Episodes

  • What science says about endless phone scrolling

    What science says about endless phone scrolling
    Oct 16 2026
    How much screen time is too much? In this episode of Science Quickly, Scientific American associate editor Allison Parshall explores the growing debate over screen addiction and problematic social media use. From landmark lawsuits against tech companies to the psychology behind endless scrolling, she explains what researchers know about digital dependence, why social platforms are designed to keep us engaged and how some people are turning to addiction-style recovery programs for help. Recommended Reading: Meta to pay $18 billion and make sweeping app changes to settle social media harms lawsuit E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Marielle Issa and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    24 mins
  • Are Blue Zones real?

    Are Blue Zones real?
    Oct 14 2026
    Longevity research has fueled books, documentaries and billion-dollar industries, but how much of it stands up to scrutiny? In this episode, researcher Saul Justin Newman explains why he believes that the evidence behind Blue Zones, antiaging interventions and some of the biggest claims in longevity science may be far weaker than advertised and what the debate reveals about our enduring quest to live longer. Recommended Reading: Morbid. Saul Justin Newman. MIT Press, 2026 ‘Universal’ aging clocks offer new clues to longevity E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Marielle Issa and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    17 mins
  • Fighting Fear with Facts: Navigating Infectious Disease Information [Sponsored]

    Fighting Fear with Facts: Navigating Infectious Disease Information [Sponsored]
    Oct 13 2026
    From sensationalized health claims to AI-generated misinformation, misleading content can distort how people understand infectious disease. Epidemiologist and science communicator Jessica Malaty Rivera explores why fear spreads, how science evolves and what individuals can do to evaluate sources, recognize emotional manipulation and build trust in evidence. This podcast was produced for Bayer by Scientific American Custom Media, a division separate from the magazine’s board of editors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    23 mins
  • Nobel winners, neutrino detectors and nature’s longest-living tortoise

    Nobel winners, neutrino detectors and nature’s longest-living tortoise
    Oct 12 2026
    This week’s science news roundup unpacks the 2026 Nobel Prizes—from controlling brain cells with flashes of light to catching ghostly neutrinos from distant galaxies in Antarctic ice to building mirror-image molecules one at a time. Plus, we meet Jonathan, a 194-year-old tortoise whose DNA might hold the secret to a longer life. Recommended Reading: 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to pioneers in ‘mirror’ chemistry 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Francis Halzen, pioneer of high-energy neutrinos 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to scientists behind optogenetics The oldest known land animal is 194. How did he get so ancient? E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. Marielle Issa and Aaron Shattuck fact-checked our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    11 mins
  • The doctor fighting for pain-free IUDs

    The doctor fighting for pain-free IUDs
    Oct 9 2026
    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 and convenient forms of birth control, but the pain of insertion keeps many patients away. Kopp Kallner explains why IUD insertion pain has long been ignored, how existing pain-relief options fall short and why patients themselves may be the key to driving adoption of this evidence-based approach. Recommended Reading: What Is Long-Acting Reversible Birth Control? Misinformation around Birth Control Online Is a Form of Contraception Coercion E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Marielle Issa and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    19 mins
  • Who’s accountable when AI goes wrong?

    Who’s accountable when AI goes wrong?
    Oct 7 2026
    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 researcher and artist Eryk Salvaggio about what really happened, why human design choices played a central role and what the incident reveals about accountability in an age of increasingly powerful AI systems. Recommended Reading: “Rogue AI didn’t breach Hugging Face, human decisions did,” by Eryk Salvaggio, in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Published online September 11, 2026 The real danger in OpenAI’s Hugging Face hack Eryk Salvaggio’s Cybernetic Forests newsletter Eryk Salvaggio’s Critical Vocabulary for Artificial Intelligence E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Marielle Issa and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    15 mins
  • El Niño flood threats, measles risks and a risky viral trend

    El Niño flood threats, measles risks and a risky viral trend
    Oct 5 2026
    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 to know about the dangers of a garlic-and-honey remedy that’s gone viral on TikTok. Recommended Reading: Why this El Niño will be the largest in living memory The Atlantic hurricane season has been so quiet it’s unprecedented This TikTok home remedy could cause botulism—here’s what to know E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. Marielle Issa and Aaron Shattuck fact-checked our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    15 mins
  • You’re probably walking past edible plants every day

    You’re probably walking past edible plants every day
    Oct 2 2026
    In this episode of Science Quickly, Rachel Feltman speaks with Alexis Nikole Nelson, better known as Black Forager, about her new book Happy Snacking, Don’t Die! Nelson shares how a childhood fascination with edible plants grew into a passion for foraging, conservation and science communication. From city sidewalk snacks and serviceberries to ocean-water pickles, she explains how foraging can deepen our connection to nature while encouraging responsible stewardship of the ecosystems that sustain us. Recommended Reading: Happy Snacking, Don’t Die! Alexis Nikole Nelson. S&S/Simon Element, 2026 E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Allison Rodgers and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Marielle Issa and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    19 mins