Science, Quickly

Latest Episodes:

Why We're Worried about Generative AI May 19, 2023

Show notes

From the technology upsetting jobs and causing intellectual property issues to models making up fake answers to questions, here’s why we’re concerned about generative AI.

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Dismantling the PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' Legacy [Sponsored] May 18, 2023

Show notes

More sustainable ways of removing persistent chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the environment are on the horizon.

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Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder through the 'Community' of Ella May 17, 2023

Show notes

We learn the story of “Ella,” a patient with 12 different personalities, or “parts,” and of her therapist, who helped her form a peaceful community—many selves in one body and mind.

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Is Time Travel Even Possible? May 15, 2023

Show notes

Two SciAm editors duke it out to see if wormholes and multiverses could in fact exist.

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Parrot Babies Babble Just like Us May 12, 2023

Show notes

Parrot nestlings spend time stringing together jumbled mixtures of sound—a rehearsal for more adult conversations

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A 19th-Century Obscenity Law Is Being Used Again to Limit Abortion May 10, 2023

Show notes

Recent rulings on the abortion pill cite the Comstock Act, a 150-year-old law that’s still on the books

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These Mini Ecosystems Existed Underfoot of Dinosaurs, but Our Parking Lots Might Pave Them to Extinction May 08, 2023

Show notes

Vernal pools are safe havens for creatures such as fairy shrimp, and they have lived through the end of the dinosaurs, the breakup of Pangaea and multiple ice ages. But humans are paving them over.

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This $600-Million Room Contains the World's Largest Collection of These Tiny Endangered Animals May 05, 2023

Show notes

Inside a vault at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles lies a microscopic population of immense value—the repository for vernal pool fairy shrimp.

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Surviving in the Ephemeral Pools of Life May 03, 2023

Show notes

Carpets of gold, burrowing toads and fairy shrimp all depend on vernal pools—habitats that, most of the time, do not exist.

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This Fleeting Ecosystem Is Magical, and You Have Probably Never Heard of It or Even Noticed It May 01, 2023

Show notes

Vernal pools are home to spectacular residents such as fairy shrimp, but these unusual natural wonders are under threat.

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