atlantic right whales are capable of changing their vocalizations.
Apr 10, 2018
Old New England Underground May Be Spry after All
00:02:52
The U.S. Northeast may be more geologically active than was previously thought, according to a seismic sensor network.
Apr 08, 2018
Brain Scan Might Reveal Appetite for Risk
00:02:33
Volunteers willing to place riskier bets tended to sport larger amygdalas—a region associated with processing fear. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Apr 07, 2018
Neandertal Face Shape Was All Over the Air
00:02:22
The jutting midface of Neandertals seems to have evolved to help get large volumes of air into an active body that needed lots of oxygen.  
Apr 04, 2018
Rev Up Photosynthesis to Boost Crop Yields
00:01:57
Photosynthesis actually is an inefficient process, but a biological chemist is trying to crank it up. 
Apr 03, 2018
13,000-Year-Old Footprints under West Coast Beach
00:01:40
Several feet below a beach in British Columbia, archaeologists discovered soil trampled by human feet—the oldest footprints found so far in North America. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Apr 01, 2018
Math Cracks a Knuckle-Cracking Mystery
00:02:04
The source of knuckle cracking sounds is much debated—but new mathematical models may reconcile two opposing views. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Mar 29, 2018
Rotting Flesh Offers Insight on Fossilization
00:02:13
To learn more about decay and fossilization, researchers conduct unorthodox experiments—like dissecting decomposing animals in the lab. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Mar 26, 2018
Ravens Crow with Individual Flair
00:03:05
Ravens produce different types of calls depending on their age and sex—which might help ravens size up other individuals. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Mar 24, 2018
U.S. Flu Spread Counts On Southern Cold Snaps
00:02:59
A multifactorial analysis finds that the ignition of a flu epidemic stems from a blast of colder weather striking an otherwise warm, humid, urban environment, and driving people indoors into close quarters.  
Mar 21, 2018
Louise Slaughter Was Congress's Food Safety Champion
00:02:38
Upstate New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, who worked for decades on issues such as overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and food safety in general, died March 16 at the age of 88.
Mar 21, 2018
Arctic Heat Waves Linked to Snowpocalypse-Like Storms
00:02:05
An analysis of more than six decades of daily temperature and snowfall data linked warmer arctic temperatures to cold snaps at lower latitudes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Mar 19, 2018
Gut Parasites Have Their Own Gut Microbiomes
00:02:07
The whipworm lives in the human gut, mooching microbes from its host to build its own microbiome. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Mar 16, 2018
Drones Could Help Biologists Tally Birds
00:02:58
Counting by drone not only saves time and effort, but yields better data on species numbers—a definite plus in terms of conservation. Karen Hopkin reports.
Mar 13, 2018
Saliva Protein Might Inhibit Intestinal Anarchy
00:01:55
A protein found in spit prevents bad bugs from binding to intestinal cells in the lab, pointing to a possible way to lower the chances of dysentery. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Mar 10, 2018
Searching the Heavens for Mountains
00:02:39
Exoplanet hunters are moving beyond simply finding new planets into trying to know what they look like and whether there's surface or subsurface activity.  
Mar 09, 2018
Human Echolocators Use Tricks Similar to Bats
00:02:20
People who use echolocating mouth clicks to compensate for low vision increase the number and intensity of clicks when objects are harder to detect. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Mar 07, 2018
Animal Coloration Can Serve Double Duty
00:02:16
The cinnabar moth caterpillar's coloration pattern warns predators close up, but camouflages the critter from a distance.  
Mar 06, 2018
Some Lichen Fungi Let Genes Go Bye
00:02:37
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.  
Mar 02, 2018
To See Gun Injury Drop, Hold an NRA Meeting
00:02:08
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.
Feb 28, 2018
Big Cities Have Fewer Tweeters Per Capita
00:01:45
But those who do tweet in big cities are more prolific—tweeting more often, on average, than their small-town counterparts. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Feb 27, 2018
How Baby Birds Learn to Duet
00:02:54
Recordings of songbird duets reveal baby birds learn conversational turn-taking like we do: gradually, and from adults. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Feb 23, 2018
Mosquitoes Learn the Smell of Danger
00:02:28
The bloodsuckers lose their appetite for attractive scents when they associate those aromas with a likelihood of being swatted. Karen Hopkin reports.
Feb 22, 2018
Needed: Info on Biodiversity Change over Time
00:01:45
Understanding an ecosystem means following changes in the abundances and identities of the species present as the clock ticks. The BioTIME database should help.
Feb 21, 2018
Undersea Recordings Reveal a Whale's Tale
00:02:22
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.
Feb 19, 2018
Seabird Feathers Reveal Less-Resilient Ocean
00:02:30
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.
Feb 16, 2018
Beetle Liberation Due to Regurgitation
00:02:40
The bombardier beetle can spray its hot brew of toxic chemicals even after bring swallowed, to force a predator into vomiting it back out.
Feb 14, 2018
Old Trees Are Ecosystem Gold
00:01:37
David Lindenmayer of the Australian National University College of Science in Canberra says that older trees play outsize roles in maintaining landscapes and ecosystems.
Feb 13, 2018
Boat Noise Means Fish Can't Learn Their Lessons
00:02:34
Damselfish had trouble learning to avoid predators, when that lesson was accompanied by a soundtrack of buzzing boat engines. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Feb 11, 2018
Woodpeckers Drum to Their Own Tunes
00:01:23
The length and spacing of woodpecker drum rolls varies enough to tell woodpeckers apart—which could be useful to conservation biologists. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Feb 07, 2018
Homebodies Economize on Energy Use
00:02:45
Today’s work-from-home, on-demand culture means more days at home—and translates into greater energy savings, too. Karen Hopkin reports.
Feb 06, 2018
Killer Whale Culture Revealed by Mimicking Us
00:01:47
Orcas can imitate calls from other whales and even human speech—suggesting they can transmit cultural practices, such as unique dialects. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Feb 03, 2018
Holiday Cheer Leads to Birth-Rate Spike
00:03:40
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.
Feb 02, 2018
Ticks on Uptick Where Big Game Declines
00:02:22
Areas of Kenya without large wildlife saw tick populations rise as much as 370 percent—meaning more danger to humans. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Feb 01, 2018
Wildfires Spike Wine with Smoky Notes
00:02:19
Chemists are working on ways for wildfire-affected winemakers to avoid creating smoky wines. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 30, 2018
Lion Conservation Challenges Giraffe Protection
00:02:49
Having lions and giraffes together in protected areas means far lower survival rates for juvenile giraffes. Jason Goldman reports.
Jan 26, 2018
Nobelist Crafts Light-Switchable Antibiotics
00:01:38
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.
Jan 26, 2018
Catching Flu Also Boosts Heart Risk
00:01:44
Researchers found a sixfold increase in heart attacks in patients in the week following a flu. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 25, 2018
Worldwide Effort Says Together Science Can
00:01:19
Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, talked about worldwide scientific collaboration today at the World Economic Forum.  
Jan 23, 2018
Canada Geese Taking a Winter Staycation
00:02:35
The geese are wintering farther and farther north, in urban areas like Chicago—which may help them avoid hunters. Emily Schwing reports.
Jan 22, 2018
Moon's Tug Doesn't Cause Big Quakes
00:01:52
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.
Jan 20, 2018
Social Media Helps ID Spew Source
00:02:19
Surveillance of Yelp restaurant reviews for terms like vomit led researchers to the sources of foodborne illness outbreaks. Karen Hopkin reports. 
Jan 19, 2018
Salmonella Could Have Caused 16th-Century Epidemic
00:01:59
Using a new algorithm, geneticists uncovered the pathogen that could have caused a massive epidemic in the Aztec empire: Salmonella bacteria. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 18, 2018
Which Came First, the Proboscis or the Flower?
00:02:34
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.
Jan 13, 2018
You Live in a Strange Solar System
00:01:53
Astronomers found that other star systems tend to host similarly sized exoplanets—far different from ours. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Jan 11, 2018
Glow Sticks Help Ecologists Study Amphibians
00:02:44
Ecologists needed a way to more easily keep track of populations of amphibians, and green glow sticks lit the way.
Jan 10, 2018
Air Force Tracks Final Frontier
00:02:12
General Jay Raymond, Commander of Air Force Space Command, talks about keeping watch over space and cyber.  
Jan 04, 2018
You Traveled Far Last Year
00:01:28
Getting around the sun in 2017 was a memorable trip.
Jan 03, 2018
Finches Can Learn to Sing Differently Than Their Genetics Dictate
00:02:46
The song training that Bengalese finches received appeared to overcome tempo tendencies baked into their genes. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 30, 2017
Baby Bats Can Learn Different Dialects
00:03:13
Fruit bats raised hearing different pitches of sounds vocalized in keeping with their aural environment as they matured.
Dec 29, 2017
Mongoose Societies Are Skeptical of Strangers
00:03:14
It takes months for members of a mongoose breeding society to trust newcomers with important tasks like watching for predators. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Dec 24, 2017
Pain and Weather Fail to Connect
00:02:35
A big data analysis involving more than 1.5 million patients could find no relationship between weather and complaints to doctors about joint or back pain.  
Dec 24, 2017
Finding Further Places for Solar Panels
00:02:04
Siting solar panels over rooftops, parking lots, reservoirs and contaminated land could generate heaps of energy—with minimal effects on agriculture or the environment. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 23, 2017
This Fish Emits Damaging Decibels
00:02:26
The Gulf corvina produces a chattering chorus that’s one of the loudest underwater animal sounds on the planet. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 21, 2017
Repetitive Sounds Are Music to the Brain
00:02:52
Repeating something can render that thing melodious—even the sound of a shovel being dragged across the pavement. Karen Hopkin reports.
Dec 19, 2017
Radiation Might Help Heart Regain Its Rhythm
00:03:16
A flash of radiation drastically reduced arrhythmia in a small group of patients, for at least a year after treatment. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 17, 2017
Dark Fiber Networks Can Sense Seismicity
00:03:14
Scientists are exploring the use of fiber-optic cables—like the ones that form the backbone of the internet—to monitor earthquakes. Julia Rosen reports.
Dec 16, 2017
Supermarket Snacking Boosts Sales
00:01:38
Noshing while shopping convinces consumers to buy the featured product more often than does simply seeing end-of-aisle displays. Karen Hopkin reports.
Dec 15, 2017
Something Clicks for Dolphin Identification
00:02:19
Machine-learning algorithms teased seven distinct dolphin clicking patterns from a library of more than 50 million clicks, identifying one species by sound alone. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 14, 2017
Nutrition Guidelines Healthy for the Planet, Too
00:02:35
Following dietary guidelines would mean eating less meat and dairy—and fewer calories overall—reducing greenhouse gases and other pollution. Julia Rosen reports.
Dec 12, 2017
Invading Beavers Turn Tundra to Ponds
00:02:12
New beaver ponds in the Arctic may contribute to the destruction of the permafrost that holds that landscape together.  
Dec 11, 2017
Sharks Rule the Reef's Underwater Food Chain
00:02:58
When sharks prowl shallow waters, fish quit foraging and hide—sparing seaweed from being grazed in those areas. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Dec 10, 2017
Ancient Women Had Awesome Arms
00:03:09
For thousands of years, women in agricultural societies seem to have had arms stronger than members of modern rowing teams.  
Dec 10, 2017
Invasive Frogs Don't Bug Hawaiian Birds
00:02:47
Coquí frogs are invasive species in Hawaii. But they don’t seem to bug the islands’ native and nonnative birds. Jason G. Goldman reports.
Dec 08, 2017
How Hospitals Can Dampen the Decibels
00:02:17
Hospitals consistently score low on quietness surveys. An acoustician suggests a few ways hospitals could keep the peace and quiet. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 08, 2017
Smarter Management Means More Inventions Get to Market
00:02:07
Rosemarie Truman, CEO of the Center for Advancing Innovation, says a better system of governance for federally funded inventions could lead to many more good ones becoming commercialized.  
Dec 06, 2017
Computers Learn to Use Sound to Find Ships
00:02:20
Researchers trained machine-learning algorithms to pinpoint the location of a cargo ship simply by eavesdropping on the sound of its passing. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 06, 2017
Yeti Claims Don't Bear Up
00:02:16
Analysis of alleged yeti samples found them to be from less fantastic beasts, such as bears, but also shed light on the evolution of those local bear populations.
Dec 04, 2017
Republican Voters Not in Denial about Climate
00:01:31
An analysis of voter opinions finds that half of Republican voters think climate change is happening, and would support regulating CO2 as a pollutant. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Dec 02, 2017
Tech Honcho Wants Innovation for the Bottom Billion
00:02:28
At the World Conference of Science Journalists in October, Nathan Myhrvold, co-founder of Intellectual Ventures, charged innovation outfits with changing the lives of the world's most disadvantaged.  
Dec 01, 2017
Bumper Stickers Make Highways More Social
00:02:41
A social scientist studies how car stickers turn the roads into actual information highways.  
Nov 30, 2017
Chimps Able to Apprehend Another Chimp's Mind-Set
00:02:24
By listening to the calls of their brethren, chimps seem to be able to understand the mind-sets and perspectives of other chimps. Jason Goldman reports.
Nov 28, 2017
Even without Hands Honeybees Show Handedness
00:02:35
About half the honeybees in a test exhibited no sidedness, but the other half was split 50–50 between righties and lefties—perhaps to navigate obstacles more efficiently.  
Nov 27, 2017
Humpback Whale Flippers Do More Than Maneuver
00:02:17
Researchers attached cameras to humpback whales and found that they flap their flippers to help power forward swimming.  
Nov 26, 2017
A New Recipe for Counting Cranberries
00:01:54
Estimating cranberry harvests involves tedious hand-counting. But microwave analysis could change all that. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 23, 2017
How Fit Is Bitcoin?
00:01:48
A new analysis treats bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies as species in an evolutionary model—and finds bitcoin has no selective advantage. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 22, 2017
Salmon Sex Changes Entire Landscape
00:02:35
Salmon excavate streambed holes in which to lay eggs, setting off a chain of events that has surprisingly large geographical effects.  
Nov 20, 2017
Ancient 1 Percenters Were Beast-Based
00:02:07
New World societies long ago likely had less income inequality than those in the Old World, and the difference might have been an oxen gap. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 17, 2017
Feathers Help This Bird Sound the Alarm
00:02:34
The crested pigeon, found in Australia, has a modified wing feather that helps produce an alarm signal sound to warn other birds when there's trouble.  
Nov 16, 2017
Put Space Cat on a Pedestal
00:02:19
A campaign calls for the creation of a statue to recognize Félicette, the first cat to be sent into space.  
Nov 15, 2017
Polluted Water Whale Invents New Feeding Strategy
00:02:24
The Bryde's whale has come up with a passive but more efficient feeding strategy in the hypoxic waters of the Gulf of Thailand.  
Nov 13, 2017
Insect Brain System Knows What You Want
00:01:59
Computer scientists borrowed insights from the fruit fly brain to create a more accurate search algorithm. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 10, 2017
Sheep's Face-Reading Skills Stand Out from the Flock
00:01:19
With some training, sheep were able to select a celebrity's face over that of a stranger they'd never seen. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 09, 2017
Nearby Exoplanets Invigorate the Search for E.T.
00:02:25
SETI pioneer Jill Tarter and Berkeley researcher Dan Werthimer talk about how the discovery of nearby exoplanets is inspiring new efforts to gain info about these galactic neighbors.    
Nov 08, 2017
Bison Comeback Story Has a Bronx Accent
00:01:53
On National Bison Day, a look at the role the Bronx played in reestablishing herds of bison on the American plains.     
Nov 04, 2017
Mammoth Remains Seem Mostly Male
00:01:35
In a sample of 98 woolly mammoth remains, researchers found that 70 percent were male—which suggests males were more likely to die accidentally. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 04, 2017
Physics Phenomenon Reveals a Pyramid's Mystery
00:01:33
Scientists used muons, a by-product of cosmic rays, to image the interior of the Great Pyramid—and found a previously unknown space inside. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Nov 02, 2017
A Moth with a Potent Cocktail of Poison
00:02:23
The wood tiger moth is the first species known in which fluids from various parts of the moth’s body each target a different type of predator. Jason Goldman reports.
Nov 02, 2017
Drought News Might Help Cut Water Waste
00:01:45
As news coverage of California's most recent drought intensified, water use trends went down—suggesting news might inspire consumers to conserve. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Oct 28, 2017
Smog Casts a Shadow on China's Solar Farms
00:01:26
The wintertime smog in China's northeastern provinces is so severe it blocks more than 20 percent of sunlight from reaching the region's solar panels. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Oct 26, 2017
Dogs Bow to Wolves as Cooperators
00:02:52
Wolves appear to have better cooperation skills than dogs—unless the pups partner up with humans. Karen Hopkin reports.
Oct 24, 2017
California Gun Injuries Spike after Nevada Gun Shows
00:01:55
Firearm deaths and injuries went up in California communities after gun shows in neighboring Nevada—but not after more strictly regulated California gun shows. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Oct 24, 2017
Mosquitoes to Other Flying Insects: Do You Even Generate Lift?
00:02:36
Mosquitos stealthily float off us after filling up, by virtue of fast wingbeats that generate almost instant lift with only an imperceptible additional push from the legs.    
Oct 21, 2017
Keep Your Wi-Fi off KRACK
00:01:56
Up-to-date software, apps, browsers and router software offer the best protection against a potential flaw in wi-fi security called a key reinstallation attack, or KRACK.  
Oct 20, 2017
Ships at Sea Stoke Lightning Strikes
00:02:47
Exhaust fumes from oceangoing vessels lead to an almost doubling of lightning activity over shipping lanes compared to adjacent areas of the sea.  
Oct 18, 2017
Gamers Wanted to Attack Food Toxin
00:02:49
By playing the online game Foldit, players might help design an enzyme that can stop aflatoxins from making millions sick.
Oct 16, 2017
Even Jellyfish Need a Nap
00:03:05
Jellyfish exhibit signs of a sleep state, which could mean that sleep predates the evolutionary development of central nervous systems.  
Oct 14, 2017
Squirrels Chunk Their Buried Treasure
00:02:57
Under certain circumstances squirrels will bury all of the same kind of nut near one another, a mnemonic strategy known as chunking.  
Oct 13, 2017
Cougar Calls Get Big Bear Reactions
00:02:09
Black bears and cougars share the Vancouver countryside, but not happily.
Oct 12, 2017
Biometric Identifies You in a Heartbeat
00:01:46
Like fingerprints and facial recognition, the shape and beat of your heart can be used to verify your identity. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Oct 07, 2017
When We Fly to Mars, Microbes Will, Too
00:01:56
The microbes that live in and on our bodies will colonize a human-manned spacecraft to Mars—but will the spacecraft's microbiome be safe? Christopher Intagliata reports.
Oct 06, 2017
Nobel in Chemistry for Seeing Biomolecules in Action
00:02:01
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution.  
Oct 04, 2017
Nobel in Physics for Detecting Gravitational Waves
00:02:55
The Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves".  
Oct 03, 2017
Nobel in Physiology or Medicine for Our Inner Clocks
00:02:13
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2017 was awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling circadian rhythms.  
Oct 02, 2017
Electric Eels Increase Shock by Leaving Water
00:02:43
Submerged electric eels lose current to water, so they apparently leap into the air to minimize their contact with water and maximize their shock value.  
Oct 02, 2017
Australian Bird Dips Its Dinner
00:02:38
A chance observation led researchers to add the Australian Magpie to the short list of birds that dunk their food in water before eating.  
Sep 30, 2017
Tsunami Sent Species on a Transoceanic Trip
00:01:59
The 2011 east Japan tsunami swept huge amounts of wreckage out to sea—and Japanese species hitchhiked across the Pacific on the debris. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 28, 2017
1 Sneeze, 1 Vote among African Wild Dogs
00:02:29
Individuals in packs of African wild dogs appear to sneeze to make their wishes known regarding when to get up and hunt.
Sep 27, 2017
This Frog Can't Hear Its Own Calls
00:02:13
The frogs' calls are too high-pitched for the frog to detect, which may be an artifact of evolution. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 24, 2017
Building a Better Mirror for Telescopes
00:02:00
More reflective telescope mirrors allow astronomers to capture more photons —and do more science. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 22, 2017
Galaxies Far, Far Away Send Us Highest-Energy Cosmic Rays
00:02:10
A new study hints that the most energetic particles ever seen come from far beyond the Milky Way.  
Sep 21, 2017
Springtime Now Arrives Earlier for Birds
00:02:46
A trove of scientific notes from the early 1900s suggests a warming climate is driving birds to migrate earlier to New York’s Mohonk Preserve. Julia Rosen reports.
Sep 21, 2017
Warming Puts Squeeze on Ancient Trees
00:02:32
As temperatures rise, the tree line moves upslope. But ancient bristlecone pines are losing that upslope race to faster-colonizing neighbors. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 18, 2017
Rising CO2 Pushes Plants to Drink Sparingly
00:02:31
As carbon dioxide levels rise, plants are sipping water more efficiently—which could come in handy in a drier future. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 16, 2017
Cannibalism Quells Contagion among Caterpillars
00:02:07
Cannibalistic caterpillars prevent disease from decimating their populations by removing infected individuals. Emily Schwing reports.
Sep 13, 2017
Feds Want to Know Who's Protesting Trump
00:02:03
Internet hosting company DreamHost is battling the U.S. Justice Department over requests for information about people visiting a Web site for organizing protests. Larry Greenemeier reports.
Sep 12, 2017
Windows Vex Bats' Echolocating Abilities
00:02:25
Smooth vertical surfaces like windows reflect sound waves away from bats—meaning bats can't "see" windows and similar obstacles with echolocation. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 07, 2017
Wetlands Could Save Cities--and Money, Too
00:02:14
Using insurance industry models, researchers determined that wetlands prevented some $625 million in damages due to Hurricane Sandy. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 06, 2017
Rabbit Relatives Reel from Climate Change
00:02:09
Pikas, a hampster-size rabbit relative, have disappeared from a 64-square-mile plot in the northern Sierra Nevada—and climate change is a likely culprit. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 02, 2017
Winking Star 6 Centuries Ago Explained
00:02:49
A star that appeared and then vanished in A.D. 1437 was an explosion in a binary star system—which now reveals clues about the life cycle of certain stars. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Sep 01, 2017
Grazing Cattle Trim the Menu for Birds
00:02:42
When cattle graze the desert's natural landscape, birds face changes in food availability—and some species are unable to adapt. Jason Goldman reports.
Aug 30, 2017
Climate Change Might Shrink Fish
00:01:35
Warmer water boosts fishes' demand for oxygen—and their bodies may shrink in response. Christopher Intagliata reports.
Aug 30, 2017