Science Quickly

In this episode of Science Quickly, senior Earth and environment editor Andrea Thompson explains why this year’s El Niño is one of the strongest ever recorded and what that could mean for weather around the world. From hurricanes, droughts and flooding to rising global temperatures, we unpack what the science behind this record-breaking climate event is, why it has scientists stunned and how its impacts could linger long after peak ocean temperatures fade.Recommended Reading:El Niño will push temperatures above 1.5 degrees C. Will we ever come back down?The Super El Niño is already soaking the U.S. Expect more flooding to comeThis year’s El Niño just broke another sobering recordThe polar vortex is about to go haywireE-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, Sushmita Pathak, 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

Social media is full of claims about how farmers raise and grow food, but how much of it holds up? Michelle Miller, a former Iowa corn and soybean farmer known online as Farm Babe, talks about common agriculture myths, regenerative practices and the data, genetics and autonomous tools shaping farms today. 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/adchoicesLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Science Quickly, we cover a tragic measles death that highlights the dangers of declining vaccination rates, examine a wave of cyberattacks that are turning supermarket freezers into heaters and investigate one of science’s most important questions: Do cats fart? From public health threats to cybersecurity risks to feline flatulence, it’s a week of science news that’s equal parts alarming and absurd.Recommended Reading:New York’s first measles death in 30 years is an omen of worse to comeHackers are turning supermarket freezers into heatersDo cats fart? An investigation into the mysteries of feline flatulenceE-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, Sushmita Pathak, 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

As artificial intelligence becomes woven into daily life, the race to build increasingly powerful systems is only accelerating. In this episode of Science Quickly, tech journalist Kevin Roose discusses the rise of artificial general intelligence and explains why some of the people developing AI are among its most vocal worriers and what the technology's rapid evolution could mean for society, safety and the future of humanity.Recommended Reading:The AGI Chronicles: The Inside Story of the Race to Create an Artificial Superintelligence. Kevin Roose. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2026E-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, Sushmita Pathak, 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

Addiction hijacks the brain’s reward circuitry, and currenttreatments often struggle to break its grip. In this episode, neuroscientistand neurosurgeon Ali Rezai of the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Instituteexplains how an experimental, noninvasive focused-ultrasound treatment aimed at the nucleus accumbens could quiet cravings so that therapy and medication work better. He also describes how wearables and AI might flag people at risk of relapse before it happens. This podcast was produced for WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute by Scientific American Custom Media, a division separate from the magazine’s board of editors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices