Science Talk

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.

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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.

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The human body is capable of some truly incredible things. One of the most mysterious and debated phenomena is a release of fluid during sex that is often referred to as “squirting.” What’s actually happening, and why does it stir so much speculation? Wendy Zukerman, host of the hit podcast Science Vs, breaks down the science behind this fascinating topic, exploring what we know, what we don’t and what the controversy surrounding it is.

Recommended reading:

What a Survey On Anal Sex and Masturbation Reveals About Prostates and Pleasure

E-mail 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, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Naeem Amarsy and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

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Long-chain alkanes discovered by NASA’s Curiosity rover point to the possibility that there may have been fatty acids on Mars—and that they could have come from past microbial life. Paleontologists have found a huge dinosaur claw that was probably made for foraging, not fighting. Researchers studying ocean life have recorded the sounds of sharks and the tricks of cuttlefish. Plus, cuts to jobs and funding for U.S. federal science and health agencies continued last week. Tens of thousands of federal workers are on the chopping block, as is funding for COVID testing, vaccinations and equity initiatives. 

Recommended reading:

Scientists Record First Known Shark Sounds https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-record-first-known-shark-sounds/ 

HHS’s Long COVID Office Is Closing. What Will This Mean for Future Research and Treatments? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hhss-long-covid-office-is-closing-what-will-this-mean-for-future-research/ 

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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The cutting edge of research is very small—and very clean. In this episode, host Rachel Feltman joins Vladimir Bulović, director of MIT.nano, on a tour of this facility’s nanoscale capabilities. Its tightly controlled clean room hosts research across several fields, from microelectronics to medical nanotechnology.

You can see Bulović’s tour of the lab at: https://youtu.be/ucGFcLjX30Q 

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 Jeff DelViscio with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.

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When you hear “invasive plant,” you might picture an aggressive species taking over and harming the environment. But what if the way we think about invasive plants is part of the problem? Host Rachel Feltman chats with Mason Heberling, associate curator of botany at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, about why these plants are more complicated than we think. He’s one of the experts behind Uprooted: Plants Out of Place, a new exhibition that challenges the way we label and manage plant invasions.

Recommended reading:

Invasive Species Can Sometimes Help an Ecosystem

“Lost in Translation: The Need for Updated Messaging Strategies in Invasion Biology Communication,” by Rachel A. Reeb and J. Mason Heberling, in Plants, People, Planet. Published online November 8, 2024

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 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 edited by Alex Sugiura. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. 

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