Science Magazine Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Why eggs have such weird shapes, doubly domesticated cats, and science balloons on the rise Jun 22, 2017

Show notes

This week we have stories on the new capabilities of science balloons, connections between deforestation and drug trafficking in Central America, and new insights into the role ancient Egypt had in taming cats with Online News Editor David Grimm.
Sarah Crespi talks to Mary Caswell Stoddard about why bird eggs come in so many shapes and sizes.
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[Image:; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Slowly retiring chimps, tanning at the cellular level, and plumbing magma’s secrets Jun 15, 2017

Show notes

This week we have stories on why it’s taking so long for research chimps to retire, boosting melanin for a sun-free tan, and tracking a mouse trail to find liars online with Online News Editor David Grimm.
Sarah Crespi talks to Allison Rubin about what we can learn from zircon crystals outside of a volcano about how long hot magma hangs out under a volcano.
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[Image: Project Chimps; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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How to weigh a star—with a little help from Einstein, toxic ‘selfish genes,’ and the world’s oldest Homo sapiens fossils Jun 08, 2017

Show notes

This week we have stories on what body cams reveal about interactions between black drivers and U.S. police officers, the world’s oldest Homo sapiens fossils, and how modern astronomers measured the mass of a star—thanks to an old tip from Einstein—with Online News Intern Ryan Cross.
Sarah Crespi talks to Eyal Ben-David about a pair of selfish genes—one toxin and one antidote—that have been masquerading as essential developmental genes in a nematode worm. She asks how many more so-called “essential genes” are really just self-perpetuating freeloaders?
Science Careers Editor Rachel Bernstein is also here to talk about stress and work-life balance for researchers and science students.
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[Image: Chris Burns/Science; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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A new taste for the tongue, ancient DNA from Egyptian mummies, and early evidence for dog breeding Jun 01, 2017

Show notes

This week we have stories on how we taste water, extracting ancient DNA from mummy heads, and the earliest evidence for dog breeding with Online News Editor David Grimm.
Sarah Crespi talks to John Travis about postsurgical cognitive dysfunction—does surgery sap your brain power?
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[Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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How whales got so big, sperm in space, and a first look at Jupiter’s poles May 25, 2017

Show notes

This week we have stories on strange dimming at a not-so-distant star, sending sperm to the International Space Station, and what the fossil record tells us about how baleen whales got so ginormous with Online News Editor David Grimm.
Julia Rosen talks to Scott Bolton about surprises in the first data from the Juno mission, including what Jupiter’s poles look like and a peak under its outer cloud layers.
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[Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Preventing augmented-reality overload, fixing bone with tiny bubbles, and studying human migrations May 18, 2017

Show notes

This week we have stories on blocking dangerous or annoying distractions in augmented reality, gene therapy applied with ultrasound to heal bone breaks, and giving robots geckolike gripping power with Online News Editor David Grimm.
Deputy News Editor Elizabeth Culotta joins Sarah Crespi to discuss a special package on human migrations—from the ancient origins of Europeans to the restless and wandering scientists of today.
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Download the show transcript.
Transcripts courtesy of Scribie.com.
[Image: Public domain; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Our newest human relative, busting human sniff myths, and the greenhouse gas that could slow global warming May 11, 2017

Show notes

This week we have stories on ancient hominids that may have coexisted with early modern humans, methane seeps in the Arctic that could slow global warming, and understanding color without words with Online News Intern Lindzi Wessel.
John McGann joins Sarah Crespi to discuss long-standing myths about our ability to smell. It turns out people are probably a lot better at detecting odors than scientists thought!
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[Image: Streluk/iStockphoto; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Podcast: Reading pain from the brains of infants, modeling digital faces, and wifi holograms May 04, 2017

Show notes

This week, we discuss the most accurate digital model of a human face to date, stray Wi-Fi signals that can be used to spy on a closed room, and artificial intelligence that can predict Supreme Court decisions with Online News Editor Catherine Matacic.
Caroline Hartley joins Sarah Crespi to discuss a scan that can detect pain in babies—a useful tool when they can’t tell you whether something really hurts.
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See more book segments.

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Podcast: Where dog breeds come from, bots that build buildings, and gathering ancient human DNA from cave sediments Apr 27, 2017

Show notes

This week, a new family tree of dog breeds, advances in artificial wombs, and an autonomous robot that can print a building with Online News Editor David Grimm.
Viviane Slon joins Sarah Crespi to discuss a new way to seek out ancient humans—without finding fossils or bones—by screening sediments for ancient DNA.
Jen Golbeck interviews Andrew Shtulman, author of Scienceblind: Why Our Intuitive Theories About the World Are So Often Wrong for this month’s book segment.
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See more book segments.
Download the show transcript.
Transcripts courtesy of Scribie.com.
[Image: nimis69/iStockphoto; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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Podcast: When good lions go bad, listening to meteor crashes, and how humans learn to change the world Apr 20, 2017

Show notes

This week, meteors’ hiss may come from radio waves, pigeons that build on the wings of those that came before, and a potential answer to the century-old mystery of what turned two lions into people eaters with Online News Editor David Grimm.
Elise Amel joins Julia Rosen to discuss the role of evolution and psychology in humans’ ability to overcome norms and change the world, as part of a special issue on conservation this week in Science.
Listen to previous podcasts.
Download the show transcript
Transcripts courtesy Scribie.com
[Image: bjdlzx/iStockphoto; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

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