If you really want to challenging your bird identification skills, try using them at night, when bird calls are less than 100 milliseconds long.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here's How You Go Birding in the Middle of the Night

Host Rachel Feltman, alongside leading science and tech journalists, dives into the rich world of scientific discovery in this bite-size science variety show.

Science

Summers are getting hotter, with heat waves that last longer and occur more often. That makes it even more important to communicate the risks of heat to vulnerable groups and keep communities and individuals cool. Sustainability editor Andrea Thompson explains why it feels hotter than ever and how to keep yourself and your community safe in the summer heat.  
 Recommended reading: This Isn’t Your Grandparents’ Summer Heat How Some Common Medications Can Make People More Vulnerable to Heat 
 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 special guest Andrea Thompson. Our show is edited by Elah Feder, Alexa Lim, Madison Goldberg and Anaissa Ruiz Tejada, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. 
 
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How to Stay Cool during Record-Breaking Heat Waves

Microplastics are everywhere—and we mean everywhere. These pesky plastic pollutants have been found in penis tissue, testicles, breast milk and blood. They’ve turned up in Antarctic snow, in the clouds above Mount Fuji, inside deep-sea creatures and near the top of Mount Everest. In Paris Olympic ambitions for the Seine’s are being complicated by bacteria. Far above Earth, the Starliner spacecraft faced a rocky road to the International Space Station (ISS). Starliner’s return to Earth is being delayed as Boeing and NASA officials take a look at the leaks and thruster failures that occurred during its journey to the ISS. Recommended reading: Microplastics Linked to Heart Attack, Stroke and Death The Physics of Breakdancing, a New Olympic Sport  
 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 Elah Feder, Alexa Lim, Madison Goldberg and 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

Your Penis Might Be Full of Microplastics, and The Seine is Definitely Full of Bacteria

It’s important that researchers get samples of Antarctic sea ice before melting takes the opportunity away. But fieldwork is never straightforward, and in part two of our Friday Fascination series about Antarctica, journalist Sofia Moutinho and the scientists on the Nathaniel B. Palmer take a break to enjoy some adorable Adélie penguins, the smallest penguin species in the Antarctic. Stay tuned for next Friday’s episode, when we’ll learn what it’s like to live and work onboard an icebreaker in Antarctica. 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 journalist Sofia Moutinho. Our show is edited by Elah Feder, Alexa Lim, Madison Goldberg and 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

On Thin Ice: Penguins in Paradise (Part 2)

The U.S. Department of Defense has sounded the alarm on a worrying hypothetical program from Russia aimed at putting a nuclear weapon into orbit. Associate news editor Allison Parshall explains what we know about nukes in space from a satellite accident and a series of ill-advised low-orbit tests during the cold war. 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, Carin Leong, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Allison Parshall. Our show is edited by Elah Feder, Alexa Lim, Madison Goldberg and Anaissa Ruiz Tejada, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. 
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What Happens if a Nuclear Weapon Goes Off in Space?

This week’s news roundup features spiders, space and the Supreme Court. “Flying” Joro spiders are making headlines, but are they really taking over the East Coast? Extreme heat leads Greece to close the Acropolis and worry about what the rest of the summer will bring. Levels of ozone-depleting hydrochlorofluorocarbons are on the decline. Plus, satellite reentry releases ozone-damaging aluminum oxide, and access to medication abortion is preserved.  Recommended viewing: The Ozone Hole Showed Humans Could Damage Earth and That We Could Heal It 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 Today in Science newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Carin Leong, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Elah Feder, Alexa Lim, and Anaissa Ruiz Tejada, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. 
 
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Here's How You Go Birding in the Middle of the Night

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