Science Quickly

During a Heat Wave, You Can Blast the AC, but What Does a Squirrel Do?

31 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Although recent spikes in temperature affect all of us, our urban critters have had to find their own ways to beat the heat. Sometimes they “sploot....

Back-to-School Special: Kids, Tests and Long COVID Reassurance: COVID, Quickly, Episode 37

30 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This is our back-to-school special episode of COVID, Quickly. We’ll talk about why COVID testing is about to become a school problem—and about whe...

This Artificial Intelligence Learns like a Baby

26 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Engineers at the company DeepMind built a machine-learning system based on research on how babies’ brain works, and it did better on certain t...

Understanding the Inner Workings of Stars [Sponsored]

25 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Conny Aerts is an astrophysicist and a pioneer of asteroseismology. This year she shared the Kavli Prize in Astrophysics for her research and leadersh...

Dogs Actually Tear Up When Their Owners Come Home

24 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our puppies’ eyes well up, a reaction caused by oxytocin, which makes us want to take care of them even more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

A Lifelong Quest to Improve Mental Health among Cancer Patients [Sponsored]

23 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Recognizing those who are making a meaningful impact in the lives of cancer patients, the Cancer Community Awards, sponsored by AstraZeneca, presents ...

How Next-Generation Sequencing Can Enable Precision Oncology [Sponsored]

19 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Celebrating those who enhance the ability to provide the right treatment for the right patient at the right time, the Cancer Community Awards, sponsor...

Hawking, a Paradox and a Black Hole Mystery, Solved?

19 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We do not have a theory to tell us everything about how a black hole works, but new research is shedding a least some light on one of their many myste...

Monkeypox Update and Homing in on Long COVID: COVID, Quickly, Episode 36

16 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we take a few minutes to talk about the other virus making headlines—and then return to long COVID. L...

Fueling Patients' Drive to Treatment [Sponsored]

15 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Celebrating those who significantly improve access to cancer care for underserved populations, the Cancer Community Awards, sponsored by AstraZeneca, ...

Researchers Created a Potion That Turns Loud Lions into Placid Pussycats

12 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A single whiff of oxytocin, a chemical that some call the “love hormone,” promotes tolerance among lions at a wildlife sanctuary. Learn more about...

Reaching the Root of Disparities in Cancer Care [Sponsored]

10 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Celebrating those who strive to overcome disparities in cancer care to bring quality services to their patients, the Cancer Community Awards, sponsore...

For Some Dolphins, the Key to Mating is Rolling with a Tight, Noisy Crew

10 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A pair of studies show that male bottlenose dolphins rely on wingmen when wooing mates—and that they cultivate these friendships by being vocal. Lea...

A Source of Integrative Support for Breast and Ovarian Cancer Patients [Sponsored]

03 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Celebrating those who are making a patient’s experience as easy as possible during an extraordinarily difficult time, the Cancer Community Awards, s...

How Common Are Reinfections? And How Trust Can Beat the Virus: COVID, Quickly, Episode 35

02 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we talk about getting reinfected with the coronavirus just a month or two after an earlier bout—and...

The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding Molecules [Sponsored]

29 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Jacob Sagiv is a chemist who studies properties of self-assembled monolayers. This year, he shared The Kavli Prize in Nanoscience for his research. Le...

Transforming the Trajectory of Lung Cancer [Sponsored]

27 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Lung cancer is the number-one cause of cancer deaths in the world. But how many lives would be saved if doctors could diagnose and treat it before it ...

Polar Bears That Persist

22 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A new subpopulation of Greenland polar bears offers insights into how this species might hang on as Arctic ice disappears. Learn more about your ad ch...

Omicron's Nasty New Variants and Better Boosters to Battle Them: COVID, Quickly, Episode 34

12 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we talk about the increase in new Omicron subvariants. Should fall vaccine boosters contain standard ...

A Remote-Controlled Carnivorous Plant?

30 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers design an artificial neuron that can trigger closure of a Venus flytrap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kids' Vaccines at Last and Challenges in Making New Drugs: COVID, Quickly, Episode 33

27 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we discuss some parents breathing a collective sigh of relief and the paradox of how effective vacci...

How AI Facial Recognition Is Helping Conserve Pumas

24 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers tricked out conventional camera traps to snap headshots of Puma concolor, revealing a better way to track the elusive species. Learn mo...

The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding Neurodevelopment and Neurodegeneration [Sponsored]

17 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Huda Zoghbi is a clinician-scientist who studies the molecular mechanisms of neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration. This year she shared the Kavli P...

Female CEOs Change How Firms Talk about Women

16 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Appointing women to leadership positions renders organizations more likely to describe all women as being powerful, persistent and bold. Learn more a...

COVID Death Rates Explained, Dismal Booster Stats and New Vaccines

13 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we clear up some data misconceptions, get to the bottom of the booster uptake issue and talk Novavax. ...

Hedgehogs Host the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance

08 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Bacteria resistant to methicillin emerged in hedgehogs long before the drug was prescribed to treat infections. Learn more about your ad choices. Visi...

Meerkats Are Getting Climate Sick

03 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For meerkats in the Kalahari Desert, rising temperatures spark deadly outbreaks of tuberculosis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...

'Where Are Vaccines for Little Kids?' and the Latest on Long COVID

31 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis ...

Your Phone Could Be Used to Prosecute for Getting an Abortion: Here's How

20 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Technology editor Sophie Bushwick breaks down the precedent for using your phone to monitor personal health data. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...

If Sea Ice Melts in the Arctic, Do Trees Burn in California?

19 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A new study links sea ice decline with increasing wildfire weather in the Western U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How to Care for COVID at Home, and Is That Sniffle Allergies or the Virus? COVID Quickly, Episode 30

16 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

How Astronomers Finally Captured a Photo of our Own Galaxy's Black Hole

12 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It took hundreds of researchers and many telescopes to capture an image of the black hole at the middle of our Milky Way. Learn more about your ad ch...

Two-Headed Worms Tell Us Something Fascinating about Evolution

10 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers looked back at more than 100 years of research and found that a fascination with annelids with mixed up appendages was strong—and tha...

The Harmful Effects of Overturning Roe v. Wade

06 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A landmark study of women who were turned away from getting the procedure found that being forced to have a child worsened their health and economic s...

Safer Indoor Air, and People Want Masks on Planes and Trains: COVID Quickly, Episode 29

02 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

Climate Change Is Shrinking Animals, Especially Bird-Brained Birds

25 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As the world warms, many animals are getting smaller. For birds, new research shows what they have upstairs may just make a different in how much smal...

Cosmic Simulation Shows How Dark-Matter-Deficient Galaxies Confront Goliath and Survive

20 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A research team finds seven tiny dwarf galaxies stripped of their dark matter that nonetheless persisted despite the theft. Learn more about your ad...

Venturing Back to the Office and the Benefits of Hybrid Immunity: COVID Quickly, Episode 28

15 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

Science Finally Has a Good Idea about Why We Stutter

13 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A glitch in speech initiation gives rise to the repetition that characterizes stuttering. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...

Love Computers? Love History? Listen to This Podcast

12 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the newest season of Lost Women of Science, we enter a world of secrecy, computers and nuclear weapons—and see how Klára Dán von Neumann was a...

Probiotics Could Help Save Overheated Corals

08 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Think of the process as a kind of marine fecal transplant—except the restorative bacteria do not come from stool; they come from other corals. Learn...

The History of the Milky Way Comes into Focus

05 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

By dating nearly a quarter-million stars, astronomers were able to reconstruct the history of our galaxy—and they say it has lived an “enormously ...

Second Boosters, Masks in the Next Wave and Smart Risk Decisions: COVID Quickly, Episode 27

01 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

New Research Decodes the Sea Cow's Hidden Language

30 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Florida manatees are “talking” up a storm, and a team that has been recording those sounds for seven years is starting to understand the chatter...

Does This Look like a Face to You?

25 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Science—and experience—show that we most definitely see faces in inanimate objects. But new research finds that, more often than not, we perceive...

Some Good News about Corals and Climate Change

23 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A nearly two-year-long study of Hawaiian corals suggests some species may be better equipped to handle warmer, more acidic waters than previously beli...

Florida Gets Kids and Vaccines Wrong and Ukraine's Health Crisis: COVID Quickly, Episode 26

18 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

Are You Better Than a Machine at Spotting a Deepfake?

15 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

New research shows that detecting digital fakes generated by machine learning might be a job best done with humans still in the loop.  Learn more abo...

A Treasure Trove of Dinosaur Bones in Italy Rewrites the Local Prehistoric Record

11 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

New fossils are changing a decades-old story about the species that roamed the Mediterranean 80 million years ago. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Chimps Apply Insects to Their Wounds

08 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It is not clear whether the act has medicinal benefit or is merely a cultural practice among the animals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit me...

The Push to Move Past the Pandemic: COVID Quickly, Episode 25

04 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

Researchers Analyzed Folk Music like It Was DNA: They Found Parallels between Life and Art

03 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Using software designed to align DNA sequences, scientists cataloged the mutations that arose as folk songs evolved Learn more about your ad choices....

How Hong Kong 'Sees' Invisible Tailpipe Emissions and Pulls Polluters Off the Road

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The city has deployed a system of sensors to flag highly polluting vehicles. Nearly all of them have been repaired, helping to clean Hong Kong’s air...

This Maine Farm Is Harvesting the Sun's Power while it Picks the Blueberries

22 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In Rockport, Me., an array of nearly 11,000 solar panels will soon begin a solar harvest as the sweet berries growing below them ripen on the bush. L...

Tracking Outbreaks through Sewers, and Kids' Vaccines on Hold Again: COVID Quickly, Episode 24

15 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

The Romantic Temptation of the Monogamous Prairie Vole

14 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The small rodents are one of the few known monogamists in the wild—and their faithfulness was put to the test in a lab. Learn more about your ad ch...

Answering an Age-Old Mystery: How Do Birds Actually Fly?

11 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Equally surprising is the fact that we still do not know how birds actually stay airborne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi...

More Kids Get COVID, Long Haulers and a Vaccine Milestone: COVID Quickly, Episode 23

04 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

What Is the Shape of This Word?

02 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What shape do you see when you hear “bouba”? What about “kiki”? It turns out that nonsense words that evoke certain shapes have something to ...

Tiger Sharks, Tracked over Decades, Are Shifting Their Haunts with Ocean Warming

25 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Using a combination of fishing data and satellite tracking, scientists found that the sharks have shifted their range some 250 miles poleward over the...

How Marine Wildlife Can Coexist with Offshore Wind [Sponsored]

20 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Harnessing the wind to blow back emissions is not without its own impacts, so researchers are developing technologies to coexist with whales and other...

COVID Quickly, Episode 22: Colds Build COVID Immunity and the Omicron Vaccine Delay

19 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

The Surprising Physics of Finger Snapping

10 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You might not think that you can generate more body acceleration than a big-league baseball pitcher, but new research shows you can. Learn more about ...

Salvador Dali's Creative Secret Is Backed by Science

03 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The painter described falling into the briefest of slumbers to refresh his mind. Now scientists have shown the method is effective at inducing creativ...

A Growing Force of Fiery Zombies Threatens Cold Northern Forests

27 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Wildfires, appearing dead in winter, are actually smoldering and then bouncing back to life in spring to consume increasingly more land in the Far No...

Listen to This New Podcast: Lost Women of Science

21 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A new podcast is on a mission to retrieve unsung female scientists from oblivion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canary Islands Eruption Resets Volcano Forecasts

20 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A volcanologist says the eruption on the island of La Palma is a unique window into the “personality” of basaltic volcanoes. Learn more about yo...

COVID Quickly, Episode 21: Vaccines against Omicron and Pandemic Progress

17 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

As Forests Burn, a Climate Puzzle Materializes in the Far North

14 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A 15-year study of where carbon lies in boreal forests has unearthed a surprising finding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoi...

Astronomers Spot Two Dust Bunnies Hiding in the Early Universe

08 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The scientists found several previously hidden galaxies that date back to 13 billion years ago—and many more might be missing from our current cens...

COVID Quickly, Episode 20: The Omicron Scare, and Anti-COVID Pills Are Coming

03 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

To Better Persuade a Human, a Robot Should Use This Trick

01 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A new study finds that, for robots, overlords are less persuasive than peers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Redo of a Famous Experiment on the Origins of Life Reveals Critical Detail Missed for Decades

26 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Miller-Urey experiment showed that the conditions of early Earth could be simulated in a glass flask. New research finds the flask itself played a...

COVID Quickly, Episode 19: Mandate Roadblocks, Boosters for All and Sickness in the Zoo

19 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

Flocking Together May Have Helped Dinosaurs Dominate the Earth

12 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A fossil bed in Patagonia provides evidence of complex social structure in dinosaurs as early as 193 million years ago. And scientists say that herdin...

Engineered Bacteria Use Air Bubbles as Acoustically Detonated Tumor TNT

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ultrasound triggered cells home in on tumors and then self destruct to deliver damage or therapeutics from inside. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

COVID Quickly, Episode 18: Vaccines for Kids and the Limits of Natural Immunity

05 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

These Bugs Produce Smelly Defenses That Need to Be Heard to Be Believed

31 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

You read that right. Researchers have taken the chemical defenses of some insects and turned them into sounds, which, it turns out, repel people just ...

For Some Parents, Hiding a Dead Body Shows How Much You Care

28 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Over millions of years of evolution, some beetles have learned to dampen the stench of decay to help their young thrive. Learn more about your ad cho...

Date of the Vikings' First Atlantic Crossing Revealed by Rays from Space

25 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

By dating the remnants of trees felled in Newfoundland, scientists have determined that the Norse people likely first set foot in the Americas in the ...

COVID Quickly, Episode 17: Vaccine Lies and Protecting Immunocompromised People

22 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

How Can an Elephant Squeak Like a Mouse?

20 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

New research using a camera that can “see" sound” shows some elephants can produce high-pitched buzzing with their lips. Learn more about your a...

Beethoven's Unfinished 10th Symphony Brought to Life by Artificial Intelligence

15 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Nearly 200 years after his death, the German composer’s musical scratch was pieced together by machine—with a lot of human help. Learn more about ...

The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding the Universe [Sponsored]

14 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ewine van Dishoeck received the Kavli Prize in Astrophysics in 2018 for elucidating the life cycle of interstellar clouds and the formation of stars a...

A Canary in an Ice-Rich, Slumping Rock Glacier in Alaska

13 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Here’s what we can learn about climate change and infrastructure from Denali National Park’s only road. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit me...

COVID Quickly, Episode 16: Vaccines Protect Pregnancies and a New Antiviral Pill

08 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

The Mystery of Water Drops That Skate Across Oil at Impossible Speeds

05 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The speed of these self-propelling droplets on a hot-oil surface seemed to defy physics until researchers broke out the super-slow-motion camera. Lear...

Night Flights Are No Sweat for Tropical Bees

01 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

New research uses night vision to see how nocturnal bees navigate the dark. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

These Bacteria Steal from Iron and Could Be Secretly Helping to Curb Climate Change

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Photoferrotrophs have been around for billions of years on Earth, and new research suggests that they have played an outsize roll in the natural capt...

COVID, Quickly, Episode 15: Booster Shot Approvals--plus Vaccines for Kids?

24 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

Dinosaurs Lived--and Made Little Dinos--in the Arctic

21 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

New research shows that the prehistoric giants were even cooler than we thought Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During a Rodent Quadrathlon, Researchers Learn That Ground Squirrels Have Personalities

17 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The rodents’ personalities may help them to secure territory and avoid prey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Car Crash Snaps the Daydreaming Mind into Focus

15 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

One researcher’s poorly timed attention lapse flipped a car—and pushed science forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...

COVID, Quickly, Episode 14: Best Masks, Explaining Mask Anger, Biden's New Plan

10 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

The Kavli Prize Presents: Understanding Atoms [Sponsored]

09 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Gerd Binnig shared The Kavli Prize in Nanoscience in 2016 for inventing the atomic force microscope. What transformative impact has this invention had...

In Missouri, a Human 'Bee' Works to Better Understand Climate Change's Effects

08 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Researcher Matthew Austin has become a wildflower pollinator, sans the wings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

These Baby Bats, like Us, Were Born to Babble

03 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The greater sac-winged bat develops its own language in much the way we do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Their Lives Have Been Upended by Hurricane Ida

31 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Theresa and Donald Dardar lived their whole lives in coastal Louisiana. They knew the “big one” might come someday. It did, and now everything is ...

COVID, Quickly, Episode 13: Vaccine Approval, Breakthrough Infections, Boosters

27 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and...

Flexible Microprocessor Could Enable an 'Internet of Everything'

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers have developed a microprocessor built on high-performance plastic rather than silicon—and they say it could enable smarter food labels ...