Science Talk

By Scientific AmericanScience

Science Talk episodes

August 12, 2020 Why Lava Worlds Shine Brightly (It's Not the Lava)
Scientists determined that “lava world” exoplanets do not derive their brightness from molten rock but possibly get it from reflective metallic clouds. Christopher Intagliata reports.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
4 min
August 11, 2020 Aardvarks Are Ailing amid Heat and Drought
Climate change is expected to bring more frequent droughts and heat waves to Africa’s Kalahari Desert. And aardvarks might not be able to cope. Jason G. Goldman reports.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
5 min
August 07, 2020 The World's Highest-Dwelling Mammal Lives atop a Volcano
Scientists spotted a mouse at the summit of Llullaillaco, a 22,000-foot-tall volcano on the border of Chile and Argentina. Julia Rosen reports.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
5 min
August 06, 2020 COVID-19 Vaccine Ethics: Who Gets It First and Other Issues
Contributing editor W. Wayt Gibbs spoke with Arthur Caplan, head of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s division of medical ethics, about some of the ethical issues that researchers have to consider in testing and distributing vaccines against COVID-19.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
26 min
August 05, 2020 Dampening of the Senses Is Linked to Dementia Risk
A decline in smell was the sense loss most strongly associated with such risk in a recent study. Christopher Intagliata reports.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
3 min
August 04, 2020 Translucent Frog Optics Create Camo Color
Rather than undergoing active chameleonlike color changes, glass frogs’ translucency allows light to bounce from their background and go through them—making their apparent color close to their setting.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
5 min
August 03, 2020 Paired Comparisons Could Mean Better Witness Identifications
Compared with traditional lineup techniques, a series of two-faces-at-a-time choices led to more accurate identification by study witnesses.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
5 min
August 02, 2020 Foxes Have Dined on Our Leftovers for 30,000 Years
An analysis of fox fossils found evidence that they scavenged from wolf and bear kills until Homo sapiens supplied plenty of horse and reindeer remains.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
5 min
July 31, 2020 Mexico Caves Reveal Ancient Ocher Mining
Now submerged caves in the Yucatán Peninsula contain remains of ocher-mining operations that date back at least 10,000 years.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
5 min
July 30, 2020 How Your Homes and Buildings Affect You
Journalist and author Emily Anthes talks about her book The Great Indoors: The Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape Our Behavior, Health, and Happiness.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
36 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.