Science Quickly

When writer Stephen S. Hall was a child, he would capture snakes—much to his mother’s chagrin. Now the science journalist is returning to his early fascination In his latest book, Slither: How Nature’s Most Maligned Creatures Illuminate Our World. The book explores our long, complicated relationship with snakes. Plus, Hall chats about humans’ and other animals’ evolved reactivity to the presence of snakes and the adaptations that keep snakes alive in even the most extreme environments.

Recommended reading:

Slither is out now: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/stephen-s-hall/slither/9781538741337/ 

An Evolutionary ‘Big Bang’ Explains Why Snakes Come in So Many Strange Varieties

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-evolutionary-big-bang-explains-why-snakes-come-in-so-many-strange-varieties/ 

Venomous Snakes May Spread into Vulnerable Communities because of Climate Change https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/venomous-snakes-are-spreading-because-of-climate-change/ 

E-mail us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!

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Measles cases are going up—and a federal scientist has warned that case counts have probably been underreported. Another vaccine-preventable illness, whooping cough, sees a troubling increase in cases. Ancient humans found sun-protection solutions when Earth’s magnetic poles wandered. A colossal squid has been captured on video in its natural habitat for the first time. Plus, we discuss evidence that Mars once had a carbon cycle and a planet that is orbiting a pair of brown dwarfs. 

Recommended reading:

This Is the First Colossal Squid Filmed in the Deep Sea—And It’s a Baby! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f8leNRUXdo&t=1s 

RFK, Jr., Is Wrong about Cause of Rising Autism Rates, Scientists Say https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-real-reason-autism-rates-are-rising/ 

How to Talk about Vaccines in an Era of Scientific Mistrust https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-does-vaccine-hesitancy-occur-and-how-can-people-combat-it/ 

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, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

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Senior mind and brain editor Gary Stix has covered the breadth of science and technology over the past 35 years at Scientific American. He joins host Rachel Feltman to take us through the rise of the Internet and the acceleration of advancement in neuroscience that he’s covered throughout his time here. Stix retired earlier this month, and we’d like to thank him for his intellect, inquisitiveness and inspiring run at Scientific American! 

Read some of Gary Stix’s recent coverage of neuroscience and psychology:

Even Four-Year-Olds Instinctively Fact-Check for Misinformation https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/even-four-year-olds-instinctively-fact-check-for-misinformation/ 

You Don’t Need Words to Think https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/you-dont-need-words-to-think/

Wikipedia Searches Reveal Differing Styles of Curiosity https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wikipedia-searches-reveal-differing-styles-of-curiosity/ 

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, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest (and now retired senior editor!) Gary Stix. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

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Hypochlorous acid is a promising disinfectant that is difficult to commercialize because it is not very shelf-stable. Senior features editor Jen Schwartz takes us through what the science of this nontoxic disinfectant is and explains why its popularity in the beauty aisle is only the beginning. 

Recommended reading: 

The Nontoxic Cleaner That Kills Germs Better Than Bleach—And You Can Use It on Your Skin https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hypochlorous-acid-is-trending-in-skin-care-and-cleaning-but-does-it-work/ 

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, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Jen Schwartz. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura 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

Caffeine-motivated researchers find that pour height may be the key to a perfect cup of coffee. A new study of plastics finds that less than 10 percent of such products are made with recycled materials. And once the plastics are used, only 28 percent of them make it to the sorting stage—and only half of that plastic is actually recycled. Data from the Hubble Telescope show how a day on Uranus lasts longer than previously thought. Plus, we discuss how scientists thought dinosaurs were in decline even before their mass extinction—until now. 

Recommended reading:

Challenging Big Oil’s Big Lie about Plastic Recycling

A Day on Uranus Is Longer Than We Thought, Hubble Telescope Reveals 

The Horned and Armored Dinosaurs Were the Gladiators of the Mesozoic 

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, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

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Noninvasive prenatal blood testing, or NIPT, is a routine screening that is offered during pregnancy and looks for placental DNA to diagnose chromosomal disorders in a fetus. But in some cases, these tests can also find cancer in the pregnant person. How do the tests work, and why are they uncovering cancer? Genetic counselor and writer Laura Herscher speaks with host Rachel Feltman about IDENTIFY (Incidental Detection of Maternal Neoplasia through Non-invasive Cell-Free DNA Analysis), a broader study that seeks to understand why usual results from NIPT can correlate with a cancer diagnosis in a pregnant patient. Plus, we discuss why treating pregnant patients for cancer can be complicated for obstetricians and oncologists.

Recommended reading:

A Prenatal Test of the Fetus Turns Up Cancers in Pregnant Mothers https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-prenatal-test-of-the-fetus-turns-up-cancers-in-pregnant-mothers/ 

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, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

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Bacterial vaginosis (BV), an overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria in the vagina, affects nearly one in three people with a vagina. While you can get BV without ever having sex, a new study has found that, in some cases, it could be functioning more like a sexually transmitted infection. That’s in part because of the increased risk of BV after sex with a new partner and a high recurrence of BV symptoms after treatment.The study examined women with BV who were in a monogamous relationship with a male partner and found that treating both people was significantly more effective than treating the woman alone. Host Rachel Feltman speaks with study co-authors Lenka Vodstrcil, a senior research fellow at Melbourne Sexual Health Center at Monash University in Australia, and Catriona Bradshaw, a professor of sexual health medicine at Monash University and Australia’s Alfred Hospital.

Recommended reading:

Read the study

Resources for patients and health professionals 

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, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman.

Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura 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

We're surrounded by risks of all sizes, every day. Some people might be risk-takers, while others do whatever they can to avoid them. But how can we tackle the risks that impact society on a global scale, like those linked to sustainable energy, societal health and digital technology? Science journalist Izzie Clarke explores this question in the latest podcast from Scientific American Custom Media. She sat down with Chris Cramer, chief research officer and interim president for the leading safety science organization UL Research Institutes.

This podcast was produced for UL Research Institutes by Scientific American Custom Media, a division separate from the magazine’s board of editors.

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The Trump administration continues to make cuts to U.S. science and health agencies. Now some states are fighting back, suing the Department of Health and Human Services for slashing $11 billion in public health funds. A study finds that Americans live shorter lives than Europeans with the same income—stress and other systemic issues could be to blame. While much-hyped asteroid 2024 YR4 is no longer a risk to Earth, it could still hit the moon—a possibility that has some scientists excited. Plus, we give an update on the U.S.’s measles outbreak and the troubling hesitancy that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is showing toward communicating with the public. 

Recommended reading:

As Measles Continues to Rise, CDC Muffles Vaccine Messaging 

JWST Delivers Best-Yet Look at That Worrisome Asteroid

Americans Are Lonelier Than Europeans in Middle Age

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, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura 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 U.S. Department of State recently announced plans to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID. While some of USAID’s functions will continue under the Department of State, there is real concern that the cuts will jeopardize public health efforts across the world, including immunization programs and other efforts that have saved the lives of millions of children. Senior health and medicine editor Tanya Lewis joins host Rachel Feltman to explore the agency’s lifesaving programs and to discuss the devastating effects that will occur when the U.S. divests from global public health efforts. 

Recommended reading:

USAID Funding Saved Millions of Children’s Lives. Recent Cuts Put It in Jeopardy 

Watch now:

John Green on How Tuberculosis Shaped Our Modern World

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, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Tanya Lewis. Our show is edited by Alex Sugiura 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