Science Selections
441 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 3 years ago - ★★★ - 9 ratingsScience Selections From Popular Scientific Journals
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Space: The Final Illusion - From Pocket Worthy
July 03, 2020 04:23 - 16 minutes - 3.88 MBThe idea that objects influence each other because they're in physical proximity is soon to be proven wrong. By Lee Smolin.
Fatness in the Middle Ages - Medievalists.net
June 27, 2020 22:14 - 22 minutes - 5.49 MBFatness meant various things to medieval people. Unmanly to upper class men, enviable to lower. For women it could mean fertility.
Tales of the Dying Brain - Jun 2020 Scientific American
June 20, 2020 19:19 - 23 minutes - 5.6 MBSurviving a brush with death can leave a legacy in the mind - and may show how it works under extreme conditions. By Christof Koch
Precariously Balanced Rocks - From Pocket Worthy
June 13, 2020 17:41 - 14 minutes - 3.55 MBWhy Scientists Fall for Precariously Balanced Rocks. They're nature's hilarious accidents. By Sabrina Imbler.
Cheaper Batteries - Ars Technica May, 2020
June 07, 2020 04:49 - 23 minutes - 5.76 MBFrom smartphones to Teslas; the economics of cheaper batteries and why they're good news for the planet. By Timothy B. Lee.
Great Insect Die-Off - From Pocket Worthy
June 02, 2020 04:23 - 35 minutes - 8.43 MBNo one knows how many species of living things there are, maybe millions - tens of thousands may be vanishing... By Jacob Mikanowski
How Einstein Learned Physics - From Pocket Worthy
May 31, 2020 02:25 - 19 minutes - 4.73 MBAside from his genius, there is a lot to learn from Einstein's education and unique approach to learning. By Scott Young
What Comes Next? - Jun, 2020 Scientific American
May 28, 2020 03:40 - 12 minutes - 2.91 MBLarge outbreaks of disease in the past suggest how Covid-19 could play out. By Lydia Denworth.
Overturning Biology - from The Atlantic
May 23, 2020 19:19 - 14 minutes - 3.39 MBBiology texts tell us lichens are alliances between two organisms, a fungus and an alga. They are wrong. By Ed Yong.
The Coming Disruption - Intelligencer May, 2020
May 17, 2020 00:09 - 27 minutes - 6.48 MBScott Galloway predicts a handful of elite cyborg universities will soon monopolize higher education. By James D. Walsh
Alzheimer's - May, 2020 Scientific American
May 02, 2020 18:30 - 22 minutes - 5.47 MBAirborne pollution particles spewed by car exhausts and other sources are now strongly linked to Alzheimer's. By Ellen Ruppel Shell
Keep American Science Great - May, 2020 Scientific American
April 21, 2020 03:57 - 6 minutes - 1.63 MBKeep American Science Great. Funding cuts haven't crippled research yet, but things are heading that way. By Naomi Oreskes
The Number of Languages - The Conversation Apr 2020
April 18, 2020 23:12 - 13 minutes - 3.22 MBWhy Do Human Beings Speak so Many Languages? There are at least 7,000 languages spoken around the globe. By Michael Gavin
Are Viruses Alive? - From Scientific American
April 12, 2020 01:19 - 22 minutes - 5.21 MBAlthough viruses challenge our concept of what "living" means, they are vital members of the web of life. By Luis P. Villarreal
All About Masks - The Atlantic Apr, 2020
April 04, 2020 23:09 - 26 minutes - 6.42 MBHow the coronavirus travels through the air has become one of the most divisive debates in this pandemic. By Ed Yong.
Naval Battles - Mar 2020 Ars Technica
March 28, 2020 18:30 - 32 minutes - 7.83 MBHow lack of computational power shaped World War naval battles. Situational awareness before GPS & computers. By Haomiao Huang
Domesticated Horses - The Conversation Mar, 2020
March 22, 2020 04:11 - 12 minutes - 3.01 MBHumans domesticated horses. New technology could help archaeologists figure out where and when. By William Taylor.
Everything on Covid-19 - The Verge Mar, 2020
March 15, 2020 00:28 - 19 minutes - 4.72 MBEverything you need to know about the coronavirus. Stay alert and be prepared. By Nicole Wetsman.
Blindness Cure - NPR Shots Mar 2020
March 07, 2020 19:16 - 10 minutes - 2.51 MBIn A first, Scientists Use a Revolutionary Gene-Editing Tool, CRISPR, To Edit Inside A Patient. By Shannon Hall.
Ancient Forests - Feb, 2020 Popular Science
March 01, 2020 01:49 - 13 minutes - 3.15 MBAncient mossy forests from millions of years ago created the planet's finite amount of fossil fuels. By Hope Jahren.
Quantum Computers - Feb 2020 Pocket Website
February 22, 2020 19:47 - 14 minutes - 3.45 MBHow close are we to a quantum computer? Intel's head of quantum computing reveals the challenges... By Larry Greenemier.
Autonomous Warfare - Feb, 2020 Scientific American
February 16, 2020 01:58 - 25 minutes - 6.1 MBEnsuring meaningful human control over killer machines is vital to global security. By Noel Sharkey.
Neanderthal Life - Jan, 2020 BBC Future
February 07, 2020 17:18 - 20 minutes - 4.89 MBHow the last Neanderthals lived. 4 caves in Gibraltar give insight into what their lives might have been like. By Melissa Hogenboom.
Woodpecker Brain Injury - The Conversation Jan, 2020
February 01, 2020 16:50 - 8 minutes - 2.06 MBSlamming a beak against a tree trunk seems like it would cause serious brain injuries. Yet woodpeckers survive. By Joanna McKittrick
Rise of Robot Radiologists - Feb, Scientific American
January 25, 2020 21:36 - 28 minutes - 6.81 MBDeep-learning algorithms peer into MRI's and x-rays with unmatched vision, but who's to blame when they make a mistake? By Sara Reardon
Bird Brains - Jan, 2020 Scientific American
January 17, 2020 19:27 - 29 minutes - 7 MBSome bird species use tools and can recognize themselves in the mirror. How do tiny brains pull off such big feats? By Onur Gunturkun.
Urban Rodents - The Conversation, Dec, 2019
January 11, 2020 23:13 - 11 minutes - 2.81 MBSuper rats or sickly rodents? Our war against urban rats could be leading to swift evolutionary changes. By Jonathan Richardson.
One Phone, One Vote - Jan, 2020 Scientific American
January 04, 2020 22:24 - 7 minutes - 1.67 MBOne Phone, One Vote. Technology will make elections more secure - but not soon. By Wade Roush.
All of Us - Jan, 2020 Scientific American
December 29, 2019 03:06 - 14 minutes - 3.46 MBDNA-based medicine needs more diversity to avoid harmful bias. One big research project is fixing that. By Stephanie Devaney.
Proton Size Puzzle - Dec, 2019 Scientific American
December 22, 2019 00:52 - 9 minutes - 2.21 MBProton Size Puzzle - New work may solidify a critical benchmark. By Dan Falk.
GPS Down - Dec, 2019 Scientific American
November 30, 2019 03:47 - 30 minutes - 7.23 MBHacking the GPS system we all rely on is not difficult and could be disastrous. And the U.S. has no defense in place. By Paul Tullis.
Autonomous Vehicles - Nov, 2019 Ars Technica
November 23, 2019 04:38 - 9 minutes - 2.27 MBHaving autonomous autos estimate whether fellow drivers are selfish or altruistic makes a big difference. By John Timmer.
Gene Editing - Fall 2019 Berkeley Engineer
November 16, 2019 00:47 - 15 minutes - 3.81 MBNew Frontiers In Gene Editing. Making headway against genetic disorders with CRISPR-Cas9. By Ann Brody Guy.
Moments of Untruth - Fall 2019 Berkeley Engineer
November 09, 2019 23:45 - 16 minutes - 3.79 MBUsing Artificial Intelligence Technology to Expose Digital Deception of photos, video and audio. By Nate Seltenrich.
Phage Therapy - Nov, 2019 Scientific American
November 02, 2019 18:35 - 32 minutes - 7.77 MBA treatment from World War I is making a comeback in the struggle to beat deadly multidrug-resistant infections." By Charles Schmidt.
False Lie Detection - The Week Magazine Oct, 2019
October 26, 2019 19:54 - 18 minutes - 4.32 MBHigh-tech tests give authorities undue faith in detecting deception. We've seen this before - it usually hasn't ended well..
Bad Bites - Oct, 2019 Scientific American
October 20, 2019 01:18 - 6 minutes - 1.64 MBMosquitoes may have killed about half of all Homo Sapiens who ever existed. By Steve Mirsky.
Smart Start - Oct, 2019 Scientific American
October 13, 2019 00:45 - 27 minutes - 6.58 MBKids in preschools that encourage them to play with language and focus their attention do better... later in life. By Lisa Guernsey.
Do I Know You? - The Week Magazine Oct, 2019
October 06, 2019 03:52 - 16 minutes - 3.87 MBSadie Dingfelder writes of her struggle with face blindness, a condition that makes it nearly impossible for her to recognize people.
Is Death Reversible? - Oct, 2019 Scientific American
September 28, 2019 18:37 - 20 minutes - 4.88 MBAn experiment that partially revives slaughterhouse pig brains, questions the precise end point of life. By Christopher Koch.
Renewable Energy - Vox.com Sep, 2019
September 21, 2019 19:52 - 24 minutes - 5.95 MBGetting to 100% renewable energy requires cheap energy storage. But how cheap? New research gives it a cost target. By David Roberts.
A New World Disorder - Sep, 2019 Scientific American
September 14, 2019 18:11 - 24 minutes - 5.77 MBOur willingness to share content without thinking is exploited to spread disinformation. By Claire Wardle.
Vaping - Vox.com Sep 6, 2019
September 07, 2019 19:51 - 16 minutes - 3.93 MBVaping seems to sicken hundreds. A mysterious spike in respiratory illness has sickened more than 400 and killed three. By Julia Belluz.
Medical Web Searches - Sep, 2019 Scientific American
August 31, 2019 19:13 - 7 minutes - 1.72 MBBeware of Medical Web Searches. You can find good information, but there's a lot more bad. By Zeynep Tufekci.
The Science of Addiction - Aug, 2019 TheGuardian.com
August 24, 2019 18:35 - 14 minutes - 3.36 MBA personal struggle with drugs gave Professor Judith Grisel the determination to write a book about addiction. By Rebecca Schiller.
Darwin's Cancer Fix - Aug, 2019 Scientific American
August 17, 2019 21:01 - 25 minutes - 6.12 MBPrinciples of natural selection drive a radical new approach to drugs and prevention strategies. By James DeGregori and Robert Gatenby.
Escape From Technology - The Week Magazine - Aug, 2019
August 11, 2019 04:53 - 16 minutes - 3.81 MBIt's become harder and harder to escape from technology. But there are still places with no cellphones - just stars and solitude.
Human-Mouse Hybrids - Aug, 2019 LiveScience.com
August 03, 2019 19:45 - 9 minutes - 2.28 MBJapanese Scientists to Create Human-Mouse Hybrids. They plan to transplant human cells into mouse and rat embryos. By Laura Geggel.
Brain/Smartphone Link - Jul, 2019 Vox.com
July 28, 2019 20:28 - 9 minutes - 2.3 MBElon Musk reveals his secretive company Neuralink's plan to link your brain to your smart phone. By Sigal Samuel.
Georgia's New Election System -Jul, 2019 UnDark.org
July 20, 2019 21:04 - 15 minutes - 3.67 MBGeorgia is one of many states adopting voting technology that experts say decreases security and election integrity. By Timothy Pratt