Science Talk

By Scientific AmericanScience

Science Talk episodes

May 24, 2024 Troubled Waters on Cape Cod: Sticker Shock (Part 2)
Cape Cod’s famed ponds and bays are suffering from pollution with a curious origin: human urine. Household septic systems are flushing nitrogen into the water, resulting in toxic algal blooms. In the second installment of our three-part Fascination series about Cape Cod’s “yellow tide,” environmental reporter Barbara Moran looks at the controversial and costly pollution solutions being considered.
You can check out more of Barbara Moran’s reporting on the efforts to improve Cape Cod’s water pollution, including a “pee-cycling” project being considered by one innovative town. And watch WBUR and Scientific American’s documentary short exploring how pollution and algae overgrowth threaten this Massachusetts vacation hub.
Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter.
This series is a co-production of WBUR and Scientific American. It’s reported and hosted by WBUR’s Barbara Moran. Science Quickly is produced by Jeff DelViscio, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Rachel Feltman. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-checked this series, and Duy Linh Tu and Sebastian Tuinder contributed reporting and sound. WBUR’s Kathleen Masterson edited this series. Additional funding was provided by the Pulitzer Center.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
13 min
May 22, 2024 The Apocalypse Is Going to Be a Lot Friendlier Than You Think
Psychologist and cooperation theorist Athena Aktipis shares advice from her new book, A Field Guide to the Apocalypse, on how to survive and thrive in doomsday scenarios from catastrophic natural disasters to zombie outbreaks.
Related Reading:
– Could the Zombie Fungus in TV’s The Last of Us Really Infect People?
– The Evolutionary Reasons We Are Drawn to Horror
Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter.
Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Athena Aktipis. 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
19 min
May 20, 2024 AI Is Getting Creepier and Risky Cheese Is Getting Trendier
In this week's science roundup: drinking raw milk was always risky, but now there are added concerns over the spread of bird flu into dairy cows. An intense geomagnetic storm led to stunning auroras across the globe last week–and similar storms could mess with satellites and electricity infrastructure. Plus, hurricane forecasts are on the horizon.
Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! And discover something new everyday by subscribing to Scientific American or signing up for our daily newsletter.
Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, 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, 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
13 min
May 17, 2024 Troubled Waters on Cape Cod: Loved to Death (Part 1)
In the first episode of a three-part series, environmental reporter Barbara Moran is on Cape Cod to find out why the crystal clear water there is turning “pea-soup green”—and how communities are scrambling to clean it up.
For more information, read WBUR’s coverage of the efforts to improve Cape Cod’s water pollution, including a “pee-cycling” project being considered by one innovative town. And watch WBUR and Scientific American’s documentary short exploring how pollution and algae overgrowth threaten this Massachusetts vacation hub.
Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter.
This series is a co-production of WBUR and Scientific American. It’s reported and hosted by WBUR’s Barbara Moran. Science Quickly is produced by Jeff DelViscio, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Rachel Feltman. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-checked this series, and Duy Linh Tu and Sebastian Tuinder contributed reporting and sound. WBUR’s Kathleen Masterson edited this series. Additional funding was provided by the Pulitzer Center.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
15 min
May 15, 2024 A Citrus-Scented Cannabis Compound Reduces Anxiety for Weed Users
Cannabis consumers may be familiar with the paranoia that can come from taking too many gummies or smoking too much weed. New research into cannabis reveals how a lemon-scented terpene d-limonene can ease anxiety without diminishing the high.
Join Scientific American, Springer Nature and Nature Portfolio in Washington, D.C. on May 17 for Science on the Hill. Register now!
Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter.
Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Kelso Harper, 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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
11 min
May 13, 2024 The Internet Is Full of Deepfakes, and the Sky Is Full of Trash
AI-generated images of Katy Perry at Monday’s Met Gala looked so realistic they even duped her mom. And it just so happens that ChatGPT developer OpenAI released a new tool to detect fake images generated by DALL-E—the very next day.
Join Scientific American, Springer Nature and Nature Portfolio in Washington, D.C. on May 17 for Science on the Hill. Register now!
Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter.
Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, 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
10 min
May 03, 2024 Introducing Science Quickly’s New Host, Rachel Feltman
Meet Rachel Feltman, the new host of Science Quickly! Bringing a fresh perspective and infectious enthusiasm, Rachel will take you on audio journeys to far-off places, inspire you to ponder deep questions, and introduce you to people changing the world with science.
Email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily newsletter.
Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, 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, 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
6 min
May 01, 2024 Can Food Work as Medicine?
Doctors are starting to prescribe vegetables or entire meals to ward off disease.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
12 min
May 01, 2024 Episode 5: How Do We Know Anything?
On this show, we’ve been talking about uncertainty from a variety of different angles.
We’ve heard how uncertainty can be a spark for creativity and scientific discovery.
We’ve discussed how uncertainty can go unseen and make science really difficult.
And we’ve explored some of the research techniques and habits of mind that researchers use to deal with uncertainty.
Today we’re going to end with two final questions: If science is always uncertain, how can we ever know anything? How can we have confidence in science if there’s always underlying uncertainty?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
34 min
April 29, 2024 Corals Are Once Again Bleaching En Masse, but Their Fate Isn’t Sealed
Amid Earth’s fourth global coral bleaching event, a leading expert says tackling climate change is the key to fighting back.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
15 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.