Science Quickly

Have you ever turned to an artificial intelligence chatbot for medical advice? In this episode of Science Quickly, host Rachel Feltman speaks with researcher Almira Osmanovic Thunström about an experiment in which she created “bixonimania,” a fake disease that AI chatbots easily absorbed and repeated to users. The experiment reveals the pitfalls of using AI to interpret medical results—a habit that’s becoming increasingly common these days.Recommended Reading:“Scientists invented a fake disease. AI told people it was real,” by Chris Stokel-Walker, in Nature. Published online April 7, 2026A third of Americans say they’ve asked AI to decode their medical resultsE-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, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Science Quickly, host Rachel Feltman speaks with science journalist Robin George Andrews about NASA’s push to put a nuclear reactor on the moon. They explore why nuclear power could be key to sustaining long-term lunar missions, what the technical hurdles of operating a reactor in such an extreme environment are and why experts say the agency’s ambitious timeline may be moving too fast.Recommended Reading:Why NASA wants to build a nuclear reactor on the moonNASA needs nuclear power for its moon base. Here’s the White House plan to get itNASA announces nuclear-powered Mars mission by 2028NASA Commits to Plan to Build a Nuclear Reactor on the Moon by 2030E-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, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 In this episode of Science Quickly, we get the latest on the hantavirus outbreak with Tanya Lewis, Scientific American’s senior desk editor for health and medicine. We also unpack why the common health condition previously named polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, is now called polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, or PMOS. Then SciAm’s chief newsletter editor Andrea Gawrylewski shares an interesting story about subatomic particles from this month’s issue of the magazine. And finally, we dive into the phenomenon known as “cloacal diving”—wherein one fish hides in another animal’s “butthole.”Recommended Reading:Can hantavirus spread through the air? What we do and don’t knowWhy hantavirus takes so long to show symptoms and what that means for containmentDoubts grow over theory that bird-watchers’ trip to Argentine landfill sparked hantavirus outbreak‘PCOS is inaccurate’—why scientists renamed polycystic ovary syndromeMining companies are using cosmic rays to find critical mineralsSucker fish are hiding in manta rays’ ‘butthole,’ new study revealsE-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, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Science Quickly, gynecologic oncologist and health equity researcher Kemi Doll explains why the well-known Black maternal mortality crisis is part of a broader “Black womb crisis” in which many Black women experience a lifetime of gynecologic health challenges. Drawing on research and personal stories from her new book A Terrible Strength, Doll explores how Black women face disparities in conditions such as fibroids, endometriosis, and endometrial cancer and how gaps in diagnosis, treatment and care contribute to worse outcomes for this population.Recommended Reading:A Terrible Strength. Kemi Doll. Harmony, 2026 Black women have worse IVF outcomes. New science helps explain whyE-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, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Protein is having a major moment, showing up in everything from snack foods to coffee drinks—but do we actually need more of it? In this episode of Science Quickly, Rachel Feltman speaks with science journalist Bethany Brookshire about what has happened with the rise of the protein craze, how much protein people really need and why most of us are already getting plenty. They explore where the trend came from, what the science says about daily intake and how there are potential downsides to focusing too heavily on protein at the expense of overall diet and sustainability.Recommended Reading:Protein is being added to everything from Starbucks’ cold foam to Pop-Tarts. Here’s how much you actually needThe Science That Could Change How You Think about ProteinE-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, Sushmita Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura, with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices