Science Quickly

Latest Episodes:

Environment Has Beef with Beef Aug 01, 2014

Show notes

Raising beef uses 28 times more land, 11 times more water and six times more fertilizer than the average expenditures for other livestock. Cynthia Graber reports

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Pack Rats Expand Diet with New Gut Bacteria Jul 31, 2014

Show notes

Pack rats given the right gut bacteria via a fecal transplant from other pack rats can then digest foods that they formerly could not, but the donors could. Karen Hopkin reports

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Colorful Birds Can Also Belt Tunes Jul 30, 2014

Show notes

A survey of the tanagers reveals that birds do not have to choose between colorful plumage and a melodious song. Karen Hopkin reports

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Roach Reactions to Venom Point to Targeted Pesticides Jul 29, 2014

Show notes

Small changes in the protein sequence of sodium channels of American compared with German cockroaches leave the latter susceptible to a venom that has little effect on the former. Cynthia Graber reports

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Ocean Plastic Particles Could Get in Gills Jul 28, 2014

Show notes

Sea creatures eat plastic dumped in the ocean, but they also might be accumulating plastic by sucking up tiny particles with their siphons and gills. Christopher Intagliata reports

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Salmonella's Favorite Food Could Be Its Achilles' Heel Jul 23, 2014

Show notes

Salmonella's primary fuel source is the molecule fructose-asparagine. Starving it of that fuel in an infected person could kill it without harming beneficial gut bacteria. Karen Hopkin reports

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Education Level Linked to Nearsightedness Jul 21, 2014

Show notes

In a German study, half of those with a university degree were myopic compared with less than a quarter of folks who quit after high school or secondary school. Karen Hopkin reports

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Give Us This Day the Bread Wheat Genome Jul 17, 2014

Show notes

A preliminary map of the bread wheat genome includes the locations of more than 75,000 genes. Cynthia Graber reports

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Supercooled Organs Could Stretch Time to Transplant Jul 09, 2014

Show notes

Liver transplant time from human donor to patient is limited to 12 hours, but rats that got livers specially stored for three days were going strong three months later. Cynthia Graber reports

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Space-Based Data Collection Better Predicts Floods Jul 08, 2014

Show notes

Satellite data can help geologists predict major floods up to 11 months in advance in areas where snow melt or groundwater is a significant contributor. Cynthia Graber reports

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