Science Talk

By Scientific AmericanScience

Science Talk episodes

August 12, 2015 Women Left out in Cold by Office A-C Standards
Indoor climate control systems are based on 1960s standards that envisioned the typical office worker to be a 40-year-old, 68-kilogram man

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3 min
August 11, 2015 Bite Me: The Mutation That Made Corn Kernels Consumable
A single-point mutation in corn's ancestor teosinte got rid of the hard shell that used to encase every kernel

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3 min
August 07, 2015 Fish Slime Inspires New Eco-Sunscreen Ingredient
Researchers have developed a new ecofriendly sunscreen molecule that protects against both UV-A and UV-B rays, and could also be used to create more durable paints and plastics. Christopher Intagliata reports

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4 min
August 06, 2015 Microbes Deep under Seafloor Reflect Ancient Land Origins
Microbes 2,500 meters below the seafloor in Japan are most closely related to bacterial groups that thrive in forest soils on land, suggesting that they might be descendants of ones that survived when their terrestrial habitat was flooded 20 million years ago

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4 min
August 06, 2015 Olympics Loser Boston Wins Big Economically
Smith College sports economist Andrew Zimbalist talks about why the Olympics is almost always a big financial hardship for the host city, a subject he treats at length in his book Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup. Recorded at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse in New York City

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37 min
August 05, 2015 Spicy Food Linked to Lower Risk of Death
In a study of nearly half a million volunteers in China, those who ate chilies just a couple times a week had a 10 percent lower risk of death. Christopher Intagliata reports

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4 min
August 04, 2015 Bonobo Peeps May Be Necessary Language Precursors
Animal communication studies have shown only fixed vocalizations, such as alarm cries. But Bonobo chimps appear to have a call that has different meanings in different contexts

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4 min
August 03, 2015 Diminutive Peoples Took Different Paths to Petite
Adults of the west African Baka people and east African Efé and Sua peoples average less than five feet tall. But while the Efé and Sua are born small, the Baka have slow growth rates in infancy

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3 min
July 31, 2015 Forests Suck Up Less Carbon after Drought
Tree growth lags below normal for several years following droughts, a detail about carbon sequestration that climate models currently overlook. Christopher Intagliata reports

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4 min
July 30, 2015 "Imperfect" Vaccines May Aid Survival of Ultrahot Viruses
Certain vaccines prevent sickness and death, but don't block transmission—meaning they may actually give some viral strains an extra shot at survival. Christopher Intagliata reports

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4 min

About Science Talk

From the publisher's feed

Science Talk is a podcast of longer-form audio experiments from Scientific American--from immersive sonic journeys into nature to deep dives into research with leading experts.