60-second Science

A new era in Scientific American audio history is about to drop starting next week. Get ready for a science variety show guaranteed to quench your curiosity in under 10 minutes.

Scientific American’s short-form podcast has been going for 16 years, three months and seven days, counting today. But it’s time for us to evolve.

A new study puts the “brain drain hypothesis”—the idea that just having a phone next to you impacts your cognition—to the test to see if the science passes muster.

The verdict is in: female dogs actively evaluate human competence.

A massive storm slammed into Alaska’s western coast, and there was no ice to stop it.

Concertgoers danced more when music was supplemented with low-frequency bass tones.

Vaccines saved New York City billions of dollars, and China faces public fury over its strict virus-control policies.

Recordings of more than 50 species of turtles and other animals help scientists reassess the origins of acoustic communication in vertebrates.

Researchers put this ancient critter through a subzero gauntlet to learn more about what happens to their internal clock while surviving the extreme.

From the ashes of the giants of Big Basin Redwoods State Park arise a history of fire suppression and real questions about what happens to the forests in a drought-stricken West Coast going forward.

In this new episode of our coronavirus podcast, we discuss a study that looked at the effects of Paxlovid on long COVID symptoms, and we also talk new bivalent boosters and immunity.

New research shows that bees “buzz” in more than the way you might think.

New Zealand’s erect-crested penguin lays two eggs but rejects the first one—the opposite of how most birds prioritize their offspring.

COVID, flu and RSV are surging. Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself.

Scientific American technology editor Sophie Bushwick explains how Iran is using surveillance tech against vulnerable citizens.

As recent advances improve the prospects of detecting and catching lung cancer early, a new challenge arises: how to ensure people worldwide, regardless of their socioeconomic circumstances, benefit from new clinical tools.

In a new episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we talk about the variants that are likely to be around this winter and how boosters help even if you’ve already had the disease.

New research shows that birds of prey attempting to grab a bat from a roiling mass of the flying mammals have developed a way to cope with the confusion.

Rats kept awake after exploring novel objects remembered the original items but not where they’d seen those objects, raising interesting questions about human sleep.

In this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we talk about why we’ve had years shaved off our average collective life since 2020. Also, we talk about “mabs” and why you might want to know what they are.