Casino Rats
Studying how rats respond to the same cues that encourage people to make unwise bets could lead to better treatments for problem gambling.
Knuckle Cracking
Cracking your knuckles sets off a tiny “firework explosion” in the joint.
Environment & Language Evolution
Do environmental variables like rainfall and vegetation shape the sounds of languages?
High-Tech Bee Monitors
Scientists monitor the health of bee colonies by analyzing the vibrations the insects make within their hives.
Invisible Frogs
A Science Update listener wants to know the identity of a nightly neighborhood noisemaker.
Alarm Call Mimics
A tiny Australian bird sets off false alarms to fool predators.
The Universal “Huh?”
Regardless of culture and language, conversations have a lot in common.
Ancient Hearing
Scientists re-create how our ancient ancestors heard their world.
Road Noise & Migratory Birds
Road noise negatively impacts migratory birds.
Handheld Navigator
A handheld navigation cube changes shape to guide users in the right direction.
Podcast for 19 August 2015
ANCIENT ANATOMY (Encore Presentation) - What dental records from the Mesozoic era can tell us about the lives of dinosaurs. How humans are uniquely adapted to throw baseballs. Also: an automated nature recording system that's monitoring environmental change. And, could vaccinating children protect the elderly as well?
Whistled Turkish
A language researcher studies Turkish villagers who communicate through whistles.
Marmoset Baby Talk
A new study suggests baby marmosets’ calls change as they grow up - questioning more than 50 years of conventional wisdom about primate vocalizations.
Bats & Pitcher Plants
The echo of a pitcher plant helps bats find safety and helps the plant get food.
My Virtual Dream
A neuroscientist crowd-sources brainwave data at musical events for her research.
Parrot Mimicry Circuit
A newly discovered brain structure in parrots hints at new mechanisms in brain evolution.
The Trouble with R
The letter “R” is one of the hardest sounds we learn to pronounce; now scientists think they’ve identified what makes it so tricky.
Historical Speech Acoustics
How did historical leaders once address crowds of thousands, unaided by modern amplification?
Alarm Call Mimics
A tiny Australian bird sets off false alarms to fool predators.
Mini Frogs
Scientists discover new species of tiny frogs in the remote mountains of Brazil.
Prairie Chickens & Wind Farms
Researchers look into whether the sounds produced by wind farms disturb some imperiled birds.
Sound vs. Kidney Stones
Scientists are re-purposing imaging ultrasound to make kidney stones hop their way out of trouble.
Pop Music Redux
Powerful computer tools are helping musicologists study the evolution of popular music.