Aug 6

Former NASA Leaders Are Sounding the Alarm on Budget Cuts

The White House has proposed sharp cuts to NASA’s science budget, potentially reducing it to historic lows not seen since the early Apollo era. Beyond space exploration, NASA’s work influences daily life—from accurate weather forecasting to essential climate data for agriculture. ... Show More

16m 33s

Aug 4

Russia’s Earthquake, Wonders of Walking and Surprising Plant Genetics

Host Rachel Feltman talks with Andrea Thompson, Scientific American’s senior sustainability editor, to discuss the massive Russian earthquake and the reason it produced such relatively minor tsunami waves. Plus, we discuss the lowdown on the Environmental Protection Agency’s move ... Show More

11m 2s

Aug 1

Is AI Conscious? Claude 4 Raises the Question

Host Rachel Feltman talks with Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American’s senior tech reporter, about his recent exchange with Claude 4, an artificial intelligence chatbot that seemed to suggest it might be conscious. They unpack what that moment reveals about the state of AI, why ... Show More

22m 6s

Jul 23

What to Read on the Beach This Summer

Scientific American has been reading, reviewing and recommending books for more than 100 years. These days Brianne Kane, our resident reader, is in charge of organizing our book recommendation lists to help science-minded people find the perfect read, including novels. She joins ... Show More

10m 31s

Jan 2025

Ep 461: Backlist books that make your brain fizz

Many of the readers we talk to tune into the seasons to inspire their next read, and today's guest has a twist on the usual seasonal reading dilemma: Nell Cavallo is joining Anne today from midsummer in Sydney, Australia. When Nell sent in her guest submission for the show, she t ... Show More

52m 24s

Jun 11

What ‘Immortal’ Jellyfish and Famously Old Tortoises Tell Us about Aging

Animals’ lifespans can be far shorter or much longer than those of humans. Scientists are researching creatures such as “immortal” jellyfish and long-lived tortoises and digging deep into genetic codes to figure out why animals age—and what we can do to improve longevity in human ... Show More

14m 27s

Feb 2025

Exploring the Hidden Life in the Air around Us with Carl Zimmer

Scientists now agree that COVID spreads via airborne transmission. But during the early days of the disease, public health officials suggested that it mainly did so via close contact. The subsequent back-and-forth over how COVID spread brought science journalist Carl Zimmer into ... Show More

16m 47s

Dec 2024

A Farewell to 2024, and What We’re Following in the New Year

2024 brought heat waves and hurricanes, bird flu and breakthroughs, and an overwhelming amount of progress in AI. Science Quickly host Rachel Feltman is joined by sustainability editor Andrea Thompson, health and medicine editor Tanya Lewis and technology editor Ben Guarino to re ... Show More

21m 2s

Jul 14

Science! Tell me what to eat!

Figuring out the perfect healthy diet remains stubbornly out of reach. Our friends at Gastropod ask: Why? Guests: Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, co-hosts of Gastropod For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unex ... Show More

58m 12s

Dec 2024

Book Talk Etc.’s Best Books of 2024: Our Favorite Reads of the Year

Send us a textIn Episode 182 of Book Talk, Etc., Tina and Hannah reflect on a fantastic year of reading as they share their top 20 books of 2024! We share our absolute favorites, the reads that stood out most to us, and a little bit about why these books made our best-of-the-year ... Show More

1h 5m

Jul 25

Greenland’s Ice Sheet Is at Risk—And So Are We

Chief multimedia editor Jeffery DelViscio ventured to Greenland for a month to learn from the scientists studying the country’s ice sheet. He speaks with host Rachel Feltman about his time in the field and his takeaways from conversations with climate scientists. This story was s ... Show More

22m 5s

Apr 2025

From the Internet’s Beginnings to Our Understanding of Consciousness, This Editor Has Seen It All

Senior mind and brain editor Gary Stix has covered the breadth of science and technology over the past 35 years at Scientific American. He joins host Rachel Feltman to take us through the rise of the Internet and the acceleration of advancement in neuroscience that he’s covered t ... Show More

20m 15s

Jan 2025

Poodle Sled Dogs, Why Orange Cats Are "Like That," Seal Nose Anatomy

Welcome to SEASON 9!! MIT Technology Review science editor (and former Weirdest Thing champ) Mary Beth Griggs joins the show to talk about self-sealing seal noses. Plus, Laura jumps on to talk about poodles running the Iditarod, and Rachel explains why orange cats are... you know ... Show More

51m 35s