Science Quickly

How to Roll a Joint Perfectly, according to Science

31 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists used a smoking machine—complete with a 3-D-printed mouthpiece—to figure out how to get the most cannabinoid per puff.  Learn more abo...

Here's How AI Can Predict Hit Songs With Frightening Accuracy

28 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

New AI technology predicts hit songs—by listening to someone’s body.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here's Why Actors Are So Worried about AI

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Here’s what’s behind the A.I technology that has worried so many actors—including something called “the orb.” Learn more about your ad choic...

Are You a Lucid Dreamer?

24 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A sleep researcher who studies what dreams can tell us about the possible onset of some mental disorders believes lucid dreamers might hold a lot of a...

Here's What 'Oppenheimer' Gets Right--And Wrong--About Nuclear History

21 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Here’s what a historian who has studied J. Robert Oppenheimer for two decades has to say about the new Christopher Nolan film on the father of the a...

How Stress Messes With Your Gut

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Inflammatory bowel disease flare-ups can be traced to mental stress Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should We Care About AI's Emergent Abilities?

17 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Here’s how large language models, or LLMs, actually work.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What That Jazz Beat Tells Us about Hearing and The Brain

14 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Very small delays in swing jazz point to our evolution as a supremely auditory species. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just like People, Orangutans Get Smoker's Voice

10 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

New research has discovered that wildfire smoke hurts these primates’ voice—and health. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...

Doctor AI Will See You Now

07 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

ChatGPT and other AI programs can offer medical advice. But how good are they? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

El Niño is Back. What Does That Mean For You?

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The famous climate pattern El Niño could usher in a new hottest year on record and will have domino effects on the world’s weather. Learn more abo...

The Kavli Prize Presents: How Your Brain Maps the World [Sponsored]

29 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

John O’Keefe shared the Kavli Prize in Neuroscience in 2014 for discovering that neurons in the hippocampus encode an animal’s location and create...

The Universe Is Abuzz with Giant Gravitational Waves, and Scientists Just Heard Them (Maybe)

28 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers, using the galaxy as a detector, believe they have detected gravitational waves from monster black holes for the first time. Learn more a...

Poisons and Perils on the Salton Sea

26 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Toxic dust plagues marginalized communities on the shores of this disappearing salt lake. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...

These Ants Are Probably Better at Navigating Than You Are

23 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Desert ants living in the featureless salt plains of Tunisia count their steps and erect tall entrances at their nests to find their way back home. Le...

How to Cool Down Fast in Summer Heat

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Your body has a secret cooling method, and scientists explain how to use it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow a Hurricane Expert into the Heart Of the Beast

19 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Along with an expert, we take you into some of nature's most monstrous storms.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have Astronomers Seen the Universe's First Stars?

16 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The James Webb Space Telescope is giving us our first glimpse of stars in the early universe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...

Cleo, the Mysterious Math Menace

14 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2013 a new user named Cleo took an online math forum by storm with unproved answers. Today she’s an urban legend. But who was she? Learn more abo...

MDMA Moves from Party Drug Back to Therapy Tool

12 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The party drug MDMA could soon be approved for treating people with severe PTSD. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Five Things You Need to Know about Wildfire Smoke Right Now

09 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Where is it coming from? How long will it last? What's in the smoke? Whose health is at risk? How do you clean your own air? Learn more about your ad ...

These Predators Had a Face like an Axe and Will Haunt Your Nightmares

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Terror birds were the grizzly bears of birds, the great white sharks of the land, Jack the Ripper but with feathers. They were also truly fascinating....

This Thunderous Goose Relative Was Built like a Tank with the Wings of a Songbird

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Officially, these prehistoric birds are the dromornithids, but everyone who studies them calls them thunderbirds—and for good reason. Learn more ab...

This Gargantuan Bird Weighed as Much as a Sports Car

02 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The elephant bird was the heaviest bird to ever walk the earth. Also, its eggs were 150 times the size of a chicken egg and thick as a dinner plate. ...

This Massive Scientific Discovery Sat Hidden in a Museum Drawer for Decades

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The fossil was a prehistoric bird called Pelagornis sandersi, and its wings stretched out twice as wide as those of the great albatross.  Learn mor...

The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding the Machinery of the Cell [Sponsored]

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

James Rothman shared The Kavli Prize in Neuroscience in 2010 for discovering the molecular basis of neurotransmitter release. How did a biochemist com...

What the End of the COVID Emergency Means for You

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What you pay for tests, vaccines, and medicine will change Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Heat Waves Are Breaking Records. Here's What You Need to Know

22 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From North America to South Asia, summer heat waves are becoming longer, stronger and more frequent with climate change. Learn more about your ad cho...

Why We're Worried about Generative AI

19 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From the technology upsetting jobs and causing intellectual property issues to models making up fake answers to questions, here’s why we’re concer...

Dismantling the PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' Legacy [Sponsored]

18 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

More sustainable ways of removing persistent chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the environment are on the horizon. Le...

Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder through the 'Community' of Ella

17 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We learn the story of “Ella,” a patient with 12 different personalities, or “parts,” and of her therapist, who helped her form a peaceful comm...

Is Time Travel Even Possible?

15 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Two SciAm editors duke it out to see if wormholes and multiverses could in fact exist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Parrot Babies Babble Just like Us

12 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Parrot nestlings spend time stringing together jumbled mixtures of sound—a rehearsal for more adult conversations   Learn more about your ad choic...

A 19th-Century Obscenity Law Is Being Used Again to Limit Abortion

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Recent rulings on the abortion pill cite the Comstock Act, a 150-year-old law that’s still on the books Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...

These Mini Ecosystems Existed Underfoot of Dinosaurs, but Our Parking Lots Might Pave Them to Extinction

08 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Vernal pools are safe havens for creatures such as fairy shrimp, and they have lived through the end of the dinosaurs, the breakup of Pangaea and mu...

This $600-Million Room Contains the World's Largest Collection of These Tiny Endangered Animals

05 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Inside a vault at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles lies a microscopic population of immense value—the repository for vernal pool fairy shr...

Surviving in the Ephemeral Pools of Life

03 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Carpets of gold, burrowing toads and fairy shrimp all depend on vernal pools—habitats that, most of the time, do not exist. Learn more about y...

This Fleeting Ecosystem Is Magical, and You Have Probably Never Heard of It or Even Noticed It

01 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Vernal pools are home to spectacular residents such as fairy shrimp, but these unusual natural wonders are under threat. Learn more about your ad c...

Do We Need To Save the Whales Again?

28 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A scientist who does whale necropsies — or in layman's terms, whale autopsies — tells us why so many dead whales are washing up on beaches.  Lear...

The Bad Side of 'Good' Cholesterol

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Very high HDL cholesterol levels almost double your risk of heart problems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI Chatbots and the Humans Who Love Them

24 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Humans are building meaningful relationships with AI chatbots. What will the consequences be? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc...

A Mission to Jupiter's Strange Moons Is Finally on Its Way

19 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) and Europa Clipper missions will search for signs of habitability on three of Jupiter’s potentially ocean-bea...

The Surprising Backstory behind Witch Hunts and Reproductive Labor

18 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Two of the foremost experts on witch hunts talk about the link between the formation of domestic labor and the rise of witch hunting. Learn more abou...

What You Need to Know about GPT-4

14 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The AI GPT-4 has emergent abilities—but that’s not why it’s scary.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Good News for Coffee Lovers

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A careful new study reveals coffee is generally safe for your heart and may boost your daily step count. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...

Meet the Magnificent Microbes of the Deep Unknown

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

These two researchers journey toward the center of Earth—via windows to the crust—to find bacteria that can breathe iron, arsenic and other metals...

How Zombifying Fungi Became Master Manipulators

07 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The real-life fungi that inspired The Last of Us hijack the bodies of ants, wasps, cicadas, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...

Science Has New Ideas about 'Oumuamua's Weirdness

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our first known interstellar visitor is now long gone, but new research has some ideas about why it moved the way it did while it was in our cosmic ne...

Open Offices Aren't Working, so How Do We Design an Office That Does?

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Insights from Deaf and autistic communities could finally make office spaces better for everyone.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone....

Cosmos, Quickly: Remembering the Genius of Vera Rubin

31 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Vera Rubin went from a teenager with a cardboard telescope to the “mother of dark matter.” Some of her colleagues and mentees weigh in on her fas...

Long COVID's Roots in the Brain: Your Health, Quickly, Episode 3

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Post-COVID symptoms can linger for months or years, and more and more evidence points to problems with the nervous system. Learn more about your ad ch...

If AI Starts Making Music on Its Own, What Happens to Musicians?

27 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Music made with artificial intelligence could upend the music industry. Here’s what that might look like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit me...

Music-Making Artificial Intelligence Is Getting Scary Good

24 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Google’s new AI model can generate entirely new music from text prompts. Here’s what they sound like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...

Artificial Intelligence Helped Make the Coolest Song You've Heard This Week

22 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Machine-learning algorithms are getting so good that they can translate Western instruments into Thai ones with ease. Learn more about your ad choi...

Space Force Humor, Laser Dazzlers, and the Havoc a War in Space Would Actually Wreak

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the inaugural episode of Cosmos, Quickly, we blast off with Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno of the Space Force, who is charged with protecting our space in ...

Squeak Squeak, Buzz Buzz: How Researchers Are Using AI to Talk to Animals

17 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The burgeoning field of “digital bioacoustics” is helping us understand animals like never before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...

RSV Vaccines Are Coming At Last: Your Health, Quickly, Episode 2

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A vaccine pioneer tells us that shots to protect against RSV—a dangerous virus for babies and older people—are finally nearing approval. Learn mor...

If the Mathematical Constant Pi Was a Song, What Would It Sound Like?

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Every year on Pi Day, we have a reason to celebrate one of math’s most famous symbols. But this year we speak to someone who has captured it in song...

How To Stop a (Potentially Killer) Asteroid

10 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We slammed a $330-million spaceship the size of a dairy cow into an asteroid the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Here’s what we’re learning abo...

The Scientific Secret to Soothing Fussy Babies

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Some animals’ babies physically relax when their parents whisk them away from danger. The same thing works for tiny, wailing humans. Learn more abo...

How Helper Sharks Discovered the World's Largest Seagrass Ecosystem

06 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Scientists partnered with tiger sharks to map seagrass—the unsung hero of ocean conservation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

How the Woolly Bear Caterpillar Turns into a Popsicle to Survive the Winter

03 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Some caterpillars have evolved with antifreeze in their body cavity, allowing them to become cater-Popsicles to survive cold winters. But climate ch...

The Pandemic's Mental Toll, and Does Telehealth Work? Your Health, Quickly, Episode 1

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hosts Josh Fischman and Tanya Lewis explore the pandemic’s mental health toll on teens and young adults. They also delve into the effectiveness of ...

Does Not Being Able to Picture Something in Your Mind Affect Your Creativity?

27 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers who study aphantasia, or the inability to visualize something in your “mind’s eye,” are starting to get a sense of how to accurately...

Sorry, UFO Hunters--You Might Just Be Looking at a Spy Balloon

24 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

From space aliens to foreign surveillance, we spoke to experts to find out what’s really going on with the balloon brouhaha. Learn more about your a...

Building Resilience in the Face of Climate Change [Sponsored]

23 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Successfully mitigating the impacts of climate change will rely heavily on innovation in science and technology. Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

How Do We Find Aliens? Maybe Unlearn What We Know About 'Life' First

22 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Science might be redefining what “life out there” really means. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Love and the Brain: Do Partnerships Really Make Us Happy? Here's What the Science Says

20 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How romance affects our well-being is a lot more complicated than “they lived happily ever after.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...

Love and the Brain: The Animal Matchmaker and the Panda Romeo and Juliet

17 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In fair zoo-ona, a pair of star-cross’d pandas take their life. And we learn about whether or not animals can fall in love. Learn more about your a...

Love and the Brain: How Attached Are We to Attachment Styles?

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are you “anxious,” “avoidant” or “disorganized?” So-called attachment styles have taken the Internet by storm. But it turns out there’s...

Love and the Brain, Part 1: The 36 Questions, Revisited

13 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Host Shayla Love dives into the true story behind the now infamous 36 questions that lead to love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

Coming Soon to Your Podcast Feed: Science, Quickly

06 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A new era in Scientific American audio history is about to drop starting next week. Get ready for a science variety show guaranteed to quench your cur...

The 60-Second Podcast Takes a Short Break--But Wait, There's More

21 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American’s short-form podcast has been going for 16 years, three months and seven days, counting today. But it’s time for us to evol...

Is Your Phone Actually Draining Your Brain?

20 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A new study puts the “brain drain hypothesis”—the idea that just having a phone next to you impacts your cognition—to the test to see if the...

Why Your Dog Might Think You're a Bonehead

16 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The verdict is in: female dogs actively evaluate human competence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alaska's Protective Sea Ice Wall Is Crumbling because of the Climate Crisis

14 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A massive storm slammed into Alaska’s western coast, and there was no ice to stop it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

It's the Bass That Makes Us Boogie

09 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Concertgoers danced more when music was supplemented with low-frequency bass tones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Vaccines Saved Money and Lives and China's Zero-COVID Protests: COVID, Quickly Podcast, Episode 44

06 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Vaccines saved New York City billions of dollars, and China faces public fury over its strict virus-control policies. Learn more about your ad choices...

'Chatty Turtles' Flip the Script on the Evolutionary Origins of Vocalization in Animals

02 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Recordings of more than 50 species of turtles and other animals help scientists reassess the origins of acoustic communication in vertebrates. Learn m...

Tardigrades, an Unlikely Sleeping Beauty

30 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers put this ancient critter through a subzero gauntlet to learn more about what happens to their internal clock while surviving the extreme. ...

A Burned Redwood Forest Tells a Story of Climate Change, Past, Present and Future

23 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From the ashes of the giants of Big Basin Redwoods State Park arise a history of fire suppression and real questions about what happens to the forests...

Antivirals Could Reduce Long COVID Risk and How Well the New Boosters Work: COVID, Quickly Podcast, Episode 43

22 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this new episode of our coronavirus podcast, we discuss a study that looked at the effects of Paxlovid on long COVID symptoms, and we also talk ne...

A Honeybee Swarm Has as Much Electric Charge as a Thundercloud

15 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

New research shows that bees “buzz” in more than the way you might think. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

These Punk Rock Penguins Have a Bizarre Breeding Strategy

11 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

New Zealand’s erect-crested penguin lays two eggs but rejects the first one—the opposite of how most birds prioritize their offspring. Learn more...

The Viral Triple Threat and Why You Need a Booster: COVID, Quickly, Episode 42

08 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

COVID, flu and RSV are surging. Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What You Need to Know about Iran's Surveillance Tech

04 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American technology editor Sophie Bushwick explains how Iran is using surveillance tech against vulnerable citizens. Learn more about your ...

Delivering Equitable Lung Cancer Care [Sponsored]

28 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As recent advances improve the prospects of detecting and catching lung cancer early, a new challenge arises: how to ensure people worldwide, regardle...

New Halloween 'Scariant' Variants and Boosting Your Immunity: COVID, Quickly, Episode 41

25 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In a new episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we talk about the variants that are likely to be around this winter and how boosters help even if you’...

These Hawks Have Figured Out How to See the Bat in the Swarm

21 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

New research shows that birds of prey attempting to grab a bat from a roiling mass of the flying mammals have developed a way to cope with the confusi...

Naps Not Needed to Make New Memories

14 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rats kept awake after exploring novel objects remembered the original items but not where they’d seen those objects, raising interesting questions ...

How the Pandemic Shortened Life Expectancy and New Drugs on the Horizon: COVID, Quickly, Episode 40

11 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we talk about why we’ve had years shaved off our average collective life since 2020. Also, we talk a...

Engineering the Treatment of Early-Stage Lung Cancer [SPONSORED]

07 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Early-stage lung cancers are not only difficult to diagnose—they’ve also proved difficult to curatively treat. Learn more about your ad choices. ...

Rediscovered Red Wolf Genes May Help Conserve the Species

05 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A surprising new gene discovery in coyotes may help conserve the critically endangered wolf. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

What the Disease Feels Like, and Presidents Can't End Pandemics: COVID, Quickly, Episode 39

27 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, Josh Fischman gets COVID, and President Joe Biden says the pandemic is over. Learn more about your ad ...

These Spiders Use Their Webs like Huge, Silky Ears

23 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A study of orb-weaving spiders shows that the arachnids’ webs pick up a range of sounds—and that they are always “listening” for vibrations c...

Chewing Consumes a Surprising Amount of Energy

21 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Chomping on food takes so much energy that it shaped human evolution. Our ancestors spent many hours a day chewing, which may have shaped our teeth an...

These Bats Buzz like Bees to Save Their Own Lives

16 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

New research has discovered the first case of acoustic mimicry between a mammal and an insect—an acquired skill that could just save certain bats’...

Unvaxxed Kids and 8 Days a Week (of Isolation): COVID, Quickly, Episode 38

13 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is our second back-to-school special episode of COVID. Quickly. Today we talk about two big issues: the low vaccination rates among the littlest ...

Listen to Images from the James Webb Space Telescope

09 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It turns out that making new views of the universe accessible to those with vision impairment has required some deep thought—and carefully chosen wo...

These Tiny Pollinators Can Travel Surprisingly Huge Distances

07 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It turns out that hoverflies may fly hundreds or even thousands of miles—all to help pollinate our flowers and vegetables. Learn more about your ad...