60-second Science

Astronomer Caleb Scharf weighs what ever more exoplanets mean in the search for extraterrestrial life.

Animal Planet's series The Zoo shows viewers the biological, veterinary and conservation science at a modern zoo.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers measured the intensity of the universe's ultraviolet background radiation, and say it may be strong enough to strip small galaxies of star-forming gas. Christopher Intagliata reports.

Japanese macaques at the receiving end of aggression tend to then take it out on a close associate or family member of the original aggressor.  

Researchers used ancient climate cycles to confirm the solar system’s chaotic planetary orbits. An Earth–Mars collision is one distant outcome. Julia Rosen reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mice that lost weight and then gained back more than they lost maintained an obesity-type microbiome that affected biochemicals involved in either burning or adding fat--suggesting interventions.  

A meta-analysis found that being of low socioeconomic status was associated with almost as many years of lost life as was a sedentary lifestyle.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In fewer than a dozen generations bumblebee-pollinated plants were coaxed to develop traits that made them even more pleasing to the bees. Christopher Intagliata reports.

For every two species lost in a grassland, the remaining flowers there bloomed a day earlier—on par with changes due to rising global temperatures. Christopher Intagliata reports.

Exposure to specific microbes when an infant is less than a year old seems to have a protective effect against the child's eventual acquisition of asthma.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Astrophysicists propose that mysterious "fast radio bursts" could, in very speculative theory, be produced by an antenna twice the size of Earth. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If anything's alive on the ice-covered ocean world of Europa, a future NASA mission hopes to find it.  

By sequencing DNA in Neandertal dental plaque, scientists were able to find out about their diets—and their good relations with modern humans. Christopher Intagliata reports.

What appears to be accepted science in the courtroom may not be accepted science among scientists.

The gravitational waves found last year were short compared with the monster waves that could be turned up by what's called Pulsar Timing Arrays.  

Atmospheric rivers can carry the same amount of water vapor as 15 to 20 Mississippi Rivers—and deliver punishing winds, too. Christopher Intagliata reports. 

The final holdout woolly mammoths had large numbers of harmful mutations—which would have given them satiny coats and a weakened sense of smell. Christopher Intagliata reports.

Climate change and overfishing have made the penguins’ feeding grounds a mirage—which has led to a drop in penguin population. Jason G. Goldman reports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Researchers found that Neandertal gene variants still affect the way genes are turned off and on in modern humans. Christopher Intagliata reports. 

Doing large studies of marijuana's potential as medicine means getting it removed from an official federal list of substances with no official medical use—which requires more proof of its potential as medicine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices