Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Science Quickly

2024 brought heat waves and hurricanes, bird flu and breakthroughs, and an overwhelming amount of progress in AI. Science Quickly host Rachel Feltman is joined by sustainability editor Andrea Thompson, health and medicine editor Tanya Lewis and technology editor Ben Guarino to recap a busy year and weigh in on the stories they’re watching in 2025. Happy Holidays from all of us at Science Quickly! Thank you for your support and your curiosity. We’ll see you next year. Recommended reading: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wildest-things-science-learned-about-the-human-body-in-2024/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/summer-2024-was-the-hottest-ever-measured-beating-last-year/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/78-books-scientific-american-recommends-in-2024/ E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman, with guests Tanya Lewis, Andrea Thompson and Ben Guarino. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tens of thousands of animal species are facing extinction, mostly because of human activity. But thanks to conservationists, there are some animals that are making a comeback. This is part four of “The New Conservationists,” a four-part series about the evolving world of animal conservation. Listen to part one, part two and part three. Recommended reading: – The Panda Factories  – Flying Conservationists Teach Endangered Birds to Migrate – The Last Wild Horses Are Finally Returning to Their Natural Habitat – Great Nicobar Island Is a Paradise in Danger E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with co-host Ashleigh Papp. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashleigh Papp, an animal scientist turned storyteller, shifts our perspective on the modern conservationist. With low wages and expectations of free work, conservation science lacks diversity as a field—but dedicated graduate students and new programs are trying to change that. Isaac Aguilar, a graduate student in the geology division at the California Institute of Technology, tells Papp about his journey into conservation. Plus, join a night patrol with crime prevention sergeant Malungane Naledi. She's a member of the Black Mambas, an all-woman anti-poaching unit in South Africa’s Greater Kruger National Park. This is part three of The New Conservationists, a four-part series about the evolving world of animal conservation. Listen to part one and part two. Recommended reading: – Flying Conservationists Teach Endangered Birds to Migrate – The Last Wild Horses Are Finally Returning to Their Natural Habitat – Great Nicobar Island Is a Paradise in Danger E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with co-host Ashleigh Papp. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashleigh Papp, an animal scientist turned storyteller, takes us on into the field. Conservationists and animal behaviorists were once restricted to wildlife data gathered manually. Now new technologies are expanding the amount of passively collected data—and machine learning is helping researchers cut through the noise. This is part two of The New Conservationists, a four-part series about the evolving world of animal conservation. Recommended reading: – Flying Conservationists Teach Endangered Birds to Migrate – The Last Wild Horses Are Finally Returning to Their Natural Habitat – Great Nicobar Island Is a Paradise in Danger E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with co-host Ashleigh Papp. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashleigh Papp, an animal scientist turned storyteller, takes us on a trip to the zoo. People are divided on zoos, but as Papp explains, the thoughtful work that goes into caring for animals makes modern zoos conservation powerhouses. This is part one of The New Conservationists, a four-part Friday Fascination series about the evolving world of animal conservation. Recommended reading: – Flying Conservationists Teach Endangered Birds to Migrate – The Last Wild Horses Are Finally Returning to Their Natural Habitat – Great Nicobar Island Is a Paradise in Danger E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with co-host Ashleigh Papp. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you were intrigued—or disturbed—by the artificial intelligence podcast on your Spotify Wrapped, you may wonder how AI audio works. Audio Overview is a feature of the tool NotebookLM, released by Google, that allows for the creation of short podcasts with AI “hosts” summarizing information. But questions remain about the accuracy, usefulness and environmental impacts of this application. Host Rachel Feltman and associate news editor Allison Parshall are joined by Google Labs’ editorial director Steven Johnson and AI researchers Anjana Susarla and Emily Bender to assess the promise of this buzzy tech. Recommended reading: Google’s Project Green Light Uses AI to Take on City Traffic  Can One Chatbot Catch Another’s Lies?  Please Don’t Ask AI If Something Is Poisonous  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Allison Parshall with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An outbreak of an unknown illness has occurred in the Democratic of the Congo, which has already been dealing with the spread of mpox. A new study finds that leaded gasoline could be responsible for 151 million cases of mental health disorders, with impacts highest among members of Generation X. Upping your daily movement could protect you from cardiovascular events. Plus, we look at Venus’s past and fashion-forward orcas.  Recommended reading: For Orcas, Dead Salmon Hats Are Back in Fashion after 37 Years Mpox Is a Global Health Emergency. Here’s What We Know  Lead from Old Paint and Pipes Is Still a Deadly Hazard in Millions of U.S. Homes E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Jeffery DelViscio with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Low iron levels can cause fatigue and impact mental health, but doctors often miss cases of iron deficiency and anemia. Pediatric hematologist Angela Weyand, a clinical associate professor at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, points to one population that could be at a higher risk—young women with heavy menstrual bleeding. In one study from a national database, nearly 40 percent of otherwise healthy adolescent women were iron-deficient, and 6 percent were additionally anemic. Awareness and self-advocacy could help people receive accessible and inexpensive treatments for low iron levels. Recommended reading: “Prevalence of Iron Deficiency and Iron-Deficiency Anemia in US Females Aged 12–21 Years, 2003–2020,” by Angela C. Weyand et al., in JAMA, Vol. 329, No. 24; June 27, 2023 What Is Implicit Bias, and How Might It Affect Your Next Medical Visit? E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.    Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthony Fauci speaks with Tanya Lewis, senior editor for health and medicine at Scientific American, about his remarkable career, as detailed in his new book On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service. They discuss the experiences he faced while guiding the U.S. through the pandemic, the lessons learned by public health practitioners and the challenges posed by future threats, such as bird flu and other potential pandemics. This episode is part of “Health Equity Heroes,” an editorially independent special project that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Recommended reading: New Bird Flu Cases in Young People Are Raising Concerns about Mutating Virus What Bird Flu in Wastewater Means for California and Beyond  H5N1 Bird Flu Isn’t a Human Pandemic—Yet  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was reported and co-hosted by Tanya Lewis. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Black Friday sales have gone from one-day in-person shopping bonanzas to a multiday deals extravaganza. It’s tempting to give in to the seasonal pressures to shop, but knowing the tricks companies use to make sales so appealing can help us avoid overconsumption. Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, a professor of consumer psychology at Anglia Ruskin University in England, explains how to spot marketing ploys and shop sustainably.  Recommended reading: It’s Actually Healthier to Enjoy Holiday Foods without the Anxiety https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/enjoy-holiday-food-without-the-anxiety/  Eating Turkey Does Not Really Make You Sleepy https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eating-turkey-sleepy-thanksgiving/  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump has nominated RFK, Jr., to run the Department of Health and Human Services, a position that includes oversight of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. Senior health and medicine editor Tanya Lewis explains what that would mean for antivaccine policies, food safety and unproven therapies that Kennedy backs. Tobacco use is down across the U.S., but the drop has been uneven across groups. Astronomers have released the first-ever close up image of a star—and scientists are excited over an unexpected ring. Plus, studies of chimpanzees explore the role of social contagion on their behaviors and point to play in adult chimps. Recommended reading: RFK, Jr., Is a Bad Prescription for U.S. Public Health | Opinion  Chimps Share Knowledge like Humans Do, Spurring Innovation  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest senior health and medicine editor Tanya Lewis. Our show is edited by Anaissa Ruiz Tejada with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writings and records are how we understand long-gone civilizations without being able to interact with ancient peoples. A recent opinion paper suggested we could feed chatbots writings from the past to simulate ancient participants for social psychology studies. Similar survey experiments with modern participant data closely matched the outcomes of the real people they were based on. We speak with the opinion paper’s co-author Michael Varnum, an associate professor at Arizona State University, about what the limits of this spooky proposal are and what the ghosts of cultures past could teach us today.  Recommended reading: “Large Language Models Based on Historical Text Could Offer Informative Tools for Behavioral Science,” by Michael E. W. Varnum et al., in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Vol. 121, No. 42, Article No.  e2407639121; October 9, 2024 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2407639121  Inside the AI Competition That Decoded an Ancient Herculaneum Scroll https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/inside-the-ai-competition-that-decoded-an-ancient-scroll-and-changed/  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Jeff DelViscio with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck.  The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Disparities in health are not indicated by adverse outcomes alone. Adriana Corredor-Waldron, an assistant professor of economics at NC State University, sought to understand why Black infants are more likely to be delivered by C-section than white infants. A working paper she co-authored found that the elevated number of low-risk Black pregnant people who were given C-section surgeries in New Jersey from 2008 to 2017 was likely caused by physician discretion. Corredor-Waldron explains why unnecessary C-sections can be risky and what medical education and financial incentives could do to close the gap.  Recommended viewing: What Is Implicit Bias, and How Might It Affect Your Next Medical Visit? https://www.scientificamerican.com/video/what-is-implicit-bias-and-how-might-it-affect-your-next-medical-visit/  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Adriana Corredor-Waldron Our show is edited by Jeff DelViscio with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A wildfire in Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Prospect Park was in part linked to drought conditions nationally. Plastic waste is set to grow with our expanding economy, but potential solutions look promising. Drops in gonorrhea and early-stage syphilis point to the first decline in sexually transmitted infections in 20 years. Voyager 2’s fly-by of Uranus in the 1980s collected data that led scientists to believe the planet’s moons were inactive. A reassessment of those data shows that Uranus could have just been having an off day. Plus, Alec Luhn reports from the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Azerbaijan. Recommended reading: Melting Glaciers Are Causing Billions of Dollars of Damage  The U.S. Has Its First Plan for Plastic Pollution. This Is What’s in It  This Astoundingly Simple Ancient Technique Is Helping to Beat Back Drought  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest associate editor Andrea Thompson. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck.  The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of a transmission from the Arecibo Observatory, intended as our first attempt to send a message to intelligent life across the universe. Journalist Nadia Drake talks about the careful crafting of the signal and her personal connection with the astronomer who authored the transmission: her father Frank Drake.  Recommended reading: The Arecibo Message, Earth’s First Interstellar Transmission, Turns 50 Arecibo Observatory Shuts Down Its Science E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Nadia Drake. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does the Declaration of Independence have in common with Vincent van Gogh’s sketches? The ink used to produce them came from wasps. From pests to products, insects have played an enormous role in human history. Entomologist and animal behaviorist Barrett Klein encourages a historical and scientific perspective on these creatures and invites us to marvel at their beauty and biodiversity. – Read Barrett Klein’s book The Insect Epiphany – See more from Klein – Explore our coverage E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A wooden solution to metal satellites polluting space. Water woes create droughts in 48 of the 50 U.S. states—and climate change is of course a culprit. Microplastics could make wastewater recycling more challenging. And researchers figure out how mud from a secret spot off the Delaware River makes baseballs easier to grip.  Recommended reading: How Baseball Got Faster but Riskier  Microplastics Linked to Heart Attack, Stroke and Death  Space Junk Is Polluting Earth’s Stratosphere with Vaporized Metal  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Our show is edited by Anaissa Ruiz Tejada with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Could our fixation on weight actually be harming, rather than helping, people’s health? Host Rachel Feltman is joined by Ragen Chastain, a writer, researcher and board-certified patient advocate, to discuss how weight stigma could be fueling many of the negative health outcomes we commonly link to weight gain. This episode is part of “Health Equity Heroes,” an editorially independent special project that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Sign up for Chastain’s Substack newsletter, Weight and Healthcare Recommended reading: People Who Are Fat and Healthy May Hold Keys to Understanding Obesity Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia. Sabrina Strings. NYU Press, 2019 Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness. Da’Shaun L. Harrison. North Atlantic Books, 2021 Email us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Emily Makowski, Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rising Signs: The Medieval Science of Astrology, a new exhibit at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, takes a look at medieval manuscripts to showcase the importance of astrology to the period’s elites. Larisa Grollemond, an assistant curator at the museum, takes us through the impact of astrology on day-to-day decisions and the way it became tied up in the medieval obsession with humoral balances. Plus, we discuss how today’s astrology split from the modern science of astronomy. Rising Signs is on display at the Getty Museum through January 5, 2025. https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/rising-signs/index.html  Recommended reading: How to Survive Mercury in Retrograde https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-survive-mercury-in-retrograde/  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Larisa Grollemond, an assistant curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2024 U.S. presidential candidates have very different visions for the country. On today’s show, host Rachel Feltman is joined by associate sustainability editor Andrea Thompson to talk about the climate choices faced by the next president and the shifting energy landscape. Senior news reporter Meghan Bartels reviews the gun control policies of the Biden administration and the complicated cultural dynamics around gun ownership that faces the next president. Plus, we discuss how public education could be stymied by a future Trump administration and how immigration decisions will shape the STEM workforce. Read more about the election: – In-depth coverage explains the candidates’ climate and energy policies – Kamala Harris and Donald Trump offer starkly different responses to gun violence – How the 2024 election could reshape education, from pre-K to college – The 2024 Election Will Define America’s Stance on Immigration, with Consequences for Science and Technology – Deep dives from other SciAm editors report on the candidates’ positions on artificial intelligence, heath care, and more E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guests associate news editor Allison Parshall, senior editor of mind and brain Gary Stix, senior news reporter Meghan Bartels and associate editor of sustainability Andrea Thompson. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2024 U.S. presidential candidates offer very different policy perspectives. On today’s show, host Rachel Feltman is joined by health editors Tanya Lewis and Lauren Young to discuss how Kamala Harris and Donald Trump plan to address reproductive rights and health care accessibility and affordability. Plus, senior opinion editor Dan Vergano draws on his coverage of nuclear weapons to preview what a win for each candidate would mean for the U.S.’s approach to nuclear policy.  Read more about the election: – In-depth coverage of the candidates’ health policies – The nuclear decisions awaiting the next president – Deep dives from other SciAm editors on the candidates’ positions on artificial intelligence, climate, and more E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with associate editor of health and medicine Lauren Young, senior editor of health and medicine Tanya Lewis and senior opinion editor Dan Vergano. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do so many of us love a good scare? Whether it’s horror movies, haunted houses or creepy podcasts, there’s something thrilling about feeling spooked—especially around Halloween. In this episode, host Rachel Feltman dives into our fascination with fear and morbid curiosity with Coltan Scrivner, a behavioral scientist at the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark. They explore the evolutionary and psychological reasons behind why we’re drawn to the dark and eerie and why a dose of fear can be so much fun. Recommended reading: The Evolutionary Reasons We Are Drawn to Horror Movies and Haunted Houses Email us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An enormous meteorite’s impact 3.26 billion years ago may have made conditions on Earth more hospitable for life in the long run. Washington State is the sixth state to report cases of bird flu in humans. Weight-loss procedures and treatments could lead to an uptick in scurvy cases if patients and physicians aren’t vigilant about vitamin C. And scientists are learning more from the remains of a Norse soldier whose body was dumped in a well some 800 years ago. Recommended Reading Bird Flu Is Infecting Pet Cats. Here’s What You Need to Know  Teenagers Are Taking New Weight-Loss Drugs, but the Science Is Far from Settled  We value your input! Take our quick survey to share your feedback. E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artist and author Geo Rutherford created Spooky Lake Month to highlight the strange and eerie waters of the world. She first fell in love with the Great Lakes during graduate school in Milwaukee. Rutherford was an early educational video creator, but it was a video about spooky lakes that skyrocketed her to viral fame. She has a new book, Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes That Dot Our Planet. Rutherford joins host Rachel Feltman to discuss art, natural wonders and the deepest lake in the world.  You can get Spooky Lakes: 25 Strange and Mysterious Lakes That Dot Our Planet at  www.georutherford.com/book  Watch Spooky Lakes videos at www.tiktok.com/@geodesaurus We’re still looking for listener submissions for our upcoming episode on the science of earworms. We’d love to hear a song you just can’t get out of your head. If you’re up for the challenge, sing or hum a few bars in a voice memo and send it over to ScienceQuickly@sciam.com with your name and where you’re from.  We value your input! Take our quick survey to share your feedback. Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Geo Rutherford. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Host Rachel Feltman is joined by Jasmine McDonald, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, to discuss the disturbing trend of an increase in early-onset breast cancer diagnoses. They explore how chronic exposure to endocrine disruptors could be fueling this rise and examine the surprising role that societal beauty standards may play in shaping these risks. We value your input! Take our quick survey to share your feedback. Email us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have confirmed we’re in the solar maximum, a period of increased solar activity that could lead to more auroras. Also, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a fivefold surge in whooping cough cases. And a new study suggests that some microbes might be using our disinfectants against us by chowing down on them. Recommended reading: Whooping Cough Is Spreading Again after Years of Relative Quiet Email us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Anaissa Ruiz Tejada. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s a lot of excitement and apprehension over the seemingly sudden proliferation of artificial intelligence in just about everything. Technological progress often outpaces regulation, and the next U.S. president will set the tone for AI policy. Scientific American’s associate technology editor Ben Guarino walks us through AI policies and plans from Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Plus, we discuss the role AI generated images, videos and even voices could play in spreading misinformation around the election. Recommended reading: How the Next President Will Determine the Future of AI  Lethal AI Weapons Are on the Rise. What’s Next?  We Cannot Cede Control of Weapons to Artificial Intelligence  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with associate technology editor Ben Guarino. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you stop implicit bias from getting in the way of better health? This doctor wants to make learning how to manage bias as important as learning how to suture. SHOWNOTES: Have you ever felt judged at the doctor’s office, even before you said a word? Unfortunately, that’s not uncommon, and it’s often not intentional. Like everyone, doctors have unconscious biases that can affect how they treat patients, which can pose real risks to health outcomes. In this episode, host Rachel Feltman is joined by Cristina Gonzalez, a physician and professor of medicine and population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, to discuss how these biases form and what can be done to address them. This podcast is part of “Health Equity Heros,” an editorially independent special report that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals. E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everything you need to know about last week’s physics, chemistry, and physiology or medicine Nobels. COVID could raise the risk of heart attacks and strokes years after original infection. Hurricane Milton causes tornadoes across Florida and delays the launch of Europa Clipper. Recommended reading: How Does Sharing a Nobel Prize Work? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-chemistry-physics-and-medicine-nobel-prizes-can-be-shared-and-how-that/  Why Hurricane Milton Caused So Many Tornadoes https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-hurricane-milton-caused-so-many-tornadoes/  NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission Carries Special Cargo: A Poem https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasas-europa-clipper-mission-carries-special-cargo-a-poem/  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Anaissa Ruiz Tejada with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scientific American associate news editor and music enthusiast Allison Parshall takes Science Quickly through what we know about how singing came to be. Scientists aren’t sure why humans evolved to sing, but commonalities in traditional music offer clues to how the practice evolved. Neuroscience shows us where speech and singing live in the brain and what information the forms hold. And an upcoming experiment will look into how singing might make us more connected to one another. Recommended reading: New Folk Song Analysis Finds Similarities around the World How Artificial Intelligence Helped Write This Award-Winning Song E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Allison Parshall. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Marielle Issa, Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hurricanes Beryl, Francine and Helene have battered the Gulf Coast this year. Hurricane Milton is expected to add to the destruction, particularly in parts of the west coast of central Florida that are already reeling from Hurricane Helene. Scientific American’s associate editor of sustainability Andrea Thompson joins Science Quickly to help us understand how we measure hurricanes and how climate change is magnifying the damage done by these massive storms. Plus, we discuss how the catastrophic flooding in western North Carolina dispels the myth that anywhere can be a true “climate haven.” Recommended reading: New Hurricane Forecasts Could Predict Terrifying Explosive Intensification https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-hurricane-forecasts-could-predict-terrifying-explosive-intensification/  Hurricanes Kill People for Years after the Initial Disaster  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hurricanes-kill-people-for-years-after-the-initial-disaster/  Hurricane Helene Signals the End of the ‘Climate Haven’ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hurricane-helene-signals-the-end-of-the-climate-haven/  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Andrea Thompson, Scientific American’s associate editor of sustainability. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hurricane Helene’s death toll continues to rise. Marburg virus is spreading in Rwanda, but risks for a global outbreak are low. Researchers in Beijing used stem cell treatments to reverse diabetes in a patient. Plus, we discuss a map of a fruit fly’s brain and dolphin smiles. Recommended reading: Hurricanes Kill People for Years after the Initial Disaster https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hurricanes-kill-people-for-years-after-the-initial-disaster/  See an Amazingly Detailed Map of the Fruit Fly Brain https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-an-amazingly-detailed-map-of-the-fruit-fly-brain/  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Anaissa Ruiz Tejada with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck.  The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Drag queen and mathematics communicator Kyne Santos tells us the questions that modern mathematicians are grappling with, from infinite tiling to the structure of math itself. We hope you enjoyed the final episode of this Friday miniseries about magical math. You can listen to parts one and two wherever you get your podcasts or at the links below.  Recommended reading: – Discover Math’s Elegance and Power with Drag Queen Kyne Santos – Is Math Part of Nature or an Invention of the Mind? – Inside Mathematicians’ Search for the Mysterious ‘Einstein Tile’ E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Kyne Santos. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Shayna Posses, Emily Makowski and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Food and Drug Administration has granted priority review to suzetrigine, a novel painkiller. It’s part of a new class of medications that could provide relief to those with chronic pain. The drugs target sodium channels on nerve cells, stopping pain signaling at the periphery. Journalist Marla Broadfoot explains the biology of aches and pains and the reasons it is so challenging to develop well-tolerated medications for pain. Recommended reading: New Painkiller Could Bring Relief to Millions—Without Addiction Risk  Ozempic Quiets Food Noise in the Brain—But How?  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Marla Broadfoot. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the United Nations General Assembly, host Rachel Feltman interviews Melissa Fleming, the U.N.’s undersecretary-general for global communications, on how misinformation and distrust in science are impacting global well-being. Plus, we note caveats to a major social media study and explain how food packaging can be harmful to the environment and human health. Recommended reading: Why It’s So Hard to Recycle Plastic https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-its-so-hard-to-recycle-plastic/  How Deadly Is Mpox, What Vaccines Are Effective, and Other Questions Answered https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-deadly-is-mpox-what-vaccines-are-effective-and-other-questions-answered/  61 Unexpected ‘Forever Chemicals’ Found in Food Packaging https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/61-unexpected-pfas-forever-chemicals-found-in-food-packaging/  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio.  This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Melissa Fleming, undersecretary-general for global communications at the United Nations. Our show is edited by Anaissa Ruiz Tejada with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Where does math come from? Mathematicians are still debating whether math is an inherent part of nature or an invention of the human mind. Mathematics communicator and drag queen Kyne will guide you through the question of what math really is in this three-part Friday miniseries. Recommended reading: – Gift Wrapping Five Oranges Has Outwitted the Best Minds in Mathematics for Generations  – The SAT Problem That Everybody Got Wrong E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman and Kyne Santos. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Shayna Posses, Emily Makowski and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects up to five million people in the U.S., yet it remains poorly understood. Many people with PCOS go undiagnosed while experiencing symptoms such as irregular periods, changes in hair and body shape, acne and infertility. Even after a diagnosis, they’re often told to lose weight to manage symptoms—advice that some researchers now say can be harmful.  A recent study found that people with PCOS are more likely to have eating disorders, regardless of their body mass index. Laura Cooney, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, co-authored the study. She joins host Rachel Feltman to discuss why the focus on weight loss for PCOS treatment needs to be reconsidered. This episode is part of “Health Equity Heroes,” an editorially independent special project that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals. E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week’s news roundup: Earth might have previously had a giant ring of space rocks like the one around Saturn, “scuba diving” lizards are using bubbles to breathe, and a new study mapped brain changes in a person throughout pregnancy. Additionally, we describe how NASA’s stranded astronauts will vote from space. E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Anaissa Ruiz Tejada. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mathematics communicator and drag queen Kyne Santos will help you discover the beauty and power of math in this three-part Friday miniseries. Kyne takes us back to ancient Greece to illustrate the elegance of mathematics. We meet mathematician Tom Crawford, who combines fieldwork and modeling to predict the impacts of pollution, as well as philosopher and logician Mark Jago.  Recommended reading: – Gift Wrapping Five Oranges Has Outwitted the Best Minds in Mathematics for Generations – The SAT Problem That Everybody Got Wrong E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman and Kyne Santos. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Shayna Posses, Emily Makowski and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recognition of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month this September, host Rachel Feltman sits down with Alfred Winkler, chief of urology at NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, to discuss proactive steps individuals can take to protect themselves against prostate cancer. Black American men, in particular, face some of the highest rates of the disease in the world, with multiple factors contributing to this elevated risk. This episode explores efforts to raise awareness and promote early screening within this high-risk group. This episode is part of “Health Equity Heroes,” an editorially independent special project that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Recommended reading: New Prostate Cancer Treatments Offer Hope for Advanced Cases  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's news roundup: The European Space Agency’s Juice mission tested its instruments with a flyby of Earth in preparation for studying habitability on moons of Jupiter’. Also, a study found that Massachusetts has reduced food waste through composting and enforcement while four other states have not successfully done so despite also having bans on disposing of such waste in landfills. And researchers tested the generative artificial intelligence platform GPT-4 Turbo’s ability to counter conspiracy theories through personalized, fact-based conversations, yielding promising results. E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Science Quickly host Rachel Feltman interviewed NASA flight engineer Matthew Dominick live—from space! In this first-ever interview conducted from the International Space Station’s (ISS’s) iconic cupola, Dominick talks about his path to space, his experience on the ISS and his incredible astrophotography. You can listen to the full video and watch the changing light from the cupola at the link below. Watch the First-Ever Interview from the ISS Cupola https://www.scientificamerican.com/video/learn-how-astronauts-take-photos-from-nasa-in-flight-engineer-matthew/  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Matthew Dominick. Our show is edited by Jeff DelViscio with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Content warning: This episode contains some details about the 9/11 attacks and victims’ remains. Twenty-three years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, forensic scientists are still working to identify victims from the World Trade Center site. Host Rachel Feltman speaks with Kathleen Corrado, forensics executive director at Syracuse University’s College of Arts & Sciences, about what unique challenges have been posed by the massive scale of the tragedy and how the lessons learned are now helping investigators solve cases from wildfires to criminal investigations—in addition to aiding efforts to identify the remaining victims of 9/11. Recommended reading: Health Effects of 9/11 Still Plague Responders and Survivors What Structural Engineers Learned from 9/11 E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week’s new roundup, a new study finds no clear connection between phone use and brain or head cancers, putting some fears to rest. Meanwhile Sweden’s new screen-time guidelines suggest keeping kids under age two away from screens entirely and limiting time for older children—and echo concerns from other countries about how much time young people spend on devices. Also, jellyfish clones are invading lakes in British Columbia, Oregon faces its worst measles outbreak in three decades, and NASA clears up the mystery behind the strange noise on the ill-fated Boeing Starliner spacecraft. Recommended reading: How to Check If You’re Immune to Measles How Worried Should We Be about Starliner’s Stranded Astronauts? When Should Kids Get a Smartphone? E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As people live longer and family sizes shrink, fewer relatives are available to share the burden of caregiving for aging loved ones. The second episode of our two-part miniseries on caregiving explores what this means for the family members who take on this critical role. How do they provide the best care while also maintaining their own well-being? To hear firsthand how caregivers are navigating this challenge, Lauren Young and Tanya Lewis, Scientific American’s respective associate and senior editors of health and medicine, visited a support center in Queens, N.Y. Young shares some of the stories they gathered from the community there. Listen to part one of this series. This episode is part of “Health Equity Heroes,” an editorially independent special project that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Recommended reading: Shrinking Family Sizes May Change Our Experience with Aging E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was reported and hosted by Lauren Young. Tanya Lewis also contributed reporting for this miniseries. Marielle Issa, Emily Makowski, Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discrimination may be speeding up the aging process for people of color and other minoritized groups. Research is revealing that structural and interpersonal racism could be key factors in why these communities often age faster and face age-related diseases sooner. Alexis Reeves, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, studies how racism affects aging, with a focus on early menopause. In a conversation with Science Quickly host Rachel Feltman, Reeves discusses how traditional research methods might be overlooking these critical disparities. This episode is part of “Health Equity Heroes,” an editorially independent special project that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Recommended reading: Discrimination May Hasten Menopause in Black and Hispanic Women How Racism in Early Life Can Affect Long-Term Health “Systematic Exclusion at Study Commencement Masks Earlier Menopause for Black Women in the Study of Women’s Health across the Nation (SWAN),” by Alexis Reeves et al., in International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 52, No. 5; October 2023  “Study Selection Bias and Racial or Ethnic Disparities in Estimated Age at Onset of Cardiometabolic Disease among Midlife Women in the US,” by Alexis Reeves et al, in JAMA Network Open, Vol. 5, No. 1, Article No. e2240665. Published online November 7, 2022  Email us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this first episode of a two-part miniseries on caregiving, Tanya Lewis, Scientific American’s senior editor of health and medicine, shares her personal experience with becoming a caregiver for her mother after her mom was diagnosed with a serious illness. Her journey inspired her to explore the broader challenges faced by caregivers. Lewis and her colleague Lauren J. Young, SciAm’s associate editor of health and medicine, reached out to listeners and investigated the stresses of caregiving, uncovering common experiences and insights. Lewis joins host Rachel Feltman to delve into the scope of the caregiving crisis. This episode is part of “Health Equity Heroes,” an editorially independent special project that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Email us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was reported and co-hosted by Tanya Lewis. Lauren J. Young also contributed reporting. Marielle Issa, Emily Makowski, Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marc Hachadourian, senior curator of orchids and director of glasshouse horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden, joins host Rachel Feltman to explore houseplant trends from the past and the present. Plus, they discuss how ethically sourcing your plants can prevent fad-driven overcollection. Listen to the New York Botanical Garden’s new podcast Plant People. E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with Marc Hachadourian, senior curator of orchids and director of glasshouse horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden. Our show is edited by Jeff DelViscio and Fonda Mwangi with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NASA’s Perseverance rover cautiously climbs Jezero Crater on Mars in search of new discoveries. We also explore recent revelations about the Red Planet’s hidden water reserves and puzzling sulfur findings. On the health front, a new device, described as an implant that acts like a pacemaker for the brain, shows promise for Parkinson’s treatment by reducing symptoms more effectively than conventional methods. Plus, we discuss a concerning side effect of the popular weight-loss drug semaglutide, fears of a polio outbreak in Gaza and the latest on mpox, which the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency earlier this month. Recommended Reading:  Mars Hides Colossal Ocean Deep Below Its Surface People Are Overdosing on Semaglutide Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy Mpox Is a Global Health Emergency. Here’s What We Know Email us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Democratic presidential ticket has literally diverse voices. While Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech is influenced by her Californian origins, the way Minnesota governor Tim Walz talks reflects his roots in Nebraska. In our podcast, linguist Nicole Holliday expands on her viral TikTok analyses of Harris’s speech patterns and the ideological stereotypes we attach to pronunciation and intonation.  Recommended reading: Watch one of Holliday’s viral TikToks Bilingualism Is Reworking This Language’s Rainbow  Grammar Changes How We See, an Australian Language Shows  E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices