Cape Cod’s famed ponds and bays are suffering from pollution with a curious origin: human urine. Household septic systems are flushing nitrogen into the water, resulting in toxic algal blooms. In the second installment of our three-part Fascination series about Cape Cod’s “yellow tide,” environmental reporter Barbara Moran looks at the controversial and cost ... Show More
Oct 9
The doctor fighting for pain-free IUDs
In this episode of Science Quickly, Rachel Feltman speaks with Helena Kopp Kallner, an ob-gyn and a professor, about her promising new study that shows local anesthetic can reduce pain during placements of intrauterine devices (IUDs). These devices are one of the most effective a ... Show More
18m 43s
Oct 7
Who’s accountable when AI goes wrong?
When news broke that OpenAI agents had breached the AI platform Hugging Face, many headlines framed it as a case of “rogue” artificial intelligence acting on its own. But how much of that narrative was reality, and how much was hype? In this episode, Rachel Feltman speaks with AI ... Show More
14m 55s
Oct 5
El Niño flood threats, measles risks and a risky viral trend
In this episode of Science Quickly, we explore how an El Niño–driven Kelvin wave could increase coastal flooding risks in California, why researchers say a plan to weaken vaccine requirements could leave Florida vulnerable to major measles outbreaks and what experts want people t ... Show More
14m 35s
Jun 2023
Living Underwater For 100 Days, Refineries’ Excess Emissions, Owl Facts. June 9, 2023, Part 2
<p>Exposing Texas’ Excess Emissions Problems</p>
<p>In the early hours of August 22, 2020, Hurricane Laura was still just a tropical storm off the coast of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. But effects from the monstrous storm, which would <a href="https://www.sciencefriday.c ... Show More
47m 25s