Science, Quickly

Latest Episodes:

Some Mosquito Repellents Act like Invisibility Cloaks Oct 21, 2019

Show notes

Synthetic repellents such as DEET seem to mask the scent of our “human perfume”—making us less obvious targets for mosquitoes. Christopher Intagliata reports.

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Nobel in Physiology or Medicine for How Cells Sense Oxygen Levels Oct 07, 2019

Show notes

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to William G. Kaelin, Jr., Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza “for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.” They identified molecular machinery that regulates gene activity in response to changing levels of oxygen.

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Teeth Tell Black Death Genetic Tale Oct 06, 2019

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DNA from the teeth of medieval plague victims indicates the pathogen likely first arrived in eastern Europe before spreading across the continent.

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Heat Changes Insect Call, but It Still Works Oct 02, 2019

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Tiny insects called treehoppers produce very different mating songs at higher versus lower temperatures, but the intended recipient still finds the changed songs attractive.

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Corals Can Inherit Symbiotic Adaptations to Warming Oct 01, 2019

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Adult corals can reshuffle their symbiotic algae species to adapt to warming waters—and, it appears they can pass those adaptations on. Christopher Intagliata reports.

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Brains of Blind People Adapt in Similar Fashion Sep 30, 2019

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The brains of those who are blind repurpose the vision regions for adaptive hearing, and they appear to do so in a consistent way.

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Science News Briefs from around the World Sep 29, 2019

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A few brief reports about international science and technology from Hungary to Japan, including one about a wine grape in France that DNA testing shows has been cultivated for almost a millennium.

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Musical Note Perception Can Depend on Culture Sep 25, 2019

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Western ears consider a pitch at double the frequency of a lower pitch to be the same note, an octave higher. The Tsimane’, an indigenous people in the Bolivian Amazon basin, do not.

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Early Butchers Used Small Stone Scalpels Sep 18, 2019

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Homo erectus used hand axes to butcher elephants and other game. But a new study suggests they also used finer, more sophisticated blades. Christopher Intagliata reports.

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Microplastics in Fresh Water Are Mostly Laundry Lint Sep 17, 2019

Show notes

Microplastic particles are everywhere, but in freshwater systems, 60 percent of particles are clothing lint from laundry.

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