60-second Science

Growing up in a home filled with books enhances enhances intellectual capacity in later life, even if you don't read them all.

A study finds that kids, especially daughters, are effective at teaching their parents about climate issues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ammonia from penguin poop gets carried on Antarctic winds, fertilizing mosses and lichens as far as a mile away. Christopher Intagliata reports. 

The residue of ancient urine can reveal the presence of early stationary herder-farmer communities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By dampening the energy of waves, coral reefs protect coastal cities from flooding damage and other economic losses. Christopher Intagliata reports. 

Researchers want to outfit air conditioners with carbon-capture technology. Christopher Intagliata reports. 

In his memoirs, the womanizing writer Giacomo Casanova described suffering several bouts of gonorrhea—but researchers found no trace of the microbe on his handwritten journals. Karen Hopkin reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Algorithms learned to sift ultrasonic rat squeaks from other noise, which could help researchers who study rodents’ emotional states. Lucy Huang reports. 

Scientists propose that the moon could have formed when a Mars-sized object slammed into an Earth covered in magma seas. Christopher Intagliata reports.

Felines move their ears, heads and tails more when they hear their names compared to when they hear similar words. Jim Daley reports.

A few brief reports about international science and technology from Liberia to Hawaii, including one on the discovery in Northern Ireland of soil bacteria that stop the growth of MRSA and other superbugs.

The likelihood of an event like Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and of its massive precipitation, is fivefold higher in the climate of today than it would have been some 60 years ago

Snake venom toxicity depends on snake size, energy requirements and environmental dimensionality more than on prey size.

Freshwater dolphins are evolutionary relics, and their calls give clues to the origins of cetacean communication in general. Christopher Intagliata reports.

The tiny brain of a honeybee is apparently able to calculate small numbers' addition and subtraction. Annie Sneed reports.

A deeper data dive calls into question a 2018 study that found a spike in fatal traffic accidents apparently related to marijuana consumption on this date.  

Female hyenas keep their clans in line by virtue of their complex social networks. Jason G. Goldman reports. 

One in three gluten-free dishes tested at restaurants contained gluten—especially GF pizzas and pastas. Christopher Intagliata reports.

At an April 9th event sponsored by the Kavli Foundation and produced by Scientific American that honored Nobel and Kavli Prize winners, neuroscientists James Hudspeth and Robert Fettiplace talked about the physiology of hearing and the possibility of restoring hearing loss.  

At an April 9th event sponsored by the Kavli Foundation and produced by Scientific American that honored Nobel and Kavli Prize winners, economist Paul Romer talked about how the social system of science offers hope for humanity and for how we can live with each other. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices