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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Clark Kent's Glasses Aided His Anonymity
24/10/2016 Duration: 02minSlightly altering one’s appearance—even with glasses—can indeed hinder facial recognition by others. Erika Beras reports.
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Poor Sleepers Worse at Recognizing Unfamiliar Faces
19/10/2016 Duration: 03minSubjects suffering insomnia got more wrong answers in a face-matching task—but they were paradoxically more confident of their responses. Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Yawns Help the Brain Keep Its Cool
18/10/2016 Duration: 01minTheory has it yawning helps cool the brain—and it turns out animals with bigger brains do indeed tend to yawn longer. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Polar Bears Can't Just Switch to Terrestrial Food
14/10/2016 Duration: 04minWith a shorter season of sea ice, polar bears have less access to marine mammals. But switching to a terrestrial diet deprives them of the fatty seal meals they need to thrive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Flowers Deceive Flies with Chemical Cocktail
13/10/2016 Duration: 01minThe parachute flower smells like alarm pheromones of a honeybee, to attract tiny flies that feed on bees under attack.
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Feed Microbes Oxygen to Help Clear Spilled Oil
12/10/2016 Duration: 01minA technique called “biosparging” relies on pumping oxygen underground to help naturally occurring microorganisms multiply and consume oil spills.
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Elephant Footprints Become Tiny Critter Havens
11/10/2016 Duration: 03minWhen rain fills the massive footprints left by elephants, communities of aquatic invertebrates quickly move in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Future Wet Suits Otter Be Warmer
10/10/2016 Duration: 02minFuture wet suits with surface textures like the thick fur of otters that trap insulating air layers could keep tomorrow's divers warmer in icy waters.
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Gender Influences Recommendations for Science Jobs
06/10/2016 Duration: 02minFemale applicants to postdoctoral positions in geosciences were nearly half as likely to receive excellent letters of recommendation, compared with their male counterparts. Christopher Intagliata reports
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Nobel in Chemistry for Molecular Machines
05/10/2016 Duration: 02minJean-Pierre Sauvage, James Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa share the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.
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Nobel in Physics for Secrets of Exotic Matter
04/10/2016 Duration: 03minDavid J. Thouless, F. Duncan Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz split the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.
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Nobel in Physiology or Medicine to Yoshinori Ohsumi for Autophagy Discoveries
03/10/2016 Duration: 03minJapan's Yoshinori Ohsumi wins the 2016 prize for discoveries related to autophagy, the process in cells whereby they degrade some of their internal structures and send the parts out for recycling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Great Migration Left Genetic Legacy
02/10/2016 Duration: 02minReseachers have started to examine the genetic traces of the movement of some six million African-Americans from the south to the north and west between 1910 and 1970.
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Arctic Pollinator Faces Uncertain Future
01/10/2016 Duration: 02minA housefly relative appears to be key to the reproductive success of a hardy tundra shrub. But the insect is threatened by the warming climate. Christopher Intagliata reports.
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Water Bears' Super Survival Skills Give Up Secrets
28/09/2016 Duration: 02minA protein from microscopic creatures called tardigrades keeps their DNA protected—and could someday shield humans from radiation.
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Big Earthquakes May Be More Likely During New and Full Moons
27/09/2016 Duration: 02minWhen the sun, moon and Earth are aligned, high tidal stress may increase the chances that an earthquake will grow bigger than it otherwise might have been.
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Clever Ants Have Backup Navigation Systems
22/09/2016 Duration: 02minAn ant walking in the desert can gauge distance by footsteps and the sun's position, but an ant being carried can estimate distance by visual information perceived as it passed by.
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Ancient Biblical Scroll Gets Read While Wrapped
21/09/2016 Duration: 02minResearchers used high-tech visualization techniques to peer inside an ancient scroll too fragile to unwrap.
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Birch Trees Droop at Night with No Rays in Sight
20/09/2016 Duration: 01minThe branches of birch trees in Europe sagged by as much as four inches at night compared with daytime.
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Some Malaria Mosquitoes May Prefer Cows to Us
19/09/2016 Duration: 01minA chromosomal rearrangement may cause one mosquito species to be lured to cows instead of humans for a blood meal. Christopher Intagliata reports.