Synopsis
Leading science journalists provide a daily minute commentary on some of the most interesting developments in the world of science. For a full-length, weekly podcast you can subscribe to Science Talk: The Podcast of Scientific American . To view all of our archived podcasts please go to www.scientificamerican.com/podcast
Episodes
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Blood Cells Remember Your Mountain Vacation
23/02/2017 Duration: 02minRed blood cells retain a memory of high-altitude exposure, allowing for faster acclimation next time. But that memory fades within four months. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Fermented Foods Find Fervent Advocate
22/02/2017 Duration: 03minProperly fermented foods deliver probiotics that could help cut disease risk, said a researcher at the annual meeting of the AAAS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Vision Needed to Curb Nearsightedness Epidemic
21/02/2017 Duration: 03minIn urban Asian areas myopia among teenagers is topping 90 percent—but foresight may be able to bring those numbers way down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Guppy Groups Provide Friendly Protection against Foes
20/02/2017 Duration: 02minGuppies exposed to predators tend to aggregate into smaller, more tightly knit groups, which may allow them to coordinate their predator avoidance strategies. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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Spaceflight Squishes Spacefarers' Brains
18/02/2017 Duration: 01minAstronauts’ gray matter is compressed by time in space—except in an area that controls feeling and movement in the legs. Karen Hopkin reports.
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2 Words Trigger CDC to Stay Quiet
17/02/2017 Duration: 02minResearchers and administrators at the CDC dare not utter the words guns or firearms for fear of budget cuts from Congress, according to health policy researcher David Hemenway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The True "Bottom" of the Food Chain Is Plenty Polluted
16/02/2017 Duration: 03minCritters living more than six miles below the ocean surface contain high levels of harmful compounds like PCBs and flame retardants. Julia Rosen reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Heat Sensor Has Snaky Sensitivity
15/02/2017 Duration: 03minResearchers have developed a heat sensor that can detect temperature changes of just ten thousandths of a degree Celsius—comparable with the sensitivity of pit vipers. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Housing Boom Busts Birds' Valentine's Day
14/02/2017 Duration: 03minA Pacific Northwest housing boom is encroaching on songbird habitat, forcing the birds to flee their homes—and their mates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Cool Coating Chills in Sunlight
13/02/2017 Duration: 02minA thin film coating can chill a vat of water to 15 degress Fahrenheit cooler than its surroundings, by absorbing—and then emitting—the sun's infrared rays. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Partnered-Up Men More Attractive to Women
09/02/2017 Duration: 01minWomen rate a man they see with an attractive woman as more desirable than an unattached man. Erika Beras reports.
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Gulf Dead Zone Makes for Shrimpier Shrimp
08/02/2017 Duration: 03minThe low-oxygen waters of the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico result in smaller shrimp, and a spike in large shrimp prices. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Frog Spit Behaves Like Bug-Catching Ketchup
06/02/2017 Duration: 03minThe amphibians' saliva is what's known as a "shear-thinning fluid," like ketchup—sometimes thick, sometimes thin and flowing. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Super Bowl Snacks Need These Exercise Equivalents
04/02/2017 Duration: 03minCharles Platkin, director of the New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College, published tips on what it would take to burn off the calories we typically consume during the Super Bowl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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The Arctic's Anti-Snowball Snowball Effect
02/02/2017 Duration: 02minArctic heat waves melt sea ice, which promotes more warming and even more ice loss. In other words, it’s a snowball effect—or in this case, an anti-snowball effect. Julia Rosen reports.
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Widening the Suez Canal Ushers In Underwater Invaders
31/01/2017 Duration: 03minNomadic jellyfish and poisonous puffer fish are the poster children of an invasion of non-native species into the Mediterranean, with environmental and economic costs. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Hawaiian Crows Ready for the Call of the Wild
30/01/2017 Duration: 03minThe critically endangered birds have done well in captive breeding, meaning they may be ready once more for wild living, and the repertoire of calls associated with it. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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A Humble Fish with a Colorful Edge
28/01/2017 Duration: 02minThe cichlid, a small fish, has one of the most incredible visual systems known—which allows it to adapt to differently colored environments. Jason G. Goldman reports.
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LSD's Long, Strange Trip Explained
26/01/2017 Duration: 01minWhen LSD binds to serotonin receptors, it pulls a "lid" closed behind it, locking it in place for hours, and explaining its long-lasting effects. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Umbrellas Plus Sunscreen Best Bet to Beat Burns
25/01/2017 Duration: 03minSunscreen or beach umbrellas alone were unable to completely prevent sunburns—so researchers suggest combining the methods instead. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices