Science Quickly

An Off Day on Uranus, a Wildfire in Prospect Park and Dispatches from COP29


Listen Later

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

View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Science QuicklyBy Scientific American

  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4
  • 4.4

4.4

1,318 ratings


More shows like Science Quickly

View all
Science Friday by Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science Friday

6,046 Listeners

Big Picture Science by Big Picture Science

Big Picture Science

943 Listeners

Nature Podcast by Springer Nature Limited

Nature Podcast

764 Listeners

Science Magazine Podcast by Science Magazine

Science Magazine Podcast

812 Listeners

Science Quickly by Scientific American

Science Quickly

610 Listeners

TED Talks Daily by TED

TED Talks Daily

11,418 Listeners

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day by Merriam-Webster

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

1,171 Listeners

BrainStuff by iHeartPodcasts

BrainStuff

1,651 Listeners

Science In Action by BBC World Service

Science In Action

347 Listeners

60-Second Space by Scientific American

60-Second Space

217 Listeners

Discovery by BBC World Service

Discovery

962 Listeners

Planet Money by NPR

Planet Money

30,850 Listeners

60-Second Health by Scientific American

60-Second Health

76 Listeners

60-Second Tech by Scientific American

60-Second Tech

59 Listeners

60-Second Mind by Scientific American

60-Second Mind

53 Listeners

Science Talk by Scientific American

Science Talk

84 Listeners

TED Tech by TED Tech

TED Tech

411 Listeners

TED Radio Hour by NPR

TED Radio Hour

22,021 Listeners

Science, Quickly by Scientific American

Science, Quickly

42 Listeners

Short Wave by NPR

Short Wave

6,218 Listeners

No Stupid Questions by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

No Stupid Questions

3,687 Listeners