Host Rachel Feltman, alongside leading science and tech journalists, dives into the rich world of scientific discovery in this bite-size science variety show.
An Off Day on Uranus, a Wildfire in Prospect Park and Dispatches from COP29
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 [email protected] 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.
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11:44
Reflecting on our First Attempt to Speak with the Stars
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 [email protected] 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.
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15:20
Humans Inherited a World That Insects Made
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 [email protected] 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.
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17:01
Baseball Mud Bath, Water Woes and Wooden Satellites
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 [email protected] 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.
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8:49
Why Weight May Not Be the Whole Story on Health
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 [email protected] 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
Host Rachel Feltman, alongside leading science and tech journalists, dives into the rich world of scientific discovery in this bite-size science variety show.
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