November 22, 2024
On the 50th anniversary of Lucy’s discovery, paleoanthropologists reflect on what she taught us about ourselves. Plus, divers have recovered seeds of a long-lost rye variety from a 146-year-old shipwreck in Lake Huron. And, a potato researcher explains potato varieties, potato nutrition, and some tubular tuber facts.
16:08
The Polar Bear Necessities
USGS wildlife biologist Karyn Rode monitors how populations of polar bears are affected by shrinking sea ice and other changing conditions in the Arctic.
11:57
Curiosity Gets An AI Upgrade
A new autonomous system lets the Mars rover conduct research even while offline.
6:42
Flu? There’s A Patch For That
An experimental vaccine patch would deliver influenza vaccine via an array of dissolvable, microscopic needles.
27:36
Season Your Meal With All Five Senses
From the plate color you pick to the dinner music you choose, you can enhance the flavor of your food without changing the recipe.
17:11
The Dangerous Work Of Babysitting Bombs
How a photo of plutonium sparked an investigation into nuclear safety at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Bats Are Special—But Not In A Good Way
A new study indicates that bats host a significantly higher proportion of zoonoses, diseases that originate in animals and can be transmitted to humans.
Cephapalooza!
This year we took the cephalo-party on the road, with live events in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco.
Breakthrough: Polar Bear Witness
For USGS wildlife biologist Karyn Rode, tracking and tranquilizing polar bears from a helicopter are the just the first thrilling steps in her research.
How To Capture A Scent
Separate and capture scent molecules by their heat of vaporization.
How Big Was This Squid?
Learn how to determine the size of a Humboldt squid using a beak left behind in a whale’s stomach in this data-rich math activity.
7:32
Baby Boxes, Singing Fish, And E-DNA
A Texas company is distributing cardboard “baby boxes” in an attempt to prevent sudden, unexpected infant deaths.
4:46
Climate Change Could Lead To Coffee Crisis
Researchers estimate that climate change’s effects could wipe out 39–59 percent of Ethiopian coffee farms in the future.
12:12
Do We Need Pot To Fight The Opioid Epidemic?
Studies suggest cracking down on legalized marijuana will only make things worse.
17:32
Getting To Know The Placenta
Researchers look to the mysterious organ for a new way of monitoring fetal health during pregnancy.
7:21
Kepler Unveils A New Crop Of Exoplanets
The mission found hundreds of new planet candidates, including 10 possible rocky worlds within their star’s habitable zone.
9:54
Caught On Video: How DNA Replicates
The DNA replication process isn’t exactly like the textbooks say.
34:29
The Cephalo-Inspired Technology Of The Future
From camouflage to jet propulsion, researchers see these tentacled creatures as inspiration for their biomimetic designs.
John Steinbeck And The Mystery Of The Humboldt Squid
In 1940, John Steinbeck helped catalog wildlife in the Sea of Cortez. Now, a new creature lurks beneath the ultramarine waters.
Meet Our Cephalopod Masters
Why do we love cephalopods? They’re smart, cute, and…well…really weird.
