Science, Quickly

By Scientific AmericanScience

Science, Quickly episodes

October 22, 2014 Fecal Transplanters Fish Out Key Ingredient
The bacterium Clostridium scindens, a member of the gut’s microbiome, appears to ward off the hospital-acquired infection C. difficile. Christopher Intagliata reports
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4 min
October 21, 2014 Coyote Size Forces Smartness
Topping out at about 20 kilograms, a coyote has to be able to hunt both smaller and bigger prey, and avoid being prey itself, a combination that selects for intelligence. Steve Mirsky reports

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4 min
October 15, 2014 Carnivorous Plant Inspires Anticlotting Medical Devices
By copying aspects of the slick surfaces of insect-catching pitcher plants, researchers created tubes that can carry blood without promoting the formation of blood clots or bacterial attachment. Cynthia Graber reports

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3 min
October 13, 2014 Less Well-Off Donate Bigger Income Percentage
Wealthier people on average gave a lower percentage to charity in 2012 than they did in 2006, while the less affluent increased their giving. Cynthia Graber reports

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3 min
October 09, 2014 To Walk, You Have to Fall in Step
Motion-capture technology reveals that the body falls forward and sideways as we walk, and the feet come down to restore balance. Karen Hopkin reports
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3 min
October 08, 2014 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner share the 2014 chemistry Nobel for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy, which has enabled the study of single molecules in ongoing chemical reactions in living cells. Steve Mirsky reports

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4 min
October 07, 2014 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics
Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura share the physics Nobel for the invention of efficient blue light–emitting diodes, which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources. Steve Mirsky reports

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4 min
October 06, 2014 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser share the prize for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain. Steve Mirsky reports

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4 min
October 03, 2014 Reindeer Spit Smacks Down Plant Toxins
Compounds in reindeer and moose saliva interfere with the production of toxins in plants that ordinarily stop animals from dining on the vegetation. Karen Hopkin reports

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3 min
October 02, 2014 Good Palm Oil Yields Could Be Bad News
Increased palm oil yields could unintentionally have the effect of creating a bigger demand for land for even more palm oil planting. Cynthia Graber reports

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3 min